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(All events on Oahu, unless noted)
2011
12/9/11
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
11/11/11
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
November
Aloha
State Championship of BJJ
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Kaiser H.S. Gym)
10/29/11
NAGA
Hawaii
10/7/11
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
9/2/11
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
8/20/11
Maui Jiu-Jitsu Open Tournament
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Neal Blaisdell Center
Lahaina Civic Center, Lahaina, Maui)
7/22/11
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
7/16/11
2011 Sera's Kajukenbo Open Tournament
(Continuous Sparring, MMA (Controlled), and Submission Grappling)
(War Memorial Gym, Wailuku, Maui)
7/8/11
Chozun 2
(Kickboxing)
(The Waterfront at Aloha Tower Marketplace, Honolulu)
7/1/11
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
6/25/11
Kauai Cage Fights
(MMA)
(Kilohana Estates)
6/17-19/11
Big Boys & MMA Hawaii Expo
Neal Blaisdell Center, Honolulu)
6/18-19/11
Hawaii Triple Crown
“State Championships”
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Neal Blaisdell Center, Honolulu)
6/18/11
Destiny: Fury II
(MMA)
(Neal Blaisdell Center, Honolulu)
6/17/11
UpNUp: On The Rise
(MMA)
(Neal Blaisdell Center, Honolulu)
6/10/11
Genesis “76 South Showdown Kickboxing”
(Kickboxing)
(Campbell H.S. Gym, Ewa Beach)
6/2-5/11
World
Jiu-Jitsu Championship
(BJJ)
(California)
5/28/11
HUAWA Grappling Tournament 2011
Grappling Series II
(Submission grappling)
(Mililani H.S. Gym, Mililani)
Cancelled
Battleground 808
(MMA)
(The Waterfront, Aloha Tower)
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
5/21/11
Scraplafest 3
(BJJ & Submission Grappling)
(Island School, Puhi, Kauai, behind Kauai Commuity College)
5/20/11
Kauai Knockout Championship II: Mortal Combat
(MMA)
(Kauai War Memorial Convention Hall, Lihue)
5/14/11
Boxing Smoker
(Boxing)
(Palolo District Gym)
5/6/11
Just Scrap
(MMA)
(Hilo Civic Center, Hilo)
4/28/11
Destiny: Fury II
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
4/23/11
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
Gladiators for God
(Amateur Muay Thai)
(Wet&Wild Water Park)
4/16/11
Hawaiian
Championship of BJJ
(BJJ
& Sub Grappling)
(Kaiser H.S. Gym)
4/15/11
Destiny
& 808 Battleground presents "Supremacy"
(MMA)
(Aloha Tower Waterfront)
4/9/11
Fight Girls Hawaii
(MMA)
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
4/2/11
Toughman Hawaii
(Kickboxing)
(Hilo Civic Ctr)
3/24-27/11
Pan
American Jiu-Jitsu Championships
(BJJ)
University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA)
3/26/11
Mad Skills
(Kickboxing, Triple Threat)
(Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
HUAWA Grappling Tourney
(Sub Grappling)
(Mililani HS Gym)
3/12/11
X-1:
Dylan Clay vs Niko Vitale
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
3/11/11
Chozun 1: "the Reckoning"
(Kickboxing)
(The Waterfront at Aloha Tower Marketplace, Honolulu)
3/5/11
Just Scrap
(MMA)
(Hilo Civic Auditorium, Hilo)
2/25/11
808
Battleground Presents
War of Warriors
(MMA)
(The Waterfront At Aloha Tower, Honolulu)
2/20/11
Pan
Kids Jiu-Jitsu Championships
(BJJ)
(California State University, Carson, CA )
2/19/11
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
2/5/11
Garden Island Cage Match 10: Mayhem at the Mansion 2
(MMA, Kickboxing)
(Kilohana Carriage House, Lihue, Kauai)
Amateur Boxing
(Boxing)
(Palolo District Park Gym)
2/4/11
Amateur Boxing
(Boxing)
(Palolo District Park Gym)
1/29/11
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
Battle At The Barn
(MMA)
(Molokai H.S. Gym, Molokai)
1/8/11
Hawaii Toughman
(Kickboxing)
(Hilo Civic Center, Hilo)
|
|
June
2011 News Part 3
|
Casca Grossa Jiu-Jitsu
is now the O2 Martial Arts Academy with 7 days a week training!
We are also offering Kali-Escrima (stick fighting) on Monday
nights with Ian Beltran & Erwin Legaspi.
Kickboxing Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with Kaleo Kwan, PJ
Dean, & Chris Slavens!
Kids Classes are also
available!
Click
here for info!
Take classes from
the Onzuka brothers in a family-like environment! |
Onzuka.com
Hawaii Underground Forum is Online!
Chris, Mark,
and I wanted to start an official Onzuka.com forum for a while
now. We were searching for the best forum to go with and hit
a gold mine! We have known Kirik, who heads the largest and most
popular forum on the net, The Underground for years.
He
offered us our own forum within the matrix know as MMA.tv. The
three of us will be the moderators with of course FCTV808 being
the lead since he is on there all day anyway!
We
encourage everyone from Hawaii and our many readers around world
to contribute to the Hawaii Underground.
If you
do not have a login, it's simple and fast to get one.
Click here to set up an account.
Don't worry about using Pidgin English in the posting. After
all it is the Hawaii Underground and what is a Hawaii Underground
without some Aloha and some Pidgin?
To
go directly to the Onzuka.com Hawaii Underground Forum
click here!
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to Advertise on Onzuka.com?
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More than
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O2
Martial Arts Academy
Your Complete Martial Arts School!
Click here for pricing and more
information!
O2 Martial Arts features Relson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu taught by Relson
Gracie Black Belts Chris and Mike Onzuka and Shane Agena as well
as a number of brown and purple belts.
We also offer Boxing and Kickboxing classes with a staff that
is unmatched. Boxing, Kickboxing, and MMA champions Kaleo Kwan
and PJ Dean as well as master boxing instructor Chris Slavens
provide incredibly detailed instruction of the sweet science.
To top it off, Ian Beltran & Erwin Legaspi heads our Kali-Escrima
classes (Filipino Knife & Stickfighting) who were directly
trained under the legendary Snookie Sanchez.
Just a beginner with no background? Perfect! We teach you from
the ground up!
Experienced martial artist that wants to fine tune your skill?
Our school is for you!
If you want to learn martial arts by masters of their trade in
a friendly and family environment, O2 Martial Arts Academy is
the place for you!
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v
Schaub's
Trip to Rio
Brendan Schaub is preparing to neutralize Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s
main weapon.
The
28-year-old American heavyweight took some time to polish his
Brazilian jiu-jitsu during a recent trip to Rio de Janeiro, the
site of his Aug. 27 meeting with “Minotauro” Nogueira
at UFC 134. Schaub spent a couple days wearing his gi and purple
belt at Gordo-Evolve academy, where he trained under highly respected
BJJ coach Roberto “Gordo” Correa.
“He’s
the inventor of the half-guard, which is Minotauro’s strongest
position,” Schaub told Sherdog.com. “No doubt, it was
very productive to spend a few days training here.”
Afterward,
Schaub visited Tijuquinha, a favela in the Western Rio neighborhood
of Barra da Tijuca. There, the Grudge Training Center product
met up with fellow fighter Eduardo Pachu and took part in Pachu’s
youth social project, “Exercising the Future.”
“It’s
great to see that the martial arts have opened doors for so many
kids who might have been drug dealers or thieves,” Schaub
praised.
While
in Rio, Schaub also took a long trek up Pedra da Gavea Mountain
and was thoroughly impressed with the beauty of one of the city’s
most famous sites.
“It
was, without doubt, one of the most exciting and grueling days
of my life. I’m afraid of heights, so it wasn’t very
easy to get up there, but it was very worthwhile. That view is
the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Rio de Janeiro
is definitely the kind of city I like,” said Schaub. “After
UFC 134, I’ll definitely spend some time here on vacation.”
Source: Sherdog
|
MMA
Diet: Vegetarian
Few
readers of the MMA Diet Series over the past six months are honest-to-goodness
MMA fighters. Most are MMA fans, martial arts practitioners and/or
those just wanting to live and lead healthier lives. Herein weaves
the thread and perhaps the reason behind the popularity of the
series: We are all human. What is best for the MMA athlete is
often best for the businessman, the scientist, the student and
the artist.
We’ve
heard stories about how Olympian Carl Lewis and baseball slugger
Hank Aaron were vegetarians. But now elite MMA dudes like Jon
Fitch, Jake Shields, Nick Diaz and Mac Danzig are making vegetarian
news. Over the past few years, MMA, thanks to the exposure from
the UFC, has been at the cutting edge of training methods and
nutritional practices. When there is a televised feature of a
UFC fighter using battling ropes or sandbags or a certain protein
shake, gym owners and weekend warriors the world over begin ordering
these products. Likewise, to go vegetarian is hot right now in
MMA. The question here need not be the black and white, “Should
I become a vegetarian?” The question should be the shades
of gray, “How vegetarian should I go?”
We
all should become vegetarians to a certain extent. In fact, research
– ranging from Johns Hopkins University’s “Meatless
Monday” campaign to Harvard’s Health Publications –
is coupling with the growing number of individual success stories,
books like Skinny Bitch and documentaries like Food INC. to reveal
that perhaps “should” should become “need.”
Meat isn’t so bad. What’s bad is that we are eating
far too much of it.
Directly
stated: At least every other meal should be meatless. And even
those meat meals should contain smaller portions. And even those
smaller portions would be better if they were more often fish.
Some
will say they went vegetarian for their personal health, while
others will cite the abstract, all-encompassing “environment.”
The truth is, and especially when it comes to food, personal
health and environmental health are inextricably linked. You
can’t speak of one without at least indirectly speaking
of the other.
Below
you will find three lists. The first states some reasons why
you should incorporate vegetarian elements into your diet. The
second addresses the “types” of vegetarian. The third
suggests tips for how to make your transition, regardless of
what stage you are in, safer and more enduring.
-1-
The
world’s population is rapidly increasing and therefore expanding
and our available quality land to grow quality food is rapidly
decreasing. The result is more people entering poverty and dying
of hunger, and more outbreaks of e-coli, salmonella and other
food poison microorganisms. This doesn’t include the still
(somehow) hot-button political (1) issue of climate change, which
continues to supposedly cause many unpredictable weather patterns
that result in poor rice and grain harvests, among others.
Fast
technology means fast lives and a greater need for fast food
and a greater need for fast food means a greater need to have
cow factories where acres upon acres of land are essentially
turned into flattened, unusable masses of cow feces. The UN suggests
that 20% of man-made greenhouse gas emissions come from the meat
industry alone. Land and air, like our body and the earth’s
body, are also inextricably linked.
Cancer,
Heart Disease, Life-Longevity – consumption of meat has
been shown to moderately impact all of these negatively. The
healthcare system in the United States is struggling to carry
the weight, literally at times, of the sick, particularly those
who are sick from easily preventable illness. To live a healthier
life is patriotic.
Fossil fuels are a finite resource and the procuring thereof
is cause for countless political debates, fears, economic stressors,
and, some say, even war. Even slightly reducing the energy consumption
the meat plantations need to feed our endless meat consumption
could help our domestic lands and international relationships.
Countless
positive testimonies regarding all aspects of health from people
in various fields – fitness gurus, bankers, MMA fighters,
photographers, gymnasts…the lists go on and on. Even the
science perhaps hasn’t yet caught up with all the health
benefits that incorporating vegetarianism can offer.
-2-
Vegans
(total vegetarians): Do not eat meat, poultry, fish, or any products
derived from animals, including eggs, dairy products, and gelatin.
Lacto-ovo
vegetarians: Do not eat meat, poultry, or fish, but do eat eggs
and dairy products.
Lacto
vegetarians: Eat no meat, poultry, fish, or eggs, but do consume
dairy products.
Ovo
vegetarians: Eat no meat, poultry, fish, or dairy products, but
do eat eggs.
Partial
vegetarians: Avoid meat but may eat fish (pesco-vegetarian, pescatarian)
or poultry (pollo-vegetarian). (2)
-3-
Many
vegetarians supplement with protein shakes. If you’re thinking
of doing so, it’s best to go as natural as possible –
something easily digestible, easy on the body. I usually don’t
recommend products, but Sun Warrior’s Raw Vegan Protein
(Natural Flavor) is the best I’ve personally come across.
(3)
You
may experience unexpected weight loss when transitioning to a
vegetarian diet. This is the result of several factors. One:
the fiber and roughage can sweep excess waste from the body.
Many of us are storing pounds of it. Two: meat is calorically
dense and takes up little space on the plate, whereas most fruits
and vegetables are the opposite. The visual presentation makes
the mind think it’s eating the same or more, and the temporary
stomach expansion (sumo wrestlers and competitive eaters actually
train to expand their stomachs by eating cabbage) will make you
feel like you’ve eaten a ton. The Japanese meal sukiyaki
is a great example. You can eat bowl after bowl of the steamed
vegetables, and when you stand from the table you feel stuffed,
but it wears off in a few short hours and you’re hungry
again.
The
Evolution Debate: When someone approaches you with this concept,
politely inform him or her that there will never be a definitive
answer. There are too many unknown variables. Environment, availability,
tactics, tribal rituals, etc. What can be said with relative
certainty is that ancient peoples ate meat, but more than likely
ate what was easiest because it meant survival. Unless they were
absolutely forced, it wouldn’t make sense to burn 150 calories
just to eat 80. Those passionate anti-vegetarians rarely take
into account the rise of “foods” like high-fructose
corn syrup, or the unbelievable amount of sugar we have access
to or the ease and accessibility of food in general. As we were
making food more convenient, obesity and diabetes were lounging
on a couch laughing. Part of incorporating vegetarian elements
is incorporating a holistic awareness of food.
Compensation:
“Well, I’m cutting out red meat so I’ll replace
it with chips, cake and soda.” Speaking of awareness, be
aware that this “splurge effect” can work on conscious
and subconscious levels. Red meat often contains some fat and
is usually served salted. Fats and salts are essential in the
diet, especially for the MMA fighter sweating and burning calories.
Even animal fats have their health benefits. However, be careful
not to “go raw” and cut salt and fats completely from
the diet. Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil and pinch some
salt onto your salad. Mix some coconut milk and chopped bananas
in with your morning oatmeal.
(1).
My conscience thanks poet and mentor, Richard Siken, winner
of the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award, for his terrific 2009
in-class impromptu lecture about how everything is political
and try as we might we can’t avoid it.
(2).
Harvard_Womens_Health_Watch/2009/October/becoming-a-vegetarian
(3).
I am not associated or affiliated with Sun Warrior products.
I’ve experimented with many protein brands, stumbled on
Sun Warrior years ago and simply haven’t found a better
protein powder for vegetarians.
Source: Sherdog
|
Jake
Shields, Jake Ellenberger Likely for Fall UFC Fight
Jake ShieldsFollowing his unanimous decision UFC welterweight
title loss in April, Jake Shields likely will next face surging
170-pounder Jake Ellenberger.
Though
the fight has not yet been made official by the UFC, sources
close to the bout confirmed to MMA Fighting last week that the
fighters have agreed to the planned matchup for this fall.
While
a location for the fight is not yet certain, one possibility
is the UFC's planned Nov. 19 card in San Jose, Calif. That will
be the promotion's debut in the northern California city, about
40 miles south of the San Francisco Bay area, where Shields lives
and trains. That event is likely to be UFC 138, though it has
not yet been made official by the UFC.
It's
a fight that Ellenberger hasn't been shy about asking for. In
May, he told several news outlets he wanted to fight Shields,
and believed he has what it takes to beat him.
Shields
(26-5-1, 1-1 UFC) lost for the first time in six and a half years
and saw his 15-fight winning streak snapped against St-Pierre.
Ellenberger (25-5, 4-1 UFC) has won four straight, including
a first-round knockout of Sean Pierson at UFC 129.
Shields
15-fight streak included wins over Yushin Okami, Carlos Condit,
Paul Daley, Robbie Lawler, Jason "Mayhem" Miller and
Dan Henderson – yet Shields flew under many mainstream MMA
radars until he signed with the UFC in the fall of 2010.
Shields,
the former Strikeforce middleweight champion, challenged UFC
welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre at UFC 129 in April after
just one fight in the promotion. Opinions on the fight ranged
from dominance by St-Pierre (one judge scored the fight 50-45)
to the champ just barely getting by (two judges scored it 48-47).
Ellenberger
(25-5, 4-1 UFC) has won four straight – three by KO or TKO.
At UFC 129, he knocked out Sean Pierson in the first round. Ellenberger
took that fight on less than three weeks notice, filling in for
an injured Brian Foster.
Ellenberger
has a strong wrestling background and is an assistant wrestling
coach for the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Before signing with
the UFC in 2009, Ellenberger fought for Bellator, M-1, IFL and
Bodog, among other regional promotions.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Curran
finishes Peruvian with Peruvian necktie; Sandro survives tough
one at Bellator 46
Curran
finishes Peruvian with Peruvian necktie; Sandro survives tough
one at Bellator 46Marlon Sandro was expected to be the guy producing
a flashy finish, instead it was the usually workmanlike Pat Curran
who did so during the back end of the Bellator featherweight
tournament quarterfinals in Hollywood, Fla.
Sandro,
a huge free agent signing for Bellator, had to go the distance
with Genair da Silva Jr. to pull out a split decision win. Curran,
back down at 145 after a lot of success at lightweight. finished
Luis Palomino with a very uncommon submission, the Peruvian necktie
at 3:49 of the first round.
Both
fighters move into the tournament semifinals in July. Bellator
announced that Sandro will face Nazareno Malegarie while Curran
takes on Ronnie Mann. Also on that card is Bellator's featherweight
champ Joe Warren, who'll battle the Season 4 tournament winner,
Patricio "Pitbull" Freire at Bellator 47 in Rama, Canada.
Warren
(7-1) hasn't fought at featherweight since he beat Joe Soto last
September. The division has added so much talent and developed
so quickly, Warren may not even be amongst the top five 145 pounders
on the current Bellator roster.
Pat
Curran (14-4) would certainly give the smallish Warren a run
for his money. Curran was very competitive during his lightweight
fights with Bellator. He upset Roger Huerta last May and began
the former UFC star's demise. Then he went the distance with
top six lightweight Eddie Alvarez.
Tonight
in Florida, he looked awesome at featherweight. Possessing heavy
hands, Curran dropped Palomino with a huge right, just over two
minutes into the fight. A stunned Palomino tried to secure a
takedown, but the scramble resulted in Curran eventually scoring
his own along the cage and gaining top control.
With
his cousin Jeff, a former WEC champ and jiu-jitsu black belt,
in his corner, Curran began to show off his quickly improving
submission. The 23-year-old worked a d'arce choke. When that
wasn't working, he transitioned to highly unusual Peruvian necktie.
The pressure of cranking back with hands, hips and legs made
it impossible for Palomino to survive.
"Once
I just sunk it in, I went for it. I practice it all the time
in the gym," Curran told MTV2's Jimmy Smith. "I was
glad I got a chance to show it off. I rocked him with the right
hand. He felt a little weak while he was still getting his mind
back together."
Curran
finishes Peruvian with Peruvian necktie; Sandro survives tough
one at Bellator 46
It
wasn't as easy for Sandro, No. 5 in the USA Today/Bloody Elbow
145-pound rankings, against the fellow Brazilian da Silva.
The
former Sengoku featherweight champ started strong. Just over
two minutes into the fight, Sandro dropped da Silva with a nasty
left. He jumped on top and pounded away, but the referee Jorge
Alonso wisely let da Silva scramble his way out of trouble. Sandro,
34, tried a guillotine choke, but da Silva eventually got his
head free.
In
the second, Sandro (18-2) continued to land solid shots with
front leg kicks and by getting off first with his hands. Da Silva
tried to counterpunch, but was way too wild. The pace slowed
in the third and da Silva landed his best punch of the fight,
a right hand with 3:55 left. Da Silva tried two takedowns against
a tiring Sandro and whiffed on both. Sandro made good on 1-of-2
down the stretch.
Cagewriter
scored it 30-27 for Sandro, but the judges were split. The Florida
trio scored it 30-27, 29-28 and 28-29 for Sandro.
The
pressure's on Sandro, the highest-ranked fighter remaining in
the field. Frankly, it looks like he might be a little overrated.
His only losses are against new UFC signee Hatsu Hioki, and Michihiro
Omigawa.
Omigawa
lost a disputed decision at UFC 131, but he's been less than
impressive in his second chance with the promotion.
We'll
find out what Sandro has in North American fight No. 2. The Bellator
semis should be explosive. This is an excellent group.
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
Friendly
advice made Marquardt a welterweight
It
was advice from an unlikely source that led to the surprising
move of longtime top middleweight contender Nate Marquardt to
welterweight, where he debuts Sunday.
While
UFC fighters frequently move weight classes, it’s usually
fighters on the small side for their division frustrated with
losing to bigger guys. Sometimes it comes from advice from the
promotion, where they let a guy know that making the move may
be best for his career. But for Marquardt (31-10-2), none of
that was the case.
“It
was 100 percent me,” he said Friday, just one day away from
having to weigh in at 170 pounds for a fight with Rick Story
(13-3) that headlines UFC Live on Versus 4 in the company’s
first-ever appearance in Pittsburgh, Pa., at the new Consol Energy
Center. “UFC had nothing to do with it. I don’t think
they had any idea I was even thinking about it. My coaches didn’t
even know I was thinking about it, but they were on board when
I told them.”
The
suggestion was made by longtime welterweight champion Georges
St. Pierre, a friend and training partner with Marquardt dating
back to 2006. What makes that advice notable is that St. Pierre
has long insisted he wouldn’t fight a friend or a training
partner. When it’s brought up that athletes in other sports
compete against friends, his response is that a fight is different
from a game. And with Story coming off a win over Thiago Alves,
Story has to be considered near the top of the welterweight contenders
list. A win by Marquardt would immediately place him and St.
Pierre’s next opponent, Nick Diaz, as the top fighters in
the division St. Pierre hasn’t already beaten.
“That
was a huge consideration [that St. Pierre was champion],”
Marquardt said. “That’s why it never even crossed my
mind. He’s one of my best teammates. But once he recommended
it, I thought that it could be a really good choice.”
“We’re
very close,” is how Marquardt described his relationship
with the fighter who, in theory, should be his ultimate goal
once he made the decision to move down. “Training-wise,
I’ve been at every single one of his camps since before
he became champion the first time with Matt Hughes. He’s
been at every single one of my camps. We’re very good friends,
very good teammates, very loyal.”
While
he doesn’t want to dwell right now on St. Pierre, given
the proximity of the Story fight, he said when St. Pierre gave
him the advice, the obvious discussion of having to fight at
some point came up.
“Honestly,
that’s something we talked about,” he said. “We
kind of decided that if this is a good choice for my career,
it’s something I had to do. Fighting each other is something
we’ll deal with when the time comes. Right now, it’s
a long time away and it’s still hypothetical.”
Marquardt
never seemed outsized as a middleweight, and from watching him
fight for years, he’s not a guy you’d ever think of
as even being able to drop to 170 without taking extreme measures.
But he downplays any idea that it’s going to be a tough
cut. He didn’t do a test run to see how he would feel making
weight, just because he felt there wasn’t adequate time
to do so. But he talks calmly about being stress-free about making
weight. He also brought a dietitian with him this week to help
him with any problems that could come up in the last minute and
with rehydration after weigh-ins on Saturday.
“I’ve
done it in the past and I know I can cut weight pretty easily,”
he said. “My body holds on to a lot of water, and it comes
off very easily, and so no, I haven’t done the practice
run this time but it’s not something I’m concerned
about.”
His
loss to Yushin Okami via decision Nov. 13 in a match to determine
middleweight champion Anderson Silva’s next opponent left
him for the second time one fight short of a title rematch. The
fight was even going into the third round. He was in the same
situation earlier in the year when he faced Chael Sonnen, losing
via decision in a match to determine Silva’s next opponent.
In his most recent fight at middleweight, on March 19, he had
no real problems with Dan Miller.
Marquardt
had changed up his diet before the Miller fight. It was nothing
particularly drastic, he said, just eating smaller portions and
tightening it up. Before, to be as big as possible, he would
force himself to eat a lot. He dominated the fight, and above
all, said when the three rounds were over, he felt that he could
easily go another three.
“I
was probably six or seven pounds lighter than most of my previous
fights,” he said. “The main thing was I cleaned up
my diet and didn’t focus on keeping and putting weight on.
I let my body fight at the weight it wanted to.
“Now
I’m tightening up the diet more. Honestly, I feel great.
I feel better than my last fight. I’ve kept all my strength,
and I’m faster, and my stamina has gone through the roof.”
Story
is taking the fight just four weeks after the biggest victory
of his career, at UFC 130 on May 28, beating Thiago Alves via
decision. The win established Story as a top-five welterweight.
It was a physically tough fight and Marquardt questioned Story
coming back so quickly. Story accepted the fight four days later
when Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, Marquardt’s original
opponent, was injured.
Story
and Johnson are completely different opponents. While both have
a collegiate wrestling background, Johnson is 6-feet-2 and a
huge welterweight who usually relies on striking. Story fights
more like a typical wrestler, using smothering techniques to
keep strikers from having much effectiveness, and using wrestling
and ground-and-pound to win his fights.
Marquardt
doesn’t think Story should have jumped back in so quickly,
although he doesn’t believe it will be a major factor in
the fight. Story has won 12 of his last 13 fights.
“I
think for him, I don’t think it will matter,” said
Marquardt, who in 2001 took a fight in Japan barely four weeks
after his previous fight, but has done nothing of the sort since.
“He doesn’t have enough experience to draw up a game
plan and strategy against me that’s any different from the
strategy with Alves. I don’t think fighting so quickly is
wise.
“I
don’t think he understands that experience will matter.
I was actually very excited that I still got a fight. You never
want to have your fight pulled out from under you.”
Source: Yahoo Sports |
Belfort
works on ground game for Akiyama even in physical conditioning
Vitor
Belfort will face off against Japan’s Yoshihiro Akiyama
at UFC 133 on August 6 in Philadelphia, and he’s going balls
to the wall in preparing for it. For example, he is doing his
ground training with some of the submission wizards from Atos.
World champions Rafael and Gui Mendes joined Gilbert Durinho,
another world champ, to work with Belfort. Where physical conditioning
is concerned, the “Phenomenon” is also taking the task
at hand seriously, working out with conditioning coach and GRACIEMAG
columnist Alvaro Romano.
Fourteen
years have gone by since he oversaw all of Vitor’s fitness
work in preparing to fight Wanderlei Silva at UFC Brazil, and
now Romano’s services have again been solicited, to make
sure the athlete will be in peak form.
“Vitor
is someone who identifies with my work a great deal, mainly with
the Ginástica Natural training for fighters. I was in
Vegas this weekend and I’ll return for another season of
major training,” says Alvaro.
“We’re
reformulating several aspects of his training camp, which kicked
off when he was here in San Diego for a week. Vitor is really
quick, moves very deftly, and we’re just getting started,”
he added.
If
one of precautions Belfort is taking is in the Jiu-Jitsu department,
the subject is also being addressed in his physical conditioning
work.
“In
Ginástica Natural we use the body’s own weight to
perform exercises. We integrated some equipment into the workout
and we’re already working on guard pass-specific exercises,
for example,” he said in closing.
Now
if readers wish to do as Vitor Belfort does, practicing the exercises
prescribed by Alvaro Romano, be sure to subscribe to GRACIEMAG
for monthly Ginástica Natural lessons delivered to your
home.
Source: Gracie Magazine |
Dana
White: Marquardt is Done In the UFC
Following
Saturday’s news that Nate Marquardt was forced from Sunday’s
UFC Live 4 card just prior to the event’s official weigh-ins,
UFC President Dana White posted a video on his verified Twitter
account stating that the one-time middleweight title challenger
will be released from the Las Vegas-based promotion.
“He
failed his medicals,” said White. “Not only is he out
of this fight, and out of the main event on Versus, he will no
longer be with the UFC.”
Marquardt,
32, was slated to make his UFC welterweight debut and headline
the event against Rick Story before he was pulled for the card
due to unknown medical issues. Story will now face AMA Fight
Club welterweight Charlie Brenneman. The bill, set to go down
at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, will now feature a
main event pitting Patrick Barry against fellow kickboxer Cheick
Kongo.
The
Grudge Training Center product was 10-4 with the UFC, and challenged
Anderson Silva for the promotion’s middleweight crown in
July 2007. Marquardt was stopped in the first round by punches.
Source: Sherdog
|
UFC
Live 4 Prelims: Griffin Takes Decision Over Gamburyan
In
his first appearance as a featherweight in nearly six years,
Tyson Griffin made a significant splash.
Griffin
(15-5, 8-5 UFC) blitzed the world-ranked Manny Gamburyan with
repeated low kicks en route to a majority decision over the former
WEC title contender at UFC Live 4 “Kongo vs. Barry”
on Sunday at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh. Two of the
three cageside judges saw it 29-28 for Griffin. A third scored
it a 29-29 draw.
Based
at Xtreme Couture Mixed Martial Arts in Las Vegas, Griffin (Pictured,
File Photo) overcame a slow start and gained a foothold in the
match with stinging kicks to the Armenian’s thigh. Still,
Gamburyan (12-5, 2-4 UFC) did not go away. He scored with multiple
takedowns in the third round despite the obvious damage to his
leg.
Griffin
won a majority of the striking exchanges between the two featherweights,
as he fought well in close quarters and scored effectively to
the head and body. The narrow victory brought an end to Griffin’s
three-fight losing streak.
Vazquez
Sends Stevenson to Fourth Straight Loss
WEC
import Javier Vazquez handed former lightweight title contender
Joe Stevenson his fourth consecutive defeat and left “The
Ultimate Fighter” Season 2 winner’s career inside the
UFC in doubt, as he notched a unanimous decision in an undercard
bout at 145 pounds. All three cageside judges ruled in Vazquez’s
favor: 30-27, 29-28 and 30-27.
Vazquez
(16-5, 1-0 UFC), a former King of the Cage champion, out-struck,
outwrestled and out-grappled the Jackson’s Mixed Martial
Arts representative, warding off exhaustion in the latter stages
of the fight. Vazquez established his jab, countered effectively,
scored with a single-leg takedown in the first round and threatened
his opponent with a tight guillotine choke in the second.
With
desperation settling in, Stevenson (31-14, 8-8 UFC) was the aggressor
in round three, as he attacked early with sharp punches and low
kicks. However, Vazquez held firm despite visible fatigue and
racked up points with standing combinations and clean counter
punches.
Lauzon
Kimura Taps Warburton
Joe
Lauzon made quick work of Wolfslair Academy representative Curt
Warburton, as he submitted the Englishman with a nasty first-round
kimura 1:58 into their preliminary lightweight matchup.
Lauzon
zapped Warburton (7-3, 1-2 UFC) with a two-punch combination,
stacked him against the fence and wrenched the kimura. The 27-year-old
Massachusetts native cut off any hope of an escape route by throwing
up a triangle choke for good measure, torquing Warburton’s
arm in grotesque fashion until the submission came. Lauzon (20-6,
7-3 UFC) still has never lost back-to-back fights as a professional.
Superior
standup, coupled with a heavy and punishing top game, carried
American Top Team’s Rich Attonito to a unanimous decision
over Daniel Roberts in an undercard tilt at 170 pounds. All three
cageside judges scored it for Attonito: 29-27, 30-27 and 29-28.
Attonito
(10-4, 3-1 UFC) nearly finished it in the third round, when he
folded his foe with a perfectly placed head kick and followed
him to the canvas with punches. Roberts somehow survived but
had nothing left to offer. A knee and a pair of right hands only
strengthened Attonito’s cause, as “The Ultimate Fighter”
Season 11 alum closed the match inside the Roberts guard.
A
34-year-old Elizabeth, N.J., native, Attonito utilized superior
defensive grappling in rounds one and two, as he avoided numerous
submission attempts from Roberts (12-3, 3-3 UFC).
Whenever
the fight spilled onto the ground, Attonito managed to wind up
in an advantageous position, grinding down his opponent with
punches to the head and body. He has won five of his last six
fights.
Oliveira
Fouls, Submits Lentz
Highly
regarded Brazilian prospect Charles Oliveira submitted Nik Lentz
with a second-round rear-naked choke in a preliminary lightweight
duel. Lentz asked out of the fight 1:48 into round two, as he
tasted defeat for the first time since March 2007.
Oliveira
(15-1, 3-1 UFC) established his dominance in a crackling first
five minutes. The once-beaten 21-year-old neutralized Lentz with
his potent guard, dropped him with a crisp right hand while the
two were upright and threatened to finish him with an anaconda
choke. Lentz ultimately broke free and locked in a guillotine
choke of his own. That, too, failed to end the fight. Oliveira
finished the first period in top position after he dropped the
Minnesotan with a knee.
In
the second round, Oliveira turned the tide on what appeared to
be an illegal knee to his downed foe. Referee Chip Snider did
not acknowledge the foul, however, and the Brazilian teed off
with punches. Lentz (21-4-2, 5-1-1 UFC) surrendered his back
and soon succumbed to the choke. The Pennsylvania State Athletic
Commission will likely review the outcome of the fight due to
the foul.
Johnson
Stops Faaloloto, Posts First UFC Win
“The
Ultimate Fighter” Season 12 finalist Michael Johnson stopped
Edward Faaloloto on first-round punches in a preliminary lightweight
matchup. The end came 4:42 into round one.
Johnson
(9-5, 1-1 UFC), who absorbed a number of stinging low kicks,
secured a pair of takedowns but did his most import work from
the clinch. He trapped Faaloloto (2-2, 0-2 UFC) in the Thai plum
late in the first period and attacked with knees to the body
and head. A follow-up right hand sent the Hawaiian crashing to
the canvas in the fetal position, as Johnson finished him near
the cage.
Lamas
Head Kick Dooms Grice
WEC
import Ricardo Lamas made the most of his promotional debut,
as he stopped Matt Grice on first-round punches in an undercard
bout at 145 pounds. Referee Keith Peterson stepped in on Grice’s
behalf 4:41 into round one.
Lamas
(10-2, 1-0 UFC) controlled much of the encounter, landing a takedown
and passing to side mount before the two resumed their standup
exchanges. Later, the 29-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt
wobbled Grice (13-4, 1-4 UFC) with a head kick, swarmed him on
the fence and polished him off as he tried to regain his bearings,
sending him to the canvas and forcing the stoppage. The defeat
snapped Grice’s four-fight winning streak.
Source: Sherdog
|
ADCC
2011: Eddie Bravo sees a “little advantage” over Royler
Gracie
Eddie
Bravo shocked the world as he submitted Royler Gracie in ADCC
2003, and the rematch between them will finally happen, eight
years later. But there’s nothing confirmed yet for this
year’s edition of the event, which happens in September.
On
a chat with TATAME, Eddie revealed he was surprise with the invitation
for the super fight, telling he’d never believe Gracie would
accept the challenge, but that the financial issues between Royler
and ADCC might ruin it all.
“It’s
all up to Royler, I already agreed to the match, but 5 days after
Royler agreed to the match he then decided to ask for 50k just
to show up. So basically he changed his mind about the match,
it sounds like he doesn’t want to do it, he even admitted
in a recent interview that he was pressured into taking the match,
that he didn’t want to do it but agreed to do it from pressure”.
In
2003, Eddie submitted Royler with a triangle, a position he consider
to be one of his ‘greatest weapons’, but guaranteed
that the fact he trains with no gi since then wouldn’t bring
any advantages for him on the bout.
“Royler
is a legend, no style has a big advantage against someone like
him who has been training under the grandmaster Helio his whole
life. Maybe a little advantage but not big”, affirmed.
No
bets on the other super fights
Besides
this bout, ADCC decided to match Renzo Gracie and Ze Mario Sperry,
who’ll complete the three super bouts, with the challenge
between Ronaldo Jacare and the absolute champion of the 2009’s
edition of the event, Braulio Estima, but Eddie doesn’t
want to take sides.
“I
think that fight will be close, it’s hard to pick a winner,
Sperry has a big size advantage but Renzo is very good so there’s
a good chance it will be very close”, said, commenting on
Jacare vs. Braulio.
“I
think this is another too close to call kind of fight, both fighters
have wins over the god of Jiu-Jitsu Marcelo Garcia, so you know
these are 2 of the best in the world, too hard to pick. “It’s
another hard one to predict. Both have defeated the best guy
in Jiu-Jitsu, Marcelo Garcia, so you know these two are the two
best fighters in the world”.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Nate
Marquardt was Given Six Weeks Notice to Clear Up Medical Issue,
Commission Issues
While the details about why Nate Marquardt was removed from Sunday’s
UFC on Versus 4 card remain in the dark, the Colorado fighter
and the UFC had known about the potential issue for the last
six weeks.
Pennsylvania Athletic Commission executive director Greg Sirb
revealed the information when speaking to MMAWeekly.com on Sunday.
According
to Sirb, Marquardt and the UFC were notified that he had not
met the necessary medical requirements as of six weeks ago. He
was given up until an hour before weigh-ins on Saturday to resolve
the situation, but he was never able to clear things up.
“Nate
has known for probably about a month and a half. He knew the
situation. It was no surprise. Everybody (including the UFC)
knew. Everybody’s known. I think everybody assumed he was
going to be able to qualify,” Sirb said.
“I
thought he would (qualify); I really did.”
Because
of strict medical privacy rules in the state of Pennsylvania
the commission is unable to provide any details as to what Marquardt
did not complete prior to the Saturday deadline.
“We’ve
known about it and we gave him every opportunity. The last report
we got was three o’clock (Saturday). We gave him as much
leeway as we could. Obviously we’ve got a live event, you’ve
got to make the call. The UFC made the call when we said no he’s
not going to meet it,” Sirb commented.
“Pretty
straight forward stuff. He had to meet these requirements and
there were no and, if, or buts about it and unfortunately he
did not.”
The
executive director did say that while the commission is unable
to say what Marquardt did or didn’t do, Marquardt is able
to speak about it, but as of Sunday neither the fighter nor his
management have made a statement.
“We
can’t say anything. This state is real tight on those types
of laws. HIPPA laws are very strict. If Nate’s here, I don’t
know if he’s here or not, he’s free to talk,”
Sirb stated.
Sirb
admits that he felt bad for Marquardt not being able to fight.
After the situation reached a boiling point on Saturday, UFC
president Dana White released Marquardt from the promotion.
“I
told him I felt for the kid. I really did. He knew about it,
he was trying, and he missed out on a big payday,” Sirb
said about Marquardt.
As
far as the future fallout for Marquardt following Saturday’s
events, he still has to satisfy the medical issues that kept
him from competing on the card. He will be indefinitely suspended
until he satisfies the commission’s requirements.
“He
didn’t meet the requirements, the medicals anyway. He’s
going to be put on suspension. When he meets those requirements,
he’ll be taken off. How long the suspension is, is up to
him,” Sirb said.
“He
needs to show us a new report. If that report comes in and it
meets our requirements, it could be tomorrow and we’ll take
him off. It could be two months, but it’s an indefinite
suspension until he brings in that report we’re looking
for.”
Once
Marquardt was out, Sirb said his replacement Charlie Brenneman
was able to hop in with no issues because he had already completed
all the necessary requirements. Brenneman was previously set
to compete on the UFC on Versus 4 fight card until his opponent
T.J. Grant fell of the card due to sickness.
Now
the local fighter gets a chance to fight on his hometown card
and face Rick Story in the co-main event of the evening.
“A
bad situation, which is what it is, creates a Rocky story for
Charlie Brenneman,” Sirb said.
MMAWeekly.com
has made several attempts to reach Marquardt and his camp, but
as of the time of publication they have not made a statement
or returned any calls.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Pederneiras
says Florian’s elbows on Nunes “should be reanalyzed”
Coach
of Diego Nunes and head-coach of Nova Uniao, Andre Pederneiras
assigned his student’s loss to Kenny Florian, in UFC 131,
to the blood loss during the combat. On a chat with TATAME, Andre
affirmed that the cuts reduced the athlete’s resistance,
and then he was defeated on a unanimous decision of the judges,
and then criticized the elbows Florian fit on him.
“Diego
started ok, he won the first round and got a knockdown. After
that, I guess the cuts on head and the great blood loss were
undermining his resistance, because he was doing great on the
training and he was ready to fight three rounds”, said the
coach, commenting on the elbows hit by the American athlete.
“Those
elbows, the way I see it, for where they hit him, should be reanalyzed...
I’m not taking Kenny Florian’s credits for the win,
not at all, but I took some pictures of Diego’s head, and
I want to send it to UFC, asking them if those spots are legal.
I don’t want them to change the result of the fight, because
Florian was better and earned it, but I want to know if it’s
legal so that I can tell my students to do it. Sometimes the
rules change and we lose a fight for a silly detail”, said
Andre, who complimented the Brazilian fighter, but commented
on his mistakes.
“Kenny
tried to fit a jab and he fit a crossed punch or a direct punch,
moving his legs forwards, what made it easier for Kenny Florian,
and that’s a mistake he made. I told him, on the time off,
that he’d use the straight punch and then the crossed punch,
but he never did it. We trained that position so much that I
guess he couldn’t change it right there in the spot. That
was a mistake, absolutely. But, in general, he did good”.
The
head-coach of Nova Uniao affirmed he has no news about a possible
bout between Jose Aldo and Kenny Florian for the featherweight
title. “We don’t know anything about the date of the
bout and not even if it’ll actually happen. For now, it’s
just speculation”, guaranteed.
Source: Tatame
|
Bigfoot
Silva: “I won’t let Overeem rest for even a second”
Antonio
‘Bigfoot’ Silva was just playing a supporting role
on Strikeforce’s heavyweight GP, but after defeating Fedor
Emelianenko on its quarterfinals, he’ll decide with Alistair
Overeem who’ll have a vacancy on its finale.
On
an exclusive interview given to TATAME, which you can read by
clicking here, Bigfoot analyzed the bout against Overeem, but
revealed he wished to dispute the tournament’s finale against
Josh Barnett, who’ll face Sergei Kharitonov on the other
semifinal bout.
“I’d
really like that, defeating Overeem, do the finale against him
because it’s a personal issue that we got to go through”,
said Bigfoot. “I’ll never bring my feelings into the
ring, because then you ruin all your game plan. But, I’ll
set a good game plan and we’ll solve this personal issue,
just me and him. But I’m not thinking about Josh right now”.
Check
below the exclusive interview with Bigfoot, who also comment
on Fabricio Werdum’s performance against Alistair Overeem
and asked the fans to pray for Vitor Miranda’s son, who’s
on a hospital on the United States.
What
are your thoughts about the fight between Overeem and Werdum,
which defined your next opponent?
I
was hoping more of this fight. Due to the fact I know Overeem,
I know he’s an aggressive guy, I know he respected Werdum
a lot, even because you have to after all he’s done. He
didn’t want to fight on the ground against Werdum, and I
guess everybody was hoping for a submission of knockout, but
unfortunately neither of these things happened. He’s a Brazilian,
a friend of mine and a good guy… But, unfortunately, it
happened. Someone wins and someone loses, but life goes on.
Were
you surprised by Werdum’s posture, of trying to pull Overeem
to his guard all the time?
Man,
on the first round, I’ll tell you he did the right thing.
I have told him before that Overeem would get a little tired
on the second and third rounds. On the first minutes of the fight,
you can really go for it against him because he’s much dangerous,
he has his full power, he’s strong, he’s muscle…
But, on the second and third round, he’d slow it down. It
was what we all saw. On some moments Werdum went for it and could’ve
gotten the knockout, but Werdum was also tired. He didn’t
stay on the top, he didn’t used his ground game at any moment,
he didn’t do the clinch work, so… I guess that if Werdum
had pushed it a little harder he would have got the win.
Do
you believe this bout showed a weak point of Overeem, who was
exhausted when the bout was over?
All
fighters have weak and strong points, not only him. Every single
one of us. We’re human beings. And I’ll tell you something:
he showed me the way. I’ll get ready to do a good fight.
Now I have to train just like I did for Fedor, or more. Because
in case I train less than that, I won’t feel confident.
The difference is that I won’t let Overeem rest for even
a second, I’ll impose my game. Of couse I’ll respect
him, since he’s extremely dangerous. I won’t make any
mistake because, if you do so, he’ll knock you out. He’s
a striker. But I’ll not worry about him. I’ll worry
about me, with my trainings, my game polan and, with God’s
blessing, everything will work out just fine.
Everybody
pointed out Overeem as the one with the best striking Power on
the heavyweight division, especially since he won K-1. Do you
think he showed a not so good striking game this time, since
he wasn’t able to impose his game over Werdum?
As
I said before, if Werdum had pushed it a little harder, he fit
a good knee and some punches which brought Overeem dizzy and
he stepped back… If he had kept on moving forwards, he could’ve
knock him out. If he tried to get his legs, he could have taken
him down and imposed his ground game, because Werdum is a legend
on the ground game. But, unfortunately, he injured his knee,
he was limping all the way back to the hotel. It’s already
complicated to strike with Overeem, especially when you have
an injured knee. It’s even more complicated. We can’t
take the credits of Overeem, but fighting while injured is pretty
hard.
I’ll
do my job, set a great camp for this bout and I’ll go for
the win. I had told you before I fought Fedor that people were
like: ‘Fedor, Fedor…’ And I used to say: ‘guys,
I’d like to tell you I’m not sitting at home eating
pizza and drinking Coke and watching movies. I was training a
lot and he’s not a superman, he’s a human being like
any other’. I love entering the octagon as the underdog,
I like being booed at, it only motivates me and gives me the
strength to go there and prove that I’m not fighting MMA
just to be another number and put some money in my pocket. I’m
there to fight and make some space for myself, and be among the
best.
What
are your thoughts about the other quarterfinals, between Josh
Barnett and Brett Rogers? What do you hope of this semifinals
between Barnett and Kharitonov?
Man,
the bout between Josh and Brett Rogers I practically predicted
what would happen. I have talked to Brett, I have told him and
his coach: ‘stay alert to your legs, he won’t like
to strike with you, he won’t like to do the stand-up game
with you and he’ll try to take you down with his good Wrestling’.
And it’s what I would do if I was fighting him: I’d
try to take him down and finish the fight. Credits to Josh, he
could do it, he took him down pretty well. He’s a complete
fighter, as I told you before. He’s good while striking,
he has good Wrestling, he has a good ground game. He’s a
complete fighter.
Now,
on this tournament, I guess he’s the most complete athlete.
This bout against Kharitonov will be another tough one, he won’t
take him down that easily. Kharitonov, besides having heavy hands
just like Brett, has a better posture while standing up, and
is a better boxer. But I’ll cheer for him, because I’d
really like that, defeating Overeem, do the finale against him
because it’s a personal issue that we got to go through.
I’ll
never bring my feelings into the ring, because then you ruin
all your game plan. But, I’ll set a good game plan and we’ll
solve this personal issue, just me and him. But I’m not
thinking about Josh right now. I’m focused in Overeem. I’ve
been training for a month now, thinking about Werdum and Overeem.
In May I started to train and I spent three days a week training
for fighting Werdum, and two days training in case I’d fight
Overeem. I’ve started doing that in May, so it’s five
months of preparation. Now I’m focused on Overeem, on defeating
him.
I’ve
said before that, in case I defeated Fedor, I’d win this
tournament, because I’ve saw this bout against Fedor as
a finale of the tournament to me. It was the toughest fight of
the tournament, he was the most dangerous person in there, he
was pointed out by everyone as the one to become its champion,
and I fought him on my first bout on the tournament. That has
given me extra motivation to train, to conquest this title. Now,
if you want to beat me up, you’ll have to submit me or knock
me out because I really want to win this tournament.
Did
Strikeforce tell you anything about when you’ll fight next?
See,
they’ve told me the month, which will be October. But they
haven’t mentioned the place of the date. I guess they’ll
tell me that soon. But, at least, I know it’ll happen in
October and I’ll have a good time to train.
Do
you want to leave a message?
I’d
like to ask all fans that pray a lot, independent of what you
believe in or who you are, if you believe in God or no. but pray
for the son of our friend, the fighter Vitor Miranda, who’s
going through a really bad situation (after drowning on a swimming
pool on the United States). Let’s pray that he gets better
and can bring many joys for his family, Vitor and Paula Miranda,
a beautiful couple.
Source: Tatame
|
Bitetti
helps Minotauro for UFC Rio: “Jiu-Jitsu’s the priority”
In
a recent conversation with GRACIEMAG.com, Rodrigo Minotauro stated
that Jiu-Jitsu will be an important part of his fight with Brendan
Schaub at the August 27 UFC Rio show.
In
preparing for the big night, Mino will have the help of two-time
absolute world champion Amaury Bitetti. After promoting the latest
installment of his event, Bitetti Combat, Amaury went over to
the Nogueira’s training center in Rio to help iron out their
Jiu-Jitsu games.
“Josuel
Distak called me to ask me to come over. Sylvio Behring and I
will be helping Minotauro out. Jiu-Jitsu’s the priority,”
the black belt told GRACIEMAG.com.
Jiu-Jitsu
proved to be a fundamental part of Minotauro’s last two
wins, against Tim Sylvia and Randy Couture. Both times Bitetti
played a role in Minotauro’s training.
Check
back with GRACIEMAG.com for further news on UFC Rio.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Strikeforce:
Pamplona gets knockout and Couture’s son loses
Strikeforce
“Challengers 16 went down at the ShoWare Center in Kent,
Washington, this Friday, and there was no lack of excitement
in the cage.
São
Paulo native Eduardo Pamplona made his promotional debut in style.
Against local fighter Jerron Peoples, Pamplona was quick on the
trigger and took just 2:40 minutes to take his opponent to the
ground and pound away until the ref stepped in. With the win
the 35-year-old brings his tally to ten back-to-back victories.
In
the evening’s main event Caros Fodor took on James Terry
and after three lukewarm rounds the scorecards read unanimous
decision for Fodor. The former Marine now has four wins in a
row on his record.
Holland’s
Germaine de Randamie, a stalwart muay thai stylist, was unable
to put her strike game to work and ended up being neutralized
by Julia Budd, who took the unanimous decision.
Check
out the results:
Strikeforce
“Challengers 16”
ShoWare Center, Kent, Washington, USA
June 24, 2011
Caros
Fodor defeated James Terry via unanimous decision;
Matt Ricehouse defeated Ryan Couture via unanimous decision;
Lorenz Larkin defeated Gian Villant via unanimous decision;
Jason High defeated Quinn Mulhern via unanimous decision;
Julia Budd defeated Germaine de Randamie via unanimous decision;
Derek Brunson defeated Jeremy Hamilton via unanimous decision;
Eduardo Pamplona defeated Jerron Peoples via TKO at 2:40 min
of R1;
Trevor Smith submitted Keith Berry with a north-south choke at
3:02 of R2.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Kongo
scores eye-popping comeback knockout over Barry
PITTSBURGH
-- Mark Cheick Kongo down as a candidate for Knockout of the
Year, as he survived a barrage of Pat Barry punches to knock
out Barry in the first round of their main event bout at the
Consol Energy Center for UFC on Versus 4.
The
fight started slowly, with both fighters tentatively throwing
leg kicks at each other. Then, Barry appeared to be on his way
to a win with a right hand that staggered Kongo. Barry jumped
on top to try to finish the bout, but Kongo survived and scrambled
to stay on his feet. From there, he delivered two punishing rights
that sent Barry straight to the canvas. Barry was out cold. The
bout was stopped at 2:39 of the first round.
Both
fighters had talked about how this bout would show off their
more well-rounded games, but it still ended up a battle of two
great strikers. Kongo showed off the strength of his chin in
surviving Barry's strikes, and that he could stay calm and persevere
for the win.
Source: Yahoo Sports |
Cheick
Kongo Knocks Out Pat Barry in Stunning UFC Brawl
One of the most shocking endings in UFC history took place in
the main event of Sunday night's UFC Live card, as Pat Barry
appeared to poised to knock Cheick Kongo out with several brutal
punches -- only to have Kongo recover and knock Barry cold with
a brutal uppercut of his own.
If
you didn't see it, you wouldn't believe it: This looked like
something choreographed for a movie, not a real mixed martial
arts competition.
Kongo
and Barry traded hard kicks early in the first round, but they
were feeling each other out more than anything else in the first
two minutes. However, at the 2:15 mark of the first round, Barry
connected with a huge right hook to the side of Kongo's head,
knocking Kongo sprawling to the canvas.
More: UFC on Versus 4 Results | Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry Live
Blog
Barry pounced and landed a few more punches, and referee Dan
Miragliotta appeared to be about to step in and stop the fight.
Kongo, however, somehow managed to stagger back up to his feet
-- only to have Barry land another huge right hand that knocked
Kongo down again. UFC announcers Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan
both screamed "He's out!" when Kongo went down the
second time.
But
Kongo wasn't out. He held onto Barry just long enough to regain
his composure, got back to his feet, and then landed two enormous
right hands of his own, the second one knocking Barry unconscious.
That was it.
"It
was perfect," Kongo said of his punch. "I just saw
the opportunity to give it to him. I saw the opportunity to finish
this fight, at this moment, with one shot."
The
fight lasted just 2 minutes, 39 seconds, and the real action
only lasted about 30 seconds -- but it might have been the most
thrilling half a minute in UFC history. This was a stunner.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Improbable
KO for Kongo at UFC Live 4
Cheick
Kongo appeared to be out on his feet -- until he put Patrick
Barry to sleep with a short right uppercut.
In
what will undoubtedly go down as one of the most improbable comebacks
in mixed martial arts history, Kongo survived nearly being stopped
and flattened Barry with one punch in the UFC Live 4 main event
on Sunday at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh. The dramatic
finish came 2:39 into the opening round. Barry lay unconscious
on the mat, his right leg bent beside him, his open eyes staring
blankly into space.
“It
was perfect,” Kongo said, pointing to the uppercut that
ended it.
The
two heavyweights traded heavy leg kicks from the start, with
Barry controlling the center of the cage and backing Kongo (16-6-2,
9-4-1 UFC) into the fence. He cracked the Frenchman with a sizzling
overhand right that dropped Kongo where he stood and swarmed
to finish. Referee Dan Miragliotta appeared close to stopping
it and even made brief contact with the two fighters, but he
gave Kongo, a proven 24-fight veteran, the benefit of the doubt.
With
his back to the cage, a still wobbly Kongo unleashed a right
hook that knocked Barry (6-3, 3-3 UFC) off balance, planted himself
and followed it with the uppercut. Kongo trailed his unconscious
opponent to the mat and landed a few hammerfists before Miragliotta
called him off.
“I
had to win this fight,” Kongo said. “I’m really
happy.”
Charlie
Brenneman made himself a factor in the welterweight division
with the most important 15 minutes of work in his career.
A
last-minute substitute for the suspended Nate Marquardt, Brenneman
used a heavy dose of takedowns, grappling and scrambling to upset
the world-ranked Rick Story in the co-main event. All three judges
scored it 29-28 for Brenneman, a 30-year-old Hollidaysburg, Pa.,
native who has quietly won nine of his past 10 bouts.
Brenneman
(14-2, 3-1 UFC) grounded Story repeatedly, frustrating the surging
welterweight contender with a relentless pace. The AMA Fight
Club standout struck for takedowns in all three rounds and powered
out of repeated submission attempts from story, including a second-round
guillotine choke and a third-round triangle choke. Story (13-4,
6-2 UFC) mounted Brenneman with 1:19 left in the fight but failed
to exact any damage and allowed the underdog to slip out the
back door.
The
defeat snapped Story’s six-fight winning streak.
Brown
Decisions Howard, Ends Slide
“The
Ultimate Fighter” Season 7 alum Matt Brown halted a three-fight
losing streak with a hard-fought unanimous decision over John
Howard in a welterweight showcase. All three judges scored it
29-28 for Brown, who won for the first time in almost two years.
Howard
scored effectively with low kicks but found himself largely outgunned
on the feet. Brown (12-10, 5-4 UFC) wobbled him during a stout
first-round exchange, punctuating a nice combination with a grazing
head kick. Howard backpedaled in the face of superior firepower
and abandoned a standup fight in favor of clinches and takedowns.
However, Brown resisted his advances, and Howard expended valuable
energy in a series of failed attempts to get the fight on the
ground.
Brown
scored with a trip takedown early in round two, landed in half
guard and worked effectively from top position. Howard (14-7,
4-3 UFC) transitioned to a leg lock and swept into top position,
only to be stonewalled and neutralized with an omoplata from
his grounded opponent. The two welterweights traded takedowns
in a largely uneventful third round, and Brown avoided Howard’s
late bid for a kimura.
Mitrione
KOs Morecraft, Moves to 5-0
Unbeaten
and improving “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 10 alum
Matt Mitrione blasted through the 6-foot-6, 261-pound Christian
Morecraft and scored a decisive second-round knockout in a featured
heavyweight matchup. Undone by a beautiful three-punch combination,
Morecraft met his end 4:28 into round two.
Morecraft
(7-2, 1-2 UFC) had no answer for the hand speed and power his
opponent brought to bear. Straight left hands, set up by wicked
inside leg kicks, were at the heart of Mitrione’s attack.
He put Morecraft on the canvas twice in the first round and nearly
finished it through a series of power shots with less than a
minute to go in the period.
As
round two dawned, Morecraft was a spent force. Mitrione (5-0,
5-0 UFC) picked his spots and weathered two takedowns from his
fading foe. A picture-perfect combination -- a right hook followed
by a straight left hand and a straight right -- sent Morecraft’s
mouthpiece flying and left the Team Bombsquad representative
staring at the lights.
Source: Sherdog
|
Marlon
Sandro through to next stage of Bellator GP
There
was no lack of excitement at Bellator 46, held at the Seminole
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Florida. The event featured four
featherweight GP quarterfinal matches and five superfights.
The
one with the most expectations surrounding it was an all-Brazilian
affair. Former Sengoku champion Marlon Sandro faced a game Junior
PQD in an action-packed three-rounder that played out mostly
on the feet, with Marlon managing a knockdown in the first. The
two rounds that followed were evenly matched, earning Marlon
Sandro a split-decision nod on his debut on American soil.
In
the other featherweight GP matchups, Ronnie Mann put away Adam
Schindler with a left-hook knockdown and follow-up strikes on
his grounded opponent.
Argentina’s
Nazareno Malegarie, a student of the UFC’s Thiago Tavares,
submitted Jacob Devree with a third-round inverted guillotine
and qualified for the tournament semifinals.
Now
Pat Curran literally ran roughshod over Luis Palomino. Showing
keen boxing skills, the 2010 bantamweight GP winner was more
aggressive and landed a number of strikes before sealing the
deal with a Peruvian neck tie, all in the first round.
The
other Brazilian in the event, Antonio Bezerra Popó, needed
just 3:27 minutes to finish Sam Jones with a triangle, bringing
his tally to nine wins in ten fights.
Full
results:
Bellator
46
Hollywood, Florida, USA
June 25, 2011
Featherweight
GP
Quarterfinals
Pat Curran submitted Luis Palomino via choke in R1
Marlon Sandro defeated Junior PQD via split decision
Nazareno Malegarie submitted Jacob Devree via inverted guillotine
in R3
Ronnie Mann defeated Adam Schindler via TKO in R1
Undercard
Jessica Aguilar defeated Carla Esparza via split decision
Tony Johnson defeated Derrick Lewis via unanimous decision
Alexandre “Popo” Bezerra submitted Sam Jones via triangle
in R1
Dan Cramer defeated Josh Samman via unanimous decision
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Hawaii's
Haley Pasion wins the 2011 Boxing Nationals!
Hawaii Boxer Haley Pasion (Kawano B.C) defeated Amanda Pavone
(Massachusetts) by a tie breaker 11-11 then raw score 87-86,
to win the
2011 U.S. National Boxing Championships in Colorado Springs,
CO. She
will be Ranked #1 in the U. S. while Lisa Ha will be #3 and Boston
Salmon and Kalai McShane in the top 8.
-+Thank
You,
Bruce
Kawano
Hawaii Boxing Team - Team Manager.
Amateur Boxing of Hawaii President.
Commissioner for Hawaii State Boxing Commission.
USA-Boxing Coaches/International Task Force Member.
Ringside Board of Advisors.
A.I.B.A. Athlete and Youth Commission.
Head Coach- Kawano Boxing Club.
USA National Boxing Team Coach.
Manager - Red Lions Waikiki- Hyatt Regency Hotel.
General Manager- Rock Bottom Sports Bar and Grill.
|
Lawmaker
says no more to military funded MMA events
Some
discouraging news on the MMA front today. Rep. Betty McCollum
is questioning whether or not the U.S. military should be spending
millions to help sponsor sports such as NASCAR, pro fighting
(MMA), and pro wrestling, among others, especially when the nation
is dealing with such financial hardships.
But,
many military officials disagree with McCollum, stating that
the sporting events help with military recruiting.
McCollum
went on to say that the House, “voted to eliminate funding
for homeless veterans, slash community health centers serving
low-income families and pass a fiscal year 2011 budget that would
force 800,000 Americans to lose their jobs, Yet taxpayer-funded
sponsorship of NASCAR racing teams was protected. I find this
absurd.”
Oddly
enough, it was reported that McCullum not once, but twice, had
decided not to advance proposals that would have changed how
the military uses it funding for said sports events, which included
UFC sponsoring.
Although
this may be the case, Bill Harper, who is McCullum’s chief
of staff, stated that she would most likely try to present an
amendment on the House floor to 2012 Pentagon appropriations
bill that would severely limit funding on any sporting events.
McCullum
did indeed offer an amendment to the Dept. of Defense spending
bill recently, but the House Appropriations Committee gave it
a no go. The aforementioned amendment would have required the
military to submit for a 30-day congressional review period for
contracts larger than $250,000 to sponsor certain sporting events
(which included the UFC).
Source: Cage Fighter
|
UFC
on Versus 4 Attendance and Gate are Modest, but Dana White Appreciate
of Awesome Fights
The
Ultimate Fighting Championship made its debut in the Steel City
on Sunday night with UFC on Versus 4 in Pittsburgh.
It
wasn’t a blockbuster event for the promotion, drawing 7,792
in attendance and $562,310 in gate receipts, according to UFC
president Dana White.
In
true Dana White fashion, the brash UFC executive, when asked
what he thought of the event, stated, “It didn’t suck.
It was a great night. The fights were awesome. These guys came
in and delivered.”
UFC
on Versus 4 faced its fair share of adversity coming in, however.
The fight card underwent several makeovers due to fighters dropping
out, most notably the last-minute controversial scratch of main
eventer Nate Marquardt.
Marquardt
was pulled from the card about an hour prior to weigh-ins on
Saturday, slightly more than 24 hours prior to his scheduled
fight with Rick Story. There is still a lot of mystery surrounding
the situation, although it basically breaks down to Marquardt
having some sort of issue with gaining medical clearance from
the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission.
With
Marquardt out, Charlie Brenneman stepped in to face Story, a
simple matter that didn’t escape White’s attention
at the UFC on Versus 4 post-fight press conference.
“We’re
very lucky in the UFC that we have guys like Rick Story, (Charlie)
Brenneman, all these guys that will step up when bad things happen,”
he stated. “From the first prelim to the main event, they
killed it tonight.
“I’m
proud of all the guys that fought tonight.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
UFC
on Versus 4 Fighter Bonuses: Kongo, Lauzon, Oliveira, and Lentz
Pocket Extra Cash
There
was a bevvy of fighters worthy of earning post-fight award bonuses
at UFC on Versus 4 on Sunday night in Pittsburgh, but there were
also that select few that stood head and shoulders above the
rest.
The
most stunning, of course, was the Knockout of the Night. The
bonus almost went to Pat Barry… until his opponent, Cheick
Kongo, turned the tables, knocking Barry out in the night’s
main event.
The
fight will go down as one of the most miraculous comebacks in
mixed martial arts history. Barry knocked Kongo down not once,
but twice, appearing milliseconds away from a sure victory. Kongo
somehow managed to stay conscious, get back up on wobbly legs,
and then crack Barry on the jaw, laying him out cold.
Kongo
walks away with a piece of UFC history, as well as a bonus check
for $50,000.
And
how could a card featuring Joe Lauzon not see a bonus go his
way? Winning post-fight bonuses has become not so much a specialty
for Lauzon, but a foregone conclusion.
Lauzon
nearly knocked Curt Warburton out on Versus, but instead finished
the fight with a Kimura that nearly took the Brit’s arm
off. The Submission of the Night award was Lauzon’s eight
post-fight bonus in 10 fights.
The
Fight of the Night was awarded to an exciting preliminary bout
between Charles Oliveira and Nik Lentz. The two fought back and
forth, trying to take the other out, before Oliveira submitted
Lentz in the second round.
There
was an outstanding element of controversy to the Oliveira vs.
Lentz fight. Oliveira put on an outstanding performance against
Lentz, but rocked him with an illegal knee shortly before submitting
him. The referee didn’t register the illegal knee and awarded
the finish to Oliveira.
Lauzon,
Oliveira, and Lentz were each awarded a $50,000 bonus for their
performances, the same as Kongo, for a total of $200,000 in announced
post-fight bonuses.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Demian
Maia: “I made some strategic mistakes” against Muñoz
After
over a year without losing, Demian Maia experienced the bitter
taste of a defeat when facing Mark Muñoz, in UFC 131,
which happened on June 11th, in Canadá. On a unanimous
decision of the judges, the Brazilian lost, but was then complimented
by his opponent, who was surprised by his improvement on striking.
And exactly on that matter, Demain regretted not having had enough
confidence to defeat the Muñoz.
On
an exclusive interview with TATAME, the fighter affirmed that,
for having put on a good show, he believes he hasn’t moved
so far away from a possible title shot on the middleweight division,
which is currently ruled by Anderson Silva.
“It
always prevents us from moving forwards because it’s a loss.
But since it was a good bout, against a tough guy and as I proved
to have evolved in some aspects, I guess it’s not that bad.
Of course it’s a bump, it stops me from moving forwards.
But the important is to do our job the best way we can, because
now it’s gone”.
What
are your thoughts about this bout with Mark Muñoz?
It
was a good bout, despite I’m sad for having lost it, as
any other athlete would feel. I guess I made some strategic mistakes,
which changed the result from what I was expecting to come. I
could have won it easily. I was following my game plan on the
first round, but then I changed it and that was my mistake.
What
mistakes do you think you made?
I
guess my first mistake was that my game plan of moving around
a lot was working out and I changed it. I had the chance to knock
him out on the first round, but I didn’t believe myself,
I thought he was pretending to be hurt and, instead of keeping
on doing it on the following rounds, I started trying to take
him down on the second round. That was my first strategic mistake.
The second one was to do something when I have agreed not to
do it, which was to stand still and strike. I just had to move
around, like I was doing on the first round and when it was working.
I guess these two mistakes lead it to my defeat.
What
lessons did you learn from this defeat?
The
first and most important one, is that I have to trust my striking
power more, because I lacked this trust when I punched him and
he felt it. I had to trust myself, go forwards, believe that
it was indeed working. The second thing I’ve learned is
that I don’t must use my Jiu-Jitsu in all bouts I’m
at, because I guess I lost focus when I tried to change my game
plan, which was working, so that I could use my Jiu-Jitsu on
the second round.
You
said you didn’t trust your striking game, but it was complimented
a lot, including my Munoz. What do you owe this evolution for?
I’ve
been training a lot, I like training and improving and that’s
what I’ve always done since I joined Ultimate’s cast.
I want to improve my striking game, and I guess the results are
starting to show up. I just have to have a little more experience
on that area.
From
now on, how will you improve your game?
After
we have a meeting, I’ll keep on training my Boxing, my Jiu-Jitsu,
doing what I do while practicing and maybe dedicate myself a
little more to the tactic and strategic parts of my game.
You
were on a good win streak, and your last defeat has been to Anderson
Silva. In what way does this defeat disturb you from getting
closer to a chance at the belt?
It
always prevents us from moving forwards because it’s a loss.
But since it was a good bout, against a tough guy and as I proved
to have evolved in some aspects, I guess it’s not that bad.
Of course it’s a bump, it stops me from moving forwards.
But the important is to do our job the best way we can, because
now it’s gone.
You’re
a Jiu-Jitsu expert, but you haven’t submitted your opponents
for a long time, since you defeated Chael Sonnen. How do you
see it?
I
guess I was on a transition from the stand-up game, which made
me calmer and insconsciently I spent less energy trying to submit
guys while on the floor. But what’s gone is gone. On this
fight, for instance, if I got stuck on the ground, even against
a tough guy on the floor, I guess I could have submitted him.
So,
you think you should have insisted on your Jiu-Jitsu?
No.
I insisted a lot, because he was doing a good job blocking me.
I felt from the top when he launched a coup that hit me, so it
was hard. When I felt again it was due to a coup he has fit,
on the second round, so I wasn’t able to put so much pressure
on him as if I could have done if we were fighting Jiu-Jitsu
exclusively. So I guess it’s the other way around. On this
bout, if I had stick to my game plan, I wouldn’t have to
use my Jiu-Jitsu. And maybe I could’ve won.
Source: Tatame
|
What’s
the “Terminator” been up to?
The
nickname wasn’t one Rodolfo Vieira came up with himself,
nor was it this reporter. Truth be told, “Terminator”
is a joke friends and fans of GFTeam posted on the internet,
as shown in the above piece of art. Beyond being just amusement,
it’s a tribute to the representative of the team in Méier,
Rio de Janeiro, who has already established himself as the gentle
art’s man of the year. This season, Rodolfo won weight and
absolute at the Pan, World Pro and World Championship.
Invited
to take part at the ADCC, which may end up being another unprecedented
title won by the black belt, Vieira knows he’ll have his
work cut out for him. That’s why, after an impeccable Worlds
campaign, he’s taken the time to get some well-earned rest.
How does he go about doing that? Believe it or not, by putting
on his gi and training. The Master Julio Cesar prodigy is in
Colorado, USA, where he’s teaching seminars and private
lessons at the academy of our GMA Amal Easton.
“It’s
wonderful here and I’m blown away. I was surprised, I didn’t
realize it was such a beautiful place before,” he says.
“I’ve
even been training here, because it’s not good to stop completely
even when not competing. I’m here doing seminars, private
lessons, but I’m trying to get some training in to not get
rusty. It’s a time where I put some weight on, I’m
on vacation! I’ll get back to hard training two weeks into
next month,” he warns.
And
on his preparations for the ADCC:
“It’s
a question of grip adjustment. If I train hard for a little over
a month, I’ll be able to adapt my game a lot. I have to
practice a lot of wrestling because the ADCC rules are different
from what we’re used to. I’m going to do a lot of prep
work and will show up there real strong.”
Now
anyone wanting to see Rodolfo doesn’t need to go all the
way to Colorado. All they need to do is get on GRACIEMAG.com
or check out the upcoming issue of GRACIEMAG, serving up all
the best of what went down at the World Championship that you
don’t yet know about. Don’t miss it!
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
UFC
Live 4 on Versus Today!
Pittsburgh at Consol Energy Center
June 26, 2011
Dark
matches (Facebook)
¦Lightweights:
Michael Johnson vs. Edward Faaloloto
¦Lightweights: Ricardo Lamas vs. Matt Grice
¦Lightweights: Nik Lentz vs. Charles Oliveira
¦Welterweights: Charlie Brenneman vs. TJ Grant
¦Welterweights: Daniel Roberts vs. Rich Attonito
¦Lightweights: Joe Lauzon vs. Curt Warburton
¦Lightweights: Joe Stevenson vs. Javier Vazquez
¦Featherweights: Tyson Griffin vs. Manny Gamburyan
Hawaii
Time:
Channel 210 3:00-5:00PM
Main card
¦Heavyweights:
Matt Mitrione vs. Christian Morecraft
¦Welterweights: Matt Brown vs. John Howard
¦Heavyweights: Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry
¦Welterweights: Nate Marquardt vs. Rick Story
Source: Fight Opinion
|
MARTIAL
ARTS SEMINAR Today
Come and participate in this exciting martial art seminar taught
by some of the best and most experienced instructors around.
This 5-hour seminar will consist of techniques and strategies
from Kajukenbo, Chuan-fa, Wun Hop Kuen Do, Muay Thai, and White
Crane and Hop Gar Kung Fu systems. Come one, come all. Hurry!
Space is limited. Call Sigung Trent Sera at 205-9133 to pre-register.
WHEN: Sunday, June 26, 2011
8 a.m. – 1 p.m.
WHERE: Binhi at Ani C.C. (780 Onehee Ave., Kahului, Maui, across
from Maui Waena Intermediate School)
INSTRUCTORS:
Professor Frank Trujillo-School-Thai Bo Ka-Chuan-fa School
Muay Thai-Kick Boxer
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Professor
Ben Narciso-School-United Martial Art System
Karate-Kung-fu
Honolulu, HI
Sifu
Dennis Apeles-School-White Crane & Hop Gar System
Kung-fu
Honolulu, HI
Sifu
Al Dela Cruz-School-Kajukenbo Chuan-fa Kung-fu School
Honolulu, HI
Sifu
Al Dacascos-School-Wun Hop Kuen Do-Kajukenbo
Honolulu, HI
COST: $25.00 per person (pre-registered by May 31, 2011)
$35 per person (at the door)
CONTACT: Sigung Trent Sera
Sera’s Kajukenbo
(808) 205-9133
Source:
Trent Sera
|
Facebook
to stream "UFC on Versus 4" prelims
The
"UFC on Versus 4" preliminary card is set to stream
live on Facebook.
The
undercard features eight contests, beginning with Edward Faaloloto
vs. Michael Johnson, and finishes up with Manny Gamburyan vs.
Tyson Griffin. All eight fights will be free to those who "like"
the UFC's Facebook page.
The
remainder of the fights, including the main event between Nate
Marquardt and Rick Story, will also be free to fans, as the four-fight
main card will broadcast live on Versus.
The
Facebook stream will begin at 6 p.m. ET on June 26 and wrap up
around 9 p.m. ET, when the main card kicks off with a heavyweight
battle between Matt Mitrione and Christian Morecraft. As always,
stay tuned to HeavyMMA.com for complete coverage of the event.
Source: Heavy.com
|
Rener
Gracie Seminar at O2 Martial Arts Academy
Friday,
July 8
Time: 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Cost: $65
It's
on like Donkey Kong! Rener Gracie is booked for a seminar at
O2 Martial Arts Academy on Friday, July 8 from 7:00 pm to 9:00
pm. The price is $65. Rener is an incredible mix of a precise
technician and a detailed instructor. He is going to focus on
Triangles.
Don't miss it! Email us to let us know
you are coming!
We would highly recommend you make the other two seminars as
well at Relson Gracie HK (Wednesday) and Ronn Shiraki Academy
(Tuesday) for the Tri-Fecta of Seminars all teaching different
techniques to guarantee value for your hard earned money!
|
 |
Aloha everyone,
Hope
all is well with everyone. Our 2011 Sera's Kajukenbo Open Tournament
will be held on Saturday, July 16th at War Memorial Gym in Wailuku,
Maui. This year, in addition to 1st and 2nd place trophies for
each division, we will be awarding Team Champions trophies for
each of the three events (Continuous Sparring, MMA (Controlled),
and Submission Grappling). Attached is an event flier for your
reference and distribution. If you have any questions, e-mail
or call me at 205-9133. Mahalo,
Sigung
Trent Sera
Sera's Kajukenbo
|
JZ
Cavalcante Moving Forward After No Decision, Wants On Fedor vs.
Henderson Card
By Damon
Martin
Life
is full of bumps in the road and nobody understands that better
than Strikeforce lightweight Gesias ‘JZ’ Cavalcante.
The
one time K-1 and Dream competitor has had some of the most unusual
circumstances around some of his fights over the last few years.
Starting with his bout against Shinya Aoki in Dream that was
ruled a no contest after JZ landed some illegal elbow strikes
and his opponent was unable to continue.
Making
his Strikeforce debut, Cavalcante seemingly sewed up a win over
former lightweight champion Josh Thomson, but the judges went
the other way and the Brazilian ended up with a loss on his record
instead.
Then
came last Saturday night when he faced American Kickboxing Academy
fighter Justin Wilcox. A back and forth first round set the stage
for what was a highly anticipated lightweight contender’s
bout, but what resulted was an accidental eye poke from Cavalcante
to Wilcox, and because of his impaired vision the fight was stopped
and ruled a no decision.
“It’s
disappointing you know? I’ve been through so much,”
Cavalcante told MMAWeekly Radio on Thursday. “It’s
okay, after the fight I get to my knees, I prayed, that’s
the thing I do everyday. I was asking God to give me everything
I need, and not just what I want. I say this prayer everyday,
so after the fight that was the only thing in my mind. I was
like okay let’s move on and keep it going.”
Regardless
of the way the fight ended, the night didn’t start the way
JZ had hoped either. Due to some longer bouts earlier in the
night, Cavalcante and Wilcox were bumped up time wise so they
could appear on the HDNet prelim show, so the former American
Top Team fighter got little time to warm up properly in the back.
While
the first round didn’t go to plan, Cavalcante was ready
to come back stronger in the second.
“I
feel I lost the round,” Cavalcante admitted about the first
five minutes. “Either way we didn’t have an advantage
in anything, but just the fact that he walks forward a little
bit more, I give the round to him.
“The
2nd round the mentality was go forward, whatever happens, I’m
comfortable.”
Unfortunately,
Cavalcante barely got a chance to institute any of his strategy
changes after his finger landed in Wilcox’s eye, effectively
ending the fight.
“I
threw a teep (kick) and a right hand and then I stepped out and
give a step back and he walks forward, as he walks like he’s
going to shoot or something, I just extended my arm a little
bit just to avoid and he walked in on my finger,” Cavalcante
explained.
With
the string of bad luck that Cavalcante has endured lately, most
fighters would be frustrated beyond words and mad at the world.
That’s just not who JZ Cavalcante is though.
As
positive as any fighter can be, Cavalcante is pushing forward
and just looking forward to the next opportunity.
“I’m
already looking forward,” said Cavalcante. “Looking
for another fight soon on Strikeforce, I’m waiting just
for the call, and see if Strikeforce says ‘you’re going
to fight on the next card’ or get the rematch (with Justin
Wilcox) if he’s able.”
While
a rematch to finish the fight with Wilcox would be the perfect
scenario, Cavalcante wants to compete on the upcoming Strikeforce:
Fedor vs. Henderson card against any fighter the promotion puts
him in the cage with.
“I
would like to get the rematch, but if I have to wait, no I want
to fight right away, (against) anybody. I want to be on that
card,” Cavalcante stated.
The
Brazilian is already back in the gym helping his friend Thiago
Tavares get ready for his upcoming fight, and he’ll be ready
for whenever Strikeforce makes the call.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Werdum:
That Wasn’t Me Fighting Overeem
by Gleidson
Venga
Last
Saturday’s rematch between Alistair Overeem and Fabricio
Werdum went from highly anticipated to largely reviled over the
course of its 15-minute duration.
Overeem
advanced to the semifinals of Strikeforce’s 2011 heavyweight
grand prix on the strength of a tepid unanimous decision, while
Werdum was criticized by fans and pundits for repeatedly and
unsuccessfully attempting to pull guard throughout the fight.
Speaking
Tuesday to Sherdog.com, Werdum revealed that he was shocked at
his own poor performance and apologized to MMA fans for the fight.
“I’m
still trying to figure out what happened to me that night,”
Werdum told Sherdog.com. “It wasn’t me fighting. What
I did was awful, ugly to see. I want to apologize to Brazilian
fans and MMA fans. I didn’t listen to my corner. Rafael
[Cordeiro, Kings MMA leader] was telling me to keep striking,
not to try to pull guard, but I didn’t do that. I wasn’t
listening to him, wasn’t focusing on the fight the way that
I should’ve been. It wasn’t a good fight for me or
Overeem.”
Werdum
had only two chances to work on the ground, and the 33-year-old
failed to submit Overeem on both occasions. However, the Brazilian
could have had more opportunities if some of his many takedown
attempts worked. In spite of his inability to get the fight where
he wanted it, “Vai Cavalo” refused to say his grappling
and wrestling skills weren’t polished, and related his surprise
with how strong his opponent was.
“I
felt he was much, much stronger than me,” Werdum said of
Overeem. “I tried to take him down many times, with double-legs,
single-legs... but it was like hitting a wall. He was impressively
strong. It wasn’t a lack of training. I worked hard with
Mark Munoz, I took down everyone at the gym, but it was different
in the fight. I just tried to pull him to my guard after I failed
on my takedown attempts. I gotta get stronger to keep fighting
at the highest level of heavyweight.”
Dissatisfied
with his performance in the bizarre fight, Werdum now looks forward
to a potential third meeting with Overeem, whom Werdum submitted
during Pride Fighting Championships’ 2006 openweight grand
prix.
“Now
we’re tied,” said Werdum. “I hope someday I can
meet him again, to see how we break this tie. Maybe Saturday
wasn’t my time to win. I thought I was 100-percent, but
I wasn’t. I’ll work to fix my mistakes, because I want
to be the Strikeforce or UFC champion.
“I’m
sad because I know I could have won that fight,” Werdum
lamented. “I showed a lot of improvement in my striking
game, but I wanted to do some jiu-jitsu with him also. Everyone
calls for me to strike, and I go. When I call people to my guard,
they never go. I still want to see the K-1 champ, the guy who
knocks everyone out in the first round. He didn’t show much,
didn’t hit me hard enough to knock me down. I landed more
punches and my mistake was to try so many times to pull him to
my guard. I believe I lost to him, and not that he defeated me.”
Sometime
this fall, in the tournament semifinals, Overeem will rematch
another Brazilian who defeated Fedor Emelianenko, Antonio “Pezao”
Silva. After what he saw in Saturday’s fight, Werdum believes
his countryman will defeat the Dutchman and advance to the final.
“Pezao
will beat him,” asserted Werdum. “I thought Overeem
was going to show more, hit harder, but he didn’t. I suffered
a lot because he’s much stronger than me, but Silva is naturally
stronger. If [Silva] has a good camp and gets prepared well,
he’ll take this fight for sure.”
Source:
Sherdog
|
Former
Olympian Daniel Cormier Takes AKA's Wrestling Program Back to
the Basics
By Ben
Fowlkes
Ask
Daniel Cormier what he changed about the American Kickboxing
Academy's wrestling program and you'll get a very simple answer:
"Everything."
It
wasn't so much tweaking as it was ripping it all out and starting
from scratch. Which, according to AKA co-founder and trainer
Javier Mendez, is exactly what they needed.
"He
100 percent revamped the wrestling program," Mendez said.
"When he came over and I saw his ability with teaching,
I told our management, I don't care if this guy develops as a
fighter, because worst-case scenario, we got a great wrestling
coach. As it looks, we got both: great fighter and great wrestling
coach."
It
wasn't that the San Jose, Calif.-based gym was lacking in wrestlers
before Cormier showed up. Between Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, and
Cain Velasquez, the squad had plenty of guys who had done their
time in college wrestling rooms.
What
they didn't have, according to Mendez, was somebody willing to
take the lead as a teacher and a coach.
"We
didn't have anybody who really loved the teaching. Koscheck didn't
like it. Fitch didn't like it. They're more interested in themselves.
Daniel actually loves to teach, and that made him better with
technique than anyone else. He's got a passion for teaching and
a knack for it like I've never seen."
It
wasn't that Cormier brought in new ideas, necessarily, but rather
that he helped his teammates return to the old ones that had
helped get them to where they were.
"I
went in, and these guys are good wrestlers," Cormier said.
"Really good wrestlers. Fitch, Kos is an NCAA champion,
four-time All-American. Cain's an All-American three or four
times. But what we did is we went back to the basics."
And
by basics, Cormier means they started having wrestling practice
again, just like some of them had done in college, and others
had done, well, never. As the only two-time Olympic wrestling
team member in the gym, Cormier made it his mission to strip
everything down and start from the beginning in order to focus
on technique above all else, he said.
"We
all develop bad habits over the course of our careers, in terms
of wrestling and everything else. But we went back and went to
the basics, started doing basic wrestling practice. We'd get
in there two days a week and we'd do wrestling practice as if
we were at Oklahoma State or the Olympic Training Center. No
punching, just straight wrestling practice. Not many gyms around
the country do that. That's why you see some of the better wrestlers
[in MMA], their skill level diminishes as they move forward."
Cormier
was determined not to be one of those guys as his MMA career
advanced. He showed up at AKA with a wealth of wrestling experience,
but not much else. Strapping on the gloves and getting on the
mats made for a humbling experience at first, he admitted. The
first time that he got taken down in sparring by a fighter with
no formal wrestling training he realized that this was whole
new sport, with entirely different demands.
What
really drove that lesson home was taking on Velasquez -- the
current UFC heavyweight champion -- in some seriously one-sided
sparring sessions.
"Some
days I'd only be able to go a half a round with him, half a five-minute
round, and I'd roll under the ring I'd be so exhausted. Well,
when I was down on myself, [Velasquez] would come over and talk
to me. And Koscheck, you know, most people don't expect it from
him...but he did it. He came to me and told me, 'You're getting
better, just stay the course and learn.' And Fitch, Fitch is
one of the best leaders you can ever find. Those guys lifted
me up when I had hard days, and it's paying off now."
At
the same time, while Cormier gave his AKA teammates the benefit
of his wrestling knowledge, they were equipping him with what
he needed to become successful mixed martial artist -- and they
were doing it whether he liked it or not.
"It's
not like I can just take Cain down any time I want, so I have
to stand in the pocket with him and fight him," Cormier
said. "I can take him down, but I can't just go in there
and say, I'm going to take Cain down this time. It doesn't work
that way; he's a world champion. So I have to stand in front
of the best heavyweight in the world and bang with him. I do
it on a daily basis."
Cormier's
gains in the striking department were evident in his bout with
Jeff Monson on last weekend's Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum
card. For three rounds he battered the MMA veteran on the feet
en route to a unanimous decision.
It
was almost enough to make you wonder what all that time working
on straight wrestling was for, since Cormier never looked to
engage Monson on the mat. That's a lot of hours invested in takedowns
for a guy who relied so much on his right hand.
But
then, it's not like Cormier really needed to improve his wrestling
game to begin with. The changes he made at AKA, he did for the
other people in the gym. And seeing it pay off for them is reward
enough, he said.
"We
train wrestling hard and we do it two days a week. At first it
was physical. It was real physical and hard and it was hard for
us to get through the rest of the week... But the guys love it.
They enjoy it, and everybody's getting better. I saw a kid in
the room the other day that couldn't wrestle to save his life.
But by just paying attention, wrestling every week hard, he's
getting a ton better. Now, that's not me -- that's him. He's
paying attention to everything we're trying to teach him and
he's learning and committing himself to the sport. Now he's taking
down wrestlers."
And
you better believe that nobody gets more excited about that turn
of events than Cormier -- even if you wouldn't know it if you
watched him forego double-legs in favor of switch kicks and Superman
punches.
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
Alistair
Overeem says his upcoming fight with Bigfoot Silva will happen
in October
By Zach
Arnold
I
would like to embed this MMAFighting.com video for you here,
but their video player does not allow for embeddable HTML coding.
So, here’s the transcript.
ARIEL
HELWANI: “You had an interesting fight. Some fans, as you
could imagine, are a little disappointed. What did you think
of your performance?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “Well, I came here to knock him out… I trained
hard for this fight, four months training camp. Yeah, I’m
a little bit disappointed I couldn’t deliver on my promise
to the fans and I apologize for that. But, you need two to tango
and looking back at the fight, looking back at the total takedowns
attempted, I can only come to the conclusion that Fabricio didn’t
want to fight in the stand-up with me at all. Yeah, it was a
little stalling in the fight on the ground and, um… Yeah,
I got the win but I’m not entirely satisfied.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “What’s going through your mind when he’s,
you know, on his back and he’s telling you, ‘please,
please, come to the ground with me,’ and obviously you have
pride and you want to deliver for the fans but you obviously
want to fight a smart fight. But what’s going through your
mind when that’s happening, because you want to deliver
for the fans but you also don’t want to go into his trap
so how do you stop yourself from going into that trap?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “Well, first of all, by not getting too emotional.
Of course, when somebody is challenging you, you want to respond
to that challenge especially when there’s a lot of fans
watching but… on the other hand, I mean, c’mon, you’re
the one laying down all the time. So, I think I’m not satisfied
by my performance because I couldn’t deliver on the knockout
but I think he should be a little bit ashamed of his performance
by not delivering to the fans at all what they paid for their
tickets.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “Do you think, you know, maybe he sort of ‘tricked’
Fedor to go the ground with him in their first fight he pulled
guard that this sort of got to his head in a sense that he thought
he could do the same thing to you and he kept going back to that?
Because even on his feet, you know, he looked comfortable, he
was engaging, but he kept going back to the ground. So, do you
think that he thought based on what he did to Fedor that he could
do the same to you and that kind of ruined the fight in a sense?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “Well, I have the idea that he did engage in the
stand-up fight but not to knock me out at all. It was all based
to set up a takedown and then, yeah, as soon that didn’t
work, he kept stalling in the fight.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “On the feet, a couple of times it looks like he
landed some shots. Did he ever hurt you at any point?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “He didn’t hurt me, but of course the small
gloves and, yeah, some connected a little bit. But he didn’t
hurt me and that’s what I mean by he was throwing strikes
but not with the intention to knock out. He was throwing strikes
to attempt to get me off base and then get a takedown. Different
kind of strikes.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “Scott Coker told us that he thought cage rust
was a factor, that maybe cardio or a lack of cardio played into
your performance. How did you feel out there?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “Well… he kept going for the takedown, it
frustrated me a little bit. I think my cardio was not that bad
but it was also… I just wanted to be able to finish the
fight.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “We talked earlier this week about the ranking
sand the way people view you. This was really your first heavyweight
you fought in MMA who’s in the Top 10. Do you think that
you proved a point that you are a Top 5 Heavyweight after this
one?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “Well, I’m going to leave it that up to you
guys and the fans.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “You start thinking about Bigfoot (Silva) yet or
you still focused on this one?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “Well, Bigfoot is the next one. I’m going
to start training for him a couple of weeks, but for now it’s
time for a holiday.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “When do you think that fight will happen?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “I’m not sure, I’m not sure. I think
probably October or something.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “When would you like for it to happen?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “I think October’s good.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “For him, because he said, you know, he wasn’t
all that impressed with your performance and he promised he’s
going to win the tournament and all that. He’s probably
the strongest guy that you’ve ever fought in MMA, the biggest
guy. I mean, this guy has to cut weight to make 265. He’s
massive, going on his feet, going on the ground. Do you think
you need to do something different in training because now it’s
a drastically different opponent than the one you fought in Werdum?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “Yeah, we’re definitely going to step up the
game. I’m going to switch some things up but I’m going
to be ready.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “Is Alistair Overeem still the favorite of the
tournament?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “You should ask that to the fans.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “I was just wondering what you thought.”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “Well, I think I’m one of the favorites, definitely.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “Did you see Barnett’s fight?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “Yeah, I did.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “What did you think of his performance?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “Well, I already though he would win. He has a
lot of experience, a lot more than Brett, he’s also a clever
fighter. Yeah, also it’s a difference in styles and Brett
is a hard-hitter, he wants to bring it in the stand-up and then,
yeah, what’s his name, Josh Barnett is clever enough not
to get into that game and just take him to the ground. Yeah,
he did good, he did good.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “And, finally, your brother suffered a tough loss
tonight. Chad Griggs is an interest guy, I mean he’s kind
of just a brawler. What did you think of that fight or did you
even see it, because I know you were preparing for your fight?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “I saw the fight and… it was a bad fight,
I can tell you, it was a very bad fight.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “What did you think happened?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “I don’t know actually, I can’t give
you an answer on that.”
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Buakaw,
Yod, Saiyok, Sudsakorn Set to Fight August 7 in Japan
by Rian
Scalia
After
the recent success of Thai Fight Extreme's event in France in
May, they're now headed to Japan. With an already scheduled event
in Hong Kong on July 17, Thai Fight Extreme is yet another organization
that is picking up the pace in 2011. As usual, Thai Fight Extreme
will use full Thai rules.
The
two time K-1 World MAX Grand Prix champion, Buakaw Por. Pramuk
is set to take on Tomoaki Makino. Makino is very tall for the
weight class and he'll have to use every bit of his height to
beat one of the K-1 greats in Buakaw. Buakaw has recently had
a foray into fighting under full Thai rules, picking up a win
over Djime Coulibaly at the May 14 Thai Fight Extreme show in
France. Before ths fight in August though, Buakaw will be taking
on Brazillian Gilmar China on the Thai Fight Extreme card in
Hong Kong on July 17.
Yodsaenklai
Fairtex is another fighter who picked up a win at Thai Fight
Extreme's May event, and also who will be fighting on the Hong
Kong card against Karim Ghajji. On August 7, he'll fight Yasuhiko
Shirasu of Japan.
World
renowned Saiyok Pumpanmuang will take on Kou Suman of Japan.
Fabio Pinca will fight Yuya Yamato, not to be confused with the
Yuya Yamamoto of Krush and K-1. Yamato upset Pinca at the May
Thai Fight Extreme event when Pinca was unable to continue due
to cuts. Pinca will look to get his revenge and even up the score.
Sudsakorn Sor Klinmee will be facing TOMOYUKI but before that
he'll take on Egon Racz on the July 17 card in China. Also look
out for MMA veteran Akihiro Gono to be on the card.
Thai
Fight Extreme seems to be using the same Thai fighters on each
of their events with Buakaw, Yod, Sudsakorn and Saiyok being
showcased on all 3 current events. Much like the France card,
the Japan card features a Japan vs. Thailand theme. Thanks to
Nightmare of Battle for the news.
Source: Liver Kick
|
Forrest
wants to squash 'fluke' talk
Forrest Griffin is on a mission to prove that his UFC 76 win
over Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua was not a lucky one when
they rematch at UFC 134.
While
in Brazil for a press conference to promote the event, Griffin
spoke with TatameTV and expressed his hopes to prove something
with the match.
“I
just need to prove that the first fight wasn't a fluke. I need
to prove that I'm still relevant,” he said when asked what
his motivation for the rematch is.
The
interviewer pressed him on the subject of whether he thinks he
will get a title shot if he wins, and how he would match up with
Jon Jones, but Griffin declined to address either subject.
“I
don't think about Jon Jones! Just Shogun,” he said. When
asked why he doesn’t think about the title or getting a
title shot, he ventured into slightly philosophical territory.
“Its
a long story its like climbing a mountain. You look up a the
mountain and its high, you look down and its a good big fall.
Just concentrate on what you’re doing, one footstep at a
time.”
Griffin’s
first fight with Rua was in 2007 and ended with a third-round
submission win for Griffin. Rua gassed noticeably, which was
attributed to him returning to action after a long layoff from
surgery.
Predictably,
Rua fans said that Griffin was able to beat him only because
of that long layoff and have long maintained he would not beat
a fully fit Shogun. We will find out in August.
Source: Fighter's Only
|
Marius
Zaromskis Rematches Hayato ‘Mach’ Sakurai in Dream
on July 16
Dream
champion Marius Zaromskis will look to go two for two when he
faces Hayato ‘Mach’ Sakurai on July 16 at the Dream:
Japan GP Final.
Dream
officials confirmed the bout on Thursday, and also stated it
would be a non-title match.
Zaromskis
and Sakurai first met in July 2009 during the Dream Welterweight
Grand Prix. Zaromskis was making his rise to fame and did so
at the expense of Sakurai, who he finished with a nasty head
kick and punches in the first round of their match-up.
Zaromskis
went on to win the Grand Prix and be crowned the Dream welterweight
champion. Unfortunately for Zaromskis it was almost all downhill
from there.
Since
winning the title, Zaromskis has gone an abysmal 2-3-1 with one
of those wins coming over Japanese legend Kazushi Sakuraba when
his ear was literally ripped off during their fight last year.
A
one time top five welterweight, Hayato ‘Mach’ Sakurai
has also fallen on tough times lately, losing his last four fights
in a row.
Sakurai
will look to turn the tide and gain a bit of revenge when he
faces Zaromskis in July.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Sherdog
Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings
It’s
been a busy month, one with the level of activity people wish
they could have seen in the rematch between Fabricio Werdum and
Alistair Overeem.
In
the much-anticipated heavyweight showdown on June 18 in Dallas,
Werdum employed the butt scoot and Overeem seldom engaged, creating
a tedious fight that caused much weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Overeem was able to notch the unanimous decision victory -- arguably
the biggest in his career -- but hardly electrified the MMA fanbase.
Breakout
performances have happened recently in the Octagon: Mark Munoz,
Brian Stann and Rick Story all join the Sherdog.com rankings
courtesy of recent big wins. Munoz thwarted former UFC title
challenger Demian Maia, Stann bulldozed former Sengoku champ
Jorge Santiago and Rick Story joined the welterweight elite with
a thorough decision over Thiago Alves.
The
aforementioned Story isn’t staying put, either. The next
time these rankings are published, he’ll be moving and shaking
in one form or fashion, as Story is set to welcome former UFC
middleweight title challenger Nate Marquardt to the UFC 170-pound
ranks June 26 in Pittsburgh.
Heavyweight
1.
Cain Velasquez (9-0)
The hope was that Velasquez would make the first defense of his
UFC heavyweight title in April or May against Junior dos Santos.
However, rehab did not mend his torn rotator cuff, and surgery
became a necessity. The American Kickboxing Academy product now
appears to be on track for a Nov. 19 title tilt with “Cigano”
in San Jose, Calif.
2.
Junior dos Santos (13-1)
Dos Santos took a chance, and that chance paid off. Instead of
sitting on the shelf while UFC heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez
recuperated from shoulder surgery, No. 1 contender “Cigano”
took a June 11 bout with Shane Carwin, a replacement for original
opponent Brock Lesnar. The Brazilian boxed his way to a unanimous
decision win, taking Carwin the distance for the first time in
his career and keeping his trajectory for an expected Nov. 19
showdown with Velasquez.
3.
Alistair Overeem (35-11, 1 NC)
While it lacked the fireworks most expected, Overeem’s June
18 decision win over Fabricio Werdum nonetheless moved the “Demolition
Man” along in Strikeforce’s 2011 heavyweight grand
prix. After notching his most relevant win in years, Overeem
will look to add another major scalp to his collection when he
meets Antonio Silva in the tournament semifinals this fall.
4.
Fabricio Werdum (14-5-1)
On June 18, 51 weeks after submitting Fedor Emelianenko in a
shocking upset, Werdum found himself in an entirely different
type of fight. Despite showing flashes of strong standup, the
Brazilian spent much of his Strikeforce 2011 heayvweight grand
prix quarterfinal attempting to pull guard and lure Alistair
Overeem into his realm. The Dutchman stayed upright for almost
the entire bout and did enough to walk away with a unanimous
decision, evening the pair’s series at 1-1.
5.
Brock Lesnar (5-2)
Lesnar’s old nemesis came back in May to take him down again.
No, it wasn’t Frank Mir, but diverticulitis, the intestinal
disease which first sidelined the hulking heavyweight in 2009.
After being forced from his No. 1 contender’s bout with
Junior dos Santos, Lesnar underwent surgery to remove 12 inches
of his colon, but the ex-UFC champ is reportedly making a speedy
recovery and is expected to return in early 2012.
6.
Shane Carwin (12-2)
Carwin didn’t tire as he did in his title fight with Brock
Lesnar, but the massive Coloradoan had little answer for Junior
dos Santos’ strong striking in a three-round decision loss
on June 11. After beginning his career with 12 consecutive stoppage
wins, Carwin has now lost two in a row and will need to rebound
in his next trip to the Octagon to stay among the company’s
top big men.
7.
Frank Mir (15-5)
The former UFC champ dominated Roy Nelson from bell to bell May
28 to take a unanimous decision. Going the distance for the first
time since 2006, Mir looked strong throughout, though he was
unable to put away an exhausted “Big Country” after
taking the fight into deep water.
8.
Antonio Silva (16-2)
When he burst on the scene in 2005, many hypothesized that Silva
was the man to topple Fedor Emelianenko. The stakes changed,
but on Feb. 12 in New Jersey, that is exactly what happened.
“Pezao” pounded the legendary Russian, forcing a doctor
stoppage after the second frame and punching his ticket to the
semifinals of Strikeforce’s heavyweight grand prix, where
he will face Alistair Overeem later this year.
9.
Fedor Emelianenko (31-3, 1 NC)
Following the first back-to-back losses of his storied career,
“The Last Emperor” seems a man on the brink. A win
over thunder-fisted Strikeforce 205-pound champion Dan Henderson
in their July 30 heavyweight bout could restore some luster to
Emelianenko’s tarnished reputation. Given the Russian’s
retirement talk in the wake of his February defeat at the hands
of Antonio Silva, a loss could be disastrous.
10.
Josh Barnett (30-5)
Competing for the first time in 11 months, the newly re-nicknamed
“War Master” Barnett simply outclassed Brett Rogers
in their June 18 Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix quarterfinal.
The catch-wrestling stylist had Rogers on his back early and
never relented, methodically working his ground game before tapping
“The Grim” with a second-round arm-triangle choke.
Awaiting Barnett in the tournament semifinals later this year
will be Russian slugger Sergei Kharitonov.
Other
contenders: Sergei Kharitonov, Cole Konrad, Roy Nelson, Mike
Russow,Brendan Schaub.
Light
Heavyweight
1.
Jon Jones (13-1)
It’s been a bumpy ride since 23-year-old Jones became the
UFC’s new 205-pound by blasting Mauricio Rua in March. First,
he was to fight former teammate Rashad Evans. Then, he was sidelined
with a nagging injured hand that required surgery. Now, “Bones”
is back, forgoing the operation in order to defend his belt for
the first time against Quinton Jackson at UFC 135 on Sept. 24.
2.
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (19-5)
Following yet another lengthy layoff due to knee surgery, “Shogun”
was mauled by young gun Jon Jones in his March 19 return, dropping
his UFC 205-pound title in the process. While the former Pride
star has a long way to go toward avenging that loss, he will
have the chance to take back the defeat from his 2007 Octagon
debut when he rematches Forrest Griffin on Aug. 27 in Rio de
Janeiro.
3.
Rashad Evans (15-1-1)
In spite of the drama that surrounded Evans and Jon Jones after
Jones’ March 19 title win, the former training partners
will not meet in the cage anytime soon. With Jones on the mend
due to hand surgery, Evans will instead face unbeaten prospect
Phil Davis at UFC 133 on Aug. 6.
4.
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (32-8)
In his 40th professional fight, “Rampage” put on a
show, shutting down every shot from fellow wrestler Matt Hamill
and pounding “The Hammer” in the standup on his way
to a May 28 unanimous nod. The win set up a Sept. 24 collision
between Jackson and the man who currently holds the belt that
was once his, Jon Jones, at UFC 135.
5.
Lyoto Machida (17-2)
Machida threw the brakes on a two-fight skid, as he knocked hall
of famer Randy Couture into retirement with a highlight-reel
front kick at UFC 129. Before more than 55,000 fans in Toronto,
the former light heavyweight champion reminded the MMA world
why he remains a perennial title contender at 205 pounds.
6.
Forrest Griffin (18-6)
The original “Ultimate Fighter” returned to the cage
in February for the first time in 15 months and took a unanimous
decision over former middleweight titleholder Rich Franklin.
The 31-year-old will continue his road back to title contention
when he meets fellow ex-light heavyweight champ Mauricio “Shogun”
Rua in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 27. It will be a rematch of a September
2007 bout which Griffin won in a shocker.
7.Ryan
Bader (12-1)
Bader came up well short in his February encounter with Jon Jones,
submitting to a guillotine choke late in the second round. However,
the former Arizona State University Sun Devil will have a chance
to get back on track and add another big name to his resume when
he takes on Tito Ortiz in Las Vegas on July 2.
8.
Phil Davis (9-0)
So much for taking some time off. Shortly after outpointing Antonio
Rogerio Nogueira and announcing a break from the hectic schedule
that saw him go 5-0 in a 13-month span, “Mr. Wonderful”
was pulled back into the fold. The unbeaten collegiate wrestling
standout will replace injured 205-pound champ Jon Jones against
Rashad Evans on Aug. 6, and he will do so before a hometown crowd
in Philadelphia.
9.
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (19-5)
The legendarily durable “Little Nog” provided a stiff
test for up-and-comer Phil Davis on March 26 but dropped a just
unanimous decision after three rounds. The 34-year-old Brazilian
will attempt to rebound from the first back-to-back losses of
his 10-year career on Aug.6, when he faces Rich Franklin at UFC
133 in Philadelphia.
10.
Dan Henderson (27-8)
On March 5, Henderson became the oldest reigning champion in
any major MMA promotion by punching out Rafael Cavalcante and
snatching the Brazilian’s Strikeforce 205-pound strap. Henderson
made it known afterward that he sought a quick turnaround for
his next fight, and it came, though not in his own weight class.
Heavy-handed “Hendo” will move up to heavyweight July
30 for a chance to further his legacy in a duel with Russian
great Fedor Emelianenko.
Other
contenders: Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante, Rich Franklin,
Matt Hamill, Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal, Gegard Mousasi.
Middleweight
1.
Anderson Silva (28-4)
Though many believe that the UFC’s preeminent 185-pounder
has little left to accomplish in the cage, there is still some
housekeeping for “The Spider” to attend to. Silva will
look to erase the most recent loss on his record, a 2006 disqualification
against Yushin Okami, when he meets the Chael Sonnen training
partner Aug. 27 in Rio de Janeiro. A win would extend Silva’s
ongoing UFC records for most consecutive wins (13) and title
defenses (eight).
2.
Chael Sonnen (25-11-1)
It’s going to be a while before we see Sonnen back inside
the Octagon. The 34-year-old wrestler appeared before the California
State Athletic Commission on May 18 in appeal of the indefinite
suspension handed down for what the CSAC believed were inconsistencies
in Sonnen’s December testimony, itself an appeal of his
September suspension for performance-enhancing drugs. The Oregonian’s
latest appeal was denied, and UFC officials have stated that
the company will honor the CSAC’s ruling, and will not book
Sonnen for a bout until he is once again licensed to fight.
3.
Yushin Okami (26-5)
After 10 wins and five years in the UFC, Okami will finally get
his second go-around with Anderson Silva on Aug. 27. A November
decision against Nate Marquardt put “Thunder” in line
for the middleweight title shot, which will come before 14,000
of Silva’s countrymen in Rio de Janeiro.
4.
Nate Marquardt (31-10-2)
It’s rare to see a fighter drop in weight class on the heels
of a win, but “Nate the Great” will do just that on
June 26. Marquardt outpointed Dan Miller in March and was originally
set to headline UFC Live 4 against Anthony Johnson. Instead,
the Grudge Training Center representative will take his first
bout at 170 pounds against surging late-replacement Rick Story.
5.
Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (14-2, 1 NC)
Souza has been unbeatable thus far in his Strikeforce run, compiling
a 4-0 record since joining the promotion in late-2009. The decorated
Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion will look to defend his Strikeforce
185-pound belt for the second time Sept. 10 when he takes on
American Kickboxing Academy’s Luke Rockhold, himself riding
a six-fight finishing spree in the Strikeforce cage.
6.
Mark Munoz (11-2)
The “Filipino Wrecking Machine” raised his stock considerably
June 11 when he edged out a decision win in a fantastic bout
with former title challenger Demian Maia. Though not yet confirmed,
the 33-year-old wrestler’s name has been attached to a late-2011
bout against Brian Stann that, if made, could propel either man
into contendership.
7.
Demian Maia (14-3)
Maia was outpointed but never beaten in his excellent and technical
June 11 scrap with Mark Munoz at UFC 131. The Brazilian submission
specialist, a training partner of Wanderlei Silva, surprised
many by showing aggressive and speedy strikes against the heavy-handed
Munoz, but ultimately fell in a narrow unanimous decision.
8.
Brian Stann (11-3)
The former U.S. Marine continued on his warpath May 28 with a
violent second-round thumping of former Sengoku middleweight
ace Jorge Santiago. Stann is now 5-2 in the Octagon with three
straight stoppage wins, including a January knockout of the typically
granite-chinned Chris Leben. While his next opponent has yet
to be announced, Stann has been rumored to take part in what
could be a No. 1 contender’s bout against Mark Munoz.
9.
Jorge Santiago (23-9)
Santiago’s skills were not in question after his May 28
knockout loss to Brian Stann, only his chin. In four Octagon
appearances, the Brazilian’s beard has thrice been his downfall,
also losing via KO to Chris Leben and Alan Belcher in 2006. Santiago
reentered the UFC against Stann having won 11 of his last 12,
though he was also punched out in the Sengoku ring during a November
2009 encounter with Mamed Khalidov.
10.
Michael Bisping (21-3)
Bisping got the last laugh against antagonist Jorge Rivera on
Feb. 27, when he stopped “El Conquistador” on second-round
punches in their UFC 127 co-headliner. While the Brit’s
post-fight actions may not have won him scads of new fans, “The
Count” proved himself definitively to be a better and more
versatile fighter than Rivera. Where Bisping goes from here remains
to be seen, but regardless, he remains a valuable commodity for
the UFC’s international outings.
Other
contenders: Alan Belcher, Vitor Belfort, Mamed Khalidov, Hector
Lombard, Robbie Lawler.
Welterweight
1.
Georges St. Pierre (22-2)
It’s finally happening. After months, even years of calls
for dominant UFC 170-pound king St. Pierre to face off against
Strikeforce counterpart Nick Diaz, the UFC has tabbed the match
for UFC 137 on Oct. 29. GSP will enter his sixth title defense
on a nine-fight tear, most recently having served Diaz teammate
Jake Shields a five-round decision loss in April.
2.
Jon Fitch (23-3-1, 1 NC)
Fitch would have had the chance to erase the first stalemate
of his career in a rematch of his February draw with B.J. Penn.
However, the rangy wrestler suffered a training injury in late
March that was severe enough to force him from the July date.
What matchup awaits him upon his return remains to be seen.
3.
Jake Shields (26-5-1)
Shields’ five-year, 15-fight win streak came to an end on
April 30, when he suffered the same fate as many UFC welterweight
title contenders before him: a unanimous decision loss at the
hands of Georges St. Pierre. While the Cesar Gracie product landed
at times, St. Pierre’s striking prowess was too much for
Shields to handle over the course of 25 minutes.
4.
Josh Koscheck (15-5)
Koscheck’s crushing Dec. 11 defeat to Georges St. Pierre
was not just figurative; it was literal. Following surgery to
repair a smashed orbital bone, Koscheck will spend at least six
months on the shelf before returning to action, potentially stepping
back into the Octagon sometime this summer.
5.
Nick Diaz (25-7, 1 NC)
Left without a clear-cut top contender after his April 9 dispatching
of Paul Daley, the 27-year-old from Stockton, Calif., briefly
turned his gaze toward the boxing ring. However, after reportedly
being summoned to a Las Vegas meeting with Dana White, Diaz inked
a new contract with the UFC and has vacated his Strikeforce belt.
Diaz is now set for a major title collision with UFC champ Georges
St. Pierre Oct. 29 in Las Vegas.
6.
Rick Story (13-3)
In the span of 15 minutes on May 28, Story switched from surging
prospect to serious contender by outpointing former UFC welterweight
title challenger Thiago Alves. The hard-nosed wrestler from Washington
has reeled off six impressive victories in the Octagon, including
wins over Dustin Hazelett and the previously unbeaten Johny Hendricks.
7.
Thiago Alves (18-8)
Having previously won seven consecutive UFC starts, Alves has
recently fallen on hard times, dropping three of his last four
on the judges’ scorecards. The Brazilian broke a two-fight
skid which saw him fall to champion Georges St. Pierre and Jon
Fitch with a December decisioning of John Howard, but was outpointed
by up-and-comer Rick Story in their May 28 three-rounder.
8.
B.J. Penn (16-7-2)
Penn fought to a draw for just the second time in his career
on Feb. 27, when he took tough welterweight stalwart Jon Fitch
the distance at UFC 127. The pair would have danced again at
July’s UFC 132, but Fitch was forced from the rematch with
an injury. Penn also withdrew shortly thereafter due to shoulder
problems.
9.
Carlos Condit (26-5)
The “Natural Born Killer” will return from an eight-month
layoff against undefeated “Stun Gun” Dong Hyun Kim
at June’s UFC 131. The Greg Jackson product has lost just
once in his last dozen outings and currently rides a three-fight
win streak, including a brutal October knockout of Dan Hardy.
10.
Paul Daley (27-10-2)
Things looked good early for “Semtex” in his April
Strikeforce title bout, as the British slugger dropped defending
champ Nick Diaz with his famously thunderous punches. Daley could
not maintain control, however, and was swarmed on by Diaz in
the waning seconds of the opening frame for a stoppage loss.
The 28-year-old will return July 30 against another recent Diaz
victim, Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos, in a match which
could have implications for Strikeforce’s newly vacated
170-pound strap.
Other
contenders: Ben Askren, Jake Ellenberger, Martin Kampmann, Mike
Pyle, Diego Sanchez.
Lightweight
1.
Frankie Edgar (13-1-1)
In round one of his lightweight title defense against Gray Maynard
at UFC 125, Edgar looked dead to rights after taking an epic
pummeling from “The Bully.” Somehow, the New Jersey
native fought back over the last 20 minutes, shutting down Maynard’s
wrestling and becoming the more effective boxer to force a split
draw on the judges’ cards. A third meeting between Edgar
and Maynard was slated for May, but both men were injured just
weeks out and the UFC 130 main event was scrapped.
2.
Gilbert Melendez (19-2)
Few predicted a finish from Melendez in his April 9 rematch with
Tatsuya Kawajiri. Not only had “El Nino” gone the full
five rounds in each of his previous two title defenses, but the
pair’s initial meeting in 2006 also went the distance. Melendez
topped the “Crusher” once again, this time in vastly
more impressive fashion, elbowing the tough Dream standout into
oblivion at 3:14 of the first period. While a date for his return
has yet to be set, Melendez will likely make his next defense
against American Top Team’s Jorge Masvidal.
3.
Gray Maynard (10-0-1, 1 NC)
Through five minutes at UFC 125, it seemed a lock that Maynard
would leave Las Vegas with the UFC lightweight crown. The “Bully”
crushed Frankie Edgar in the first round, but the champion battled
back over the next four to force a draw and retain his title
in an early “Fight of the Year” contender. The pair
was set to square off for the third time in May, but injuries
forced both men off the card just weeks before their scheduled
third encounter.
4.
Shinya Aoki (28-5, 1 NC)
After a veritable merry-go-round of opponents saw Aoki matched
with Willamy Freire, Antonio McKee, Jamie Varner and Shane Nelson,
the “Tobikan Judan” wound up facing UFC vet Rich Clementi
in the Dream ring on May 29. Aoki asserted his dominance on the
floor in the non-title bout, eventually forcing the American
to submit to a second-round neck crank. Since his lopsided decision
loss to Gilbert Melendez in Strikeforce, Aoki has won five straight,
submitting three.
5.
Eddie Alvarez (22-2)
On April 2, for the first time in seven fights, Alvarez failed
to finish his opponent. However, the Philadelphia native looked
nothing short of dominant in defending his Bellator lightweight
against second-season tournament winner Pat Curran, earning one
scorecard of 49-46 and two clean sweeps of 50-45. Fourth-season
tourney champ Michael Chandler is waiting in the wings for his
shot at Alvarez, though that bout has yet to be scheduled.
6.
Jim Miller (20-2)
Before a hometown crowd in Newark, N.J., Miller took another
step toward a lightweight title shot by handing Kamal Shalorus
his first defeat at UFC 128. With seven consecutive wins in the
Octagon, Miller is clearly ready for title contention, but he
will have to wait for the result of the pending Frankie Edgar-Gray
Maynard bout. In the meantime, the AMA Fight Club product will
face former WEC champ Benson Henderon Aug. 14 in his opponent’s
home base of Milwaukee.
7.
Clay Guida(29-11)
Vintage Guida was on display June 4 at “The Ultimate Fighter
13” Finale, where “The Carpenter” used his frantic
pace and suffocating ground game to top former WEC lightweight
champ Anthony Pettis. The decision win was the 29-year-old’s
fourth straight, having also finished the likes of Takanori Gomi
and Rafael dos Anjos during that stretch.
8.
Anthony Pettis (13-2)
The final lightweight champ of World Extreme Cagefighting had
his June 4 UFC debut spoiled by Clay Guida, who smothered Pettis
for the better part of three rounds and avoided all submission
attempt from the Roufusport fighter. The decision loss halted
Pettis’ breakout, four-fight win streak which culminated
in his spectacular win over Benson Henderson last December.
9.
Tatsuya Kawajiri (27-7-2)
The “Crusher” became the crushed on April 9, as Kawajiri
was smashed by the elbows of defending Strikeforce lightweight
champ Gilbert Melendez. It was only the second loss for the Japanese
fighter in his last seven bouts, the other coming to Dream champ
and fellow world-ranker Shinya Aoki. Up next for Kawajiri: a
July 16 duel with former Shooto world 154-pound titleholder Willamy
Freire in Dream.
10.
Ben Henderson (13-2)
Quelling the notion that WEC lightweights would be unable to
hang with their UFC counterparts, former WEC champ Henderson
put on an impressive display against Mark Bocek on April 30,
outworking the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt in virtually every
facet of the fight. Henderson will face a decidedly sterner task
on Aug. 14, when he is set to clash with powerful contender Jim
Miller in Wisconsin.
Other
contenders: Melvin Guillard, Jorge Masvidal, Dennis Siver, George
Sotiropoulos, Gleison Tibau.
Featherweight
1.
Jose Aldo (19-1)
The violent Brazilian dynamo did not deliver one of his trademark
knockouts April 30, but he did survive a late scare from Mark
Hominick to win a decision in the UFC’s first featherweight
title fight. Temporary on the mend to rehab a nagging neck injury,
Aldo is expected to make his sophomore Octagon trip this fall.
When he does, he’ll likely be defending his belt against
dangerous former lightweight contender Kenny Florian.
2.
Hatsu Hioki (24-4-2)
It seems the “Son of Shooto” is ready to leave the
nest. Hioki vacated his Shooto 143-pound title on May 31 in a
statement which discussed the fighter’s desire to “challenge
a new stage.” Less than two weeks later, Hioki was in attendance
at UFC 131 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, all but confirming
that the longtime Japanese standout will soon make the leap stateside.
3.
Chad Mendes (10-0)
While it appears that Mendes has been leapfrogged in the line
for a shot at Jose Aldo’s UFC title, the unbeaten wrestler
will still get a chance to add another big win to his resume
come August. The 26-year-old Team Alpha Male prospect will take
on Brazilian submission stylist Rani Yahya at UFC 133.
4.
Kenny Florian (14-5)
“KenFlo” faced a stiff test in his June 11 featherweight
debut and was forced to struggle through a tough opening round
against Diego Nunes before taking the driver’s seat in the
second and third. Given his prior accomplishments at 155 pounds,
Florian’s unanimous decision win put him directly in line
for a crack at Jose Aldo’s featherweight title, a matchup
which could materialize this October.
5.
Manny Gamburyan (11-5)
A back injury took Gamburyan out of his scheduled March encounter
with Raphael Assuncao, but the former WEC featherweight title
challenger did not have to wait long for a new assignment. The
“Pitbull” is now scheduled to return to the UFC on
June 26, when he will welcome ex-lightweight Tyson Griffin to
the overflowing 145-pound ranks.
6.
Marlon Sandro (17-2)
With teammate Jose Aldo currently running the 145-pound show
in the UFC, Sandro will venture to become his Bellator counterpart
when he enters the Chicago-based promotion’s eight-man “Summer
Series” featherweight tournament. Up first for the hard-hitting
Brazilian is countryman Genair da Silva, or “Junior PQD,”
who enters their June 25 matchup having finished five of his
last six opponents.
7.
Diego Nunes (16-2)
At least for the time being, Nunes won’t have to worry about
fighting teammate Jose Aldo. Despite a strong opening round,
the 28-year-old “Gun” came up short in his June 11
bout with former lightweight contender Kenny Florian, dropping
the last two frames on the judges’ scorecards. Nunes has
since stated that he is considering a move stateside to improve
his training regimen.
8.
Joe Warren (7-1)
If Warren isn’t, as he claims, “The Baddest Man on
the Planet,” he’s at least among the busiest. The 34-year-old
Bellator featherweight champ has eyes on a bid in the promotion’s
fall bantamweight tournament, as well as thoughts of competing
at the 2012 London Olympics. Before any of that, however, Warren
will have to defend his strap against Patricio “Pitbull”
Freire, the man he controversially decisioned in June 2010 to
earn his shot at the title.
9.
Dustin Poirier (10-1)
Poirier had his coming-out party at January’s UFC 125, where
he stunned the favored Josh Grispi, and looked to follow the
upset with a strong performance against Jason Young at UFC 131.
The 21-year-old “Diamond” did just that, stifling the
Englishman’s striking assault with damaging punches and
takedowns of his own, and earning a unanimous nod after three.
10.
Patricio Freire (17-1)
One half of Bellator’s highlight reel-producing “Pitbull
Brothers,” Freire propelled himself into the rankings with
a trio of strong wins -- knockouts of Georgi Karakhanyan and
Wilson Reis, followed by a decision over Daniel Straus -- which
saw the Brazilian claim the promotion’s fourth-season featherweight
tournament crown. Up next for the younger Pitbull is a July 23
title rematch with Bellator featherweight champ Joe Warren, who
controversially outpointed Freire in June 2010.
Other
contenders: Darren Elkins, Mark Hominick, Erik Koch, Michihiro
Omigawa, Rani Yahya.
Bantamweight
1.
Dominick Cruz (17-1)
Cruz exhibited pure dominance in his five-round December sweep
of Scott Jorgensen, but the former WEC and current UFC bantamweight
ace went on the shelf immediately afterward due to hand surgery.
Now recuperated, the 25-year-old Alliance MMA product will attempt
to avenge the sole defeat on his ledger in a July 2 rematch with
Urijah Faber.
2.
Joseph Benavidez (14-2)
Despite his two losses to champion Dominick Cruz and the fact
that he may be a natural 125-pounder, Benavidez has picked off
more top bantamweights than nearly any other 135-pound fighter.
The Team Alpha Male product made a successful UFC debut on March
19 with a unanimous decision over Ian Loveland, and will look
to follow up against onetime WEC champ Eddie Wineland on Aug.
14.
3.
Urijah Faber (25-4)
“The California Kid” overcame a slow start and used
his trademark wrestling to take unanimous decision over fellow
ex-WEC champion Eddie Wineland at UFC 128 on March 19. The win
was the last hurdle for Faber to clear on his way to a July 2
rematch with current UFC bantamweight ace Dominick Cruz, whom
Faber submitted via guillotine choke at 145 pounds in 2007.
4.
Brian Bowles (9-1)
On March 3, 362 days after losing his WEC bantamweight title
to Dominick Cruz, Bowles returned to submit Damacio Page via
guillotine choke for a second time. Next up for the former champ
is a July 2 encounter with tough Japanese import Takeya Mizugaki
at UFC 132.
5.
Scott Jorgensen (12-4)
Already known as one of WEC’s most exciting bantamweights,
Jorgensen wasted no time in transferring that reputation to the
UFC in his June 4 Octagon debut. The 28-year-old “Young
Guns” also put on a display of his knockout power, turning
out the lights on Ken Stone with vicious punches from guard in
the first round of their “Ultimate Fighter 13” Finale
prelim.
6.
Demetrious Johnson (9-1)
The man known as “Mighty Mouse” faced the tallest task
of his career May 28, both figuratively and literally, as Johnson
stepped up to replace Brad Pickett against former WEC champ Miguel
Torres. Johnson used his wrestling to negate a 6-inch height
disadvantage and spent enough time on top of the active Torres
to sway the judges in a unanimous decision win.
7.
Miguel Torres (39-4)
Defeated for only the fourth time in his 11-year career, Torres’
May 28 loss to Demetrious Johnson came by the narrowest of margins.
The former WEC bantamweight champ’s dynamic ground work
against powerful wrestler Johsnon went unappreciated by the judges,
as Torres came up on the wrong end of a much-debated unanimous
decision.
8.
Takeya Mizugaki (14-5-2)
Following the first submission loss of his career at the hands
of Urijah Faber, Mizugaki rebounded with a narrow split decision
victory against Reuben Duran in his March UFC debut. The former
Cage Force champ will go straight back to facing the cream of
the 135-pound crop on July 2, as Mizugaki is slated to square
off with former WEC champ Brian Bowles in Las Vegas.
9.
Brad Pickett (20-5)
American Top Team’s British slugger was set to make his
UFC debut against Miguel Torres at UFC 130 on May 28, but an
undisclosed injury forced “One Punch” from the high-profile
matchup. Pickett has won 10 of his last 11 fights.
10.
Masakatsu Ueda (12-1-2)
Shooto’s former 132-pound ruler has won two in a row since
his shocking March 2010 title loss to Shuichiro Katsumura. After
outpointing Akitoshi Tamura and submitting Ralpha Acosta, Ueda
has been assigned to a bout with Shooto legend Rumina Sato. The
pair will meet at a catchweight of 134 pounds at “Shootor’s
Legacy 3” in Tokyo on July 18.
Other
contenders: Renan “Barao”, Wagnney Fabiano, Zach Makovsky,
Michael McDonald, Eddie Wineland.
Flyweight
1.
Yasuhiro Urushitani (18-4-6)
It was a non-title fight, but in his Nov. 19 appearance against
a tough Takuya Mori, Urushitani looked every bit the top 123-pounder
in professional Shooto. On July 18, the 34-year-old Wajutsu Keishukai
product will look to defend his Shooto belt and avenge his only
loss of the past six years when he takes on Yuki Shojo.
2.
Mamoru Yamaguchi (25-5-3)
Though not against the opponent he originally expected, former
two-division Shooto ace Yamaguchi continued his stateside run
at Tachi Palace Fights 9 on May 6. The afroed one started slow
but finished strong, flooring Kevin Dunsmoor, a replacement for
John Dodson, with second-round strikes in the clinch. Next up
for Mamoru: another trip to the TPF cage, this time against Shooto
South America champ Jussier da Silva.
3.
Ian McCall (9-2)
Beginning with his February upset of Jussier da Silva, and continuing
with his blistering May performance against previously unbeaten
Dustin Ortiz, McCall has moved from relative unknown to one of
the world’s top 125-pounders in only a matter of months.
“Uncle Creepy” will have a chance to further solidify
that reputation when he tangles with Tachi Palace Fights flyweight
champ Darrell Montague in an Aug. 5 title bout.
4.
Jussier da Silva (9-1)
Formerly the world’s top-ranked 125-pounder, “Formiga”
in February fell for the first time in his career to the unheralded
Ian McCall. It may not take long for da Silva to climb back up
the charts, however, as the Brazilian will take on dangerous
flyweight stalwart Mamoru Yamaguchi under the Tachi Palace Fights
banner on Aug. 5.
5.
Yuki Shojo (11-5-2)
One of Shooto’s premier 123-pounders, Shojo returned from
a 13-month hiatus on April 29 and went straight back to his winning
ways, notching a unanimous verdict over Noboru Tahara. The X-One
Gym representative will attempt to capture his division’s
Shooto world title on July 18 when he meets reigning champ Yasuhiro
Urushitani, whom Shojo submitted in 2008.
6.
Darrell Montague (9-1)
Montague dominated Ulysses Gomez in February to claim the Tachi
Palace Fights flyweight title, leaving the 23-year-old “Mongoose”
as the ruler of MMA’s deepest 125-pound division. With no
shortage of contenders waiting in the wings, Montague will look
to make his first title defense against the surging Ian McCall
in a scheduled five-round Aug. 5 affair.
7.
Kiyotaka Shimizu (9-3-2)
It may not have been pretty, but flyweight King of Pancrase Shimizu
once again got the job done against rival Mitsuhisa Sunabe on
June 5. Facing Sunabe for the fourth time, Shimizu’s relentless
takedown attack and mashing top game saw him retain his title
with a majority decision, moving him ahead in the series at 2-1-1.
8.
Alexis Vila (9-0)
In front of a pro-Cuban crowd on Feb. 12 in Miami, Vila smashed
out his ninth career win, putting away Lewis McKenzie in the
second round under the Mixed Fighting Alliance banner. The Olympic
freestyle wrestling bronze medalist will reportedly take part
in the 14th season of “The Ultimate Fighter” as a bantamweight.
9.
Fumihiro Kitahara (9-2-1)
Kitahara’s first bout against a true A-level flyweight did
not go as he had hoped. The 2008 Shooto rookie champion took
on former two-division Shooto world titleholder Mamoru Yamaguchi,
who needed a little more than two minutes to put his shin on
Kitahara’s head, leaving him flat on the mat.
10.
John Dodson (11-5)
The Greg Jackson-trained “Magician” was set for his
biggest fight in years, a showdown with Mamoru Yamaguchi in Tachi
Palace Fights, when an even bigger opportunity came along. Dodson
reportedly pulled out of the May 6 bout to take part in the 14th
season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” on which he is expected
to compete at 135 pounds.
Other
contenders: Louis Gaudinot, Ulysses Gomez, Alexandre Pantoja,
Mitsuhisa Sunabe.
Source
Sherdog
|
Ryan
Couture Blazing His Own Trail; Not Following in Dad’s UFC
Footsteps
by Mick
Hammond
It
would be easy for Ryan Couture to get caught up in all hype that
surrounds being the son of one of the sport’s most iconic
fighters, former multi-weight class UFC champion Randy Couture,
but that’s not who he is.
“I
just stay focused on the work I put in up to fight day,”
Couture told MMAWeekly.com. “I put in so much blood, sweat,
and tears, and focus on that other than worry about what anyone’s
expectations are.
“That’s
what tends to carry me through it and keeps me from getting too
stressed out or distracted from what is important, which is going
out and performing.”
With
two wins in his first two pro fights, Couture has shown growth
each time out, and he’s kept that hard-working philosophy
going as he prepares to return to action Friday night at Strikeforce
Challengers 16 in Kent, Wash.
“One
of the things we really focused on this camp has been my footwork;
it’s going to look that much better than it has in the past,”
said Couture. “I’ve also been working on getting better
on top; getting into that top position and doing some damage
from there.”
Couture
understands his game needs to constantly grow if he’s going
to compete in the top tier of the sport.
“My
ground game has always been geared towards playing guard, and
that’s really not the way to win fights at the higher level,
I think,” he said.
“I’ve
been working with (strength and conditioning coach) Jake Bonacci
at Xtreme Couture, and he’s done a great job making me a
better athlete and stronger. I think that’s going to have
to continue to evolve to hang with some of these beasts that
are fighting at 155 (pounds) right now.”
Friday
night Couture will square off against Matt Ricehouse in a match
that could resemble looking in a mirror for both fighters.
“He’s
about as similar in skill and style that I’ll find in any
fight, so that’s going to be kind of a fun challenge to
fight someone whose style so closely mimics mine,” said
Couture. “I think it’s just going to be a matter of
sticking with the things we worked on in camp and just try to
really be better at what we’re both good at.
“I
think I’m going to be a little tighter and leave a few less
openings will be what carries me to victory.”
Training
at Xtreme Couture with some of the premier talent in MMA has
also given Couture reason to be thinking positive heading into
Friday night.
“I’m
definitely not going to run anybody on fight night that can hang
with the guys that I get beat up by in the gym every day,”
he said. “That’s something I carry with me that gives
me a lot of confidence.”
While
fast tracking his career could be easy due to his family connections,
Couture is content to take one thing at a time and let things
develop naturally as the year goes on.
“I’ve
got to focus on Friday first and foremost, but I’d like
to at least get one more fight in if possible,” he said.
“I just plan on staying in the gym, constantly improving
to be a better fighter every time out.”
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Kauai
Cage Fights Today!
Mayhem at the Manson
III
June 25, 2011
 |
UFC
Live 4 on Versus Tomorrow
Pittsburgh at Consol Energy Center
June 26, 2011
Dark
matches (Facebook)
¦Lightweights:
Michael Johnson vs. Edward Faaloloto
¦Lightweights: Ricardo Lamas vs. Matt Grice
¦Lightweights: Nik Lentz vs. Charles Oliveira
¦Welterweights: Charlie Brenneman vs. TJ Grant
¦Welterweights: Daniel Roberts vs. Rich Attonito
¦Lightweights: Joe Lauzon vs. Curt Warburton
¦Lightweights: Joe Stevenson vs. Javier Vazquez
¦Featherweights: Tyson Griffin vs. Manny Gamburyan
Hawaii
Time:
Channel 210 3:00-5:00PM
Main card
¦Heavyweights:
Matt Mitrione vs. Christian Morecraft
¦Welterweights: Matt Brown vs. John Howard
¦Heavyweights: Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry
¦Welterweights: Nate Marquardt vs. Rick Story
Source: Fight Opinion
|
MARTIAL
ARTS SEMINAR Tomorrow
Come and participate in this exciting martial art seminar taught
by some of the best and most experienced instructors around.
This 5-hour seminar will consist of techniques and strategies
from Kajukenbo, Chuan-fa, Wun Hop Kuen Do, Muay Thai, and White
Crane and Hop Gar Kung Fu systems. Come one, come all. Hurry!
Space is limited. Call Sigung Trent Sera at 205-9133 to pre-register.
WHEN: Sunday, June 26, 2011
8 a.m. – 1 p.m.
WHERE: Binhi at Ani C.C. (780 Onehee Ave., Kahului, Maui, across
from Maui Waena Intermediate School)
INSTRUCTORS:
Professor Frank Trujillo-School-Thai Bo Ka-Chuan-fa School
Muay Thai-Kick Boxer
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Professor
Ben Narciso-School-United Martial Art System
Karate-Kung-fu
Honolulu, HI
Sifu
Dennis Apeles-School-White Crane & Hop Gar System
Kung-fu
Honolulu, HI
Sifu
Al Dela Cruz-School-Kajukenbo Chuan-fa Kung-fu School
Honolulu, HI
Sifu
Al Dacascos-School-Wun Hop Kuen Do-Kajukenbo
Honolulu, HI
COST: $25.00 per person (pre-registered by May 31, 2011)
$35 per person (at the door)
CONTACT: Sigung Trent Sera
Sera’s Kajukenbo
(808) 205-9133
Source:
Trent Sera
|
Medical
Suspensions Handed Down from Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum
The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation has handed down
the suspensions for the Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum show,
including a lengthy time off for lightweight Conor Heun.
Heun suffered a broken arm during his fight with Magno Almeida,
and also dealt with an knee injury during the bout.
The Texas commission has suspended Heun until 8/28/11 to deal
with the injuries.
Bryan Hamper from Succkerpunch Entertainment told MMAWeekly.com
that Heun will see a doctor this week to deal with a broken arm
and torn MCL in his knee.
Justin Wilcox got the next lengthiest suspension after an accidental
eye poke ended his fight with Gesias ‘JZ’ Cavalcante.
Wilcox will be out until at least August 3 under suspension.
Also, suspended from the show last weekend was former Elite XC
champion K.J. Noons who will be out until at least 7/19/11. Noons
had a laceration on his face as well as a hematoma suffered from
his fight with Jorge Masvidal.
The full suspensions from Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum listed
below:
Alistair Overeem suspended until 6/28/11
Fabricio Werdum suspended until 6/28/11
Josh Barnett suspended until 6/28/11
Brett Rogers suspended until 6/28/11
Jorge Masvidal suspended until 6/28/11
K.J. Noons suspended until 7/19/11
Daniel Cormier suspended until 6/28/11
Jeff Monson suspended until 6/28/11
Chad Griggs suspended until 6/26/11
Valentijn Overeem suspended until 7/19/11
Gesias ‘JZ’ Cavalcante suspended until 6/26/11
Justin Wilcox suspended until 8/3/11
Conor Heun suspended until 8/28/11
Magno Almeida suspended until 6/28/11
Joshua Ray suspended until 7/28/11
Nah-Shon Burrell suspended until 6/28/11
Isaac Vallie-Flag suspended until 6/28/11
Brian Melancon suspended until 6/28/11
Mike Bronzoulis suspended until 6/28/11
Todd Moore suspended until 6/28/11
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Bellator
Featherweights Are Great, But Will Anyone Notice?
By Michael
David Smith
As
I look ahead to the upcoming three-event Bellator Fighting Championships
summer series, it's with a mixture of excitement and disappointment.
Excitement
because the fights Bellator has booked in its featherweight division
are guaranteed to be spectacular. And disappointment because
I know hardly anyone is going to watch.
The
Bellator summer series kicks off on Saturday, June 25 with four
first-round fights in an eight-man featherweight tournament,
and the fights look like a lot of fun. Particularly exciting
is the North American debut of Marlon Sandro, the former Sengoku
featherweight champion who's among the sport's truly elite featherweights,
as well as being one of the most exciting fighters in the world
in any weight class.
So
why won't anyone notice?
Saturday,
June 25, is smack dab in the middle of the busiest time we've
had all year in MMA. It's one day before a UFC card on Versus
and one day after a Strikeforce event on Showtime. It's one week
after a huge Strikeforce event and one week before UFC 132. Even
hard-core MMA fans are starting to overdose on MMA right about
now, and if they're going to skip an event, it's not going to
be a Strikeforce or UFC show. It's going to be Bellator.
Give
Bellator all the credit in the world for the way they've acquired
talent, put together exciting fights, and consistently delivered
tournaments that reach their conclusions as scheduled -- never
an easy task in MMA. But no matter how good Bellator's product,
it's really, really hard to gain traction in MMA if you're outside
Zuffa. The UFC is the top dog in MMA by such a large margin that
it's easy to forget there are any other dogs -- and especially
easy to forget Bellator when it's sandwiched between Strikeforce
and UFC events, and on a network (MTV2) that most MMA fans can't
find without spending a few minutes searching through their channel
guide.
If
you're one of the truly hard-core MMA fans -- and there's a good
chance that you are, if you're reading this -- you'll seek out
Bellator. I know I will. But I also know I'm in a tiny minority
of something around one-tenth of 1 percent of the TV viewing
public. If 300,000 people watch Saturday night's Bellator card,
that would represent a success by Bellator's standards, but it
would also represent less than 0.1% of the American population.
MMA promotions have gone bankrupt while drawing significantly
larger audiences than Bellator draws.
I
hope Bellator succeeds. I enjoy their fights and I think it's
good for MMA to have a viable national promotion outside the
UFC. But it's going to be tough, and starting the summer series
right now, when MMA fans have so many other options, won't make
things any easier.
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
Argument:
Winner of Strikeforce Grand Prix should get a UFC Heavyweight
title shot
By Zach
Arnold
Not
my argument, but the argument presented by Kevin Iole & Steve
Cofield of the Yahoo Sports team at Cagewriter.com.
Before
we get to what they had to say on the subject, a cursory glance
at the odds (via BetOnFighting for the Strikeforce fights tonight
in Dallas:
¦Alistair
Overeem is a -345 favorite to Fabricio Werdum as a +275 underdog.
Overeem is roughly a 5 to 2 favorite (77%).
¦Josh Barnett is a -345 favorite to Brett Rogers as a
+275 underdog. Barnett is roughly a 5 to 2 favorite (77%).
¦Daniel Cormier is a -500 favorite to Jeff Monson as a
+350 underdog. Cormier is a 5 to 1 favorite (83%).
¦Chad Griggs is a -135 favorite to Valentijn Overeem as
a +105 underdog. Griggs is roughly a 7 to 5 favorite (57%).
¦KJ Noons is a -155 favorite to Jorge Masvidal as a +125
underdog. Noons is a 3 to 2 favorite (60%).
¦JZ Cavalcante is a -130 favorite to Justin Wilcox who
is even money. JZ is roughly a 7 to 5 favorite (57%).
The event airs on Showtime tonight at 10 PM EST and, unfortunately,
10 PM PST on the horrible delayed feed.
Now,
onto the video transcript…
STEVE
COFIELD: “It’s a wide open field right now with the
Heavyweights. I think this decides an awful lot.”
KEVIN
IOLE: “I agree, I mean I think that certainly the winner
of this tournament is going to be, you know, at least in the
Top 4, you would think, in the world at Heavyweight, maybe even
higher. Certainly Dana White wasn’t willing to commit that
the winner of the tournament would be any higher than the best
fighter in Strikeforce but I think it’s a good field and
if you come out winning this tournament that you put yourself
into position to be able to argue that you deserve a fight against
the UFC’s top guy.”
STEVE
COFIELD: “I have real concerns about Shane Carwin after
the Junior dos Santos fight. I think dos Santos is great but,
to me, Shane is kind of a one-trick pony at this point based
on power. I think when Lesnar comes back, it’s going to
be the same deal. I look at this field and I think Overeem, I
think Barnett, and I think Bigfoot Silva all have a chance to
be the guy right behind Cain Velasquez and JDS.”
KEVIN
IOLE: “Well, I agree with you from one standpoint. I think
there’s no doubt that Cain Velasquez is the best heavyweight
in the world. I think he’s proven that with what he’s
done. I’ve been on this guy for a long time and I’m
just get higher on him as I see all these other guys fight. I
think Cain, assuming that he’s healthy and with his rotator
cuff we don’t know, I mean if he’s healthy and he’s
back to what he was I think there’s no question he’s
not only the best in the world, I think he’s going to separate
himself. I would expect him to beat Junior dos Santos. About
Shane, you know, I was disappointed in what I saw from Shane,
you know, Shane I had pick him to win the fight. I thought he
had two things going for him that would help beat Junior dos
Santos, which was his punching power and his wrestling. But you
know when you look at it his wrestling has not really been a
factor in his MMA game and I thought going into the dos Santos
fight I thought that was because he really didn’t need,
he used his power so much and I thought, well, okay, the guy’s
such a good boxer, he’s going to use his wrestling but it
did not seem like his wrestling was a factor, you know, dos Santos
stuffed all his takedowns early. I think he’s got to sharpen
his MMA wrestling and then work on his boxing skill. I mean Junior
dos Santos is a really good boxer for MMA but he won that fight
with a jab and takedown defense, that’s really what he did
and I think Shane needs to take it up. But whenever you can punch
like Shane and you do have the background in wrestling that you’re
going to be a factor, I just think that, you know, maybe he hadn’t
drilled his wrestling enough and maybe he’s let his wrestling
because he hasn’t had to rely on it all that much get away
from him, so I think he needs to get back to being a wrestler.”
STEVE
COFIELD: “Well, how about the three guys I mentioned in
terms of rankings and where they get in the mix with Carwin,
Lesnar, Mir behind JDS & Velasquez, if you think they are
behind, in terms of Overeem, Barnett, and Bigfoot?”
KEVIN
IOLE: “I think right now, Steve, that Cain Velasquez is
clearly #1 and I think dos Santos is clearly #2. I think dos
Santos showed, you know, he’s not an offensive wrestler
but good defensive wrestling, you know, he’s a black belt
in jiu-jitsu, we haven’t really had to see that yet but
I think he’s good on the ground, he’d be comfortable
grappling, and he’s got really good boxing. So, I think
he’s got a good mix that he can go and work on. So, I think
those two guys right now are clearly #1 and #2. I think #3 is
up for grabs. You know, I’ve rated in the USA Today/Bloody
Elbow rankings, I’ve had Brock Lesnar sitting at #3 sitting
behind Velasquez & dos Santos. But I think that position
is up for grabs. Certainly Brock has a lot to prove by coming
off the loss to Cain and, you know, he’s got some issues
that are going on and certainly the winner of this tournament
would have argument, in my mind, to be #. You know, Josh Barnett
to me is the best fighter of that group except that, you know,
it’s like he fights so rarely and hasn’t been around
that you don’t know what to expect. I mean, Barnett has
such a good, well-rounded game and I have great respect for what
he’s been able to do over the years but, you know, with
the steroid problems that he’s had, the suspensions, and
the inactivity you know you question whether he can still compete
at that highest level.”
STEVE
COFIELD: “From an odds standpoint, the fights on Saturday…
Barnett, he deserves it reputation-wise, skill set-wise, huge
favorite, around -350 to -365 against Brett Rogers. We know Rogers’
biggest skill is, you know, the power punching. Does he have
a chance to pull the upset here and, for the reason you just
mentioned, I think Barnett fights to the other fighter’s
strength sometimes, you know he wants to stand and bang with
a guy who can bang, and the other part of it is the activity.”
KEVIN
IOLE: “You know, I like Barnett in the fight and I think
it’s worth playing the money. You saw Rogers against Fedor
have some success so I think a lot of people started to overrate
Rogers. We were seeing him fight guys toward the ends of their
career, you know, he fought Andrei Arlovski when everybody was
knocking out Andrei Arlovski and he fought Fedor, you know, just
as Fedor was kind of in that gradual decline stage, I don’t
think anybody and his brother would have thought that Brett Rogers
would even have been close to Fedor when Fedor was anywhere near
his prime, but you know when he fought Brett Rogers he had been
around a long time and had a long run at the top and Brett gave
him a run for the money. But I don’t see the overall game
in him that he’s going to be able to deal with Josh Barnett.
Unless Barnett really has totally lost it, I think he’ll
be able to handle Brett Rogers.”
STEVE
COFIELD: “Overeem, also, a huge favorite against Werdum,
they fought years ago, they were both smaller. In this case,
some places have Overeem -500, I think that’s outrageous.
The normal line is around -350, which is still very big and,
you know, I want to make a case for Werdum. I think his grappling
is great, I think his experience is big, I have some worries
about Overeem in terms of gas tank, you know, if the fight goes
on and on. But I can also see in grappling situations where Overeem
is just so big and strong, even the best technique is just going
to be thrown away and (Werdum) won’t be able to get the
fight to the ground.”
KEVIN
IOLE: “Yeah, I like Overeem in this fight, too, I mean,
I think that Werdum is getting a lot of heat because of the win
over Fedor, again. But, you know, I think Werdum, to me, is just
a step below Overeem. I think you’re right, you make a very
good point about Alistair’s strength, I mean he’s a
powerful guy, he’s got really good stand-up, really good
kicks. I like him to stop Werdum some time in this fight.”
STEVE
COFIELD: “All right, let’s look ahead, so we’re
going with the chalk here, which is Overeem and Barnett. You
match up the semi-finals, hopefully some time, what, in the Fall,
hopefully. Overeem against Bigfoot Silva is I think a completely
intriguing fight and then you’d have Barnett against Kharitonov
and I think Kharitonov is kind of a wild card in this because
of his punching power. So, out of that, who do you think makes
the finals?”
KEVIN
IOLE: “Well, I’m going to go with Overeem and Barnett
and I think that would probably be the dream match-up that Strikeforce
would like to see. I think when they made the tournament they
were hoping to get Fedor in the finals. But right now, as it
stands, I think you know to bring Josh Barnett in there I think
that would be the best match-up that they could possibly get.
But, again, there’s so many wildcards in this because the
same thing with Kharitonov, you know, we haven’t seen a
lot of him. Where does he stand? I mean, he obliterated Andrei
Arlovski but what do we make of that because who hasn’t
obliterated Andrei Arlovski? I think the match-up is going to
be Overeem against Josh Barnett and I would favor Overeem in
that and then we’re going to look at him as, okay, is the
#3 Heavyweight in the world? Does he deserve a shot at the UFC
champion? Because by the time this tournament finishes, we would
assume that Cain would have defended his title against JDS and,
hey, it might make for the Strikeforce Grand Prix winner against
the UFC champion. It would be a natural fit.”
STEVE
COFIELD: “Do you think that will happen? When you pressed
Dana White on that before the last even, he almost borderline
laughed at you.”
KEVIN
IOLE: “Well, you know, I had asked him a lot of question
because a lot of fans had been saying that the winner of the
Strikeforce tournament is going to be the best Heavyweight in
the world. Now I don’t necessarily agree with that, but
I asked that question just like it’s been asked to me by
fans a number of times. I asked Dana that question, ‘will
this winner be the best Heavyweight in the world?’ and he
was very puzzled by my question. I repeated it and he said, “the
winner of the tournament will be the best fighter in Strikeforce,
the best Heavyweight in Strikeforce.’ But, you know, I think
if you look at the track that they’re on, I think it makes
a lot of sense especially if you have Overeem, you know, if you
have a clear cut win by Overeem. If you get him and then you
have the winner of JDS & Cain Velasquez, now who’s the
best fighter in the world? Because they’re going to be #1/#2,
they’re going to be coming from the opposite organizations,
we saw that with Rampage (Jackson) and Dan Henderson when they
bought PRIDE. I definitely think that they’ll make that
fight, it’ll be far enough down the road… I think the
problem making the Strikeforce vs. UFC fights right now is that
UFC is very sensitive to not harm Showtime, they want to make
sure that Showtime has a quality product because there was a
contract that existed. But they can move guys around and do as
they see fit, so I think that it would be a big fight and I think
we’ll see that Velasquez/JDS winner against the Strikeforce
Grand Prix winner when it’s all over.”
Source: Fight Opinion
|
UFC
Live: Breaking Down the Matchups
By Michael DiSanto
ArticleComments (10)Michael DiSanto breaks down the big matchups
on Sunday's stacked UFC Live on Versus card in Pittsburgh...
Sunday’s UFC Live event in Pittsburgh is filled with intriguing
storylines, fan-friendly matchups, and a handful of TUF alumni
looking to keep the ship moving in the right direction. Casual
fans may not recognize all the names, but if this is someone’s
inaugural experience with the UFC, they are in for a real treat
if the fights even come close to living up to their potential.
Rather than focus my pre-fight breakdown on the main event, I
thought it made sense to give a quick rundown of the three fights
have the biggest potential for fireworks.
MARQUARDT
VS. STORY
Nate
Marquardt has hovered around the top of the middleweight division
since his successful UFC debut against Ivan Salaverry nearly
six years ago. Yet a one-sided loss in his only title challenge,
as well as back-to-back losses in subsequent title eliminators,
left “Nate the Great” wondering whether he would ever
take his UFC career to the next level. Rather than continue trying
to climb the growing middleweight mountain, Marquardt opted to
follow in the footsteps of former champions Randy Couture, Evan
Tanner and Rich Franklin in search of UFC gold. Each of those
men refined their diets, increased their commitment to cutting
weight and moved one division south in search of a title, when
the prospects at their more natural weight class began to fade.
On
Sunday night on Versus, Marquardt will make his debut in the
welterweight division. It is a weight class ruled by his good
friend and training partner Georges St-Pierre. Other elite competitors
also call the 170-pound division home. Guys like Jake Shields,
Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, Thiago Alves, Nick Diaz, Carlos Condit,
and BJ Penn (from time to time) all rank among the very best
in the game. Marquardt wants to enter that exclusive fraternity
of welterweight contenders. To do that, he must defeat another
man on the cusp of contender status, Rick Story.
Story
is in the midst of a six-fight winning streak, after coming up
just a bit short in his UFC debut. What is truly impressive about
the streak is that Story’s opponents have progressively
gotten more difficult, culminating with a solid win against perennial
title contender Alves just under a month ago. A win over Marquardt
will undoubtedly put him at or near the top of the “next
in line” list.
The
two big questions lingering over this matchup are whether Marquardt
can successfully handle the cut down to 170 pounds without losing
any strength or conditioning and whether Story is ready for someone
of Marquardt’s caliber only 29 days after defeating Alves.
Marquardt
will likely seek to keep the fight on the feet. He is a very
versatile striker, effective with his fists, elbows, knees and
shins. He is equally effective when pushing the pace or countering.
Marquardt will look to set the distance with the jab so that
he can land a big right hand. Nevertheless, his biggest standup
key against an aggressive, come-forward wrestler like Story will
likely be his ability to control the action and exact damage
from the clinch.
Marquardt
will want to secure the Thai plumb as soon as Story rushes in.
From there, he can use hard knee strikes when the pair jostle
in the clinch in the center of the cage. He will rely more on
elbows once the action moves to the cage. Alves had some success
in the clinch against Story, though he refused to slam the petal
to the metal in the final round, when it seemed likely that Story
was on his way out. Marquardt won’t make that mistake.
Story
knows that standing and striking with Marquardt is a bad idea.
He also knows that clinching in the center of the cage is not
the right answer. He wants this fight on the ground, and the
best way to get it there is to crowd his opponent against the
fence and then drag him to the ground. Once the action hits the
mat, Story should first focus on getting Marquardt stacked up
against the cage and then force Marquardt to carry his weight
by using heavy hips and lots of ground and pound.
Nobody
knows how Marquardt will fare in a grueling match after his first
official cut to welterweight. Maybe the extra cardiovascular
work shedding those last few pounds will sap his typically deep
gas tank. Maybe the extra dieting in the weeks leading up to
the fight will render his gas tank before the cut a little less
full than normal. Maybe. Maybe not. Marquardt has no idea. His
coach Greg Jackson has no idea. Story needs to make him answer
that question.
The
problem, of course, with Story forcing a grueling fight is that
he last fought on May 28. Assuming he gave his body a week to
recover before jumping back into hard training, will three weeks
of preparation, including the typical weight cut, be enough time
to refill his gas tank? If he didn’t take a week to rest
and recover from the tough battle with Alves, will his muscles
suffer from early fatigue memory, sort of like batteries suffering
from short cycling? Just like with Marquardt, nobody knows the
answer to that question. Yet, fighting that type of fight gives
Story the best chance to win, no matter what his conditioning
state happens to be come fight time.
Story
is as hot as any welterweight in the world not named GSP or Diaz.
Regardless, this is a major uphill battle for him. Marquardt
represents the most complete test he has faced in his career
to date. And if Marquardt handles the cut without any deleterious
effects on his strength and conditioning, he will be facing one
of the biggest, strongest and best conditioned opponents of his
career. All else being equal, those advantages are often enough
to decide the fight, though all else is not equal. Marquardt
is the better all around fighter, period. And he has been fighting
at the top of the sport long before Story began his career, so
there is a major advantage in terms of experience.
The
saving grace for Story is Marquardt’s biggest weakness is
his wrestling, and that is where Story excels. I don’t think
Story’s wrestling advantage will be enough, in light of
the short preparation time, to carry the day, but we’ll
all find out soon enough.
KONGO
VS. BARRY
If
you have never before watched mixed martial arts and you only
have time to watch one fight next weekend, this is the one you
need to see. You won’t need to bother trying to learn the
nuances of the ground game. You won’t need to turn to your
friend or jump on the Internet to interpret what the announcers
are talking about as they call the action. Cheick Kongo versus
Pat Barry will be a good old-fashioned slugfest, assuming Kongo
doesn’t shock the world (and disappoint the fans) with a
series of takedowns.
For
those who don’t know, Kongo and Barry were both highly successful
professional kickboxers before tossing their hats into the MMA
arena. Their standup skills stand above all others in the heavyweight
division, both in terms of technique and raw, bone-crushing power.
And both need a decisive win to take a step away the middle of
the division pack.
Kongo
has one monstrous advantage heading into the fight, and it will
be apparent the second the pair stand opposed at the pre-fight
weigh in to pose for the media. The Frenchman enjoys a full five-inch
height and nearly an eight-inch reach advantage. Those are often
insurmountable odds when two equally skilled strikers go to war,
particularly if Kongo commits to keeping Barry on the outside
with a machine-gun jab and lead leg kicks. Setting the distance
at the end of his punches will prevent the shorter, somewhat
more explosive Barry from moving into striking range.
Barry
is a short heavyweight. He knows that. He has been a short heavyweight
his entire career, and it hasn’t really mattered that much
yet because he has an innate ability to slip an opponent’s
punches and step inside where he is able to exact tremendous
damage. He did that against Antoni Hardonk and Mirko Cro Cop.
There is no reason to think he cannot do the same thing against
Kongo.
Once
on the inside, Barry has a significant striking advantage against
the much taller Kongo, assuming he can stay out of the clinch
and away from knees. But again, knees are a major risk for Barry
against every standup specialist opponent, so he is very accustomed
to avoiding them. Barry is very good at exploding upward with
leaping right hands and left hooks. He is also excellent at digging
to the body, an often underutilized strike in MMA. Kongo will
likely look to tie Barry up once he penetrates the perimeter,
and, if history is any indicator, work for the takedown. Kongo
has shown an increasing propensity to take down opponents who
pose any threat to him on the feet, something that is surprising
for a fighter of his background.
That
will be an unfortunate result, if it happens, because a standup
battle between these two has the potential to be the Fight of
the Year and certainly is the odds on favorite to win an event
bonus check, whether for Fight of the Night or Knockout of the
Night. The fact remains, though, that this is MMA, not kickboxing,
so Kongo would be well served to take the action to the ground,
where Barry is his weakest. The taller, longer Kongo will be
able to pound away at Barry from inside the guard, tiring and
battering him, without having to try and pass the guard or otherwise
improve his position. Even though that will possibly rob the
fans of a spectacular, jaw-dropping finish, it is the more intelligent
path to victory for Kongo, if he finds Barry able to slip his
strikes and counter.
Based
on the physical advantages, this should be Kongo’s fight
to lose. The operative word there is “should.” Nothing
is certain when Pat Barry steps in the cage because this guy
has the power, skills and athleticism to touch anyone on the
chin at any moment and bring down the curtains in an instant.
I actually think he will find a way to win this fight, despite
the fact that it appears to be a significant uphill battle on
paper.
BROWN
VS. HOWARD
Matt
Brown and John Howard are both going through a serious rough
patch in their respective UFC careers. Brown has lost three in
a row, succumbing to submissions in the second round of each
of those bouts. The fact that he is being brought back after
three losses is a testament to his fighting spirit and ability
to entertain the fans with his all-action style. Despite those
desirable traits, four losses in a row almost certainly guarantees
a stint in one of many smaller promotions before receiving another
opportunity in the UFC.
Howard
is coming off back-to-back defeats after starting his UFC career
with four solid wins. Back-to-back defeats aren’t a rarity
among top contenders. Parity is the reality of fighting in the
UFC. Nonetheless, few fighters receive the opportunity that Brown
was given, so Howard must operate under the assumption that this
is a one-and-done situation, if he comes up short.
It
suffices to say that these two are fighting for their short-term
UFC futures. Sure, if they put on a tremendous back-and-forth
show, it is possible that both will remain on the active roster,
but nothing is guaranteed.
That
added bit of pressure can lead to stifling results. I don’t
see that being the case with these two. Brown and Howard are
fighters deep down in their DNA. They live for a good scrap.
And that is precisely what this should be.
Brown
is a brawler’s brawler. The guy has good technique, but
he is almost exclusively an offensive fighter. He isn’t
afraid to take one on the chin in order to return the favor,
and that is often his game plan because his toughness is a thing
of legend. Keep in mind that he is one of only a very few UFC
competitors with 10 or more career losses without ever having
been stopped due to strikes.
Howard
is an explosive striker in his own right. Before running into
his current rough patch, Howard scored spectacular back-to-back
knockouts over Dennis Hallman and Daniel Roberts, two excellent
opponents. The problem, though, is he doesn’t have the same
set of whiskers as his opponent. One-third of Howard’s six
career losses came by way of knockout. That is something Brown
hopes to exploit.
This
fight isn’t about Xs and Os. Brown won’t let it be.
He will come to fight, likely sending any pre-fight game plans
right out the window. My guess is that Howard will want to bait
Brown a bit so that emotion makes him come out swinging wildly.
That will open the door for Howard to change levels and shoot
for a double leg. Brown’s Achilles’ heel is his ground
game. And that seems to be Howard’s best path to victory.
Source: UFC
|
Quick
Quote: Junior dos Santos says Cain Velasquez will be his "greatest
challenge ever"
By Joey
Santosus UFC News
"Much
aggressive, much aggressive. Velasquez is a guy who has great
conditioning, so he’s a guy I want to go for the knockout
or the submission. I can’t give him time or space to work
on what he likes, the takedowns and doing the ground and pound
game.
I
train Wrestling a lot, I like training takedown defenses, and
I consider myself good while defending takedown attempts. So,
that’s why I feel pretty much comfortable when the guys
try to take me down, I feel comfortable, cool with it. Velasquez
is much faster and effective on his game, more technical (than
Shane Carwin). Velasquez is the number one on the heavyweight
division, and it’ll be my greatest challenge ever. - For
complete interview by Guilherme Cruz, visit Tatame.com
Five
of Junior dos Santos' seven UFC victories have come via some
form of stoppage, and it appears his gameplan when he meets Heavyweight
Champion Cain Velasquez will be no different... look for the
finish. Dos Santos recently reaffirmed his position as the division's
number-one contender with a dominant unanimous decision victory
over Shane Carwin earlier this month. Now primed to finally get
a crack at the title, the Brazilian is expected to challenge
Velasquez in the headlining bout at UFC 138 in November.
While
not yet official, UFC 138 is tentatively scheduled for November
19th from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California and would mark
the promotion's first trip to the longtime home of its former
competitor, Strikeforce.
Source: Low Kick
|
Exclusive:
Antonio 'Bigfoot' Silva on Overeem, Barnett, Strikeforce GP
Antonio Silva advanced to the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix
semi-finals with an impressive win over Fedor Emelianenko in
February. Since then, he has been waiting to find out who his
semi-final opponent will be.
On
Saturday, he got his answer: Alistair Overeem defeated Fabricio
Werdum in a lacklustre main event to earn the spot opposite Silva.
Speaking
with Fighters Only’s Eduardo Cruz in Brazil, the giant ‘Paraiba
no’ [a native of Paraíba, Northeast region of Brazil]
remarked on the Overeem/Werdum confrontation and revealed some
of the names that will be part of his camp for the fight with
Overeem.
Fighters
Only: What impressed you the most in the Dutchman’s game?
Antonio
Bigfoot: I was impressed by nothing in this bout. But we know
that Overeem is better than what we saw in that fight. He’s
a legend on the feet.
FO:
Everybody expected him to be superior standing but Werdum surprised
us with some good moments. What did you make of his striking?
Look…
in this fight he didn’t develop his stand-up game. In some
moments, if Werdum had pressured him more, I believe he could
have knocked Overeem out but unfortunately Fabricio injured his
knee in the second round and when we have to fight hurt it is
horrible.
FO:
Did you talk to Werdum after the fight?
I
went to the gym with him and we returned to the hotel together
as well. The guy is really nice and in the team there are only
great guys. Werdum and Master Rafael Cordeiro opened Kings MMA’s
doors for me. Werdum told me “Bigfoot, I showed you the
way and you will win the tournment for sure”. I was sad
for his loss but I am very happy for the friendship and respect
we hold for one another.
FO:
Your rival Josh Barnett defeated Brett Rogers. Do you think he
is going to beat Sergei Kharitonov too?
This
fight will be tougher than Brett and I will be rooting for Barnett
to be the winner.
FO:
Are going to train with the same team that trained you for the
contest versus Fedor?
Some
folks yes, as Guto Inocent, Vitor Miranda, Jorge Santiago, Mario
Sukata, Rashad Evans and others who will join us as training
partners. With coaches, I will have some changes because today
André Benkei works in another state, so I will look for
another conditioning coach.
In
jiu-jitsu I will work with Sergio Babu and in wrestling I will
sit to talk to Mike Van Arsdale, Evans’ coach. For striking,
I will prepare with Katel Kubs and possible with Diógenes
Assahiba, formerly Anderson Silva’s trainer.
Source: Fighter's Only
|
Tim
Kennedy Gets His Wish, Faces Robbie Lawler at Strikeforce: Fedor
vs. Henderson
by Damon
Martin
Sometimes when you ask, you shall receive.
Two former middleweight title contenders will battle it out as
Tim Kennedy gets his wish and will face Robbie Lawler at the
upcoming Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson card.
Strikeforce officials announced the new bout on Thursday.
Kennedy has been targeting the July 30 date for a while now,
and just last month expressed his desire of opponents when speaking
with MMAWeekly.com.
“July 30 is the date that I’m training for an opponent
yet to be named. Hoping for Robbie Lawler,” Kennedy said.
The former Army Ranger will get his opponent of choice after
all, and gets back in action after a submission win over heavy
handed Melvin Manhoef back in March.
Robbie Lawler returns for the first time since losing in his
bid to become Strikeforce middleweight champion against Ronaldo
“Jacare” Souza in January.
Lawler has recently relocated to Arizona to become a full time
coach and train at the new Power MMA & Fitness facility along
with UFC mainstays Ryan Bader, Aaron Simpson and C.B. Dollaway.
The middleweights will do battle on the card headlined by Fedor
Emelianenko taking on Dan Henderson at the Sears Center in Chicago.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Chonan,
Title Fighters Hit Marks for Friday’s Deep ‘54 Impact’
by Chris
Nelson
UFC and Pride veteran Ryo Chonan tipped the scales at 170 pounds
Thursday ahead of his bout with Shigetoshi Iwase (169.7) at Deep
“54 Impact.”
Chonan
(Pictured; file photo), 34, seeks to get back on track after
a devastating, 19-second knockout at the hands of Taisuke Okuno
in December. The “Piranha” has gone 3-2 in Japan since
his April 2009 release from the UFC, but has not lost in Deep
since 2002. Despite a sub-.500 record, 36-year-old Iwase has
won four of his last six starts, faltering only in a pair of
decisions to current Deep welterweight ace Yuya Shirai.
Deep’s
first offering of the summer goes down Friday at Korakuen Hall
in Tokyo and is headlined by two championship tilts. Vying for
the bantamweight belt recently vacated by Masakazu Imanari will
be former Deep featherweight champ Takafumi Otsuka (136.7) and
the man who bested Imanari in a February non-title bout, “Iron”
Hiroshi Nakamura (136.5). Meanwhile, the second light heavyweight
title fight in Deep history features inaugural champ Yoshiyuki
Nakanishi (202.6) attempting to defend against “Tragic Comedian”
Bernard Ackah (201.9).
Other
bouts of note will see Sengoku 2008 lightweight grand prix finalist
Kazunori Yokota (144.8) clash with Shoji Maruyama (144.6), unbeaten
Californian Alex Soto (135.8) square off against Seiji Akao (136.5),
and surging South Korean A Sol Kwon (weight unavailable) step
in for Doo Ho Choi to face “Barbaro44,” Yoshihiro Tomioka
(159.4) in a 160-pound catchweight contest.
Deep
‘54 Impact’ weigh-in results:
DEEP
Light Heavyweight Championship
Yoshiyuki Nakanishi (202.6) vs. Bernard Ackah (201.9)
DEEP
Bantamweight Championship
Hiroshi Nakamura (136.5) vs. Takafumi Otsuka (136.7)
Kazunori
Yokota (144.8) vs. Shoji Maruyama (144.6)
Ryo Chonan (170) vs. Shigetoshi Iwase (169.7)
Seigo Mizuguchi (did not weigh in) vs. Levan Razmadze (275.6)
Yoshihiro Tomioka (159.4) vs. A Sol Kwon (n/a)
Tomomi Iwama (144.2) vs. Myung Sik Kwak (n/a)
Hiromitsu Kanehara (184.7) vs. Hideto Tatsumi (184.5)
Hirohide Fujinuma (185.4) vs. Kentaro Onishi (182.1)
Yoshiki Harada (136.2) vs. Toru Harai (136.5)
Alex Soto (135.8) vs. Seiji Akao (136.5)
Yoshitomo Watanabe (169.1) vs. Takeshi (166.7)
Luiz Andrade I (154.1) vs. Yasuhiro Kawasaki (153.7)
Source
Sherdog
|
Trimmed
Down, Joe Stevenson Talks Cut to 145 for UFC on Versus 4
by Erik
Fontanez
At UFC on Versus 4: Marquardt vs. Story, Joe Stevenson is taking
a step down… kind of.
The
step down isn’t this weekend’s competition in Javier
Vazquez. To call Vazquez a step down is a sure way of getting
put to sleep quicker than someone with a sleep-aid addiction.
The step down is more so about the drop in weight from the UFC’s
155-pound division to the realm of 145-pound fighters like Aldo
and Mendes at featherweight.
Stevenson’s move to featherweight comes off the heels of
a three-fight losing-streak and, at first glimpse, looks as though
he’s dropping to get away from the competition he can’t
seem to get past. On the contrary, he may look at the lightweights
as a tough crowd, but the purpose of the drop in weight class
is stems from Stevenson seeing himself closer to a title shot
at 145-pounds than at 155-pounds, according to him.
The newly trimmed featherweight explains.
“I want a belt in the UFC and now that the UFC has got that
145 (pound) weight class, I’m, kind of, just zoned about
getting a belt there,” Stevenson told MMAWeekly Radio. “(Lightweight)
is going to take a lot of time and hard work. It’s not a
weight class that I’m scared of. It’s a weight class
that’s very deep and very tough. And I just see it happening
and (realizing my dream) a little bit faster at 145.
“Logically, yeah, I lost three in a row and if I look at
trying to get a title shot, I’m going to have to win, at
that division, nine in a row against stellar guys, whereas at
this weight, with my record and the things that I’ve done
in the past, (if) I beat three or four of the top guys, I’m
going to have a title shot. And that’s what excites me.”
And the fact that he’s dropped three fights in a row wasn’t
the catalyst for making the move to featherweight either. Actually,
the thought of shedding the 10 extra pounds came a while ago.
The drop would have come earlier, but the motivation wasn’t
there like it is now, and making weight at lightweight had become
all too easy. Now, with the way the featherweight division has
opened up, Stevenson sees his opportunity and is jumping at the
chance to make waves at 145 pounds in hopes of getting a shot
of putting the gold belt around his waist.
Not only is he taking on new challenges, but the diet required
to cut to 145 pounds has him rocking a washboard stomach –
an added perk for the summer season.
“About two years ago, I was thinking I can make featherweight,”
Stevenson said. “(I just) didn’t really have a cause,
a want to. I mean, it just got really easy to make the weight
at 155. I weighed, this morning, 155. And Melvin (Guillard) got
here and he was, like, ‘my gosh, I can’t believe this.’
You know, it just takes a very strict diet and, I guess, I have
a six-pack for the summer, now.”
For Stevenson, cutting weight to featherweight is a piece of
cake. Or more appropriately, no pieces of cake at all.
The diet was key in his reduction of pounds to compete in the
smaller and quicker weight class. The winner of The Ultimate
Fighter’s second season enlisted the help from known MMA
nutritionist George Lockhart in order to stay on top of eating
the right foods and intaking the appropriate calories.
No longer was he allowed to take random trips to his favorite
fast food restaurant. No, Stevenson stuck to his game plan of
eating in-home meals and making sure what he was consuming would
benefit him towards his goal of making weight.
“I really just had to diet for a couple weeks strict,”
he said. “I would just stop eating out and I would just
eat healthy at the house, large portions. I was probably eating
six to seven meals and, I mean, big meals and maintaining my
weight at 55. So, 45 (was) just a rock’s throw away. I’m
down to six good sized meals, eating every three hours. (I) worked
with a guy named George Lockhart… great guy, increased my
fat intake. Some calories are a little more important than other
calories and I feel great.”
Perhaps it was the talks with UFC brass that confirmed a move
to featherweight was the best thing for Stevenson to do for his
career. After talking with Sean Shelby and Joe Silva, Stevenson
realized that gaining weight wasn’t the best thing to do.
Fighting at heavier weight classes proved to be the wrong direction
to go and fattening up to fight bigger guys wouldn’t have
done him as well as dropping to featherweight.
“I was walking around about a buck seventy-five when I had
talked to Sean (Shelby) and Joe (Silva) about taking a fight
at 45,” he said. “And now, I think that was a great
idea (to) not let myself balloon up.”
Trimmed down and ready to get back on the winning track, Joe
Stevenson is prepared to step in the Octagon at UFC on Versus
4 this Sunday. No day of rest for him. It’s time take on
some stiff competition at featherweight and that begins with
Javier Vasquez on June 26.
“These guys are quick, dangerous and everyone is a threat
at this weight.”
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
The
9-Year Rule: A look at career lengths in Mixed Martial Arts
By Zach
Arnold
Article
written by David Williams
Mixed
martial arts is a very young sport. While the history of the
UFC dates back to 1993, established mainstream sports such as
baseball and football have existed since the 19th century. Over
time, those sports have evolved: the way they’re played
today looks very little like the way they were played in the
early years of their existence. Part of the evolution of these
sports is the development of a mostly set career path. In baseball,
for example, an average MLB player can expect to reach the major
leagues between the ages of 23 and 25, reach his prime between
ages 27 and 31, and decline afterwards, with most players retired
or out of the sport by the time they reach their late-30s. Running
backs in football are notorious for having short careers: most
of them suffer a career collapse sometime around the age of 30.
For
MMA, there doesn’t seem to be a specific age range in which
fighters enter their prime or suffer a decline. Great fighters
such as Wanderlei Silva and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira are 34 and
35 years old, respectively, and both appear to be on the last
legs of their careers. Randy Couture, on the other hand, didn’t
even begin his career until he was 34 years old. A remarkable
fact about recent high-profile MMA collapses is that there’s
little consistency about what age they occur. While Chuck Liddell’s
collapse took place in his late-30s, fighters like Joe Stevenson
and Karo Parisyan aren’t even 30 years old yet.
Despite
this inconsistency, I’m going to argue that MMA fighters,
like baseball and football players, have consistent career paths.
I believe that there’s a particular point at which most
fighters enter the prime of their career, and a point at which
most fighters exit their prime, and either decline or suffer
a brutal career collapse. This is based not on the age of the
fighter, or even how many times the fighter has competed professionally,
but instead on how long a fighter has been competing professionally.
To
determine exactly when it is that fighters collapse, I need an
objective method to measure how well fighters perform over time.
Fortunately, I have a great tool to use to do this with SILVA,
my statistical analysis system that estimates how good MMA fighters
are. SILVA does this objectively by only looking at the wins
and losses of a fighter and his opponents. It takes each of the
opponents on a fighter’s record, and assigns each fight
a “Victory Score” based on how good the opponent is.
This “Victory Score” is what I’ll use to measure
the performance of fighters over time.
For
this study, I want to look at the collective performance of fighters
over time against only the top tier of opponents, or what I define
as a “UFC-quality fighter.” The reason I do this is
to filter out wins against inferior opponents: if a fighter is
in the midst of a collapse, nobody is going to be convinced otherwise
by a win against a 4-10 opponent on the regional circuit. With
the parameters of the study set, I evaluated the careers of over
300 fighters, most of whom have competed in the UFC, to determine
how well they perform according to how long they’ve been
competing professionally. Here are the results:
Fighters’
Winning Percentage Against Quality Opponents
¦Year
1: 41.6%
¦Year 2: 51.9%
¦Year 3: 58.8%
¦Year 4: 64.0%
¦Year 5: 54.4%
¦Year 6: 52.8%
¦Year 7: 62.1%
¦Year 8: 56.4%
¦Year 9: 57.6%
¦Year 10: 47.3%
¦Year 11: 52.1%
¦Year 12: 46.7%
¦Year 13: 40.0%
The steepest drop takes place after the fighters measured had
been competing professionally for 9 years. At that point, the
ability of the fighters to compete against quality competition
declines to the same level as when they were relative rookies
in the sport. It doesn’t mean that the fighters are incapable
of winning against good opponents, but their ability to compete
at the highest levels of the sport is greatly diminished. This
can take root in various ways. Some fighters become much more
prone to being knocked out. Some have a slower reaction time.
Others start getting injured on a frequent basis. For some, the
collapse is psychological: the fighter becomes mentally broken.
Recent
high-profile collapses appear to bolster the case of the “9-year
rule.” Here are a few examples:
CHUCK
LIDDELL: MMA debut – 5/18/98, 9-year mark – 5/18/07
Liddell’s
first fight after reaching the 9-year mark was his sudden first-round
KO loss to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. After that, Liddell’s
only win was against an “older” (by MMA years) fighter
in Wanderlei Silva, and he was knocked out in brutal fashion
by Rashad Evans, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, and Rich Franklin.
FEDOR
EMELIANENKO: MMA debut – 5/21/00, 9-year mark – 5/21/09
Emelianenko’s
first fight after nine years was the Strikeforce match against
Brett Rogers, in which Emelianenko was put in more danger than
usual. After that, Emelianenko, whose only previous loss was
a doctor stoppage due to a cut against Tsuyoshi Kosaka, shockingly
lost two fights in a row, to Fabricio Werdum and Antonio “Bigfoot”
Silva.
TAKANORI
GOMI: MMA debut – 11/27/98, 9-year mark – 11/27/07
For
Gomi, the fight previous to reaching the 9-year mark was the
now infamous war against Nick Diaz that the Nevada State Athletic
Commission ruled a No Contest. Since then, Gomi is 5-4 and never
really got anything going in his recent losses to Clay Guida
and Kenny Florian.
JENS
PULVER: MMA debut – 4/24/99, 9-year mark – 4/24/08
This
is arguably the hardest collapse to watch. Pulver reached the
9-year point of his career prior to his first WEC fight against
Urijah Faber. Beginning with that fight, Pulver is 2-7, with
five losses in the first round, only managing wins against 7-21
Mike Lindquist and 13-12 Wade Choate.
WANDERLEI
SILVA: MMA debut – 11/1/96, 9-year mark – 11/1/05
Silva’s
first two fights after the nine-year mark were wins: a split
decision win against Ricardo Arona and a stoppage of Kazuyuki
Fujita. After that, Silva is 2-5, having been knocked out cold
three times, and only winning cleanly against Keith Jardine.
There
are plenty of other examples, including Tito Ortiz, Andrei Arlovski,
Rich Franklin, Mike Brown, and even Ken Shamrock. For many of
the sport’s formerly best fighters, the 9-year mark is when
things started going downhill fast.
Further,
the 9-year rule seems to apply regardless of the age of the fighter
or how many times he’s competed professionally. Ortiz and
Arlovski only had fought 17 and 18 times, respectively, when
they reached the 9-year mark of their careers, but they’ve
both suffered recent collapses. Meanwhile, to go to the other
extreme, Jeremy Horn had competed 91 times when he reached the
9-year mark of his career. Horn went 7-6 in his following 13
fights, including losses to Matt Lindland, Jorge Santiago, and
Dean Lister.
The
rule seems to defy age as well. The effects of the 9-year rule
on Randy Couture are debatable, because he went 5-3 afterwards
with the famous win over Tim Sylvia, but given that two of those
wins were against James Toney and Mark Coleman, I would argue
that the rule applies to him as well. Meanwhile, the rule appears
to have affected the careers of two fighters currently in their
20s: Joe Stevenson and Karo Parisyan were each just 25 years
old when the 9-year rule took effect. Stevenson is 3-5 since
then, and Parisyan is 1-3, with the latter having become known
for suffering from severe panic attacks before his fights.
My
hypothesis about why so many fighters seem to collapse after
9 years in professional MMA has to do with training. Most fighters,
regardless of whether or not they’re fighting often, are
in the practice room on a daily basis, getting beaten up by their
sparring partners. If fighters aren’t training, it’s
often because they’re injured as a result of the high amount
of stress they put on themselves. There’s only so much stress
a fighter can endure before he becomes either mentally or physically
broken.
The
darker side of this issue is that it’s likely that many
fighters will resort to breaking the rules in an attempt to prolong
their careers. Parisyan, for example, tested positive for painkillers
following his UFC 94 fight against Dong Hyun Kim. Dan Henderson,
a longtime veteran of the sport, is known to have taken testosterone
replacement therapy (which has been approved by the Nevada State
Athletic Commission). MMA veterans like Chael Sonnen and Josh
Barnett have tested positive for steroid abuse. With the relatively
low drug testing standards of athletic commissions being what
they are, it’s to be expected that fighters will jeopardize
their long-term health by abusing drugs in order to try to squeeze
a few more years out of their MMA careers.
I
predict that a lot of highly-ranked fighters are going to lose
fights that people don’t expect them to in the near future.
Anderson Silva has been fighting for 11 years now – the
beating he endured at the hands of Sonnen was no fluke; there’s
a real possibility that he loses to Yushin Okami in a “shock”
upset. Georges St. Pierre reached the 9-year mark in January,
and subjectively, he looked less impressive against Jake Shields
than he had in a while. Other top-ranked fighters who have been
competing for 9 years include Jon Fitch, B.J. Penn, Forrest Griffin,
Frank Mir, and Alistair Overeem.
There
are exceptions to the rule. Most notable is Henderson, a fighter
who debuted in 1997 and is 5-1 in his last six fights. His loss
was to Jake Shields, who has now been competing for almost 12
years, and is doing just fine. Vitor Belfort has been competing
for almost 15 years now, but his loss to Anderson Silva broke
a five-fight winning streak (although his recent injuries may
be a sign that his career doesn’t have much time left).
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson may have barely gotten by
Keith Jardine and Lyoto Machida, but he’s still 4-1 since
reaching the 9-year mark of his career. Still, these fighters
are exceptions, and any of them could collapse at any moment.
Here
are some other conclusions I’ve made resulting from this
study:
A
fighter’s prime begins in Year 3 and ends in Year 9
The
data suggests that after just two years of professional fighting,
most fighters are ready to compete at the upper levels of MMA.
Fighters in their third year are victorious against UFC-quality
opposition 59.1% of the time, the third-best percentage of any
single year, and an improvement from 51.9% in the second year,
and just 41.6% in the first year. This level of success is mostly
sustained until the ninth year, after which there’s a plunge,
from 57.6% in the ninth year to 47.3% in the tenth year.
Fighters
should not be thrown into the fire early in their career
This
one is already common sense, but the data bolsters this way of
thinking, suggesting that fighters need a developmental period
of about two years before they’re ready to be successful
against top competition. Having Michihiro Omigawa debut against
Aaron Riley, or Bu Kyung Jung debut against Shinya Aoki and Mitsuhiro
Ishida, does nothing but hurt their respective careers.
Fighters’
performance tends to dip in the fifth and sixth year of their
careers
I
have no explanation for why this is, but some of the biggest
and highest-profile upsets in MMA history occurred during this
period in the losing fighters’ careers. This includes Georges
St. Pierre’s loss to Matt Serra, Anderson Silva’s loss
to Ryo Chonan, and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira’s loss to Sokoudjou.
Randy
Couture is still amazing
It
would be drawing the wrong conclusion to suggest that Randy Couture’s
success at an advanced age was due to the 9-year rule. The way
I look at Couture is this: he was a top fighter in MMA into his
forties, but if he had been able to begin his career at the age
of 24 instead of 34, he could’ve been a dominant force in
the sport, as opposed to winning two out of every three against
quality competition.
Fighters
should not begin a professional MMA career before age 20
The
collapses of Stevenson and Parisyan should serve as a cautionary
tale: starting an MMA career early is no guarantee of a long
career. Many like to refer to fighters such as Rory MacDonald
and Stefan Struve as young fighters who have lots of upside and
room for development. I would suggest that MacDonald and Struve
are in their prime right now, and that they, and fighters like
Gegard Mousasi, have less time left than anybody thinks.
Use
discretion when applying the 9-year rule
Mike
Russow is credited with making his MMA debut in April 1998 against
Nate Schroeder. He didn’t fight again until 2006. For the
purposes of this study, Russow is considered to be a 5-year veteran
of MMA, not a 13-year veteran.
Conclusion
At
the main event of UFC 124 in Montreal, as Georges St. Pierre
was making his entrance into the arena, Joe Rogan stated: “…here’s
a really interesting point about Georges. He’s not even
in his prime yet. He’s only 29 years old.” I have no
doubt that there were many viewers nodding in agreement with
Rogan, remembering legends like Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture.
But my research suggests that not only has St. Pierre entered
his prime, his prime may actually be behind him. Sure, it’s
possible that St. Pierre could end up like Dan Henderson, and
defy the 9-year rule, but history says that it’s much more
likely that we’ve seen the best that St. Pierre has to offer.
The 9-year rule is not a death sentence; it is possible for a
minority of fighters to maintain success after that point. But
for the majority of mixed martial arts fighters, the 9-year mark
represents the point at which their decline begins, and they
enter the twilight years of their careers.
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Kauai
Cage Fights Tomorrow
Mayhem at the Manson
III
June 25, 2011
|
One
Hawaii Boxer advanced to the finals of the 2011 U.S. Championships
in Colorado Springs, CO.
Haley Pasion from the Kawano B.C. Won by Referee Stop Contest
in the
3rd round over Nepateria Miller (Conneticut). She will box Amanda
Pavone (Massachusetts) on saturday at the Colorado Springs Civic
Center.
The other Hawaii Boxer Lisa Ha (Kawano B.C.) lost a 15-13 decision
to
Marina Ramirez (Nevada) the 2nd ranked boxer in the U.S. She
will box
for the bronze medal tomorrow against Elizabeth Rodriguez (California).
Thanks
and cross your fingers,
Bruce
Kawano
Amateur Boxing of Hawaii President.
Commissioner for Hawaii State Boxing Commission.
USA-Boxing Coaches/International Task Force Member.
Ringside Board of Advisors.
A.I.B.A. Athlete and Youth Commission.
Head Coach- Kawano Boxing Club.
USA National Boxing Team Coach.
Manager - Red Lions Waikiki- Hyatt Regency Hotel.
General Manager- Rock Bottom Sports Bar and Grill.
Source: Bruce Kawano
|
Strikeforce
Challengers 16 Preview
by Jason
Probst
The
Strikeforce Challengers series was designed as a vehicle for
building hot prospects into stars. Strikeforce “Challengers
16” is lined up nicely to do just that on Saturday at the
ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash., as the two feature bouts seem
likely to produce winners that will make the jump to higher-profile
events.
Hopefully
that happens sooner rather than later. With competitive matches
plentiful in the lightweight and light heavyweight divisions,
Strikeforce can utilize new talent in both weight classes.
Here
is a closer look at Strikeforce Challengers 16, with previews
and picks.
Lightweights
James Terry (10-2, 5-1 SF) vs. Caros Fodor (8-2, 3-0 SF)
The
Matchup: This is a good battle of talented 155-pounders, both
of whom showed a nice dose of guts in winning at Strikeforce
Challengers 15 in April. Fodor simply refused to lose a grueling,
three-round battle against David Douglas, in a fight where both
guys hit rough spots and essentially vied for the initiative
the entire fight.
Fodor
may have the technical advantage on the ground here, as he excels
at incrementally pressuring opponents and making them work, even
when no strikes are being exchanged. That’s the mark of
a strong jiu-jitsu man. Terry, however, has a lot of similarities
to his mentor, former Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung
Le, with quick feet, solid footwork and explosive strikes. He
will really have to pick his spots and mix in high and low to
keep Fodor guessing, as the Matt Hume protégé will
be pressed to close the distance and get the clinch in order
to stymie Terry’s potent attack at range.
What
Fodor does with the takedowns he gets determines if he wins this
one. He will have to be busy grinding to improve position, striking
enough to delay a standup and making an impression on the judges.
The
Pick: Restarts and rounds give Terry a fresh chance to land something
big, and the striker’s advantage is just enough here; Terry
by close decision in a hard-fought bout.
Villante
vs. Larkin
Light
Heavyweights
Gian Villante (7-2, 0-1 SF) vs. Lorenz Larkin (10-0, 1-0 SF)
The
Matchup: This could very well be the best matchup of the card,
action-wise, with two solid light heavyweight prospects colliding.
Do not be misled by Villante’s loss to heavyweight Chad
Griggs. He’s a natural 205-pounder with excellent collegiate
wrestling credentials and athleticism, and Griggs is, simply
put, as tough as a three-week-old steak. Larkin burst on the
scene at Strikeforce Challengers 15 in April, with a clinic put
on against Scott Lighty.
Larkin’s
performance was outstanding, especially considering he was a
late substitution, as he used herky-jerky movement, brilliant
timing and slam-bang striking to take out Lighty in two rounds.
Now 10-0, the Riverside, Calif., stylist has a boatload of standup
ability. The wild card remains how his takedown defense and jiu-jitsu
will fare against people who do not want to stand with him, and
most opponents will fall into that category.
Villante
is not afraid to force exchanges or take one to give one, a trait
which backfired against the bigger Griggs, who simply refused
to be taken and held down. However, Villante does have the wrestler’s
advantage. He will have to stalk intelligently and move back
Larkin, denying him the ability to use more of the cage to set
up moving attacks.
Larkin
was exceptionally sharp in exchanges with Lighty and put the
hurt on him early. Villante will probably be bigger at fight
time and should be able to score takedowns after figuring out
Larkin’s rhythm, though that is no easy task. This is a
real opportunity fight for these two and a great stylistic clash.
The
Pick: Villante’s wrestling and chin will have to carry him.
They will be enough, as he avoids some rough spots from the dynamic
Larkin to grind out a late stoppage via ground-and-pound or a
close decision.
Women’s
Welterweights
Germaine de Randamie (2-1, 1-0 SF) vs. Julia Budd (1-1, 1-1 SF)
The
Matchup: Randamie is perhaps the most accomplished female kickboxer
to enter the sport of MMA, with eye-popping credentials. With
a reported record of 48-0 and a slate of world titles, she has
since gone 2-1 in MMA, including an impressive stoppage of Stephanie
Webber in her Strikeforce debut in January. She also knocked
out Budd in the first round of a kickboxing match in 2008. See
the video here, and draw your own conclusions as to what was
the finishing blow.
Randamie’s
transition to MMA is obviously still a work in progress, but
her standup is expectably stout. She throws blasting combinations,
utilizes classical Thai techniques like the lead kick as a rangefinder/jab
and is comfortable in the clinch, as well as countering hard
in the pocket. Budd’s second Strikeforce outing at the aforementioned
January event ended disastrously, as she was blitzed out in 14
seconds by the far more experienced Amanda Nunes.
The
Pick: A setup fight is a setup fight. Randamie is a big hitter
being fed a fastball here. She wins by stoppage in one.
Lightweights
Ryan Couture (2-0, 2-0 SF) vs. Matt Ricehouse (4-0, 2-0 SF)
The
Matchup: In any vocation, being the son of a legend is never
easy. Thus far, Couture seems to have handled it well enough.
With each performance, he puts a little more separation between
the “Son of Randy Couture” billing and adds his own
stylistic stamp on who he is and how he fights.
In
his two-fight professional career, the younger Couture has shown
a decent guard and solid submissions, and he seems adept in the
clinch. Ricehouse, also unbeaten, is an interesting match for
him because and unbeaten fighter does not yet know how to lose.
Ricehouse won his Strikeforce debut via unanimous decision in
December.
Neither
man has shown much more than limited standup thus far, though,
with raw prospects, that can evolve rapidly. Assuming someone
does not catch lightning in a bottle, their battle will come
down to what most fights at this juncture of careers do -- wrestling
and the ability to control from the top. Ricehouse’s edge
in experience and nothing-to-lose attitude should motivate him
to put the hurt on Couture as soon as possible. From what we
have seen of Ricehouse, he seems to have decent but not killer-level
wrestling and takedowns.
The
Pick: Couture should have enough ability to control in the clinch
and from his back to take a late submission or decision in a
tough bout.
Source:
Sherdog
|
Jorge
Gurgel Returns on Strikeforce Challengers 18 Fight Card in Las
Vegas
Gurgel (14-7) has had a difficult time gaining any momentum in
his fight career over the past few years, but he’s looking
to do just that when he returns to the cage on Aug. 12 at The
Pearl at The Palms Casino Resort.
He doesn’t have an opponent yet, but Gurgel tweeted about
the bout on Wednesday afternoon.
“Confirmed! Finally! August 12th, Strikeforce at the Palms
in Vegas! Opponent to be announced… ”
Gurgel comes into the fight on the heels of a win over Billy
Vaughn under the Strikeforce banner in March. Prior to that,
he had been on a two-fight skid.
Strikeforce Challengers 18, first reported by MMAJunkie.com,
will be the company’s second offering in Las Vegas since
Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the UFC, acquired the Strikeforce.
The first is slated to be Strikeforce Challengers 17 on July
22, also at The Pearl.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Alistair
Overeem: Fedor refusing to fight me is the reason why I’ve
been inactive
By Zach
Arnold
Click
the image to view the video interview at MMAFighting.com
ARIEL
HELWANI: “I remember after your win over Brett Rogers, so
much momentum, you know, it was such a dominant win, everyone
was talking, a lot of buzz about you back here in Strikeforce.
Do you feel as though you’ve lost a little bit of that because
it’s taken over a year for you to come back?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “Well, it was not my fault it took over a year
to come back. We tried to put together the fight against (Fabricio)
Werdum, the winner of the Werdum/Fedor fight. Werdum was injured,
needed surgery on his elbow, so he was out. Fedor declined to
fight me for the second time. At that point, I decided to compete
in the K-1 GP because there were no fights for me in Strikeforce
and, yeah, basically did that.
“I
tried to put together the fight in May when I was fighting Brett
Rogers. That was basically their idea. Their answer was, ‘we’re
not going to fight you on May 15th, you can fight somebody else
and we’re going to fight somebody else.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “Why do you think they declined for a second time?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “Well, I can’t read their mind… but they
don’t want to fight me, obviously. And, ummm… yeah.
I don’t know what’s going through their minds. I don’t
know, can’t give an answer about that but I tried to put
together that fight, we tried hard. Challenging in public, management
negotiations, but they really did not want to fight me. First
time when I fought Brett Rogers they did not want to and the
second time they also did not want to and that forced me to fight
in the K-1 which I also like to do and which resulted in the
K-1 title. So, yeah.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “How do you feel about the fact that your title
is not on the line? Does that bother you or does it not really
make a difference?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “Well, title’s not on the line, that means
it’s going to be one round less or two rounds less, um…
but other than that, yeah, it’s okay with me, of course.
There’s nothing for me to gain. And basically, actually
I think I like the idea that there’s something new on the
line, there’s something for me to gain actually and that’s
the GP title. So, I like that idea.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “Another title. I remember that famous picture
of you holding the three titles, now you can add a fourth one,
maybe.”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “Nice picture.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “Very nice picture.”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “It’s nice. So, yeah, there is room for another
belt. So, hopefully we’re going to work damn hard and this
Saturday we’re going to make it happen, one step closer.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “You’re obviously on a winning impressive
streak, but earlier in your career you had a few losses. One
of them was to Fabricio Werdum. Was this a fight that you always
wanted to avenge a lost to Werdum that you always want to rectify,
was this one that always kind of stuck with you?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “Definitely, yes.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “Why?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “Well, umm… you know, one of these fights
that you’re not entirely in shape, or actually in bad shape
going into the fight. This was one of these fights and I don’t
want to look back too much because I’m not the character
to do it and if you didn’t bring it up, I wouldn’t
have brought it up. But, going into that fight, I wasn’t
fit, I just had a surgery, the surgery had a bad impact on my
body, on my conditioning and the doctor said I would be back
in shape in one week but it took like a month and then a week
later was the fight. So, yeah, it was one of those fights that
kept nagging me and I’ve been wanting this re-match for
a long time. Very happy I got it now and, yeah, it’s going
to be on Showtime Saturday.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “They put out some footage on TheReem.com, the
great documentary series. They filmed you after that fight and
you seemed to have taken it very hard. I remember there’s
a shot with your head and obviously a fighter takes every loss
hard but you were very distraught after the loss. Do you remember
how you felt and will you try to bring back that up to give you
that extra fire going into the fight?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “No, I got fire by myself, I got enough fire myself,
I don’t think need to think about that fight or that loss
or that emotion. I’m pretty fired up by myself. It’s
been like six months since I was in the ring or cage, so I’m
pretty fired up.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “Do you think if he watches that tape now and tries
to study it and duplicate the fight over again and look for same
holds that’s a mistake because you’re a different fighter?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “I think we’re both different fighters. I
think Fabricio has perfected himself to be the best grappler
in MMA and I think I’ve perfected myself to be the best
striker in MMA. So, it’s going to be very interesting how
this is going to work out but, yeah, the game plan is ready,
my conditioning is optimum. We’re ready to go.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “Do you believe in cage rust and, if so, do you
think that will be a factor for him? Because he hasn’t fought
since June of last year and he only fought for 60-something seconds
when he beat Fedor.”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “Well, ring rust, maybe, but he’s going to
be ready. He’s ready. I believe Fabricio’s a person
who works really hard and I believe he’s going to be ready
and that’s exactly how I want it. I want him to be ready.
I’m ready. We’re going to put on a great show and may
the best man win and may the fans see a great fight.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “What do you think of him saying that he’s
going to after your other arm this time and submit you? Is that
a challenge?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “Yeah, I don’t really listen to what he says.
His English is not that good, anyways. Also, speak of, yeah,
‘Alistair is my son.’ I still do not know exactly know
what that means. I still don’t, when I think about it, what
does it mean?”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “He called you his son?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “Yeah, I don’t know what it means.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “Do you think that’s disrespectful or respectful?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “I don’t know. If I would call you my son…”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “Probably disrespectful.”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “For me, it doesn’t mean anything because
I don’t know what it means. Maybe it’s a cultural thing
or something, yeah.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “Now this is your first fight since the Strikeforce
purchase by Zuffa. Do you sense any difference? Does it feel
like it’s a different promotion?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “Yes. Yes. It’s the same, some of the same
people but more people. You can see it’s more structured,
it’s more organized. Yeah, it’s just a tad extra taking
care of everything.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “We’ve heard from some of the fighters who
had deals where they could do other things that now they can’t
do them because Zuffa issued new contracts and you had a deal
where you could and go fight K-1. Are you not allowed to fight
K-1 any more now that Zuffa owns Strikeforce?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “Well… ummm…. my contracts states that
I can fight in other promotions, so…. my contract is my
contract.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “They haven’t given you a new contract?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “No, they didn’t give me a new contract. So,
that’s obviously going to be a talking point in the negotiations
but we’ll deal with that when the time comes.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “When are the negotiations or you don’t know?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “I don’t know. I think somewhere after this
fight or after the next fight.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “I had someone call my show, The MMA Hour…
‘why is Alistair so low in everyone’s rankings? why
don’t you have him Top 2, Top 3? How could you put Brock
Lesnar over him?’ Do you even look at those rankings? Do
you use them as motivation and you do understand why some people
don’t have you as high in the rankings because you haven’t
fought Top 10 fighters in the heavyweight division consistently
over the last couple years?”
ALISTAIR
OVEREEM: “I understand it very well. There is an argument
that you could say Alistair is not Top 10 or not Top 5 because
he has not fought this guy and that guy but umm… I think
where the fans get their motivation is that I did fight a lot,
I did have a lot of knockouts or submissions. I am the only fighter
to hold a major MMA belt as well as the K-1 organization (belt),
something that nobody has ever done that before, so… there’s
arguments, there’s argument for both ways. But I can understand
people, yeah, who don’t place me in the Top 5. But I also
understand why people say he’s the #1 or #2 or #3. But,
you know, the only way to find out is for those fights to happen
and now that Zuffa has bought Strikeforce it’s one step
closer and we’re going to see in the coming years. I’m
going to make sure that I’m damn ready.”
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Compustrike:
Strikeforce Overeem vs. Werdum by the numbers
By Ryan
Ventura
Strikeforce:
Overeem vs. Werdum was one of the most anticipated bouts of 2011
and unfortunately the event did not live up to the hype. We've
all heard the saying "styles make fights" and last
Saturday was a perfect display of that. It was clear, Fabricio
Werdum wanted to keep the fight on the ground, and Alistair Overeem
wanted to keep the fight on the feet. Similar to Anderson Silva's
fights with Demian Maia and Thales Leites (minus the dancing)
a big chunk of the fight was spent with Werdum doing the 'Brazilian
Butt Scoot' and Overeem defending numerous takedown attempts.
Thanks to our good friends at Compustrike, we were able to keep
track of every strike, every takedown, and every submission attempt.
Let's look closely at the numbers from last Saturday's main event.
The
biggest stat that stands out is that Fabricio Werdum surprised
everybody by outstriking the K-1 2010 World Grand Prix champion
69/145 (48%) compared to Reem's 48/72 (69%). This could be due
to the fact that Werdum kept trying to takedown Overeem or pull
guard during the fight so the big man was more focused on staying
off the ground and defending himself from potentially dangerous
situations. 42 of Reem's strikes were power shots compared to
Fabricio's 16. Alistair did manage to successfully takedown Werdum
3 out of 3 times compared to Fabricio's 12 attempts and only
3 were successful. Werdum attempted one submission the whole
fight and the two-time ADCC champion wasn't able to get dominate
position at all for the whole fight.
You've
seen the numbers, you've seen the stats. Agree? Disagree? Leave
your thoughts about Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum in the comment
box. For more MMA stats bookmark and visit Compustrike.com. Here
are some more notable stats from last Saturday.
Brett
Rogers was only able to land 4 strikes before getting submitted
by Josh Barnett in the 2nd round.
Jorge
Masvidal landed 102 strikes compared to KJ Noons' 57 strikes.
Daniel
Cormier landed 96 power shots compared to Jeff Monson's 11.
Source: Low Kick
|
Despite
Strikeforce champ's opening salvo, Miesha Tate not making it
personal
by Steven
Marrocco
If there's bad blood between Marloes Coenen and Meisha Tate,
it isn't coming from Tate.
The
women's welterweight challenger is aware that the champ isn't
too fond of her, and she plans to ignore the drama.
"I
don't think that she knows me well enough to say anything,"
Tate told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "So I feel
like it's just going to be her trying to hype the fight."
The
two are scheduled to meet July 30 at "Strikeforce: Fedor
vs. Henderson," which takes place at Sears Centre Arena
in Hoffman Estates, Ill. Its main card, including the Coenen
vs. Tate title fight, airs live on Showtime.
Tate
(11-2 MMA, 3-1 SF) originally was scheduled to fight Coenen (19-4
MMA, 3-1 SF) in March at "Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson"
before a knee injury scuttled her title opportunity. Coenen went
on to fight Liz Carmouche and retain her belt with a come-from-behind
victory. But beforehand, she made it pretty clear that a future
fight with Tate is about more than just a good challenge.
"It
would have been a very good fight ... because she's presenting
herself as being a cute girl ... and I present myself a different
way," Coenen said. "Let's put it like that."
Tate
has heard the comments and isn't quite sure why the champ is
so bent out of shape.
"I
think to each his own in the way we choose to present ourselves,"
she said. "I definitely don't think she should base her
opinion of my fighting ability on my presentation at all because
she'll be sorely mistaken."
With
a month of training under her belt, there's not glitz and glamour
for Tate these days. After six weeks on the bench, she returned
to the gym in anticipation of a fight with Coenen. Although she
suffered "a tear" in her knee, she rehabbed the injury
without surgery and said she's back to her old self in training.
And
with her 25th birthday around the corner, Tate feels like she's
only getting better.
"Now
that I'm already in great shape, I can really apply a gameplan
every day," she said. "I don't have to spend my camp
trying to get in shape or lose weight. It's all about sharpening
the skillset that I've already developed."
Of
course, Tate's strong suit is in the grappling department, and
Coenen's is in the standup realm, so it's not hard to figure
out where both are focusing their efforts.
What's
certain is that the challenger isn't getting caught up in the
hype.
"I
have nothing against Marloes personally," Tate said. "I
think she's a great representative of women's MMA. She's a pioneer;
she's been fighting for 10 or more years. I respect her as an
athlete. I have nothing bad to say about her on a personal level."
If
Coenen chooses to make it personal, Tate said she won't respond.
"Maybe
she's trying to stir the pot a little bit, but it's not really
registering to me," she said. "I'm just focused about
training, and I'm in good spirits about the fight."
Source: MMA Junkie
|
Vazquez
Respects Stevenson, but Doesn’t Think He’s Evolved
Much
Javier
Vazquez and Joe Stevenson have known each other a long time.
Both
are veterans of the Southern California MMA circuit. Both were
competing in King of the Cage earlier in the decade.
Now
they’re finally scheduled to fight June 26 in Pittsburgh
at UFC Live 4.
“Joe
and I are friends,” Vazquez said recently on the Sherdog
Radio Network’s “Beatdown” show. “Plus he
was fighting up a weight. I wasn’t really concerned about
him dropping down, but now that he did -- a lot of these lightweights
think that the grass is greener on the other side at featherweight.
I think some of them are going to find out that we’re just
as tough as the guys at 155. We just happen to weigh a little
bit less.”
A
winner of the second season of “The Ultimate Fighter,”
Stevenson eventually earned a lightweight title shot but lost
to B.J. Penn. He is moving to 145 pounds after losing three straight
at 155. Vazquez has followed his career.
“I’ve
watched Joe fight for years and I haven’t seen him evolve
a whole lot,” Vazquez said. “I think he’s a good
fighter. I think he’s a great guy, but let’s be honest.
He hasn’t really evolved that much in the three years he’s
been in the UFC. He’s the same fighter. Sometimes he comes
in there in a little bit better shape than others. That’s
about it.”
Stevenson’s
submission game is formidable, though. Vazquez acknowledged that
he will have to be cautious of his opponent’s ability to
finish.
“There’s
no question I respect his submission skills,” Vazquez said.
“I think he’s got good leg locks. I think he’s
got very good elbows and I think he’s got good ground-and-pound.
I think he’s a good fighter and stylistically, he’s
a very tough fight for me, but I think I’m a little bit
better in every aspect of the game.”
However,
Stevenson is training with a camp that knows Vazquez’s game
well. In fact, he’s been training with Millennia, Vazquez’s
former gym.
“I
can’t control what they do,” Vazquez said. “As
far as bad blood, it doesn’t surprise me. If I were him,
I’d probably go there too. They were my teammates for 12
years. That’s probably his best bet. The only problem is,
I don’t think they have anybody there that can beat me.
So I don’t think him being there is going to do him any
good.”
Vazquez
also believes he knows his former camp as well as they know him.
“I
know exactly what they’re telling him,” he said. “I
know exactly what he’s working on. … From the time
I left that gym, I’m a much better fighter. I’m a much
more well-rounded mixed martial artist, and my conditioning is
much better. Any game plan that they can come up with, I’m
going to nullify it.”
Source:
Sherdog
|
Gomi
Faces His Second Diaz at UFC 135
UFN 25 - Battle on the Bayou
September's big UFC 135 card in Denver just got bigger with the
addition of a lightweight clash between former PRIDE champ Takanori
Gomi and Nate Diaz, who is returning to the 155-pound weight
class after a stint at welterweight.
“Verbal
agreements are in for an explosive lightweight matchup, as the
“Fireball Kid” Takanori Gomi takes on Nate Diaz at
UFC 135," said UFC President Dana White. "Gomi had
an amazing battle with Nick Diaz in PRIDE and is looking for
some payback against his brother.”
UFC
135 Gets Title, HWT Bouts
An electrifying title fight has been confirmed as the main event
of UFC 135, taking place in Denver this September.
Light
heavyweight champion Jon Jones and former light heavyweight boss
Rampage Jackson have verbally agreed to the clash, said UFC president
Dana White. Both men are coming off successes at UFC 128 and
UFC 130, respectively, and after treating possible injuries,
both have been medically cleared to compete.
MMA’s
breakout star, Jones stunned the world in March with his third
round TKO of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to win the 205-pound
belt. Jackson, who owned the title from 2007 to 2008, has put
together back-to-back wins over Lyoto Machida and Matt Hamill
to earn his long-awaited shot at regaining the crown.
Another
big-boy rumble in the Rockies has also been added to the event,
with Travis "Hapa" Browne fighting Rob "The Bear"
Broughton. “Undefeated heavyweight Browne has verbally agreed
to face Broughton, who is on a five-fight win streak," said
White. Browne is coming off a KO of the Night victory over Stefan
Struve at UFC 130, while Broughton last competed at UFC 120.
Hunt
Battles Rothwell at UFC 135 updated June 14
Fresh from his KO of the Night performance against Chris Tuchscherer
in February, Mark Hunt returns to the Octagon to face Ben Rothwell
at UFC 135 this September.
“Verbal
agreements are in for a battle between heavyweights as devastating
striker Mark ‘The Super Samoan’ Hunt faces the 6’
4” powerhouse Ben Rothwell on September 24 in Denver, Colorado,”
said UFC President Dana White.
Yamamoto
vs. Page in Denver
Dana White confirmed today that Damacio Page and 'Kid' Yamamoto
have verbally agreed to fight at UFC 135 in September. Expect
fireworks - “These are two of the most aggressive sluggers
in the always-exciting bantamweight division," said White.
Diego
Sanchez to face Hall of Famer Matt Hughes updated April 28
Welterweight contender Diego Sanchez has never been shy in expressing
his desire for a fight with UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes. This
fall, Sanchez will get his wish, as he faces the legendary two-time
welterweight champ on a date and at a venue to be announced.
“A
matchup between two welterweight fan favorites has been verbally
agreed to as Diego “The Dream” Sanchez will face former
UFC welterweight champion and Hall of Famer Matt Hughes,”
said UFC President Dana White. “Sanchez is coming off of
a Fight of Night winning performance against Martin Kampmann
and Hughes is looking to add another great victory to his incredible
UFC career.”
Source: UFC
|
Fired:
Kendall
Grove,
Chuck O'Neil
by agentsmith
Team
Dagger in happier days.
Kendall
"Da Spyder" Grove has been hanging on to his UFC contract
by his fingernails for years now, so I guess we shouldn't be
too surprised that after Tim Boetsch gave him his second decision
loss in a row (and his 3rd fail of his last 5 attempts) at UFC
130, Zuffa finally sent him packing.
Winner
of the third season of TUF back in 2006, Grove started his career
in the UFC with three wins in a row, including putting then-noob
Alan Belcher to sleep with a sweet D'Arce choke. And then the
hype-train went off the rails with back-to-back KO losses to
Patrick Cote and Jorge Rivera. He regrouped and rebounded with
wins over the late Evan Tanner and Jason Day, but it was all
up and down after that... losses to Ricardo Almeida, Mark Munoz,
and Damien Maia were split up by wins over Jake Rosholt and Goran
Reljic. Not counting the TUF 3 Finale, the Boetsch loss brought
his total UFC record to 6-6.
He
now joins Efrain Escudero and Travis Lutter on the list of fired
TUF winners, though he's the first to be cut based solely on
losses (presumably). Just goes to show that not only do you not
need to win the show to get a UFC contract in the first place,
winning it doesn't grant you much job security either. Though
when you think about it, he's certainly not the only TUF winner
to drop two fights in a row. Danzig and Joe Daddy both lost three
in a row, but they still have their jobs... for now. And so the
inconsistency of the UFC axe continues to be a mystery wrapped
in a riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in bacon.
Meanwhile,
joining the list of one-and-done show alumni is TUF 13 semi-finalist
Chuck O'Neil, who barely showed up to his bout with over-achieving
cast-mate Chris Cope on the Finale card, and got himself a well-deserved
pink slip for his non-effort.
Both
guys apparently announced the good news themselves on their respective
Facebook pages. Is it considered rude to "like" that?
Remember when Facebook had a thumbs-down function? Those were
the days.
Source: Fight Linker
|
Card
for UFC 132
(7/2 Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay Events Center)
By Zach
Arnold
Dark matches/preliminary fights
Middleweights: Brad Tavares vs. Aaron Simpson
Bantamweights: Brian Bowles vs. Takeya Mizugaki
Lightweights: George Sotiropoulos vs. Rafael dos Anjos
Lightweights: Melvin Guillard vs. Shane Roller
Lightweights: Andre Winner vs. Anthony Njokuani
Main card
Lightweights: Dennis Siver vs. Matt Wiman
Welterweights: Carlos Condit vs. Dong Hyun Kim
Light Heavyweights: Tito Ortiz vs. Ryan Bader
Welterweights: Wanderlei Silva vs. Chris Leben
UFC Bantamweight title match: Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber
Source: Fight Opinion
|
UFC
on Versus 4: Pat Barry – No More Mr. Nice Guy
By Damon
Martin
If there’s one thing you can say about UFC heavyweight Pat
Barry beyond his fight skills, it’s that he’s a hell
of a nice guy.
During his Q&A appearance prior to UFC on Versus 3 in Louisville,
Ky., Barry had a room full of fans laughing and joking along
with him as he told stories and answered questions.
At the UFC Fighter Summit, Barry somehow managed to strip down
to his underwear and sit quietly during one of the talks being
given, while fighters all around him chuckled and couldn’t
help but laugh at the gentle giant’s antics.
He even famously knocked down his idol Mirko “Cro Cop”
Filipovic when they fought, and helped him back up.
Yep, there’s no denying that Pat Barry is a nice guy, but
that’s also his problem.
See, Barry recently started working full time with a new camp
in Minnesota. A camp full of heavyweight wrestlers who are probably
just as nice as he is off the mat, but when it comes time to
spar and train, they’d just as soon step on your face as
to look at you.
His new head coach Marty Morgan knew that he could unleash Barry’s
inner animal, he just had to approach it the right way.
“Out here more than anything else, what it seems like Coach
Morgan is doing more than anything else is he is getting me to
develop an aggression level that he says he sees inside of me
that I haven’t let out,” Barry told MMAWeekly Radio.
“He’s like ‘you’re in the ring and you’re
playing the game of fighting very well, you play the game of
fighting excellently, but you’re not trying to make a meal
out of anyone in there. You’re going to win the game, but
you’re not going to take this person home and feed your
family,’ and I was like damn, alright.”
Barry understood immediately what Morgan was talking about. He
didn’t realize it at the time, but Barry’s tendencies
to be a nice guy in the ring started all the way back when he
was in his earliest days as a kickboxer.
“My very first kickboxing match ever I fought a guy named
David Roshon, and when I punched him in the stomach, he hunched
over, and I put my hand on his back and asked him if he was alright.
Hey man, you okay? He almost uppercut me and knocked me out,
so I hit him in the stomach again, he hunches back over, and
I’m like, I’m just trying to see if you’re alright.
That’s the habits you have,” Barry said.
When he first started working with the camp prior to Brock Lesnar’s
title fight against Cain Velasquez, Barry noticed there was a
real mental difference working with the crew comprised mostly
of grizzled wrestlers.
Barry was a nice guy for a while, but now that mentality has
changed.
“It’s just been nice guy Pat, play the game really
well, make sure you can stand up and get up and walk out after.
Real wrestlers are just rough. I’m like, hey man you’re
arm’s broken and they look at me like, yeah that’s
fine, don’t worry about it,” Barry said.
“We fight the way we train. That’s a fact. We don’t
train the way we fight, we fight the way we train. However you
train that’s how you’re going to come out and fight.”
In the past, Barry has had problems fighting heavyweights to
work with, but an even bigger problem are heavyweights that can
take his vicious leg kicks or power punches, that don’t
get up and walk away from him for good.
That mentality caused him to start pulling punches, not hitting
guys with all his force, and not truly being prepared for another
fighter stepping in the Octagon opposite him, ready to tear his
head off.
“Most anybody that fights has run across this problem from
before where if you do let go on somebody, either they’re
going to get upset with you or they just don’t come back
for the rest of the week. That’s always been my problem
as long as I’ve been back here stateside. I might throw
a punch or kick at somebody not necessarily to finish them, but
at least to put some kind of intent on it and the next thing
you know, they don’t come back,” Barry explained.
“I found a group of guys who are big of size and then I
can let go on these guys, and they’re fine with that. But
I haven’t done that in such a long time that it gets hard
in training, and it gets mentally tough because it’s like,
‘well, I could pull my glove out, but if I pull my glove
out it’s going to rip your ear off,’ and then they
sit there and go, ‘well, I’ve got another ear, so why
didn’t you do it?’”
As the training camp wore on, Barry noticed that his killer instinct
developed. Like a lion stalking an antelope on the Discovery
Channel, Barry stopped smiling and checking on his teammates,
and went for the kill.
It’s that very switch that Barry believes will carry him
to victory this weekend when he faces fellow striker Cheick Kongo
at UFC on Versus 4 in Pittsburgh. The reason he knows he has
to have that killer instinct is because Kongo will be doing the
same exact thing.
“Cheick Kongo’s going to try to do whatever it takes
to finish me. He’s not going to do whatever just to win,
just to be a ‘C’ student. You shouldn’t be just
a ‘C’ student or a ‘D’ student when it comes
to the game of fighting. You can’t,” Barry stated.
“We’ve got to come in there and we’ve got to finish
fights. Because we all have to take responsibility for everything
we do. If you step in the Octagon you’ve got to be ready
for the worst case scenario every time. Cause there is the possibility
of death, there’s the possibility of being maimed and being
hurt for a very long time, there’s a possibility of anything
and everything going on. When you step in there you’ve got
to accept that, and you’ve got to know that could happen.
If I hit him, and he don’t walk out, that’s his fault.”
It might be an odd sight on Sunday night to see a scowl on the
face of Pat Barry instead of his signature smile, but if he lays
out Cheick Kongo with a high kick or a nasty punch, his smile
will surely return.
It will just be for a different reason this time.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Deeming
the Strikeforce Heavyweight GP tournament a big success
By Zach
Arnold
624,000 viewers on Showtime last weekend. Smashing success, yes?
That was the theme of this recent radio discussion between Jordan
Breen & Ben Fowlkes. The big question that has been debated
ad nauseum is whether or not is whether or not the tournament
can be called a success because Fedor lost in the first round.
That wasn’t exactly an outcome that anyone had in mind.
Ben says that despite Fedor losing, the tournament has produced
enough match-ups and storylines to catch the attention of fans
looking for something that is unlike what UFC normally produces.
“Worst case scenario, it’s going to be Fedor versus
either Overeem or Werdum, so, you know, either one you can make
the fight that we want to see. But I also think that what people
really like about the tournaments is that, you know, especially
when you do it this way where you set up the brackets ahead of
time all the way through and not the PRIDE way where, you know,
we’ll get through the first round and see what we got. But
I think it’s still exciting that we just lay out the brackets
and then kind of, you know, let everything work itself out. We
don’t have the matchmakers trying to figure it out or letting
someone’s management team try and keep them out of the tougher
fights. I mean, everybody just has to fight and if you win you
keep fighting and you have to keep fighting the other winners
and that’s exciting and that’s something that we don’t
get to see as much as we would like to in MMA because of, you
know, the nature of matchmaking particularly in Strikeforce.
“But I do think the tournament still has (interest). Maybe
it didn’t work out exactly the way we all thought it would
but, I mean, you still keep fighting the fights and I think that’s
what is going to make it compelling going forward.”
There’s been a lot of discussion as to whether or not the
winner of this Heavyweight tournament should get a UFC title
shot and face the winner of the Cain Velasquez/Junior dos Santos
title fight (in 2012). Mr. Fowlkes says there’s no looking
back now and that the tournament has to reach a conclusion to
produce a #1 contender for the UFC HW title.
“I think that the winner does become an immediate UFC contender.
But I think as far as, you know, should they even keep doing
this (tournament)? The answer is yes, you’ve got to. It’s
like going on like a horrible road trip where as soon as you
get out on the freeway things start going bad and you get to
the first night’s stop and you stay in this terrible little
motel and you feel like you’re going to get robbed and you
got a staph infection from the pool, but you got to keep going.
You just don’t turn around and go home because it didn’t
start off the way you wanted to. I mean, you’re going to
get where you got to go even if you have a horrible time the
entire trip, you just have to, you have to do just so you can
feel good about yourself. I think Strikeforce has to get through
this tournament all the way through, all the way through the
finals even if knowing the winner is basically then just get
pulled into the UFC to fight the UFC champion. You still got
to do it and, God, I hope they do. The saddest possible thing
they could is just kind of let this thing fizzle out and abandon
the idea altogether.”
Mr. Breen said that despite the horrible fight performance featuring
Alistair Overeem & Fabricio Werdum last Saturday night, there
is an upside to it. Overeem now looks beatable and is no longer
an invincible Incredible Hulk in the minds of hardcore MMA fans.
Meaning, will the public think Bigfoot Silva has a legitimate
shot of winning that upcoming fight?
“Well, you’re really pulling to find a bright side
there,” a chiding Mr. Fowlkes responded. “I mean, what
you’re saying is that Alistair Overeem looked mediocre enough
that the Bigfoot Silva fight starts to seem more competitive.
Which, okay, yeah, sure, I guess it does and I was talking with
Ariel Helwani when we left the (Dallas) arena on Saturday night
and he was saying, ‘Okay, now I think Bigfoot Silva’s
the favorite in the tournament,’ and I was like, you know,
I just can’t bring myself to utter those words.
“I still feel like we’re doing the thing where, you
know, as soon as we see a guy fight then we forget about every
other fight except the last one that we saw and I don’t
know how many of us really thought that Alistair Overeem was
this just, you know, Destructo 3000 Cyborg that was going to
walk in there and decimate the entire field. I mean, I thought
they had a lot of interest possible fights in that. But at the
same time, just because you can’t knock out a guy for the
brief moments that he agrees to stand on his feet against you,
I mean there were a few times there in that fight where Overeem
hit him with some pretty nice stuff but Werdum went down but
went down just to try to pull into half-guard. I mean, it’s
really hard to get something going against a guy like that. I
don’t know how much we can really tell about Overeem based
on that fight. I also think maybe there’s a little bit of
a development curve here for Overeem, having fought a bunch of
K-1 fights and a bunch of, you know, hand-picked cans in MMA
where he never had to go more than a round. I mean, it’s
been a long time since he’s had to fight that long in an
MMA fight. So, maybe he’s going to have to adjust to it
a little bit. I don’t know if we can look at this one fight
which was just bizarre on a couple of different levels and say,
okay, Overeem’s not as good as we thought. I mean, I still
think Overeem deserves to be mentioned in that top heavyweight
conversation but, I mean, we’ll see. That’s one of
the good things about the tournament is he has to keep going
forward.”
One thing that we have seen throughout Overeem’s various
MMA fights is that, defensively-speaking, he’s largely the
same fighter now as he has been over the last few years. His
submission defense is better, to a degree, but outside of that…
“It’s like he forgets that he’s not wearing the
boxing gloves any more and that he can’t really just stand
there and cover up. I mean, again, though, you look at the guy
and it’s like… I mean, even just looking at him and
his frame, I can’t imagine him really slipping a lot of
punches. He would have to move too much mass, it’s not like
he can just move his head, it’s connected to his shoulders.
I mean, it’s way too hard, you know, to imagine him as some
really slick defensive heavyweight. But at the same time, maybe
when Werdum is able to dot you up that much, it’s a sign
that you need to work on defense. I mean, I was talking to Overeem
when he showed up after the press conference was over and sat
there and took a few questions and, you know, his face…
it sure didn’t look like someone who had not been punched
in the face a bunch of times that night and yet he was trying
to say, you know, ‘Werdum doesn’t hit that hard, he
wasn’t trying to knock me out, he was just using them to
try to set up his (takedowns),’ and it’s like, well…
it’s fine to say that now, I mean, you got hit in the face
way too much then by a guy who wasn’t really in striking
with you. I mean, what’s going to happen when you get in
there with a big heavyweight who is throwing some leather? So,
I don’t know, I mean, we’ll see. That’s why I
still think that there’s a lot of interest left in the tournament,
it’s just a kind of question of how much better is he going
to be if he gets to fight again in a few months rather than having
to wait so long and just in a bunch of series of meaningless,
you know, two-minute fights.”
Overeem is the overall odds-makers favorite now to win the entire
HW GP (42%). Josh Barnett is a close second (37%). Bigfoot Silva
is a distant third (around a 1-in-4 shot according to gambling
sites like BetOnFighting).
“I think [Overeem vs. Bigfoot is] absolutely a legitimate
competitive fight, I mean I still favor Overeem in it. But, you
know, it is interestng to see how Overeem’s going to deal
with another pretty-experienced fighter who is another big guy
and not able to just go in there and muscle people around the
way he has been (others). So, yeah, obviously I think it’s
an interesting fight. I think it’s going to be a really
hard fight to sell to a lot of casual fans. I mean, it’s
like, you’re trying to say The Guy Who Beat Fedor against
The Guy Who Beat The Other Guy Who Beat Fedor. I mean, you know,
maybe Fedor can do some pretty good numbers on CBS but once you
get, you know, three or four degrees of separation away from
it, it gets harder and harder. So, I’ll be interested to
see how they go about trying to market that one and how successful
they are in doing it. I think that’s going to be a big problem.
But, you know, on the other side of the bracket I also think
that Josh Barnett vs. (Sergei) Kharitonov is an interesting fight
and I think that you can really do a lot of work there with Josh
Barnett if you use him the right way and he seems to be practically
begging to be used that way.”
The peak rating for the Showtime number last weekend really wasn’t
all that much higher than the overall average viewership number.
Does that indicate that the reason people are watching is a)
it’s Heavyweights and b) it’s a tournament? Ben argued
that Fedor losing to Bigfoot Silva actually gave the tournament
credibility because, yes, the fans don’t get to see Fedor
in future big-name, high-profile tournament fights, but his loss
to Bigfoot Silva did prove that anything can happen in the tournament
because of its format.
(Dallas fans, you can stop booing Bigfoot and treating him as
if he’s Satan for beating Fedor.)
“[Fedor losing is] why I feel like the tournament is a way-more
like egalitarian structure because, hey, Brett Rogers could have
won it all. I mean, a lot of times we see the kind of matchmaking
gets in the way of that and when matchmaking gets in the way
of that it has a more pernicious feel. When the tournament happens
and the guys just don’t perform like we thought they would
or things like that, at least it was up to them. At least the
reason it didn’t happen is because of them. I’m not
prepared to say that, you know, tournaments suck when it comes
to high-level guys because we don’t always get like the
dream fights we want out of it. I mean, at least there’s
a good reason why we don’t get the dream fights. I mean,
Fedor’s not fighting Overeem because Fedor couldn’t
get past Antonio Silva, you know. And if they would have just
matched up Fedor & Overeem in the first round, it would have
been just more of the same criticism of, ‘you’re just
stacking one side of the bracket to make sure you get certain
fights that you want out of it and so it’s not a true tournament.’
I don’t know. I still like the tournament structure, even
if it doesn’t work out exactly the way you want it to, you
know, everybody gets where they got by beating someone else.
So, I still think you can always make a case for it.”
Despite arguing that the winner of the Strikeforce tournament
should be ranked as the #3 HW in the world, Mr. Fowlkes does
not see the tournament winner beating either Cain Velasquez or
Junior dos Santos in a UFC title fight.
“Match-up wise, Velasquez versus Overeem would be interesting,
it’d be an interesting fight to see exactly how it would
look, how it would play out. But, I’d still favor Velasquez.
Same thing with, you know, Velasquez or Junior dos Santos against
Josh Barnett. I mean, I think you can really make a case that
it would be a fight that a lot of us would like to see. However,
I don’t think it would be one of those fights where we think,
hey, it’s just a toss-up and I have no idea who’s going
to win. JDS & Cain still seem like the top two. So, again
I don’t know if that necessarily means that it would be
useless to have these fights. I mean, whoever is left standing
at the end of this tournament, that alone is going to be enough
to sell a fight with them and whoever the UFC champion is. That,
I think, is the ultimate purpose of this tournament and that’s
the way they should think about it going forward.”
How would you deem the success level of the tournament so far
— smashing success? moderate success? neutral?
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Zuffa
Applies for UFC 137, Strikeforce Dates in Las Vegas
by Mike
Whitman
Ultimate Fighting Championship parent company Zuffa, LLC, has
submitted applications to the Nevada State Athletic Commission
to hold two upcoming events in Las Vegas, bringing UFC 137 and
Strikeforce Challengers 18 that much closer to becoming official.
Keith
Kizer, executive director of the NSAC, confirmed Wednesday to
Sherdog.com that the UFC has applied for permission to hold an
Oct. 29 show at Mandalay Bay Events Center, while Strikeforce
has requested to promote an Aug. 12 card at the Palms Casino
Resort. While there has been no official announcement from either
promotion, the events are likely to become UFC 137 and Strikeforce
Challengers 18, respectively.
UFC
137 is expected to be headlined by a UFC welterweight title clash
between reigning champion Georges St. Pierre and former Strikeforce
belt-holder Nick Diaz. Little else is known about the event,
although it has been established that St. Pierre’s title
will be up for grabs in the main event. Diaz recently vacated
his Strikeforce title, which he held since January 2010, in order
to challenge the dominant Canadian.
No
bouts have been announced for Strikeforce Challengers 18, which
mark the second “Challengers” event to be held in Las
Vegas. Forza, LLC, the Zuffa subsidiary which acquired Strikeforce’s
assets in May, recently applied for a promoter’s license
in the state of Nevada.
Source
Sherdog
|
Strikeforce
Challengers: Julia Budd Out to Prove She’s Made the Crossover
to MMA
by Mick
Hammond
After
dominating in her first fight for Strikeforce this past October,
Julia “Jewel” Budd had some people buzzing that she
could be the next big thing in the women’s 145-pound division.
Things, however, took a dramatically different turn in January
when she was caught flat-footed against Amanda Nunes and she
was knocked out in just 14 seconds.
“Basically, it’s a learning experience,” Budd
told MMAWeekly.com. “She came out and started throwing right
away and I really didn’t get a chance to settle in.
“The way I look at it, I stubbed my toe. I got right back
into training the next day and refocused, and that’s pretty
much were I’m at.”
Even with the loss, Strikeforce feels Budd is worthy of a chance
to grow with the promotion, thus they have brought her back to
fight this Friday in Kent, Wash., in a feature bout at Strikeforce
Challengers 16.
“I’m really grateful to get a second chance,”
she said. “I’m going to go out there on Friday night
and put on a good show.”
Budd is not one to push the panic button at the first sign of
adversity, as she said when asked if she feels any additional
pressure or made any major changes to her preparation following
her loss.
“We changed up a couple of things, but I was fully prepared
for that fight, so it’s not a matter of not being prepared,
it’s just that (expletive) happens,” she said.
“Even in my Muay Thai career, I never had an easy route.
I always got put in against big name opponents right away, so
I’m kind of used to filling those shoes (of people’s
expectations).”
Friday night, Budd will be facing a fighter in a similar position
as her coming from the striking world in Germaine de Randamie.
“Germaine is a great Muay Thai fighter, and I respect her
skills standing and I know she’s trying to cross over, but
I feel like I’m a more well-rounded fighter,” said
Budd.
Having suffered her first setback in her MMA career, Budd knows
there’s still a long road to follow, and is more than willing
to travel it and prove her worthiness in the sport.
“I’m totally focused on this fight for Friday,”
she said. “But I feel like I’m going up from here.
If there’s another opportunity in Strikeforce, that would
be great to come back again.
“This is only my third MMA fight and I think that people
forget that. They probably expect a lot, and I’m glad to
fill those shoes and I want to show that I am a true fighter
and that I’m here to stay.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Relson
Gracie Rains Black Belts!
In a huge
promotions, Relson added a number of black belts to his team.
Tonight Kaleo Hosaka, Kaleo Auwae, Jeff Furuta, Josh Leuber,
Gye Nitta, Mark Kurano, and Relson's son Rhalan were promoted
to black belt.
Congratulations to all!
|
Kauai
Cage Fights
Mayhem at the Manson
III
This Saturday, June
25, 2011
|
Car
Accident Forces Riki Fukuda Out of UFC 133 Bout
UFC
133 fighter Riki Fukuda has been involved in a car accident and
it has forced him out of his slot in Philadelphia against Renzo
Gracie student Rafael ‘Sapo’ Natal.
Fukuda
made the announcement via his Twitter account.
‘I
had a car accident on (the) 16th of July,” Fukuda wrote.
“I broke my left knee and it seems (to) require surgery.”
Fukuda
was set to make his 2nd appearance in the UFC after his debut
fight ended in controversial nature, losing by decision to former
‘Ultimate Fighter’ competitor Nick Ring. Most scoring
the fight had Fukuda winning the bout after the 15 minute battle.
The
UFC has yet to make an announcement about Fukuda’s injury
or potential replacement for the bout.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
MMA
Bill All But Dead for 2011 as New York Assembly Wraps Up Last
Session
The
fight to get MMA legalized and sanctioned in the state of New
York appears all but dead until at least 2012.
With
Monday being the last legislative day for the New York State
Assembly to pass any laws for 2011, the bill to legalize MMA
was not even on the roster for the day’s agenda of events.
The
bill, S1707A, passed through the New York Senate with relative
ease and then slid through two of the necessary committees –
the Tourism, Parks, Arts and Sports Development committee, as
well as the Codes committee – before stalling out in the
Ways & Means committee before Monday’s final legislative
day.
This
is just the latest setback for the sport’s battle in New
York where a great number of politicians have spoken out in support
of the bill, yet it seemingly can’t get to the Assembly
floor for a general vote.
Codes
committee chairman Assemblyman Joseph Lentol (D) spoke to MMAWeekly.com
about this issue earlier in June, and said he couldn’t speak
for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, but from his estimation
it was likely the controversial nature of the sport that is keeping
it from a general vote.
“I
know that there is a difference of opinion in our conference
as to whether or not this is a good idea to legalize mixed martial
arts,” Lentol said. “We haven’t conferenced the
bill this year among the Assembly Democrats, we have in the past,
and there has been some controversy. I think that the Speaker
has taken the position that there’s too much controversy
and he doesn’t want to put it on the floor.”
Despite
that statement from his party leader, Lentol himself is a supporter
of MMA being legalized in the state for both the spectator nature
of the sport, but also the financial benefits to local businesses
and economy.
“This
is something whose time will definitely come,” Lentol said.
“I just wish it was sooner rather than later because I think
it’s something we could capitalize on and I think we’re
going to realize that, very soon I hope.”
Herman
Farrell, head of the Assembly’s Ways & Means committee
where the bill stalled before Monday’s deadline, obviously
is not a fan of the sport, and didn’t sound very disappointed
that the vote would not be held on the bill.
“I
don’t think very much of the sport,” Farrell said.
“Next we’ll give them clubs with spikes on the end;
that will be good.”
Lentol
disagrees, however, pointing out that while yes mixed martial
arts has a certain danger level to it, there is no difference
in regards to safety for the sport when compared to other major
athletics like boxing or auto racing.
“I
understand that this is a different sport. Is it a little dangerous?
Yes. But so is boxing, so are a lot of other sports, so is car
racing, and in any event, my position has been clear. I think
that it’s long overdue. The state of New York could use
the revenue that this would generate,” Lentol stated.
The
legislative calendar will come to a close on Monday unless Governor
Andrew Cuomo opts to extend the session, but even then it’s
not expected that the bill to legalize MMA would end up on the
docket.
It
appears for now, MMA’s best hope to land in New York will
have to wait until at least 2012.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Official
UFC 130 and TUF 13 Finale Attendance and Gate Receipts
Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer
on Monday released the official total gate receipts and attendance
for the two latest Ultimate Fighting Championship events in Las
Vegas, UFC 130 and the TUF 13 Finale.
UFC
130, which took place on May 28 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena,
drew a total attendance of 12,753. That number includes 7,470
tickets that were sold and 1,161 tickets that were “comped”
or given away. 1,161 tickets went unsold for UFC 130.
The
7,470 sold tickets drew gate receipts totaling $2,577,250, which
doesn’t even crack the top twenty gates for mixed martial
arts in the state. UFC 130, however, was plagued with injuries.
The main event rematch between UFC lightweight champion Frankie
Edgar and challenger Gray Maynard was cancelled a couple weeks
prior to the show, leaving Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
vs. Matt Hamill as the headliner.
The
Ultimate Fighter Finale on June 4, the closing show for Season
13, drew a total attendance of 2,035. Of those, 1,583 were paid,
while 452 were comped, leaving 107 unsold tickets on the table.
The event took place at The Pearl at The Palms Casino Resort.
The
Ultimate Fighter Finale totaled gate receipts of $440,150.
Tony
Ferguson won Season 13 of “The Ultimate Fighter” at
the finale with a win over Ramsey Nijem. In the co-main event,
Clay Guida established himself as both a Top 10 fighter and a
contender to Edgar’s lightweight championship with a win
over former WEC champion Anthony Pettis.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Fireworks
Expected as Takanori Gomi Faces Nate Diaz at UFC 135 in Denver
Takanori Gomi may be seeking a taste of revenge when he returns
to action in September to face Nate Diaz at UFC 135.
UFC
officials announced the bout late Monday evening.
Gomi
(32-7) faces the younger Diaz brother, but it won’t be his
first fight against the family. The former Pride champion battled
Nick Diaz in 2007, and after a crazy back-and-forth fight, Gomi
was eventually submitted by gogoplata.
The
fight was overturned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission
following Diaz testing positive for marijuana after the bout’s
conclusion. Regardless how the decision reads, Gomi still has
to live with the memory of a loss in his mind.
To
gain a certain level of redemption, Gomi will have to go through
Nate Diaz (13-7), who returns to the lightweight division after
back-to-back losses at welterweight.
Diaz
moved up to 170 pounds and immediately tasted success with wins
over Rory Markham and Marcus Davis, but it was short lived. Losses
to Dong Hyun Kim and Rory MacDonald followed and the Cesar Gracie
trained fighter decided to go back to his natural weight class
at 155 pounds.
The
always tough Stockton, Calif., native will be looking to get
back on track when he faces Gomi in Denver.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Dos
Santos going for the knockout or submission against Velasquez
It
took a long time, but Junior dos Santos will finally have his
chance at UFC’s heavyweight belt. On an interview with TATAME
TV, on the backstage of the press conference of UFC Rio, the
heavyweight fighter talked about his triumph over Shane Carwin,
in UFC 131, and commented the bout against Cain Velasquez that
might happen in UFC 138, in November 19th.
“Velasquez
is a guy who has great conditioning, so he’s a guy I want
to go for the knockout or the submission. I can’t give him
time to work on what he likes, the takedowns and doing the ground
and pound game”, said Cigano, commenting the ‘safe’
behavior while facing Carwin. “I was (cautious), I had to
respect him (laughs). A big guy like him, with the knockout power
he has, must be respected. I tried to do my best, and I guess
the outcome was good”.
Check
below the exclusive interview with Cigano, who also talked about
the bout between Rodrigo Nogueira and Brendan Schaub in UFC Rio,
analyzing the Brazilian’s evolution in the trainings, and
said there’s no revenge feeling against Velasquez, who defeated
Nogueira in February of 2010. “We say there’s no such
thing, but it makes it a little spicier because I want to win
to prove that we have a strong team here, but I think about it
as my challenge and my focus, I want to become the champion”.
What
are your thoughts about the bout against Carwin? Did everything
go like you hoped it to?
I
followed my game plan, I didn’t want to risk much because
he’s a striker with big knockout power, so I played in a
long distance, as I planned to, and used efficient coups, but
not big combinations of punches, so I didn’t give him enough
space to work on his game.
Was
that your game plan? You’re usually more aggressive…
People were wondering if you were cautious…
I
was (cautious), I had to respect him (laughs). A big guy like
him, with the knockout power he has, must be respected. I tried
to do my best, and I guess the outcome was good. I felt like
I was a lot faster than him, so I realized I developed my speed
and I fit more powerful coups than him. It was a great challenge,
but I’m happy to be on the line for the belt again.
What
Cigano will we see against Velasquez?
Much
aggressive, much aggressive. Velasquez is a guy who has great
conditioning, so he’s a guy I want to go for the knockout
or the submission. I can’t give him time or space to work
on what he likes, the takedowns and doing the ground and pound
game.
You’ve
shown a great evolution on takedown defense and blocking this
kind of game. How were the trainings?
I
train Wrestling a lot, I like training takedown defenses, and
I consider myself good while defending takedown attempts. So,
that’s why I feel pretty much comfortable when the guys
try to take me down, I feel comfortable, cool with it.
What
are the differences and the similarities between Shane Carwin
and Velasquez?
Velasquez
is much faster and effective on his game, more technical. Velasquez
is the number one on the heavyweight division, and it’ll
be my greatest challenge ever.
How
are you feeling, now that you have an actual chance at the belt?
That’s
the dream (laughs). Most athletes dream about it and so do I.
I really want to become a champion. It’ll change my life
more than it’s already changed, and I’ll keep doing
it. Becoming UFC’s champion is a huge thing for me.
When
you first got in UFC, nobody knew who you were and then you defeated
Werdum, but now everybody knows how is Cigano, the guy who’ll
have a title shot against Velasquez… How was it to you?
It’s
happened so fast in my life. My first bout was on July of 2006,
and now I’m on the line for the best in the greatest event
of the world, so I guess I’ve been blessed by God, and I
can only thank Him for it.
Velasquez
was the last man to defeat Rodrigo Nogueira in UFC. Does it change
something to you?
No.
It’s a big challenge for me, but not because he has defeated
Rodrigo, because Rodrigo is amazing, he’s an awesome guy,
and I’m pretty sure he’ll turn it up and I guess he
could even go there and do his rematch against Velasquez. We
say there’s no such thing, but it makes it a little spicier
because I want to win to prove that we have a strong team here,
but I think about it as my challenge and my focus, I want to
win this fight and become the champion.
Rodrigo
will fight Schaub in UFC Rio. What are the expectations for this
bout?
The
expectations are great, Schaub is a guy who’s evolved a
lot, has been applying some beautiful knockouts, he has gotten
great wins, and I guess it’ll be bout between Rodrigo and
Schaub, it’ll be a good challenge for Rodrigo to face and
I believe he’ll win. Yesterday I trained with him…
A guy’s who’s coming from three recent surgeries, and
yesterday he did fight rounds with the guys and I helped him
on the training, and it was very hard, so I was really glad realizing
his evolution and I’m sure he’ll return to the top
of the division.
Do
you believe these surgeries will help him to use his most powerful
game, which is the ground game?
He
has that thought in mind now, that he is who is because of his
ground game, but he’s also really tough in Boxing, had good
takedowns, but on the floor he rules. He’s aware of that
and I guess he’ll use it in his favor this time.
Do
you believe it’s the best alternative: take him down and
go for the submission?
I
guess that’s what will happen. I guess Rodrigo will submit
him on the ground
But
it won’t be easy to take him to the ground, right?
It
won’t be any easy because he has great Wrestling skills,
but he likes to play it dangerously, he’ll want to surprise,
but will end up being submitted.
Source: Tatame
|
Constantinos
Phillippou Steps in To Face Rafael ‘Sapo’ Natal at
UFC 133
Riki
Fukuda’s exit from UFC 133 has opened a slot for Constantinos
Phillippou to step in and replace him against Rafael ‘Sapo’
Natal on August 6.
Natal
made the announcement about his new opponent on Twitter on Monday.
“My
new opponent will be Costas Phillippou,” wrote Natal.
Phillippou
makes his second official appearance in the UFC after losing
a decision to New Jersey fighter Nick Catone at UFC 128 in March.
Phillippou
got a shot on the card as a late replacement and despite the
loss will get another chance to prove himself in the Octagon
in August.
Phillippou
is a member of the Serra-Longo fight team in New York, which
mades the bout with Natal even more intriguing as his long time
training center is Renzo Gracie’s academy in New York. Gracie
is of course the long time teach of UFC welterweight Matt Serra,
who is Phillippou’s primary teacher.
The
bout between Natal and Phillippou will be a preliminary fight
on the night’s card.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Rener
Gracie Seminar at O2 Martial Arts Academy
Friday,
July 8
Time: 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Cost: $65
It's
on like Donkey Kong! Rener Gracie is booked for a seminar at
O2 Martial Arts Academy on Friday, July 8 from 7:00 pm to 9:00
pm. The price is $65. Rener is an incredible mix of a precise
technician and a detailed instructor. He is going to focus on
Triangles.
Don't miss it! Email us to let us know
you are coming!
We would highly recommend you make the other two seminars as
well at Relson Gracie HK (Wednesday) and Ronn Shiraki Academy
(Tuesday) for the Tri-Fecta of Seminars all teaching different
techniques to guarantee value for your hard earned money!
|
Barnett,
Overeem advance in Strikeforce tourney
DALLAS
– Josh Barnett and Fabricio Werdum both had similar ideas
on Saturday night on how to take a hard-hitting striker out of
their element in the first round of the Strikeforce Grand Prix
tournament.
Barnett
executed his game plan perfectly, by taking Brett Rogers down
and controlling him virtually the entire fight before finishing
him with a head-and-arm choke in 1:17 of the second round.
Werdum,
considered by many as the best heavyweight submission artist
in MMA, attempted to follow suit. But in his case the striker
vs. grappler style made for a fight that made nobody happy, even
Alistair Overeem, who won the unanimous decision on scores of
30-27, 29-28 and 30-27.
The
wins set up international semifinals, likely to be held in October,
where Overeem (35-11, 1 no-contest), from Holland, will face
Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva (16-2), from Brazil. Barnett
(30-5), now living in Fullerton, Calif., will face Russian Sergei
Kharitonov (18-4), who fights out of Russia.
“It
was ego in there,” said Barnett. “You have a strategy,
you stick to it for the most part, once I came on top of him,
get him underneath me, I had to finish it without an injury because
it’s a tournament, it’s important to be tactical in
how to take guys out.” “In the second round, his mind
set changed. He tried to take me down because I hurt him with
a left hook. He decided to go on the offensive. He went for a
bear hug, which is a good move for a big guy, and you don’t
want a big guy like that swinging away, but it gave me a double-arm
salto opportunity.” Barnett, who controlled Rogers (11-3)
after a takedown for most of the first round, bothering him by
throwing some punches as well as annoying things like rubbing
his elbow into Rogers’ cheekbone. He did a few different
things, feeling they would force Rogers to be wary of them, and
the more he was looking out for, the more new opportunities would
eventually open up.
“I
wanted to threaten with a top wristlock [early in the first round],
which is a basic and easy submission. Threatening means he has
to think about it. If you throw the right hand, you have to think
about it. I was riding him heavy, wearing him out.”
All
four winners appear to be heading into the semifinals unscathed.
Silva has a bruising fight with Fedor Emelianenko in February,
but appears to be fully recovered. Kharitonov had an easy time
dispensing of Andrei Arlovski on the same event. Overeem took
some punches from Werdum, but claimed none of them hurt him and
said Werdum didn’t punch very hard, while Barnett largely
controlled and finished Rogers in a low-risk fight.
On
paper, Barnett’s strategy of relying on wrestling to wear
down Rogers and finish him by submission, would figure to be
similar to the one he’d employ on Kharitonov, although his
next opponent has a lot more experience on the ground.
“He’s
a more well rounded fighter,” said Barnett, a former UFC
heavyweight champion. “He’s a much better boxer in
terms of technical sound boxing technique. I don’t know
if he’s got Rogers’ slugging ability. Sergei has a
chain of granite and a better ground game. Rogers may actually
be faster.”
But
Barnett never really committed to trying to finish in the first
round, and by the second round, the crowd was growing restless
and booing.
The
next moment, they erupted in thunderous applause as Barnett locked
in the submission.
“I
just decided not to open up [in the first round],” he said.
“I just wanted to keep it there, conserve energy, ride on
him heavy, take his guts, take his wind, you can’t really
see it, but I could feel it. He couldn’t breathe well, then
his breathing became labored. I knew it was a sign of taking
all his guts out.”
Barnett
in the ring told announcer Gus Johnson to move aside during the
post-fight chat, and did another of his pro wrestling inspired
post-match interviews.
“I’m
not there to do what everyone tells me to do,” Barnett said.
“I’m here to entertain. I don’t need anyone’s
help too give me my moment. I’ll give the audience what
it wants and then some. People want to hear what I have to say.”
The
Silva vs. Overeem semifinal match up the two most imposing physical
specimens in the tournament. Overeem looks almost like a cartoon
character with his larger-than-life physique. Silva is big in
a completely different way, at 6-foot-4 and showing the effects
of acromegaly. Sitting next to the other fighters, Silva’s
features made him seem like he dwarfed them.
“I
already have the game plan for him,” said Overeem. “But
I’m not going to tell you what it is. But I’m going
to start working on it.”
Silva
said he was not surprised about Overeem in watching his fight,
which may have been the most disappointing major fight of the
year.
Werdum
had was looking to repeat his 2006 submission win over a much
smaller version of Overeem. But for the most part, he couldn’t
take Overeem down. So the fight became a sequence of attempts
to Werdum to bait Overeem to the ground, and Overeem avoiding
it and wanting Werdum to stand up.
“I
expected to have a fight,” said Overeem. “I came to
fight, but it’s difficult when your opponent doesn’t
want to fight.”
Even
though he advanced to the semifinals, Overeem admitted frustration
with the fight, which was heavily booed by the crowd of 7,639.
When
Overeem came out, he got a reaction similar to that of Emelianenko,
with what was a very MMA-savvy crowd believing the hype that
he was going to be the next big thing on the American scene in
the heavyweight division. But while Werdum’s strategy made
things difficult for Overeem, he also didn’t take many chances
and appeared to get tired as the fight dragged on. Werdum was
actually landing more strikes in standing exchanges in the third
round. Overeem didn’t look anything like the world-beater
he had seemed to be when fighting lower-level competition in
Japan, or when he ran over Rogers in his most recent U.S. appearance
last year.
Overeem
landed some punches and knees in the first two rounds, but nothing
with his usual knockout power, seemingly not wanting to fully
commit because his game plan was to make sure he didn’t
get taken down. Werdum (14-5-1) would either shoot for a takedown
and Overeem had a too powerful base, or he’d engage, take
a blow from Overeem, and go down, acting like he was knocked
down. But it was to bait Overeem in the same way he surprised
Emelianenko, going down after a punch that Emelianenko thought
he knocked down and hurt Overeem with, only to get trapped and
submitted in an instant when following him to the ground.
Overeem
knew the strategy and said after the fight he didn’t think
his knockdowns were real knockdowns, but rather a Werdum ploy
to catch him off guard.
At
one point late in the second round, Overeem was on the ground
with Werdum, who held him in a closed guard. Literally nothing
happened for the last 30 seconds of the round, no offense by
Overeem on top, and Werdum made no attempts at submissions. The
crowd was constantly imploring referee Leon Roberts to stand
the fight up, even loudly chanting “Stand them up”
at one point in the third round, but Roberts let the action on
the floor continue.
Overeem
was actually on the ground, on top on takedowns initiated by
Werdum, but he would do little there, just making sure he wouldn’t
get submitted. Werdum never came close, although he was going
for a heel hook just as time expired in the third round.
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
Overeem:
I Couldn’t Deliver the Fight I Wanted to Deliver
Strikeforce
heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem avenged his 2006 defeat
to Fabricio Werdum Saturday at the American Airlines Center in
Dallas, but the Dutch “Demolition Man” wasn’t
exactly ecstatic about his performance.
Overeem
walked away with a unanimous nod in his Strikeforce heavyweight
grand prix quarterfinal contest with Werdum, patiently picking
his shots while stifling nearly all of Werdum’s attempts
to bring the fight to the floor.
“Considering
that Fabricio is the best grappler in MMA, the game plan was
to not go into his game. I consider myself, with the K-1 title,
the best striker in MMA, so I wanted to keep it standing,”
said Overeem in a post-fight interview with Showtime Sports.
“He made so many takedown attempts. It was a little frustrating
to me, because I couldn’t finish him in that first [round],
and I also couldn’t deliver the fight that I wanted to deliver
to the fans.”
As
the fight progressed, Werdum’s shots became more and more
desperate, with the Brazilian even pulling guard on a number
of occasions. It seemed that much of the bout consisted of Werdum
on his back, inviting his foe to join him on the ground. In response,
Overeem held his hands out at shoulder level, beckoning the BJJ
black belt to return to his feet.
Though
Werdum charged forward late and landed his best offense as the
fight came to a close, all three judges -- Nelson Hamilton, Kerry
Hatley and Cecil Peoples -- would see Overeem as the winner.
Though the Dutchman appeared winded during his immediate post-fight
interview, “The ‘Reem” asserted that his cardio
was not an issue. Instead, the muscled Golden Glory representative
once again apologized to his fans.
“We
worked a lot on my cardio. I wasn’t worried about that,”
said Overeem. “He just did not want to stand and bang with
me, and I expected that. He had a lot of words before the fight,
so it’s a pity. My apologies to the fans.”
Up
next for the champ is a tournament semifinal clash with Antonio
“Bigfoot” Silva, the hulking Brazilian who battered
former Pride Fighting Championships king Fedor Emelianenko their
February quarterfinal.
“I’m
not going to talk about my fight strategy [against Silva]. I
never do that, but I will say that he’s a very tough opponent.
He’s a big guy; I think the biggest in the heavyweight division.
He’s well-rounded, but we already have our game plan for
him.”
Source: Sherdog
|
Josh
Barnett's Licensing Issues Likely to Keep Grand Prix Out of California
DALLAS -- Just minutes after wrapping up the quarterfinals of
the heavyweight Grand Prix, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker was already
discussing plans for the semifinal round, which he said would
take place some time early this fall.
As
far as where the event will go down, that's a trickier question,
but Coker added, "We're open to anything."
Anything,
that is, except the state of California, where semifinal participant
Josh Barnett is still not licensed.
"I
guess that's a caveat," Coker said.
Barnett
has not held a license in California since 2009, when he defeated
Gilbert Yvel at Affliction: Day of Reckoning. Since his inability
to get licensed for a fight with Fedor Emelianenko at Affliction:
Trilogy in July of that same year, he has been embroiled in a
series of unsuccessful attempts to get back in good standing
with the California State Athletic Commission, but is currently
still without a license in the state.
Coker
doesn't expect that to change any time soon, he told MMA Fighting
following Saturday night's Strikeforce event. In fact, the Strikeforce
CEO doubts that the issue will be resolved before the tournament
finals, which are tentatively slotted for February of 2012, he
said.
"That's
between Josh and the commission and I think Josh is willing to
do that, and I think that will get done at some point,"
said Coker. "But I don't think it'll get done before this
tournament's over. ...I don't think he will fix the issue with
the commission by then. That's one of those things that will
take time, so I don't think it will happen before the tournament
is over. So we're going to go where we have to."
As
far as what states are still in the running, Coker said that
most other commissions Strikeforce has discussed a possible event
with have expressed a willingness to allow Barnett to fight.
It's just a matter of choosing between them, he added, and getting
the next round scheduled, most likely in September or October
of this year.
"Actually
about two-thirds of the states we've talked to have welcomed
us," Coker said. "So we have a lot of choices."
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Father
knows best: Advice from MMA’s dads
Fathers
are known to dispense advice, so in honor of Father's Day, Cagewriter
collected some of the best advice given to the MMA world.
Daniel
Cormier, Strikeforce heavyweight: "My father died when I
was seven, but the man who raised me, Percy Benoit, told me to
work hard, you're a good person and good things will come to
you."
Father
knows best: Advice from MMA’s dads
Joe
Lauzon, UFC lightweight:" My father was huge with 'Don't
put off tomorrow what you can do today.' My dad has always hustled...
no matter how well he did something, there was always room for
improvement and he was going to squeeze out every ounce of improvement
in everything he did."
Dan
Henderson, Strikeforce light heavyweight champ: "My dad
was my wrestling coach for most of my life, and then when I started
MMA, he didn't know too much about it. But he'd watch my fights
on TV, and I was fairly new in the sport, and he'd always have
some sort of critique, even though he didn't know what the hell
he was talking about. Even if I knocked the guy out, he'd say,
'It seems like he's hitting you an awful lot. Maybe you ought
to move your head a bit.'"
Scott
Coker, Strikeforce CEO: "My dad knew I loved martial arts,
and he said find a way to make that your career, as you get older,
because then you'll love it, and you won't have to feel like
you're going to work. Find something that you love to do."
Sam
Stout, UFC lightweight: "My dad's give me tons of good advice
in my life. He's the one who taught me to work for what I believe
in. He's a very motivated guy. He's the one who taught me to
stick up for myself. He's the one who put me into sports and
encourage me to play."
Aaron
Simpson, UFC middleweight: "If you want to continue to be
great at something, never be satisfied. He told me this after
I won state my freshman year of high school."
A
very Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, especially
my father, who gave me the advice to not let idiots get in the
way of my dreams. Thanks, Dad.
Source: Yahoo Sports |
Strikeforce
CEO on Cris “Cyborg” Santos negotiations: No deal but
“we’re dancing”
DALLAS
– Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, who's arguably the
top female fighter in MMA today, still is without a contract.
The
management team for Strikeforce current women's middleweight
champion hasn't been able to strike a new deal with company officials.
Strikeforce
CEO Scott Coker today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com)
he has no updates on the negotiations, but he's optimistic a
deal will get done and the 145-pound champ will be back in the
cage.
"The
answer's no," Coker said when asked if there's any type
of contract-status update. "But hopefully soon we'll come
to some type of resolution."
Santos
hasn't fought since she beat down Jan Finney in a title defense
a year ago. It marked the Brazilian's 10th consecutive victory,
which included a title win over Gina Carano and a title defense
over Marloes Coenen. But because of a contractual quirk (Strikeforce
acquired her deal from the now-defunct EliteXC), Santos actually
fulfilled the terms of her contact with the Finney fight.
She
now needs a new deal. At today's pre-event press conference for
Saturday's "Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum" event,
Coker told MMAjunkie.com the situation isn't unlike those with
other fighters.
"It
comes down to business," he said. "It's probably happened
with every single guy in this room at one point or another. It
maybe just was under the radar and they weren't talking to the
media like 'Cyborg' did. But I don't blame her. She was frustrated,
and we were frustrated.
"But
there's a certain dance the promoter and the athlete do. …
And we're dancing."
Santos,
whose value and pound-for-pound ranking was aided by Japanese
star Megumi Fujii's recent Bellator loss, is one of the main
cogs of Strikeforce's women's MMA division. Some thought that
division might collapse with the UFC's recent acquisition of
Strikeforce, but Coker again assured fans that's not the case.
Even if UFC officials aren't completely sold on women's MMA,
Strikeforce is.
In
fact, Coker said, Showtime – which has garnered some ratings
hits due its female fights – has pushed harder than anyone
for the bookings. That's set the stage for a June 24 prospects
bout between Julia Budd and Germaine de Randamie, a July 22 fight
between ex-champ Sarah Kaufman and highly touted Liz Carmouche,
and a heavily anticipated July 30 title fight between women's
welterweight (135-pound) champ Marloes Coenen and Miesha Tate.
Additionally,
Carano, one of the organization's biggest draws, had a featured
slot on Saturday's card before her doctor denied her medical
clearance. Coker hopes she'll return later this year and continue
Strikeforce's efforts with women's MMA.
"Nothing
has changed," Coker said. "It goes beyond just me being
a fan. We have a network that loves female fights. … Believe
me, they're going to want those fights, and we're going to continue
putting them on."
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
Barnett,
Overeem advance in Strikeforce tourney
DALLAS
– Josh Barnett and Fabricio Werdum both had similar ideas
on Saturday night on how to take a hard-hitting striker out of
their element in the first round of the Strikeforce Grand Prix
tournament.
Barnett
executed his game plan perfectly, by taking Brett Rogers down
and controlling him virtually the entire fight before finishing
him with a head-and-arm choke in 1:17 of the second round.
Werdum,
considered by many as the best heavyweight submission artist
in MMA, attempted to follow suit. But in his case the striker
vs. grappler style made for a fight that made nobody happy, even
Alistair Overeem, who won the unanimous decision on scores of
30-27, 29-28 and 30-27.
The
wins set up international semifinals, likely to be held in October,
where Overeem (35-11, 1 no-contest), from Holland, will face
Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva (16-2), from Brazil. Barnett
(30-5), now living in Fullerton, Calif., will face Russian Sergei
Kharitonov (18-4), who fights out of Russia.
“It
was ego in there,” said Barnett. “You have a strategy,
you stick to it for the most part, once I came on top of him,
get him underneath me, I had to finish it without an injury because
it’s a tournament, it’s important to be tactical in
how to take guys out.” “In the second round, his mind
set changed. He tried to take me down because I hurt him with
a left hook. He decided to go on the offensive. He went for a
bear hug, which is a good move for a big guy, and you don’t
want a big guy like that swinging away, but it gave me a double-arm
salto opportunity.” Barnett, who controlled Rogers (11-3)
after a takedown for most of the first round, bothering him by
throwing some punches as well as annoying things like rubbing
his elbow into Rogers’ cheekbone. He did a few different
things, feeling they would force Rogers to be wary of them, and
the more he was looking out for, the more new opportunities would
eventually open up.
“I
wanted to threaten with a top wristlock [early in the first round],
which is a basic and easy submission. Threatening means he has
to think about it. If you throw the right hand, you have to think
about it. I was riding him heavy, wearing him out.”
All
four winners appear to be heading into the semifinals unscathed.
Silva has a bruising fight with Fedor Emelianenko in February,
but appears to be fully recovered. Kharitonov had an easy time
dispensing of Andrei Arlovski on the same event. Overeem took
some punches from Werdum, but claimed none of them hurt him and
said Werdum didn’t punch very hard, while Barnett largely
controlled and finished Rogers in a low-risk fight.
On
paper, Barnett’s strategy of relying on wrestling to wear
down Rogers and finish him by submission, would figure to be
similar to the one he’d employ on Kharitonov, although his
next opponent has a lot more experience on the ground.
“He’s
a more well rounded fighter,” said Barnett, a former UFC
heavyweight champion. “He’s a much better boxer in
terms of technical sound boxing technique. I don’t know
if he’s got Rogers’ slugging ability. Sergei has a
chain of granite and a better ground game. Rogers may actually
be faster.”
But
Barnett never really committed to trying to finish in the first
round, and by the second round, the crowd was growing restless
and booing.
The
next moment, they erupted in thunderous applause as Barnett locked
in the submission.
“I
just decided not to open up [in the first round],” he said.
“I just wanted to keep it there, conserve energy, ride on
him heavy, take his guts, take his wind, you can’t really
see it, but I could feel it. He couldn’t breathe well, then
his breathing became labored. I knew it was a sign of taking
all his guts out.”
Barnett
in the ring told announcer Gus Johnson to move aside during the
post-fight chat, and did another of his pro wrestling inspired
post-match interviews.
“I’m
not there to do what everyone tells me to do,” Barnett said.
“I’m here to entertain. I don’t need anyone’s
help too give me my moment. I’ll give the audience what
it wants and then some. People want to hear what I have to say.”
The
Silva vs. Overeem semifinal match up the two most imposing physical
specimens in the tournament. Overeem looks almost like a cartoon
character with his larger-than-life physique. Silva is big in
a completely different way, at 6-foot-4 and showing the effects
of acromegaly. Sitting next to the other fighters, Silva’s
features made him seem like he dwarfed them.
“I
already have the game plan for him,” said Overeem. “But
I’m not going to tell you what it is. But I’m going
to start working on it.”
Silva
said he was not surprised about Overeem in watching his fight,
which may have been the most disappointing major fight of the
year.
Werdum
had was looking to repeat his 2006 submission win over a much
smaller version of Overeem. But for the most part, he couldn’t
take Overeem down. So the fight became a sequence of attempts
to Werdum to bait Overeem to the ground, and Overeem avoiding
it and wanting Werdum to stand up.
“I
expected to have a fight,” said Overeem. “I came to
fight, but it’s difficult when your opponent doesn’t
want to fight.”
Even
though he advanced to the semifinals, Overeem admitted frustration
with the fight, which was heavily booed by the crowd of 7,639.
When
Overeem came out, he got a reaction similar to that of Emelianenko,
with what was a very MMA-savvy crowd believing the hype that
he was going to be the next big thing on the American scene in
the heavyweight division. But while Werdum’s strategy made
things difficult for Overeem, he also didn’t take many chances
and appeared to get tired as the fight dragged on. Werdum was
actually landing more strikes in standing exchanges in the third
round. Overeem didn’t look anything like the world-beater
he had seemed to be when fighting lower-level competition in
Japan, or when he ran over Rogers in his most recent U.S. appearance
last year.
Overeem
landed some punches and knees in the first two rounds, but nothing
with his usual knockout power, seemingly not wanting to fully
commit because his game plan was to make sure he didn’t
get taken down. Werdum (14-5-1) would either shoot for a takedown
and Overeem had a too powerful base, or he’d engage, take
a blow from Overeem, and go down, acting like he was knocked
down. But it was to bait Overeem in the same way he surprised
Emelianenko, going down after a punch that Emelianenko thought
he knocked down and hurt Overeem with, only to get trapped and
submitted in an instant when following him to the ground.
Overeem
knew the strategy and said after the fight he didn’t think
his knockdowns were real knockdowns, but rather a Werdum ploy
to catch him off guard.
At
one point late in the second round, Overeem was on the ground
with Werdum, who held him in a closed guard. Literally nothing
happened for the last 30 seconds of the round, no offense by
Overeem on top, and Werdum made no attempts at submissions. The
crowd was constantly imploring referee Leon Roberts to stand
the fight up, even loudly chanting “Stand them up”
at one point in the third round, but Roberts let the action on
the floor continue.
Overeem
was actually on the ground, on top on takedowns initiated by
Werdum, but he would do little there, just making sure he wouldn’t
get submitted. Werdum never came close, although he was going
for a heel hook just as time expired in the third round.
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
Carioca
and Milton reign at Bitetti Combat
Saturday
night at Bitetti Combat 9 was all about Bruno Carioca and Milton
Vieira, the two big winners at the event. Bruno Carioca plowed
through three opponents in getting his hands on the 30,000-real
prize for winning the BC under-84kg belt. Now Milton was the
winner of the superfight, coming up with a quick finish. Other
noteworthy presences were Big Brother Brazil winner Marcelo Dourado,
as referee, actor Bruno Gagliasso and UFC fighter Rousimar Toquinho.
Carioca
had his work cut out for him in securing the belt. In his first
fight, against Argentina’s Angelo Orellana, it took him
two rounds to finish the job. Landing takedowns and working well
on the ground, Carioca went through by unanimous decision. In
the semifinal Bruno faced Vitor Nóbrega, who came in off
a technical knockout win over Patrick Filex. A hard-fought affair,
Bruno managed a knockdown in the second round and scored the
win via a second unanimous decision.
At
the other end of the bracket, Julio Cesar dos Santos first beat
André Muniz. Following a violent first round, Muniz was
kept from returning to combat by the doctor. The second fight
ended in an accident. Julio Cesar was again seeing the better
of the action, when he landed outside the cage with opponent
Ricardo “Rabugento” Oliveira. A takedown attempt caused
the cage door to fling open. Ricardo did not return and Julio
Cesar was handed the win.
In
the deciding fight Carioca used his takedown and ground and pound
skills handily. The better throughout the three rounds, he was
handed another unanimous judges’ decision. Now the Zé
Mario Team fighter counts 11 wins and another 30,000 reais in
his bank account. Julio Cesar received a runner-up check of 10,000.
Milton
submits Cro Cop. Photo: Carlos Ozório.
In
the superfight Milton Vieira set about taking Bruno “Cro
Cop” to the ground. The BTT black belt quickly went for
the choke, his specialty. Milton ended the action with an arm
triangle while still in the first round, his third win in the
Bitetti Combat promotion.
In
the beginners’ bout, the taller Danilo Pelezinho used his
reach advantage to good effect. Pablo dos Santos did manage to
get the takedown, but Pelezinho attacked well with kicks and
punches. The knockout came still in the first round, to the joy
of Master Murilo Bustamante.
Check
out the results:
Superfight
Milton
Vieira submitted Bruno Cro Cop via arm triangle in R1
Under-84kg
GP
Quarterfinals
Bruno
Carioca defeated Ângelo Orellana via unanimous decision
Vitor Nóbrega defeated Patrick Filex via TKO in R2
Julio Cesar dos Santos defeated André Muniz via doctor’s
intervention between R1 and R2
Ricardo Oliveira “Rabugento” defeated João Paulo
via TKO in R2
Semifinal
Bruno
Carioca defeated Vitor Nóbrega via unanimous decision
Julio Cesar dos Santos defeated Ricardo “Rabugento”
Oliveira via unanimous decision
Final
Bruno
Carioca defeated Julio Cesar dos Santos via unanimous decision
Beginner
bout
Danilo
Pelezinho defeated Pablo dos Santos via TKO in R1
Source: Gracie Magazine |
Glover
vs. Pé de Pano, Busta vs. Yuya in Rio
There
big excitement coming up this July 20 at Rio de Janeiro’s
Via Show venue, with the Clube da Luta event presenting a stellar
card. This Friday, Coach Roberto Gordo confirmed to GRACIEMAG.com
that two-time absolute world champion and former UFC fighter
Marcio Pé de Pano will be taking on Glover Teixeira, today
considered the top light heavyweight in action in Brazil.
“The
fight was more or less agreed upon verbally, but now it’s
official,” says Gordo. What do you think, dear reader, who’s
going to win this all-Brazilian bout?
Another
heavily-anticipated matchup pits Murilo Bustamante against Japan’s
Chirai Yuya, while Delson Pé de Chumbo takes on Luis Besouro
(RFT).
Besides
these bouts, sparks are bound to fly with two GPs stacked with
talent adding further action. Check out the updated card:
Clube
da Luta
Via Show, Rio de Janeiro, RJ
July 20, 2011
Under-70kg
GP
Ronys Torres (Nova União)
Diego Braga (Gordo-Evolve)
Igor Chatubinha (Minotauro)
Carlo Prater (USA)
Under-77kg
GP
Zezão Trator
Edilberto Crocotá
Hernani Perpétuo (NU)
Daniel Acácio (CSM)
Superfights
Delson Pé de Chumbo vs. Luis Besouro (RFT)
Murilo Bustamante vs. Chirai Yuya (campeão do Deep)
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
One
Man’s View: The Curse of Fedor
What
do Andrei Arlovski, Brett Rogers and Fabricio Werdum have in
common? All three of them saw their stock drop greatly after
they gave former Pride Fighting Championships heavyweight titleholder
Fedor Emelianenko a much tougher fight than the conventional
wisdom expected. Call it the “Curse of Fedor,” because
it can no longer be dismissed or ignored.
After
a bizarre decision win over Werdum in the Strikeforce heavyweight
grand prix quarter-finals on Saturday at the American Airlines
Center in Dallas, Alistair Overeem had not looked much like the
man who had flattened his last six foes in the first round. However,
much of that is probably due to Werdum’s game plan, which
resembled a knuckleballer refusing to give a home run hitter
anything meaningful to swing at.
In
the opening round, Werdum went to the canvas, by my count, 14
times -- 10 from takedown attempts and four from spilling to
the mat after failed tie-ups, getting clocked by Overeem or a
general loss of footing. It became apparent early on that Werdum
was embracing the best strategy available to him, regardless
of its aesthetic appeal, and that Overeem was equally uninterested
in helping the two-time Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling
World Championships gold medalist execute it. The result was
a 15-minute match with little entertainment value.
After
the bout, my first knee-jerk reaction was this: former EliteXC
champion Antonio Silva is going to be quite a handful for Overeem
in the semi-finals. The Dutchman got hit a lot with shots down
the middle from Werdum, something the huge Silva does pretty
well and with more power. Check the counters and jabs with which
he whacked Emelianenko in February; those are the exact shots
Overeem ate from Werdum. Silva also weighs around 285 pounds
come fight time. If he gets on top of Overeem, that size and
power does wonders for running the guy on bottom out of gas,
and cardio is not something for which Overeem has ever been known.
Then
I thought of everyone else that has looked surprisingly good
against Emelianenko lately. Rogers went from being a guy with
one signature win over former UFC heavyweight champion Arlovski
to guy under consideration as a Top 10 contender after his lively
tussle with Emelianenko, only to be badly outclassed by Overeem
in his next bout. Rogers was outclassed again by Josh Barnett
in Dallas, as he submitted to a second-round arm triangle choke.
Werdum’s
submission of Emelianenko last summer in San Jose, Calif., was
an all-time performance for the Brazilian, but perhaps it was
more indicative of the Russian legend’s decline than a renewed
push toward greatness for Werdum, who has always been an outstanding
jiu-jitsu player.
Silva
might also be overrated at this point simply because he beat
Emelianenko. It’s something to consider, at least until
he’s on top of you. Hopefully, for Overeem’s sake,
he will not have experience that too much in their grand prix
semi-final match later this year. All things considered, after
this weekend, I’d definitely make Barnett the favorite of
the remaining four.
Masvidal-Noons:
Examining 10-8 Rounds
Masvidal
has been fighting precisely.
In a textbook opening four and a half minutes against K.J. Noons,
Jorge Masvidal was executing his game plan seamlessly. He’d
landed concise, straight shots and mixed in the occasional low
kick to knock Noons off-balance, all while taking little damage.
Then,
as the first round was ending, he landed a booming shin kick
to the head to drop Noons, following up with some hard punches
as the Hawaiian flailed on the ground to survive. To his credit,
Noons’ body took over while his consciousness had flat-lined
for several moments; he wore the face of a knocked out fighter
if there ever was one. Yet he somehow managed to survive the
round.
The
round clearly should have been scored 10-8. However, the judges’
cards were read as unanimous, 30-27 for Masvidal, meaning he
did not get the 10-8 score for that dominant opening round. For
what it’s worth, all three of Sherdog’s play-by-play
staffers scored it 10-8 for Masvidal, as did I. It’s a small
footnote at best because the bout was clearly Masvidal’s,
but it could have been a much bigger controversy had Noons eked
out rounds two and three
and taken a decision.
In
a way, the bout was an inverted chronology of Jon Fitch’s
draw with B.J. Penn at UFC 127. In that fight, Penn and Fitch
battled in two intense, closely contested rounds. Penn likely
nicked the first, with Fitch breaking the bout wide open in the
third, pinning Penn against the cage and hitting him with what
seemed like a half-zillion shots for four-plus minutes. Penn
did nothing except survive.
Fitch
managed to pull a 10-8 round from two of the three judges in
that match. Both had given Penn the first two rounds 10-9; judges
Barry Foley and Chris Lee understood the relative concept of
what implies a 10-8 round, especially in the context of a close
fight. They did the right thing. As a result, Fitch, who dominated
the fight in the final round, escaped with a draw in a bout where
he could have lost if the judges had not grasped this concept.
MMA
judging will continue to evolve along with the rest of the sport,
but imagine if Noons had won closely contested second and third
rounds, doing little to hurt Masvidal yet doing enough to get
them on the cards.
On
the flip side, it’s perfectly understandable why judges
might be reluctant to start giving out 10-8s like candy. Excessively
done, it would only further create widespread scorecard angst.
However, if it is awarded judiciously and under clearly defined
criteria, namely, when a one-sided thrashing has occurred, the
10-8 round stands on its own merits. And Masvidal’s first
round performance against Noons was precisely the kind of round
that fits the definition.
Source: Sherdog |
Overeem
Underwhelms, But Don't Count Him Out for No. 1 Just Yet
Perhaps it's the nature of a sport in which the athletes only
participate an average of two times a year that forces us to
jump to conclusions based on little evidence, but there's a difference
between jumping to a reasoned conclusion and leaping into wild
speculation.
Not
surprisingly, Alistair Overeem's critics are out in full force
after the Strikeforce heavyweight champion went all 15 minutes
with Fabricio Werdum in a fight that can only be described as
disjointed and awkward.
Clearly,
it was not the performance that Overeem was hoping for in the
quest of establishing himself as the top heavyweight on the planet.
But it also shouldn't be used as proof that he'll never get there.
No
sport's athletes ride waves of momentum like mixed martial arts.
A few solid performances in a row and you're the next big thing,
and a couple losses in a row has the world thinking time's passed
you by. What then to think of Overeem, who packages a superhero
physique with world-class striking skills and a somewhat mythical
aura built in his years competing outside of the U.S.?
Prior
to Saturday, there were two schools of thought regarding him.
One believed he was just as good if not better than any heavyweight
in the UFC, and was perhaps MMA's uncrowned, undisputed champion.
The other thought he was mostly hype and bluster, with a recent
record blown up on wins over retreads and never-has-beens.
At
least we figured we'd learn something about him when he faced
Werdum, a rock-solid if unspectacular fighter who had once before
beaten him.
It
turns out though, that we learned nothing. In fact, judging from
the post-fight reaction, we might have unlearned a few things.
The two came in with such diametrically opposed plans that a
fight between them hardly materialized. Werdum wanted a jiu-jitsu
match and Overeem wanted to kickbox, and there seemed to be no
happy medium. Have you ever had a moment when you leaned in for
a kiss and your target turned away? Has your boss ever walked
into your office right as you were picking your nose? Yeah, the
fight was that level of awkward. For 15 minutes.
We
knew what we were in for after a single round. Werdum clearly
had only one thing on his mind. According to my stats, he was
0-for-8 on takedown tries, butt-flopped to the ground twice,
tried pulling guard four times, and begged Overeem to join him
on the ground once. Generally speaking, when your set-up move
is taunting someone from your back, you might have a problem.
Because
of Werdum's single-minded strategy, Overeem's head had to be
spinning a little bit. It was clear Werdum cared nothing about
style points, so Overeem was doomed to keep things ugly, too.
The fight's flow never really improved, and most of it was quite
similar to the first.
Many
have used the lackluster fight and Overeem's inability to finish
a defensive-minded fighter as proof that he would be in over
his head against the UFC's best -- namely, champ Cain Velasquez
and Junior dos Santos. But as usual, MMA math does not apply.
There is zero chance that a fight between Overeem and either
one of those fighters would look like his fight last night. Werdum
is a very special case, one of MMA's best submission grapplers,
who clearly had only one plan to defeat Overeem.
A
bout between dos Santos and Overeem would be in some ways the
most exciting potential heavyweight fight to be made, because
it's quite likely both would spend the entirety on their feet
until one of them goes down for good. Dos Santos is a very confident
striker and has complete trust in his chin. And Overeem is a
K-1 champ. Which one is going to blink first and try a takedown?
It wouldn't happen very often, that's for sure. With Overeem
free from worrying about takedowns, and in a fight that evolves
into a striking match, do you really think Overeem has no chance
to win?
The
Velasquez-Overeem matchup would have quite a different dynamic.
The beauty of Velasquez's performances is that he's equally capable
of mixing in powerful kickboxing, wrestling and grinding ground-and-pound
with his endless gas tank in a way no other heavyweight can.
In that way, he can keep opponents off-balance and on the defensive.
Overeem would have his hands full trying to stay one step ahead
of Velasquez, and stamina might be an issue if the fight went
long, but if Velasquez keeps things standing just a bit too long,
we've seen him hurt before, so who's to say Overeem can't do
it?
Of
course, before any of that happens -- if it ever happens at all
-- Overeem has to win twice more in this Heavyweight Grand Prix.
Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva is next for him, and a win
would lead him into the finals against the Josh Barnett-Sergei
Kharitonov winner. For the record, he's still the odds-on-favorite
to capture the tournament.
Overeem
has two more fights to try and win you back, two more fights
to build the excitement for a possible bout against the eventual
UFC champion. You forgave Anderson Silva for Thales Leites when
he KO'd Forrest Griffin. You forgave Lyoto Machida for his slow
karate style when he started knocking people out. And you'll
forgive Overeem if he finishes his next fight. There are bumps
on every champion's road to becoming No. 1. When they're only
opinions, they can be fixed in a flash. If he scores two knockouts
in a row, memories will be wiped, with doubt replaced by excitement,
and disappointment replaced by demand for a unification match.
Saturday night was no masterpiece for Alistair Overeem, but maybe,
just maybe, that is still to come.
Source: MMA Fighting |
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MARTIAL
ARTS SEMINAR
Come and participate in this exciting martial art seminar taught
by some of the best and most experienced instructors around.
This 5-hour seminar will consist of techniques and strategies
from Kajukenbo, Chuan-fa, Wun Hop Kuen Do, Muay Thai, and White
Crane and Hop Gar Kung Fu systems. Come one, come all. Hurry!
Space is limited. Call Sigung Trent Sera at 205-9133 to pre-register.
WHEN: Sunday, June 26, 2011
8 a.m. – 1 p.m.
WHERE: Binhi at Ani C.C. (780 Onehee Ave., Kahului, Maui, across
from Maui Waena Intermediate School)
INSTRUCTORS:
Professor Frank Trujillo-School-Thai Bo Ka-Chuan-fa School
Muay Thai-Kick Boxer
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Professor
Ben Narciso-School-United Martial Art System
Karate-Kung-fu
Honolulu, HI
Sifu
Dennis Apeles-School-White Crane & Hop Gar System
Kung-fu
Honolulu, HI
Sifu
Al Dela Cruz-School-Kajukenbo Chuan-fa Kung-fu School
Honolulu, HI
Sifu
Al Dacascos-School-Wun Hop Kuen Do-Kajukenbo
Honolulu, HI
COST: $25.00 per person (pre-registered by May 31, 2011)
$35 per person (at the door)
CONTACT: Sigung Trent Sera
Sera’s Kajukenbo
(808) 205-9133
Source:
Trent Sera
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