Upcoming
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Us
(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)
10/7/11
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
October
NAGA
9/2/11
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
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
MMA Expo
(Blaisdell Convention Hall)
6/18-19/11
State
of Hawaii Championship of BJJ
(1st day gi, 2nd day no-gi)
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Blaisdell Convention Hall)
6/10/11
Kickboxing event
(Kickboxing)
(Campbell High School Gym, Ewa Beach)
6/2-5/11
World
Jiu-Jitsu Championship
(BJJ)
(California)
5/28/11
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
Battleground 808
(MMA)
5/21/11
Scraplafest 3
(BJJ & Submission Grappling)
(Island School, Puhi, Kauai, behind Kauai Commuity College)
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)
|
|
May
2011 News Part 1
|
Casca Grossa Jiu-Jitsu
is now the O2 Martial Arts Academy with 7 days a week training!
We are also offering Kali-Escrima (stick fighting) on Monday
nights with Ian Beltran & 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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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!
|
Want to Contact
Us? Shoot us an email by Clicking Here!
Follow O2 Martial Arts news via Twitter at:
http://www.twitter.com/O2MAA
UFC
Champ Anderson Silva Addresses GSP and Jon Jones “Super
Fights”
Anderson
SilvaUFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva has run up a remarkable
record of 13 consecutive victories in the Octagon, maintains
an overall record of 28-4, and is widely considered among the
top two, if not the top spot, when it comes to who is the pound-for-pound
best fighter in mixed martial arts.
Perhaps
surprisingly, Silva doesn’t consider himself as the top
dog, or even one of the top two.
He
is currently slated to return to the Octagon at UFC 134 in Rio
de Janeiro, Brazil, in defense of his title against Yushin Okami,
the last fighter to hold a win over Silva. Despite the scheduled
rematch, Okami isn’t the opponent that Silva is constantly
being asked about.
That
honor is bestowed upon current UFC welterweight champion Georges
St-Pierre. A “super fight” between the two has been
on everyone’s minds for the past several months.
Silva,
at the recent Super 7 question and answer session at UFC 129
in Toronto, addressed the possibility of someday facing St-Pierre,
dubbing it “an honor.”
He
also addressed the possibility of once again stepping up into
the 205-pound division, possibly for another marquee match-up
against a fighter like current light heavyweight champion Jon
Jones.
Source: MMA Weekly |
The
Evolution of a Champion: Lance Palmer’s Journey Into MMA
– Part 1
Four-time
All-American wrestler Lance Palmer from The Ohio State University
is training and working with Urijah Faber’s Team Alpha Male
as he prepares to make his professional mixed martial arts debut
in May. This four-part series will give an insight into Palmer’s
journey as he gets ready to transition from wrestling to fighting.
With
so many top-level wrestlers making their way into the UFC, it
looks almost as if the promotion is handing out contracts to
NCAA All-Americans as they step off the wrestling mat for the
final time in college.
That’s
not the reality, however, and while a great many collegiate wrestlers
have started to make the move to MMA, the path is no easier than
for anyone else who wants to be a top-caliber fighter.
Enter
four-time All-American wrestler Lance Palmer from The Ohio State
University.
Palmer
was a finalist in the NCAA championships in 2010, and immediately
signed on with MMA Incorporated, the management group that works
with fighters like Urijah Faber, Chad Mendes, and Chael Sonnen,
starting his path towards professional fighting.
Palmer
made the move to head out to Sacramento, Calif., to work with
Faber’s Team Alpha Male, and learn the tools of the trade
that would prepare him for a future in mixed martial arts.
Somewhere
along the line, however, life got in the way.
“A
lot of people don’t understand that it’s a little tougher
to get into the UFC than just stepping right in the Octagon,”
Palmer said. “A lot of it had to do with financial factors.
There’s not really any money to be made in MMA until you
start winning fights and stuff like that.”
The
financial factors forced Palmer to leave Sacramento for several
months and take a job as an assistant wrestling coach at Virginia
Tech. While his head was always wrapped around going back to
Sacramento to continue his dream of becoming a fighter, paying
the bills took precedence.
“I
just had to do what I had to do to make some cash, and that’s
the main reason I took the job. Unless I’m making money
training and fighting, then I wouldn’t have taken the job,
but that’s just not the way the situation was,” explained
Palmer.
So
he headed back east and worked with the Virginia Tech wrestling
team for their season. The Hokies ended up sending seven athletes
to the NCAA championships during the season that Palmer worked
with the team, but came up short for any of them reaching All-American
status.
While
Palmer enjoyed coaching the squad, he had to sacrifice his own
aspirations to make ends meet. The hardest part for the Ohio
native was not being able to improve or even really work on his
MMA skills while he coached in Virginia.
“There
wasn’t anything by Virginia Tech where I could train, so
I was basically just doing shadow boxing and doing work on the
wrestling dummies, and stuff like that,” said Palmer. “I
was actually teaching a few of the wrestlers some stuff just
so I could work on it in the off time of wrestling practice.”
Palmer
never stopped thinking about his dream of fighting, even while
coaching. When he did have free time, he flew back out to Sacramento
to work on his skills and knock off the rust instead of taking
a Christmas vacation.
“My
mind was always set on coming back and training and I actually
came back for a month in December and trained out here,”
Palmer commented. “It’s always been in the back of
my mind all year when I was coaching. It was actually kind of
frustrating not being able to come out here as much as I wanted
to while I was coaching, but I also had to make some cash and
do my thing out there.”
Making
money to live on is the reality of a young athlete trying to
make their way into MMA. Even for an All-American wrestler like
Lance Palmer, nothing is easy and nothing is handed to you. Although
he wishes he was able to spend the last several months just training
to make his debut, it didn’t work out that way.
Once
the wrestling season was over, Palmer packed up his bags and
hopped on a plane that took him back to Sacramento. He immediately
headed to Ultimate Fitness and hit the mats with his training
partners at Team Alpha Male.
Palmer
admits it’s been tough since he’s been back in the
gym, but nothing worth having in life is easy to attain.
“It
wasn’t bad. I didn’t feel like I missed a step, but
all that time I was coaching I could have been getting better
and better,” said Palmer. “I stepped in there with
the thought process of I’m a lot farther behind than if
I would have stayed, so I’ve got a lot of catching up to
do.
“Everything
I learned the first couple times I was here I was a little rusty
on it, but I still remembered it all. So it came back pretty
quick and it’s definitely a lot easier when you’re
already in shape.”
It
wasn’t the road he wanted to travel to get his first professional
MMA fight, but Palmer still traveled down the necessary highways,
and now his eye is back on that ultimate goal… to be a professional
MMA fighter.
“I
had to take a little detour, which I didn’t really want
to do, but it’s something I had to do or I would have been
poor,” Palmer said.
Lance
Palmer will continue his training at Team Alpha Male in California
as he prepares for his MMA debut in May.
Source: MMA Weekly |
UFC
Champ Dominick Cruz Breaks Down His Feud With Urijah Faber
UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz hasn’t lost a fight
since dropping down to 135 pounds seven fights ago. In fact,
he only has one blemish on his record at any weight… and
that blemish’s name is Urijah Faber.
But
that was four years ago, and Cruz doesn’t expect a repeat
performance when the two lock horns at bantamweight on July 2
at UFC 132 in Las Vegas.
Times
have changed and so have Cruz and Faber… and Cruz believes
he’s the one that has benefited more in the time since the
two last fought. He aims to prove that when the two finally get
to “punch each other in the face.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Coach
says 'Little' Nog happy to fight Franklin, 'Big' Nog will fight
at UFC Rio if he’s 100%
Boxing
coach of the brothers Rogerio and Rodrigo Nogueira, Luis Carlos
Dorea believes on a good return of his students to UFC’s
cage. On a chat with TATAME, the instructor analyzed the dispute
between Rogerio and the former champion Rich Franklin, a duel
that will happen in UFC 133, and revealed that Rodrigo will only
be on the card of UFC Rio if he’s 100% healed from his surgeries.
Check below the exclusive interview with Dorea, who also comment
on Edilberto Crocota’s issue, an athlete who was arrested
in Bahia after taking a piece of his girlfriend’s cheek
with a bite.
What
do you expect from Rogerio Nogueira vs. Rich Franklin?
I
think it’s a great fight. Rich Franklin moves forwards on
the fights he does, he enjoys striking, he don’t get struck
in one position… He plays to put on a good show, and he’s
left-handed. Rogerio know how to deal with left-hands, he really
knows how. Both are respected athletes and it’s something
that will be a big step for Rogerio. Rich Franklin has a respected
name, he’s a former champion, he’s experienced, and
our team couldn’t be happier. Rogerio is excited about it.
Rogerio likes to be challenged. It’s been motivating him
a lot. Rogerio is one of the bests, so our dream, our goal is
to have a chance at the belt. Rich Franklin is leading us to
the right direction.
After
fighting three wrestlers in a row, do you think this is a good
match for Minotouro?
It’s
a great match-up because the guy likes fighting, right? He fights,
he puts on a good show, he doesn’t try to get stuck in one
position. He strikes, he’s aggressive when on the ground,
and standing up too. Their game matches just fine.
Anderson,
who’s a friend and teammate of Rogerio, has defeated Rich
Franklin twice. Have you already talked to him about how does
Rogerio as to prepare himself for fighting him?
Absolutely.
Anderson is coming to Brazil to fight again and he’s coming
to train with us, he’s a member of our team and Anderson,
for the experience he has and for the weapons he has, he’s
one of the main supporters of Rogerio on his technical and tactical
trainings… Anderson will help us a lot, I’m sure of
that. It’s a common thing, they train together all the time.
For this bout, we need to be on our best shape, we’ll help
each other and I’m sure that Anderson will give Rogerio
some tips about how he must behave up there… He’ll
help a lot.
Everybody’s
looking forward to see Rodrigo fighting in UFC Rio. Is he getting
ready to go and fight on this event?
As
for Rodrigo, he’s doing super fine. Rodrigo is going through
much physiotherapy, he’s seeing how things are, but we first
have to check his conditions, his health. If he’s good to
go, I don’t see any problems. The thing isn’t about
the fight, but the trainings. The trainings are hard, and Rodrigo
trains like twice, three times a day, so he has to be good, 100%
healed so that he can train hard and don’t feel a thing.
Rodrigo’s doing just fine, we’ll all support him.
Which
opponent would you pick up for him to fight in Rio?
I’d
like to see him fighting (Mirko) Cro Cop. If it doesn’t
happen in August, it can be in September, October… But it’s
a fight I’d like to see. I’ve seen Cro Cop saying things
about it, saying he’d like to fight Rodrigo. They’re
two legends, two big names… It really would be an interesting
fight to watch in MMA. As for the when, to me, it’ll only
happen in August if he’s 100% healed. Rodrigo has a big
heart, he really loves doing it and he’s fought while not
100% for his fans, because of his commitment, because he respects
UFC, so he has fought while injured.
It
happened a lot of times, but we, that see him everyday, know
that Rodrigo sick now, he’s injured, he’s having fevers…
But, as he always overcomes his own obstacles… Rodrigo is
an example to be followed inside and outside the octagon for
the things he does. Minotauro shows a lot confidence for us,
but now, for him to get into a fight, he has to be 100% healed.
He’ll only fight in August if he’s 100%”. He has
a full team of physiotherapists helping him, and he’s doing
great on his healing process… But it’s a fight we’d
like to see: Cro Cop vs. Rodrigo.
Seeing
his evolution on his healing process, do you believe he’ll
be 100% for UFC Rio? What are the doctors saying about his conditions?
Everybody’s
impressed with his healing process, his weight loss... He’s
swimming a lot, doing physiotherapy, but he also goes to the
gym, but, the way I see it, he has to be 100% for this fight.
Let’s see how he’ll be when it’s closer to the
fight. If he’s 100%, he’ll fight. It’s like that:
we start the specific work, the hardest part of the training.
So the athlete really needs to be at his best to go through a
specific training.
Last
week there was that issue about Edilbero “Crocota”,
on which he was arrested. How is he doing right now?
The
lawyers are trying all resources they have to they can get him
released, because he’s still behind bars. He’s really
upset with this episode which shouldn’t have happened, it
really shouldn’t have gotten to this point. We know he made
a mistake, independently the reason why it happened, but he couldn’t
get into something like that. But he knows better. He’s
a good person, and knows he made a mistake. We hope that he’ll
be released, God help us, until the end of the week.
He’s
a humble guy, he has a good heart. That was an incident, but
we know he’s a good guy, he comes from a good family. With
God’s help, he’ll be released by the end of the week.
The lawyers are handling it. We know how much his family is suffering
with it. Now we have to wait, it’s up to the lawyers, and
they’re working hard and they’re confident he’ll
be released soon.
And
about the girl, what happened to her? Do you know anything about
it?
Only
what I’ve seen on TV, on the news… I don’t know.
I know her face is injured, but that’s all. I’ve really
only read it on the news.
Source: Tatame
|
Toquinho
vs. Cacareco made for UFC Rio
According
to the PortaldoVT.com.br website, soon the first big all-Brazilian
bout should be announced for UFC Rio. Rousimar “Toquinho”
Palhares should face Alexandre “Cacareco” at the August
27 event – a matchup promising fireworks on the ground.
The bout agreements have already been signed.
The
PVT article brings up the fact the matchup had already been scheduled
for a previous date, March 3, but had to be postponed due to
“Cacareco” losing family members in friends to the
tragic landslides that afflicted the mountain region of Rio de
Janeiro in early 2011.
Check
out the provisional card for the first UFC event ever to be held
in Rio de Janeiro:
UFC
Rio 134
HSBC Arena, Rio, Brazil
August 27, 2011
Anderson
Silva vs. Yushin Okami
Maurício Rua vs. Forrest Griffin
Paulo Thiago vs. David Mitchel
Luiz Cane vs. Stanislav Nedkov
Rousimar Palhares vs. Alexandre Ferreira
Edson Barboza vs. Ross Pearson
Maiquel Falcão vs. Tom Lawlor
Thiago Tavares vs. Spencer Fisher
Yuri Alcântara vs. Mackens Semerzier
Source: Gracie Magazine |
Dana
matched the best of Jiu-Jitsu
Evan
Dunham got injured and Dana White didn’t dally in finding
a replacement: he invited Rafael dos Anjos to face Australia’s
George Sotiropoulos at the June 2 UFC 132 show in Las Vegas.
Clues to the likely reason for the UFC president’s choice
can be found in last month’s issue of GRACIEMAG, #169: Dana
loves good Jiu-Jitsu.
“George
Sotiropoulos is one of my favorite Jiu-Jitsu fighters. When he
faced Joe Stevenson it was an absolute ground war. He was great
against Joe Lauzon too,” said the UFC top brass in the issue
of GRACIEMAG, in a conversation about the gentle art.
A
Roberto Gordo black belt, Rafael dos Anjos is another of the
promotion’s slickest grapplers. Recently, he even put on
his gi and won a championship in Rio without great difficulty.
“Dos
Anjos has had the fight of the night and submission of the night
at other UFC events and Sotiropoulos has won fight of the night
twice before. I expect a great fight between two of the best
Jiu-Jitsu guys in the lightweight division,” remarked Dana.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Scrapplers
Fest Jiu Jitsu Tournament
Island School, Puhi, Kauai
(Right behind Kauai Community College)
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Kids
weights and brackets will be made that morning to make fairest
match ups!
White,
Blue belts and Beginner no gi (3 years and under) 131-under,
132-145, 146-159, 160-173, 174-187, 188-201, 202-215, 216-above
Purple-above belts and Advanced no gi (+3years)
159-below,
160-180, 181-201, 202-above
Also
having a 36 year old and above class for gi white belts and blue
belts!
***Not
advertised but Relson Gracie students get an additional $10 off
entry fees.***
Pre-Register
by May 20th and pay
kids/women-$40
Men-$60
Entry
fees on May 21st
kids/women-$50
Men-$70
Men
can add 36-above division to Men division only $10 more! Or just
compete in that division for the Men price
Weigh
ins at Scrappa Lifestylez store in Hanamaulu next to the post
office from 5pm-9pm on Friday May 20th.
Also,
tournament day weigh ins kids/adults till 9am!! And I mean 9am!
Kids
start at 10am
Adults start at 1230pm
Make
sure competitors are there at tournament site at least 1 1/2
hours before estimated times.
There
will be no food allowed in the gym. There will also be food and
drinks available there.
Also
no smoking on school grounds, and no one allowed on the school
playgrounds.
Spectators-
$5 for kids and $7 for adults.
Competitors
will receive competitor shirts while their size last!
RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR ALL BELTS AND LEVELS
PERMITTED
TECHNIQUES
" Straight ankle locks
ILLEGAL TECHNIQUES
" No Neck Cranks (cervical without chokes)
" No Leg Locks and Toe Holds (Exception: Purple Belts and
Above/Advanced No Gi)
" No Heel Hooks
" No Wrist, Bicep or Calf Locks (Exception: Purple Belts
and Above/Advanced No Gi)
" No Attacks to Windpipe, Eyes, Small Joints or Groin
" No Fish Hooks, Hair Pulling or Biting
" No Hands, Elbows or Knees on Face
" No Scissors Takedown
" No Striking of any kind
" No Slamming your opponent on the mat
" No Submission for Kids under 10years of age, Gi or No
Gi
¢ Any intentional use of an illegal technique, abuse of
an official or show poor sportsmanship will result in immediate
disqualification or ejection of the competitor, coach or spectator.
¢ Refereeing is a subjective task, and as such, is prone
to personal interpretation, judgment, and human error. Any dispute
of match or calls must be made before the next match commences.
In the name of fairness, referee will make all attempts to resolve
disputes and disagreements, but REFEREES possess the FINAL authority
on all decisions and designations of winners.
¢ All competitors are required to attend their designated
rules clinic. Competitors will be allowed to address questions
and concerns surrounding competition rules and match points scoring
system during the rules clinic.
¢ The Kimono(GI) must be washed and dried with no unpleasant
odors. The Kimono(GI) must be free of tears and of proper length.
The jacket is to be of sufficient length down to the thighs,
sleeves must reach the wrist with arms extended in front of the
body.
¢ Competitors who fail to appear when their names is called
will forfeit their match.
¢ In case of victory the athlete must remain at the designated
mat until the next match.
Source: Pono Pananganan
|
Nick
Diaz Will Sign to Face Jeff Lacy in Boxing, Unless GSP Is Offered
Up By the UFC
Nick
Diaz at UFC 53The time is ticking away on a potential fight between
Nick Diaz and Georges St-Pierre, because it appears Strikeforce’s
top welterweight is ready to sign on to face former middleweight
champion Jeff Lacy in a boxing match.
A
press release from Lacy’s camp on Friday stated he had signed
to face Diaz this fall in a boxing match.
Cesar
Gracie, manager and trainer for Strikeforce welterweight champion
Nick Diaz, has confirmed his fighter has signed to face Lacy,
unless the UFC comes across with a more intriguing offer.
“Yes,”
Gracie answered via text to MMAWeekly.com when asked if Diaz
will sign on to face Lacy. “Unless GSP is offered up as
a sacrifice, Nick will fight Lacy.”
Diaz
has been dancing around the idea of boxing since his April win
over Paul Daley in Strikeforce, but in recent days it looked
like he might put the four-ounce gloves back on instead to be
the next man to challenge Georges St-Pierre in the UFC.
According
to Gracie in an interview with MMAWeekly Radio, UFC president
Dana White had not yet contacted them about coming out to California
for a meeting to discuss the possibility of facing St-Pierre,
but they were open to that discussion.
If
the news on Friday is any indicator, those discussions have yet
to happen.
St-Pierre’s
camp has also mentioned its interest in fighting Diaz, but for
now that may be put on hold unless the UFC comes in at the 11th
hour with an offer to put the fight together and keep Diaz in
MMA for his next fight.
There
has been no date set yet for the potential boxing match between
Lacy and Diaz, but if it happens it’s expected to go down
in the early fall of 2011.
Source: MMA Weekly |
Efrain
Escudero on Fabricio Camoes: “He’s Mentally Weak Sometimes,
He Can Be Broken”
Since
his abrupt exit from the UFC, former “Ultimate Fighter”
winner Efrain Escudero has been a busy man.
Fighting
three times in the last six months, Escudero isn’t slowing
down at all as he gets back in the cage tonight against fellow
former UFC lightweight Fabricio Camoes at Tachi Palace Fights.
The
Arizona fighter said when he left the UFC that he wanted to stay
busy so he could earn his way back to the Octagon, and he’s
held up to his word thus far. Three fights in with three wins,
Escudero will look for No. 4 this weekend.
No
time off has become a motto for Escudero lately because outside
of his own training, he’s also been busy helping teammate
Ben Henderson get ready for his UFC debut against Mark Bocek.
Henderson was successful in his endeavor, now it’s Escudero’s
turn.
“The
last fight was on a Friday as well, I took the weekend off and
I was back in the gym on Monday,” Escudero said about his
training for this fight.
“I’ve
got to think about it as a normal fight. I can’t make any
excuses. I have to think Fabricio’s training hard, so I’ve
got to do my sparring rounds, I have to do my strength and conditioning,
I have to do everything. I can’t, just because I just fought,
I can’t take it easy. I wanted to test myself. I tell my
body what to do, my body doesn’t tell me what to do.”
Following
his release from the UFC, Escudero had a very specific plan to
build himself back up and hopefully earn a return to the Octagon.
He first wanted to get his confidence back, and then build on
each fight with a tougher and tougher opponent.
Facing
Fabricio Camoes at Tachi Palace Fights has fallen directly in
line with his plans.
“My
first fight right out of the UFC I fought this guy that I disliked,
I also donated my funds to a charity then afterwards I fought
this guy which was on his way to go to the ‘Ultimate Fighter’,
so I went to get back on a winning streak and then I fought Ashe
(Bowman), and now I think I’m ready for the tough opponents
again,” Escudero stated.
Fabricio
Camoes is of course a fellow veteran of the UFC, going 0-1-1
during his time there. Despite the brief stint, Escudero still
knows what Camoes is capable of against top talent, but he also
knows what could break the Brazilian come Friday night.
“I
know he has great jiu-jitsu. I know his pros and cons. I know
he’s mentally weak sometimes, he can be broken,” said
Escudero. “But I also know he has knockout power.”
Mental
toughness is a big part of what makes any MMA fighter great or
sometimes feeble. Escudero has seen the best fighters crumble
under mental strain, and he’s happy to try and push Camoes
to and then beyond the breaking point when they fight.
“It’s
a very big matter. I kind of saw it in Bocek’s eyes when
he was fighting against Ben, you saw that he broke mentally a
little bit. It’s a strategy game, once somebody’s in
your head it can change a lot,” Escudero explained.
“I’m
ready to go 15 minutes non-stop and I know he’s not going
to get in my head for the sole reason, I’m going to leave
it all out there, I have nothing to lose and everything to gain.”
Escudero
will look to prove that when he faces Camoes at Tachi Palace
Fights tonight in California.
Source: MMA Weekly |
Shinya
Aoki Will Fight at Dream 17; McKee and Varner Possible Opponents
A
proposed fight between Shinya Aoki and Willamy Freire appears
to be off for Dream’s “Fight for Japan” event
on May 29. The Dream lightweight champion will remain on the
card, but in an interesting twist to the situation, it is unclear
whom he will face.
MMAWeekly.com
initially reported that a fight between he and former MFC lightweight
champion Antonio McKee was on tap, as long as McKee could finalize
his travel details. While that fight is very much still in play,
our sources indicate that Dream is also negotiating with former
WEC lightweight champion Jamie Varner.
Sources
close to the situation told MMAWeekly.com that the fight between
Aoki and McKee had been verbally agreed to, at least from McKee’s
side, and that a bout agreement had been issued. McKee, though,
must first renew his passport and get a visa to gain entry into
Japan, the same sort of issues that reportedly kept Freire out
of the fight.
But
now multiple sources say that Varner is also in the running with
a bout agreement on the table.
There
are hiccups for either fighter getting the shot at Aoki, and
the final details have obviously not been ironed out. McKee has
to make sure his travel documents can be cleared up in time,
and Varner had been scheduled to fight in Chicago at next week’s
XFO event. Neither is an insurmountable hurdle.
The
decision will likely come down to which route Dream wants to
take. “Fight for Japan” is a relief effort following
the recent tsunami and earthquake disasters in Japan. Couple
that with the fact that the mixed martial arts industry as a
whole has been struggling in Japan, and Dream is likely going
to factor not only who can reliably make it to the fight, but
also the costs involved.
Source: MMA Weekly |
New
M-1 champ, Vinny Magalhães happy with evolution in MMA
New
M-1 Global light heavyweight champion, the Brazilian Vinicius
“Big Foot” Magalhaes showed, against Viktor Nemkov,
why he’s considered to be one of the most technical grapplers
of the world. After submitting his opponent with a gogoplata
from the mount, the BJJ black belt chatted with TATAME about
his evolution since he left UFC and his plans for the future,
focusing mainly in MMA. “I no longer can don’t give
a damn about my career. MMA’s nothing like Jiu-Jitsu. In
Jiu-Jitsu, you lose one championship, and then win the World
the next month and everybody will only remember you as a world
champion. In MMA, your losses won’t be forgotten”,
affirmed Vinny, who talked about the possibility of disputing
this year’s edition of ADCC and his wish to return to Ultimate.
Check it:
What
are your thoughts about the fight? Did everything go according
to your game plan?
To
be honest, I was glad to come out there as the winner, but I
wasn’t satisfied with how things happened in this bout.
I’ve fought better on my six previous fights than I did
on this one. At the end of the first round I already was really
tired, and it wasn’t because I hadn’t trained enough,
after all I had fought four weeks before that and I’ve never
stopped training since. Actually, I got tired because I lacked
conditioning, my body felt tired, my legs were tired, my arms
were also tired, and since I wasn’t getting any position
I tried, there were moments on which I was frustrated and I got
a little I started having bad-manners, even on the floor, but
mainly while standing up.
Gogoplata
is a very complicated position to use in MMA. How do you usually
train it?
Actually,
it’s not the first time I use a variation of that technique
on a fight. I’ve used something like it on my second bout
when I was in TUF. It really isn’t a traditional position,
but I use it a lot at the gym, and the reason why I decided to
use it instead of something simpler, like and armbar, was because
I thought that if I could surprise my opponent with something
he didn’t know, the chances that he’d escape from it
were smaller.
You
have always preferred to fight on the ground. How are you developing
your stand-up game?
I
specifically train Muay Thai three times a week with Mark Beecher,
who’s an excellent Muay Thai instructor, and has trained
many world champions in Muay Thai, and he also used to coach
Forrest when he beat up Rampage on a title dispute in UFC. I
do the specific training with Mark and also three sparring sessions
per week at Xtreme Couture, so I train striking six times a week.
Is
it something I still have to get better at? Of course it is,
but I believe I have evolved a lot. On my last fight here on
the US I knocked my opponent down with a right-handed hook and
I got the win right after that working on my ground and pound.
That means I’m getting better at it, but I’m not crazy
and I know I can’t pull down my guard in from of my opponents,
like Anderson Silva style, because I’m far from reaching
that level.
It
was your sixth win on seven bouts since you’ve left UFC.
Do you consider yourself to be a better fighter now?
Yes.
I believe I’ve improved a lot, and maybe my greatest evolution
may not have been on my techniques, but my mental state. I already
had the Jiu-Jitsu level I now have when I was in UFC, I just
didn’t know how to use it. I would fight without setting
a game plan, I used to get there thinking my opponents would
simply take me down and then I’d play my game. I used to
fight full of hopes and then was defeated. Now I want to fight,
I want to take the guys down, I try to hit him first, and I’m
moving forwards, attacking. Long story short, the difference
between present me and past me is that now I have a fighter attitude
I carry with me and I didn’t have that in me before. Of
course I’ve sharpened my techniques, my I believe the best
results are coming due to my new behavior, more than anything
else.
What
did you learn during this time?
Many
things, actually… Now I have much more responsibilities
other than fighting. I have my mom in Brazil who depends on me,
my family here on the United States, my six-months son, and as
the time goes by, among many other things, so I no longer can
don’t give a damn about my career. MMA’s nothing like
Jiu-Jitsu. In Jiu-Jitsu, you lose one championship, and then
win the World the next month and everybody will only remember
you as a world champion. In MMA, your losses won’t be forgotten.
Do
you want to fight in UFC again?
My
contract with M-1 Global stands for another four bouts, and of
course I’ll talk to them first when I’m signing a new
contract, but currently UFC has the best fighters of the world,
mainly on my weight class, so I’d be lying if I don’t
plan to join that great cast of fighters. I just think it as
a long term process, after all my professional record is far
from being perfect and I feel like I need to evolve a lot as
a fighter so that I can cope with the best in the world.
This
year’s edition of ADCC will be in England. Do you plan on
competing ever again?
I’m
an American citizen now, but I couldn’t participate on the
American qualifiers because I was on the process of getting ready
to fight MMA when the events happened here on the United States,
and the Brazilian qualifiers also happened on a weekend I had
a bout scheduled. So, if I wanted to compete, I’d have to
be invited by the organization of the event. I believe that after
my last results on the event (bronze medal on absolute and weight
categories), I’d deserve a chance, but if they don’t
invite me I won’t be upset either, because now I’m
focusing on my MMA career.
What
would you do differently to win this year’s title of the
event?
If
I was competing this year, I’d try to spend a few weeks
in Brazil, or I’d do a specific grappling training here
in Vegas with Robert Drysdale, who I’ve been training lately.
I was happy with my results of last ADCC, but I didn’t train
specifically for the event, I just trained with my students and
the MMA fighters from Xtreme Couture. So, I believe that if I
focus on only training grappling, maybe the outcome might be
better.
Source: Tatame
|
The
last day of Rickson Gracie’s school
April
28, 2011 was a date to remember for students at Rickson Gracie
academy and for Jiu-Jitsu as a whole. It was the last day of
class at Rickson’s West Los Angeles headquarters.
The
new academy is located in Culver City, California, but will be
headed by Rickson’s son, Kron. Things at Rickson Gracie
Academy wrapped up with a special class, with a number of friends
and two-time absolute world champion Xande Ribeiro in attendance.
Rickson spoke to his students by telephone from Rio de Janeiro.
Over
the speaker phone, Rickson thanked his students for their devotion
to Jiu-Jitsu and for having trained with him and Kron for years
and even decades. The Gracie was also thankful for the solid
support behind Kron right now.
“The
pride I feel today is immeasurable, in seeing Kron take this
big step and open his own academy. Soon I will be there training
with you guys, we’ll be together every time I visit Los
Angeles,” said Rickson at the emotional ceremony witnessed
by our photographer John Lamonica.
Check
out some of the highlights of the day, even including some of
the first training sessions of Rickson’s grandson, Wheeler
Gracie, yet another ace in the family.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
“If
Cobrinha enters the absolute at the Worlds, he’ll beat a
bunch of people…”
…
However, he’ll likely stop at two monsters a cut above the
rest. That’s the breakdown provided by a light featherweight
who’s been causing a stir in the Gi scene lately.
Laercio
Fernandes (Lotus Club) won the absolute division at last weekend’s
Phoenix Open, and now he’s breaking down the recent winning
spree little guys have had in Jiu-Jitsu’s thorniest division.
Essence
of the art:
“I
feel it’s sensationalism when everyone makes a big deal
out of a little guy beating big opponents in the absolute; the
‘weak’ overcoming the strong has always been the essence
of Jiu-Jitsu. Grandmaster Helio Gracie always emphasized that.
The fact that little guys have been beating big guys happens
for two main reasons: 1) the efficiency of the gentle art, and
2) little guys being used to getting squashed by and training
with much bigger guys ever since white belt. That means the big
guys’ strength is nothing new to us in championships.”
Worlds
2011:
“I’ll
compete at light feather at the Worlds; I don’t know if
I’ll do the absolute, but I think in June in California
a light fighter may very well surprise everybody. If Cobrinha
enters the absolute I’d bet on him to beat a lot of big
and good guys. The problem – no offense to other athletes
– is that there will be two guys from another planet at
the Worlds: Roger Gracie and Rodolfo Vieira. Those two are a
cut above the rest.”
Next
challenges:
“Before
the Worlds I’m going to do the Samurai Pro in California,
Werdum’s event. I’ll be in the under-165-lb division.”
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Pacquiao
Crushes Mosley
By Robert Ecksel, Editor-in-Chief
Pacquiao rained down punches on the hapless three-division former
champion unremittingly and without remorse…
They
said it couldn’t be done and they were right. It couldn’t
be done, at least insofar as Shane Mosley having any chance of
beating Manny Pacquiao.
Pacquiao
(53-3-2, 38 KOs) retained his WBO welterweight champion by crushing
Mosley (46-7-1, 39 KOs) in Las Vegas before a sellout crowd of
16,412 at the MGM Grand.
Shane’s
vaunted speed, his ability to move in and out of trouble and
harm’s way, is now officially a thing of the past. He may
still have power, the last thing to go, but Mosley’s legs,
the first thing to go, are definitely gone, are history, are
a thing of the past. Mosley was a tentative, stationary target,
and took shots that the young Sugar Shane would have danced away
from like it was nothing.
No
doubt Mosley looked great in the gym working the mitts, speed
bag and heavy bag. But the good, or bad, thing about mitts, speed
bags and heavy bags is that they don’t hit back, which left
Mosley susceptible to Pacquiao’s onslaught. His arsenal
of lefts and rights, hooks and jabs, left Mosley bruised and
swollen, a beaten fighter gasping for air.
Pacquiao
rained down punches on the hapless three-division former champion
unremittingly and without remorse. A Pacquiao left hook dropped
Mosley with a minute left in round three. It was only the third
time Shane’s been dropped in his 18-year career, but if
he continues to fight that number will continue to rise. Pacquiao
wasn’t able to follow-up and end the bout, so the match
effectively became a lopsided display of one man’s skill
and determination vs. another man’s deteriorated skill and
determination.
Mosley
is still, if nothing else, a determined fighter. Boxing is what
he knows. Boxing is in his blood. It’s just that his body
can no longer execute his brain’s commands.
Mosley’s
biggest moment, on a night of small moments, came in round ten
when referee Kenny Bayless mistakenly ruled that Shane knocked
down Pacquiao. But what must have pleased Mosley infuriated Pacquiao,
who seemed more determined than ever to put some hurt on his
opponent. It was almost as if Pacman was hitting Kenny Bayless
and not Sugar Shane Mosley.
After
the decision was announced, with the judges scoring it 120-108,
120-107, 119-108 for Pacquiao, the Filipino whirlwind admitted
that “It wasn’t my best performance. I did my best.
I did not expect this result.”
The
result Pacquiao expected was an early stoppage, and only Mosley’s
guts and fighting heart kept that from materializing.
“I
fought the best fighter in the world,” said Mosley. “He
has exceptional power, power that I’ve never been hit like
this before.”
Where
Mosley goes from here is anybody’s guess. There are scores
of fighters out there that Mosley can beat. But to what end?
Maybe it’s time for Shane to think about getting out while
the getting is good. Maybe he should hang ‘em up before
he gets seriously hurt.
Pacquiao,
by contrast, is still king of the world. If Floyd Mayweather
Jr. stops unraveling and resolves his legal issues, a tall order
on the best of days, maybe a fight between him Manny will happen
in the future. More likely is that Pacquiao will move up in weight
and go for a ninth division title. Because he’s looking,
searching, for someone, somewhere, to challenge him, to give
him the fight of his life that he desperately wants and believes
he deserves.
Source: Boxing.com
|
Hughes
v Sanchez on course for UFC 135
ESPN staff
Matt Hughes needs a win after defeat to BJ Penn
Matt Hughes has given a big indication that he will fight at
UFC 135, after he revealed the date on which he expects to return
to the Octagon.
The
legendary welterweight has agreed to fight Diego Sanchez, confirmed
by UFC president Dana White is the build-up to UFC 129.
However,
no date or venue had been confirmed for the 170lb collision,
which pits the former champion against an all-action rival in
Sanchez who is coming off a Fight of the Year contender victory
over Martin Kampmann.
Hughes
now knows the date of his fight, which will likely take place
at UFC 135 at the Pepsi Center, Denver.
"My
next fight will be against Diego Sanchez on September 24th in
Denver," Hughes said. "That's all I know as of right
now, I'll post more information as soon as I can."
Source: ESPN
|
Opinion:
GSP Needs Diaz -- Now
by Jason Probst
It’s
becoming a trend. If welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre’s
recent performances indicate anything, it’s that he does
not just dispatch challengers. Rather, he dominates them so readily
that he destroys any short-term marketability for a rematch;
at least not without the guy on the losing end -- a running tab
including B.J. Penn, Jon Fitch, Thiago Alves and now Jake Shields
-- putting together an impressive string of wins.
Yet
St. Pierre’s lack of finishes in his last four bouts has
emboldened the critics. What do you do with a champion who clearly
demonstrates superiority in virtually every phase of the fight,
yet does not deliver the requisite red-meat finish with a stoppage?
This, at the end of the day, is the exclamation point we expect
with a championship mismatch.
It
soothes the dashed expectations of a competitive bout, the premise
upon which the product was foisted and offered up for pay-per-view
consumption. Like the previous five defenses of his second reign
at 170 pounds, GSP’s superiority against Shields firmly
settled the question at UFC 129 on Saturday at the Rogers Centre
in Toronto.
However,
the expectable move -- a jump to 185 and, ostensibly, a challenge
of champion Anderson Silva -- is no guarantee. Allow me a venture
into pop psychology here, but I think it’s apparent from
GSP’s post-fight interview and statements on the topic previously
that he is not sold on the idea. That’s no knock on him.
Probst:
Nick Diaz is the answer.A challenge of Silva would be a disruptive
chapter in a seamless title reign. Physically, he would have
to gain a goodly amount of muscle for a fight against an exceptionally
dangerous opponent. If he comes up short, St. Pierre would be
faced with the potential of having to return to 170, which could
be tough given the size he would put on. Style-wise, I do not
think he matches up so well with Silva, who is virtually knockout-proof
and would have five rounds to work his lethal tools.
That
is why Nick Diaz is the perfect next challenger for GSP. Currently
Strikeforce welterweight champion, Diaz was already in UFC President
Dana White’s sights, as White has scheduled a sit-down with
him this week to discuss his career. Diaz, whose inkling to start
a boxing career is something he’s been insistent on pursuing,
has often yearned for the kind of recognition he feels he does
not get.
A
shot against St. Pierre would solve all that. Diaz is the perfect
opponent to keep GSP anchored in the welterweight division, and
here are three reasons why:
•
Diaz is never going to be more red-hot. After dispatching Paul
Daley April, Diaz’s stock is at an all-time high. The time
to put him in against GSP is now. Are you going to wait for him
to make a defense against, say, Tyron Woodley, or some other
wrestler that might give Diaz’s stock a hit with a boring
fight or even a loss? Diaz is perfect, right now, and GSP is
badly in need of a viable challenger.
•
Diaz has the right style to bring excitement. Let’s face
it -- nobody in MMA is going to outwrestle St. Pierre, not at
170 pounds. Thus far, in his second reign as champion, GSP has
picked apart challengers coming in on the wings of a dream: that
they would be able to plant him on the mat, backed up by modest
striking. Josh Koscheck, the best banger of the bunch, never
landed more than a glancing blow or two. GSP manipulates distance
and angles masterfully. Diaz violates all that and would force
confrontations. His high-volume style would, for once, possibly
take the play away from GSP on the feet and force him into exchanges
or to shoot for takedowns. Diaz’s defensive guard and incredible
resilience would serve him well here. He might get wrestled and
controlled positionally, but at the beginning of each round,
he would be right back up pressing and pushing ahead, tossing
punches and cusses and scowls. Diaz is as durable as anyone in
the game, and he never quits. He would either force GSP to beat
him down or risk another five-round snoozer, at which point public
consensus would be well-justified to pack GSP’s bags for
185.
•
Diaz sells -- something the welterweight title definitely needs.
GSP has summarily scuttled the marketability of all his top contenders.
It would be a difficult proposition to sell rematches against
Fitch or Penn; ironically, both were injured and their rematch
will not happen, which clears the welterweight title road for
the time being. Alves is only slightly more marketable because
he can bang, but he has a tough assignment in Rick Story at UFC
130. No guarantee there. It is getting to the point where any
GSP defense against anyone not named Nick Diaz would have to
be paired with another title bout -- like UFC 129 -- to make
it viable.
GSP’s
dominance also has fallout in terms of what it does to contenders.
He has effectively placed Shields, Penn, Fitch and Alves in what
I call “Rich Franklin Territory.” RFT is where the
champion has beaten you so decisively that you are several wins
away from being able to legitimately beat the drums for a title
shot, even though you are still talented enough to beat a ton
of potential guys that might get that shot.
Think
about it -- outside of Story and Jake Ellenberger, there is not
a lot of new blood in the welterweight division that could reasonably
be expected to beat these guys any time soon. In effect, GSP’s
failed challengers can clear out the next tier, further adding
to the wasteland of viable contenders. The UFC smartly moved
Franklin into a weird middle-tier of fights at 195 and 205 against
well-selected opponents to mitigate against this, but no such
options exist for the welterweights.
The
time to strike is now. Diaz has always wanted this, having fought
with a chip on his shoulder his whole career. GSP needs someone
badly -- and now. Rarely does one move solve so many problems
and prove a lucrative boon for everyone involved. It also gives
the UFC time to build Story, Ellenberger or Alves for the next
shot.
Whatever
happens with White’s meeting with Diaz, we can trust that
a strong move will be made. The welterweight title has become
a one-man show. Let’s give Diaz an invite to crash the party.
Source: Sherdog
|
UFC
Fan Expo champion Ryan Hall speaks; hopes for ADCC invite
While
not a lot of submissions went on at UFC 129 last weekend (two
tapouts in twelve fights – but Pablo Garza’s flying
triangle was one for the ages and should count for more), the
promotion did offer gentle art fans in Toronto their fair share
of grappling action, with the four-man Grapplers Quest tourney
featuring some first-rate competitors at the UFC Fan Expo on
the Friday preceding and on the very day of the event.
The
grand champion of the tournament was Ryan Hall, which should
have come as little surprise to anyone keen to the Jiu-Jitsu
scene, however less famous he was to the stalwart opposition
he faced in the final, none other than UFC star Diego Sanchez.
Long a force figuring among the world’s best grapplers,
the Felipe Costa black belt now teaching at Fifty/50 team in
Arlington, Virginia, took bronze at the last ADCC and, more recently,
dropped a close match at the World Pro to the eventual winner
of the under-65 kg division, Jefferson “Tanquinho”
Mendes.
Shortly
after the final of the Fan Expo, GRACIEMAG.com editor Marcelo
Dunlop caught up with the submission whiz, who graciously answered
a number of questions.
On
his match with UFC star Diego Sanchez:
“I
remember Diego from when I was just starting Jiu-Jitsu and he
was already doing great on the submission grappling circuit in
the US and had beaten a bunch of really tough guys, so it was
a really neat opportunity to get to compete with him. He’s
competed in ADCC and put on a great show with some of the best
in the world, so I knew I would have my hands full.
“I
was giving up a lot of weight in this match, so I wanted to tangle
him up and keep out of scrambles as much as I could. I was able
to secure the 50/50 early on and caught him in a tight heel hook,
but he hung tough and would’t tap when his knee popped a
bit. When he was able to scramble out, I knew I had to be careful.
Diego has always had a dangerous kneebar and he finished his
match yesterday with it, so I was waiting on him to jump for
it in the closing moments when I was up a few advantages. When
Diego spun for the kneebar with about a minute left, I was ready
and was able to defend and come on top for 2 then immediately
pressure to the back for 4 more points. The match ended there
and I was able to come away with the win, but Diego was really
tough and it was definitely no cake walk.”
On
what he hopes his performance at an event offering such great
exposure as the UFC Fan Expo may bring him:
“I
feel really fortunate to have had the opportunity to compete
against two top-quality opponents in Diego and Jorge Britto.
I wasn’t able to compete in the ADCC trials this year due
to injuries, but I hope that putting in good performances here
(against an ADCC veteran and a 2011 trials winner) and at other
events will help me make a case for an invitation to the main
event later this year.”
Props
to the man who made it possible:
“Big
thanks to Brian Cimins for giving me the opportunity to compete
at the UFC Fan Expo again–it’s always a great experience.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Spike
Pulls in Strong TV Ratings with UFC 129 Prelims
UFC 129: St-Pierre vs. Shields set all kinds of records and marked
numerous firsts for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The event
drew the largest mixed martial arts audience ever in North America,
pulled in a record $12.075 million gate, and was the promotion’s
first stadium event.
The
UFC 129 euphoria didn’t exactly carry over into any record
ratings for the preliminary bouts telecast live on Spike TV in
the U.S., but the show did pull in 1.5 million viewers, slightly
above the 1.45 million average since the series’ inception.
The UFC 126 Prelims Live holds the viewership record for preliminary
bouts on Spike with 2.0 million viewers.
The
ratings were strong enough to once again propel Spike TV to the
number one slot in the key advertiser demographics of Men 18-49
and Men 18-34 among basic cable networks.
Canadian
Rory MacDonald staked his claim as a rising contender in the
UFC welterweight division with a dominant performance over Nate
Diaz on the UFC 129 Prelims Live telecast. Veteran Jake Ellenberger
wowed fans with a first round knockout of Sean Pierson on the
show, marking his fourth straight victory in the Octagon.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Aldo
eased up on Hominick because he 'likes excitement'
ESPN staff
Jose Aldo was not at his best against Mark Hominick
Jose Aldo expects to fight Chad Mendes in the second defence
of his UFC featherweight title, and he revealed he sat back in
the last round of his victory over Mark Hominick to make things
exciting.
Aldo
claimed Fight of the Night honours for his unanimous decision
triumph over Hominick at UFC 129, but for one of the first times
in his career he stepped out of the Octagon looking far short
of invincible. UFC president Dana White was certainly confused,
after witnessing Aldo look in increasing danger, despite total
domination of the first round.
"Here's
the weird thing about Aldo to me, he came out and looked like
this was going to be a quick night [with] nasty leg kicks,"
White told MMAjunkie. "Had he kept throwing those leg kicks,
the fight might have been over in the second round.
"Then
he just stopped; he slowed down. His pace - it was very weird.
I thought he got hurt. I thought he hurt his leg or something
happened or he was tired and gassed. I didn't know. It was very
weird. It looked like it was going to be a quick one, and then
he shut down."
Now
it seems a fight with Mendes will be next for Aldo, most likely
in front of his home fans at UFC Rio.
"UFC
Rio is coming up and the foreigners will get to see what it's
like fighting in their opponents' hometown," Aldo told Graciemag.com.
"Chad Mendes is a really tough guy who's been moving up
the ranks in the event. If the boss gives the go-ahead, it will
be a good fight; I'm a UFC employee."
Explaining
his Jekyll-and-Hyde performance, which switched from the sublime
to the distinctly average, Aldo revealed he was always in control,
even when Hominick rained down punches in the final stages.
"I
saw his neck exposed and went for it, I thought I could get it,"
said Aldo of the attempted guillotine that ended with Hominick
in his guard. "I knew I'd won the earlier rounds, so I took
it easy playing guard in the last one. I'm a Flamengo fan and
like excitement. That's why I liked the fight - that excitement
in the end.
"It
was an awesome fight! Mark really brought the goods, he's a great
fighter, really tough. I knew his boxing was great and had sharpened
up his Muay Thai for this. I looked to kick his legs a lot and
strike. But all my fights leading up to this one were tough,
not just this one. It was great for the crowd to see that I'll
go a full five rounds."
Source: ESPN
|
Exclusive:
Rousimar Palhares set to fight at UFC Rio
By Guilherme
Cruz
Jiu-Jitsu
ace Rousimar “Toquinho” Palhares is another addiction
to UFC Rio card, event that takes place at HSBC Arena on August
27th, at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Rousimar’s coach at Brazilian
Top Team, Murilo Bustamante wrote on his Twitter that he’d
had good news on his fighter, and TATAME learned with sources
that Palhares will fight at UFC Rio, besides not having an opponent
yet. Stay tuned for more news.
UFC
Rio
HSBC Arena, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
Saturday, August 27th of 2011
-
Anderson Silva vs Yushin Okami;
-
Maurício Shogun vs Forrest Griffin;
-
Edson Barboza Junior vs Ross Pearson;
-
Paulo Thiago vs David Mitchell;
-
Thiago Tavares vs Spencer Fisher;
-
Luiz Cane vs Stanislav Nedkov.
-
Yuri Marajó vs Mackens Semerzier;
-
Maiquel Falcão vs Tom Lawlor;
-
Rousimar Toquinho vs TBA.
Source: Tatame
|
Shields
points to boxing for loss to St. Pierre
By Franklin McNeil
With the fight standing, George St. Pierre managed to keep matters
on his terms.The ground game is Jake Shields’ bread and
butter -- everyone knows it. Shields had been piling up submission
victory after submission victory for so long that he never felt
a sense of urgency to work on his standup -- until he agreed
to fight welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre on Saturday
night at UFC 129 in Toronto.
In
the months leading to the fight, Shields devoted a chunk of training
working on his stand-up -- boxing in particular.
“I’ve
been working on it a lot for a while,” Shields told ESPN.com.
“The last couple of months I’ve been working with a
lot of pro boxers. I wish I’d done it sooner.”
If
only he had a few more months to fine-tune some things, especially
his jab.
St.
Pierre is years ahead of Shields in the striking department.
The difference in their level of striking skills was evident
immediately once they commenced to fighting.
Both
fighters use left jabs regularly in the opening round, but the
champ’s was more accurate, much quicker and more forceful.
Shields’ jab was more of the pawing variety. This pattern
would repeat itself throughout the five-rounder.
“What’s
so good about the jab is that when you throw it, you take very
little risk,” St. Pierre’s striking coach Firas Zahabi
told ESPN.com before the fight. “You don’t shift your
body weight very much, and you don’t expose yourself for
very long.
“Also,
it’s the punch that travels the fastest. It travels in a
straight line. Therefore, it's the most important strike [in
St. Pierre's arsenal]. It offers the perfect blend of attack
and defense.”
St.
Pierre dropped Shields with a stiff jab in the first round --
partly assisted by Shields’ poor footwork.
The
fight rarely went to the ground, where Shields could have best
worked his magic. When they did hit the ground, it was only because
St. Pierre wanting to go there.
St.
Pierre would retain his title by scores of 50-45, 48-47 and 48-47.
Shields didn’t need to hear the official tally to know he
wouldn’t be taking the 170-pound title with him back to
California.
He
also knows why: His boxing skills weren’t up to the task.
“Now
that I’ve lost I’m going to work a lot more on my boxing,”
Shields said. “My goal the next six months is to really
learn how to box, because if someone [else] finally stops my
takedowns they'll beat me.
“If
I can catch my boxing up with my ground skills, hopefully before
I retire I can get another shot at Georges and I’ll be able
to do things a little differently.”
Source: ESPN
|
Gabriel
Gonzaga returns to MMA after UFC exit
by Carlos
Eduardo Ozório
After having left the UFC, Gabriel “Napão” Gonzaga
will again see MMA action. The Jiu-Jitsu black belt is set to
face Josh Burns on June 25 at MMA event Explosions, in Las Vegas.
Napão
(16w, 10l) has not fought since October 2010, when he was released
from the UFC after back-to-back losses. Burns (6w, 4l) has fought
in the Bellator promotion.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Fistic
Medicine: Hominick’s Hematoma
by Matt Pitt
Mark
Hominick suffered a hematoma at UFC 129.
Bruises
are as much a part of mixed martial arts as tattoos and cauliflower
ears, but the bruise endured by Mark Hominick in Saturday’s
UFC 129 featherweight title bout with Jose Aldo was of another
degree entirely.
Any
trauma to the tissues of the body can result in a hematoma. If
only the low-pressure capillaries in the skin are disrupted,
the hematoma that develops is usually no more than a simple bruise.
A larger and potentially more serious hematoma develops if veins
are damaged. Hominick’s injury appeared to be an even more
significant form of hematoma: one caused by arterial bleeding.
The
superficial temporal artery originates at the external carotid
artery; it rises upwards anteriorly to the ear and extends branches
posteriorly to the parietal region of the scalp, and anteriorly
across the forehead. Aldo’s punch to Hominick’s head
appeared to tear this frontal branch of the superficial temporal
artery. An artery cut cleanly -- whether with a scalpel or shard
of glass -- spasms downward, spontaneously achieving hemostasis.
But torn arteries tend to bleed extensively into the surrounding
tissues. Bleeding only stops when the pressure in the damaged
tissues matches the pressure in the ruptured vessel: for an athlete,
that is on the order of 150 mmHg.
There
is very little tissue overlying the bone of the skull -- connective
tissue, subcutaneous fat, the frontalis muscle -- and the underlying
bone is unyielding. As a result, hematomas of the scalp, or cephalohematomas,
tend to bulge outwards creating a “goose egg” appearance
not seen elsewhere on the body.
Aldo
busted Hominick up.Cephalohematomas are painful and disfiguring,
but only dangerous to the extent that they signal the potential
presence of more serious associated injuries. When the cageside
physician stepped in to examine Hominick, he did a quick pupillary
exam. Ensuring the pupil constricts in response to bright light
confirms that the retina is capable of perceiving light and that
the nerves innervating the eye are intact. Next, he palpated
the edges of the hematoma, feeling for the irregular contours
of a depressed skull fracture. It would be unusual for a punch
to cause a fracture of the thick frontal bone, but such an injury
cannot be missed: it puts the fighter at risk for serious brain
injury the next time he’s hit. The presence of either a
badly damaged eye or a defect in the skull would have required
an immediate fight stoppage.
As
it was, the fight continued. At the round break, the doctor stepped
in to examine Hominick further. He tested the fighter’s
peripheral vision and extra-ocular motor function; both were
intact, meaning Hominick could see well enough to target his
punches and avoid his opponent’s.
Simultaneously,
the Canadian’s cutman worked the enswell, trying to push
the hematoma laterally away from the supraorbital ridge that
lies deep to the eyebrow. The enswell did little good: if Aldo
had landed a solid shot on the taut hematoma, it would have likely
ruptured in a blinding fountain of blood.
Judging
from the comments among those with whom I watched the fight,
few would have questioned the attending physician had he stopped
the fight. But he would have been wrong to do so. He would have
stolen something precious from Hominick: the chance to finish
the fight, to win new fans, to earn an extra $129,000 bonus for
his growing family, and to be part of something truly great.
Kudos for his forbearance.
To
many of us who watched UFC 129, a far more worrisome injury was
welterweight champion George St. Pierre’s wounded left eye.
It
was unlikely that challenger Jake Shields’ finger to the
eye had caused a catastrophic injury, such as a globe rupture
or complete retinal detachment, but St. Pierre was clearly distressed.
Any number of reversible injuries -- a broad corneal abrasion,
bleeding in the anterior chamber of the eye, a lens disruption
-- would render the affected eye temporarily useless. Trainer
and corner Greg Jackson’s exhortations to ignore the injury
and fight through it did not appear to comfort St. Pierre.
Had
the ringside physician heard St. Pierres’s anxious report
to Jackson (“I can’t see,” GSP said. “I can’t
see at all,”) the doctor would have been duty bound to stop
the fight. A fighter with only one eye cannot see stereoscopically,
cannot see in three dimensions. In a striking match, that is
a crippling disability. Further, if a fighter has an injured
eye, the ringside physician must assume the worst: that the damage
is irreparable and the fighter has only one good eye left to
live with. It would be unconscionable to leave an impaired fighter
in the ring knowing that a blow to his now-lone good eye could
leave him totally blind. In such a case, it is the ringside physician’s
responsibility to step in and protect the fighter not merely
from his opponent, but from his own drive to fight on in the
face of a potentially life-altering injury.
Source: Sherdog
|
Marcus
Davis Rematches Pete Spratt At MFC 30 in Edmonton June 10
by Damon
Martin
Marcus Davis will face an old friend at MFC 30 in June, as Pete
Spratt has been called on to replace original opponent Richie
Whitson, who fell out of the bout due to a foot injury.
The
match-up was confirmed to MMAWeekly.com by sources close to the
negotiations on Tuesday.
Davis
and Spratt have actually met once before, at UFC 69 in April
2007, with Davis coming out on top via submission in the second
round.
Both
fighters are known for their huge knockout power, however, so
the rematch in June could go anywhere.
Davis
is coming off a win in his MFC debut fight against Curtis Demarce,
while Spratt was victorious on the same show submitting Demi
Deeds in the second round by armbar.
The
bout between Davis and Spratt will occupy a slot on the televised
main card from Edmonton and will be aired live on HDNet.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Kid
Peligro Seminar at Gracie Technics Today
Black belt and author, the world travelled Kid Peligro will conduct
a seminar at Rylan Lizares' Gracie Technics this Saturday.
Kid
Peligro Seminar
Saturday, May 7th
3:00 - 6:00PM
$60
Gracie Technics
428 McNeil Street
Honolulu, Hawaii
Word has it that there may be as many as 5 BJJ Black belts attending.
|
Firas
Zahabi Believes Nick Diaz Fight May Be Next for Georges St-Pierre
By Matt
Erickson
After his fighters went 4-1 on the biggest UFC card in history
on Saturday, Firas Zahabi said his biggest star's left eye will
be OK – and that a champion vs. champion fight may be in
his future.
Zahabi,
head trainer at the Tristar Gym in Montreal, home of UFC welterweight
champion Georges St-Pierre, told Ariel Helwani on "The MMA
Hour" on Monday that his star pupil's left eye, which St-Pierre
said he could not see out of midway through the fight onward,
was not a serious injury.
But
more importantly, he shed a little light on what might be next
for St-Pierre after his decision welterweight title win over
Jake Shields in the UFC 129 main event in Toronto. Zahabi believes
St-Pierre might get Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz.
"We
haven't sat down to talk about (what's next)," Zahabi told
Helwani. "I'm sure the UFC is going to want Nick Diaz. He
deserves a shot. He's put on great performances and his last
fight was extremely exciting."
Talk
for a while has been that if St-Pierre beat Shields, he might
move up to middleweight to challenge Anderson Silva. Silva next
defends his title against Yushin Okami this fall in Rio de Janeiro.
But Zahabi said not so fast on GSP moving up – though he
wouldn't rule it out.
"If
Georges went up (to 185) right now, he wouldn't have cleaned
out the division because there's still Nick Diaz there,"
Zahabi said. "He's champion, so you can't say he doesn't
deserve a shot. I can't confirm anything, but I see it as a possibility.
They have two champions. It's always exciting to see two champions
go at it. He has a great style. He has beautiful boxing, great
jiu-jitsu, and it's very similar to his brother. It's not easy
to fight a tall, lanky guy like that. And he's always very busy.
It's a whole different style than Jake."
UFC
president Dana White said in Toronto that despite Diaz's Strikeforce
contract, which also has to do with Strikeforce's Showtime deal,
the GSP-Diaz fight is one he could make if he wanted to. White
also said he planned to go to Stockton, Calif., where Diaz lives,
to talk through some possibilities with him. Zuffa, parent company
of the UFC, purchased Strikeforce earlier this spring.
On
Saturday, St-Pierre won a unanimous decision against Shields,
50-45, 48-47, 48-47. And Zahabi said he isn't sure how two judges
gave two rounds to Shields.
"He
knocked Jake down in the fourth round, so I have to give that
round to Georges," Zahabi said. "The first three, I
gave to Georges. The last one was up for grabs, so I could see
them giving that to Jake."
But
Zahabi was quick to point out to critics of St-Pierre again not
finishing an opponent that it's much tougher than it looks.
"How
many guys finish Jake Shields?," Zahabi asked. "You're
fighting such a high-caliber guy – the guy's won 15 fights
in a row. Who else has won 15 in a row? The guys you're going
to name are the pound-for-pound best. Believe me when I tell
you, both guys were trying to finish the fight and both guys
were firing on all cylinders. People thing these guys are cruising,
nobody's cruising in there.
"People
want to see something spectacular and something flashy. Sometimes
it happens, sometimes it doesn't. These guys are well trained.
It's not easy to put them in a compromised situation. You saw
full well, Georges threw how many overhand rights – with
too much on them, in my opinion? And that's because he was trying
to knock him out."
Zahabi
said doctors ruled out a torn retina in St-Pierre's left eye,
and that he believes it will be recovered 100 percent within
10 days. Zahabi said despite video replays showing an open-handed
strike by Shields may have been what caused the damage to St-Pierre's
eye, he doesn't believe it was intentional.
"I
don't think it was intentional," Zahabi said. "It happens
in MMA because of the gloves. It just happens. I knew Georges
would stick it out. He told me several times he couldn't see
out of the left eye. But he's not going to give up."
Zahabi
also picked up wins with John Makdessi, Ivan Menjivar and Rory
MacDonald on Saturday night. His only loss was Yves Jabouin,
who was submitted by Pablo Garza's Submission of the Night bonus
flying triangle choke.
Zahabi
now goes to work with former WEC bantamweight champion Miguel
Torres for his fight against Demetrious Johnson at UFC 130 on
May 28.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
GSP’s
camp responds to criticism that he’s lost his killer instinct
to finish fights
By Zach
Arnold
On
two separate radio shows yesterday, Firas Zahabi (audio here)
and Greg Jackson (audio here) responded to questions & criticism
about Georges St. Pierre’s performance against Jake Shields
at UFC 129.
Whether
it was online or in the Toronto newspapers, the question that
a lot of fans, media, and some fighters (Ben Askren perhaps being
one) are asking is this: Has GSP lost his killer instinct to
seal the deal against opponents that he should finish off in
his Welterweight title defenses?
“He’s
just as sharp as he’s always been,” responded Mr. Zahabi
in an Monday interview with Mauro Ranallo. “You know, his
eye was injured, you could see it half-way through the third
round, there was a swipe at the eye from the right side to the
left side. It’s on the internet, the video’s on the
internet, it’s everywhere. I retweeted the video, somebody
sent it to me. It’s clear as day and when you fight with
one eye, your depth perception is very well altered.”
MMA
Weekly is reporting that St. Pierre suffered some bleeding in
the eye but not a detached retina, which is good news. As for
the fight against Shields, the injury played a big role in how
the rest of the fight played out and the kinds of punches he
started to throw.
“I
think it had a lot to do with why he was missing his shots,”
exclaimed Mr. Zahabi. “It was a little bit hard for him
to gauge, you know, the depth and I don’t want to make any
excuses. I mean, Jake looked phenomenal, he was better (than
he ever has been) and it was a great fight. But the fact of the
matter is, Georges did tell me several times he couldn’t
see out of his left eye and things were going really well for
him the first three rounds and even though he got a knockdown
in the fourth round, the good left high-kick to the head…
you know, he was still having trouble in that round until he
got that high kick.”
As
for why he didn’t jump on Shields after the high kick and
go for a finish on the ground?
“That’s
just textbook. when you stun a guy, you don’t jump on him.
You make space because when you jump on him, you create a clinch,
buying him time to recover. It’s textbook. In boxing, when
you stun a guy you’re supposed to check the guy, you’re
supposed to keep him at arms length and keep punching, keep working.
But, you know, he did the right thing. Let the guy get up, hurt
him again, put him back down, knock him back down, knock him
back down, make space, don’t let him get into a clinch.
You don’t want to get tied up on the ground with Jake Shields,
that’s not the way you’re going to knock him out, so.
Georges was definitely working for a knock out that night.”
In
an interview Monday with Jack Encarnacao, Greg Jackson discussed
the stand-up style of Jake Shields and said his open-handed stance
is similar to what you see in a street fight (he made the same
remark about Nick Diaz as well). He didn’t think that Jake’s
eye-poke of St. Pierre was intentional.
“Well,
it’s obviously a mistake, you’re not allowed to poke
each other in the eye and I don’t mean street fighting as
in like he was trying to poke Georges’ eye. When you open
your hands up, especially if you’re fighting somebody’s
bigger than you and they’re really launching a lot of power
shots at you it’s important to put something in the way,
like you can’t always just put your hand against your head
like you do in boxing because the force isn’t dispersed
in a large glove. So, a lot of times when you’re dealing
with stronger people and you’re fighting them, bigger people,
you have to really kind of put your hands in the way and your
arms in the way of their big shots and parry their big shots
so they don’t get clean shots on you because one shot can
end your night or your day. With the hands open like that, it’s
much more of like trying to anticipate the parry when punches
come and stuff. I think what happened is Jake didn’t think
and he threw a jab but his hand was still open, even though he
threw a jab. So, I don’t think Jake did it on purpose, I
know him pretty well and he’s a good guy and I don’t
think he would do that on purpose.”
The
Albuquerque trainer felt that GSP could finish the fight either
on the ground or standing up.
“I
felt like if we could do enough damage standing up and then some
good ground ‘n pound, Georges might have a good chance of
submitting him. He could also knock him out on his feet. We were
trying to finish but I think what threw us off of that whole
plan was Georges’ eye. When he got that eye poked and he
couldn’t see things happening, he just wasn’t himself,
you know what I mean? He had to really step up and be brave and
focus on staying calm & relaxed and just using that jab as
a range-finder and laying down that right hand to punch. But
I think at that point, Georges just wanted to make sure that
he didn’t get caught with something silly.”
Mr.
Zahabi said that he was happy with GSP’s fight performance
given the circumstances.
“He’s
a warrior, you know, he didn’t back down from the fight
at all. He kept engaging Shields. He could have ran around and
sat on the first three rounds and just played it safe, he could
have just kind of tied up with Jake. No, he kept striking, he
kept working for the knockout. He was very adamant about getting
it. You know, he saw that with the overhand right, you know how
many did he throw? And some of them, you know, a good few landed
and backed Shields up, but they just weren’t on the jaw,
they were a little too high and some just missed by an inch or
two. But he was going for it, Georges was going for it, so I’m
really happy with that.”
“If
you look at the guys Georges is fighting, all of the guys that
he’s fought, who’s finished these guys? Who’s
finished Jon Fitch? Who’s finished Jake Shields? Who’s
finished these guys? They’re hard to finish these guys,
man, they’re really high-caliber fighters and, just, people
don’t understand, it’s not always easy. I’m not
making excuses. All the coaches are working hard to get all our
fighters in our camp to finish, definitely. But it just, you
know, it’s just not easy.”
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Monson,
Tiko and others win in Switzerland
Our GMA Anderson Pereira sent in news from Switzerland, where
last weekend a landmark installment of the MMA Strength and Honor
event took place.
“My
student Claudemir “Tiko” de Souza, a Brazilian brown
belt, fought well here in Geneva this Saturday, beating France’s
Mourad Benseguir with a rear naked choke in the first round,”
says the teacher.
In
the evening’s main event, Jeff Monson overcame tough Croatian
judoka Maro Perak via judges’ decision. Another standout
was Tunisia’s Karim Ait Khalifa, a submission specialist
from team Alliance. He won by kimura in the first round. Check
out the results:
Strength
and Honor 4
Geneva, Switzerland
April 30, 2011
Karla
Benitez Sanja Sucevic won by doctor’s intervention in R1
Sasa Mitrovic defeated Cesar Augusto by doctor’s intervention
in R1
Claudemir Souza subbed Murad Benseghir via rear naked choke at
3:41 min of R1
Karim Ait Khalifa subbed Alen Dolicanin via kimura at 1:19 min
of R1
Nelson Carvalho finalizou Paddy Doherty na guilhotina aos 37s
do 1R
Ivan Mussardo and Hristomir Hristov fought to a draw
Olavo Belo defeated Greg Loughran via kimura at 2:25 min of R2
Olivier Pastor defeated Leandro Gontijo via unanimous decision
Mats Nilsson subbed Nikos Sokol via triangle at 1:41s of R1
Michelle Verginelli and Norman Paraisy fought to a draw
Francis Kelly subbed Anundson Carmont via armbar at 2:06 min
of R1
Jeff Monson defeated Maro Perak via unanimous decision after
R3
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Dos
Anjos In for Dunham vs. SotsMay 03, 2011
More
fight card updates below:
UFC 130 and UFC 131
TUF 13 Finale and UFC on Versus 4
UFC 133
An injury has forced lightweight up-and-comer Evan Dunham to
drop out of his planned July 2 fight against George Sotiropoulos.
Rafael Dos Anjos has verbally agreed to fight in his place. "Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu black belt Dos Anjos has won Fight of the Night and
Submission of the Night awards and Sotiropoulos has won Fight
of the Night twice so I expect an amazing fight," said UFC
president Dana White.
“Mayhem”
vs Simpson at UFC 132 updated April 23
Longtime middleweight and welterweight contender Jason “Mayhem”
Miller will return to the UFC for the first time since 2005 when
he battles Aaron Simpson in a UFC 132 bout in July.
“Crafty
veteran and colorful personality Jason “Mayhem” Miller
has verbally agreed to make his UFC return against powerful wrestler
Aaron “A-Train” Simpson in a middleweight matchup July
2 in Las Vegas,” said UFC President Dana White.
The
30 year old Miller (24-7, 1 NC) has been one of the most visible
mixed martial artists in the world over the course of his decade
long pro career, defeating the likes of Robbie Lawler, Denis
Kang, Hiromitsu Miura, and Tim Kennedy. A WEC vet, Miller’s
lone UFC appearance was a hard-fought decision loss to current
UFC welterweight king Georges St-Pierre at UFC 52 in April of
2005. Since then, he is 12-3 with 1 NC, and he is coming off
a first round submission win over Japanese legend Kazushi Sakuraba
last September.
The
hard-hitting Simpson (8-2) is coming off a three round unanimous
decision victory over Mario Miranda in March that broke a two
fight losing streak.
Bowles
to Fight Mizugaki at UFC 132 updated April 18
Cruz vs. Faber 2 won't be the only high-octane 135-pound bout
inside the Octagon on July 2, as another battle of WEC vets has
been verbally agreed upon for the event. “Brian Bowles looks
to regain the bantamweight championship title, but first he’ll
have to take on hard-hitting perennial top-10 contender Takeya
Mizugaki at UFC 132,” said Dana White.
A
win for Bowles would make him a serious contender to face the
winner of Cruz and Faber's bantamweight title fight, the main
event at UFC 132. Bowles lost the title to Cruz in March of 2009.
Winner
vs. Njokuani Added to UFC 132 updated April 14
If names like Condit, Cruz, Wandy and Leben on the card weren't
guaranteed fireworks, the latest bout should convince you: “Get
ready for what should be a standup war as verbal agreements are
in for Andre Winner VS Anthony Njokuani July 2nd,” said
UFC president Dana White.
Brit
Winner is a TUF 9 finalist with boxing and karate roots; Njokuani
is a WEC vet who brought him three Knockout of the Night bonuses
in that organization before scoring Fight of the Night at his
UFC debut in March.
Condit
and Kim Agree to UFC 132 Showdown updated April 8t
Undefeated Korean Judo specialist Dong Hyun Kim has verbally
agreed to face former WEC champion Carlos “The Natural Born
Killer” Condit at UFC 132 in Las Vegas on July 2nd.
“A
win over Condit would break Kim into the top ten and a win over
Kim would bring Condit another step closer to a world title shot,”
said UFC President Dana White.
Koch
vs. Swanson Slated for 132 updated April 8
Two of the most exciting fighters in the featherweight division
have verbally agreed to face each other on July 2nd at UFC 132.
"Rising
star Erik Koch, who took home Knockout of the Night at the stacked
UFC 128 event, will take on Cub Swanson, who earned Fight Of
The Night honors in his last outing," said Dana White.
WEC
talent will also be showcased at the main event of UFC 132, a
bantamweight title fight - the first to be held in the UFC's
Octagon - between Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber.
Wanderlei
Gets Leben updated April 4
The 4th of July fireworks will kick off early in Las Vegas when
“The Axe Murderer” faces “The Crippler” in
a UFC 132 bout almost guaranteed not to last the three round
distance.
“Two
fan favorites will go to war as Chris 'The Crippler' Leben has
verbally agreed to face Wanderlei 'The Axe Murderer' Silva in
Las Vegas July 2nd,” said UFC President Dana White.
Wanderlei
has been actively campaigning for this matchup on his Twitter
page, writing that he thinks it'll be a tough fight against a
good opponent.
Fitch
Injured, out of Penn Bout - updated March 30th
UFC welterweight contender Jon Fitch was injured during training
for his upcoming rematch with BJ Penn and forced to withdraw
from the UFC 132 bout on July 2nd. Stay tuned to UFC.com for
any further developments.
Cruz
vs. Faber II on July 2 - updated March 26th
UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz will get an opportunity
to avenge the lone loss of his career at UFC 132 on July 2nd,
as he has verbally agreed to face former featherweight boss Urijah
Faber in what is slated to be the main event.
"This
is the biggest bantamweight title fight ever, as UFC 135-pound
champion Dominick Cruz has verbally agreed to face Urijah Faber
at UFC 132 in July," said UFC President Dana White. "Cruz
is unbeaten at bantamweight, but he's looking for revenge against
the only man to beat him at 145 pounds, former champ Faber."
Ortiz
vs. Bader at UFC 132 - updated March 22nd
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz, who pulled
out of his March 26th headlining bout against Rogerio Nogueria
due to injury, has recovered and is back in fighting shape. "This
MMA legend will meet top UFC contender Ryan Bader at UFC 132,"
said UFC president Dana White, confirming that Ortiz and Bader
have verbally agreed to a July bout. Bader is looking to rebound
from a loss to newly crowned champ Jon Jones at UFC 126.
Wiman
vs Siver Agreed to for UFC 132 updated March 17th
It will be a battle of 155-pound division hot streaks, when Matt
Wiman puts his three fight winning streak on the line against
Germany's Dennis Siver, who has won three in a row as well, including
a UFC 127 win over George Sotiropoulos. This UFC 132 matchup
was agreed to today.
Said
UFC President Dana White, “Lightweights coming off of impressive
wins face off in Vegas as Matt Wiman and Dennis Siver have verbally
agreed to fight July 2nd.”
Fitch
vs. Penn 2, Dunham vs. Sots On For 132 updated March 16
Reports of The Prodigy's retirement have been greatly exaggerated:
Dana White confirmed today that BJ Penn and Jon Fitch have verbally
agreed to rematch at UFC 132.
The
welterweights first met in the main event of UFC 127, a number-one
contender bout that ended in a draw. "Both fighters look
to keep it out of the hands of the judges this time," said
White.
The
stacked lightweight division will also see two of its fastest-rising
stars meet over Fourth of July weekend: White confirmed that
Evan Dunham and George Sotiropoulos have verbally agreed to a
bout at UFC 132.
Source: UFC
|
MMA
Top 10 Pound-for-Pound: GSP, Aldo Miss a Chance to Move Up
By Michael
David Smith
Heading
into UFC 129, I thought both welterweight champion Georges St.
Pierre and featherweight champion Jose Aldo had a good chance
of putting on the kind of performance that would move them up
in the pound-for-pound rankings.
GSP
did what he usually does and won a dominant unanimous decision
over a good opponent in Jake Shields, but he didn't do anything
that makes him leapfrog Anderson Silva at the top of the list.
And Aldo won a classic battle with Mark Hominick, but it wasn't
the kind of transcendent performance that could put him on top
of the MMA world.
So
as we review the Top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in mixed martial
arts, there's no change at the top.
(Number
in parentheses is the fighter's rank in the last pound-for-pound
list.)
1.
Anderson Silva (1): The middleweight champion remains at the
top of the mixed martial arts world, heading into his August
title defense against Yushin Okami in Rio. The first Silva-Okami
fight ended in controversy, as Silva was getting the better of
Okami standing up but was disqualified for a kick to the head
on the ground. That was Silva's last loss; he's 14-0 since then.
2.
Georges St. Pierre (2): The best argument for St. Pierre moving
up to face Silva at middleweight is that St. Pierre simply isn't
being challenged at 170 pounds. For 25 minutes against Shields,
there was never even an instant in which I thought St. Pierre
was in the slightest bit of trouble. I'd love to see how St.
Pierre reacts when he feels threatened, and I don't think I'm
going to see that unless St. Pierre takes a step up in weight
class.
3.
Jon Jones (3): A hand injury forced Jones to withdraw from a
planned light heavyweight title defense against Rashad Evans,
although the Evans fight could still happen by the end of the
year. The big question facing the UFC is whether a long layoff
could derail some of the momentum that the promotion's brightest
young star had built.
4.
Jose Aldo (4): Aldo is a great fighter who's only 24 years old
and might hold the featherweight title for many years. But the
Hominick fight demonstrated that he is beatable: After battering
Hominick for four rounds, Aldo got put on his back and beaten
up in the fifth. A good wrestler like Aldo's next opponent, Chad
Mendes, might just give him some trouble.
5.
Dominick Cruz (5): The UFC bantamweight champion, Cruz is 17-1
and will get a chance to avenge his only loss, to Urijah Faber,
in July. One of the things that's been overlooked about the first
Faber-Cruz fight, more than four years ago, is that Cruz was
only 21 years old at the time. The 25-year-old Cruz has improved
dramatically and is a much more complete fighter.
6.
Frank Edgar (6): The long-awaited third fight between Edgar and
Gray Maynard is now less than a month away. If it's as good as
their fight in January, no one will come away disappointed.
7.
Gray Maynard (7): I rank Edgar slightly ahead of Maynard because
Edgar has the title belt and the two wins over B.J. Penn, but
it's certainly legitimate to consider Maynard the top lightweight,
considering that he beat Edgar in 2008 and nearly beat Edgar
in the first round of their draw in January. It would be nice
to see a decisive victory one way or the other in their third
fight.
8.
Cain Velasquez (8): The undefeated heavyweight champion of the
world will, if all goes according to plan, face the Brock Lesnar-Junior
dos Santos winner on October 8 in Houston. That would represent
just under a year off for Velasquez, and MMA fans can only hope
that he'll be healthy and ready to go after a long layoff.
9.
Shogun Rua (NR): I was probably a little too hasty in dropping
Shogun out of the Top 10 in my last rankings, after he lost to
Jones. Light heavyweight is the UFC's toughest division, and
although Shogun was dominated by Jones, he has established himself
as No. 2 at 205 pounds. I expect Shogun to avenge his loss to
Forrest Griffin in Rio in August.
10.
Lyoto Machida (NR): Machida showed with his spectacular knockout
of Randy Couture what an explosive athlete he is. Some fans still
perceive Machida as a cautious fighter who's content to get away
with winning a decision, but his record doesn't really back that
up: Machida has won the UFC's Knockout of the Night award in
three of his last six fights. Shogun may have his number, but
Machida has earned his spot in the Top 10.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Strikeforce
bout slated July 30
By Josh Gross
Fedor Emelianenko will meet Dan Henderson on July 30 on a Strikeforce
card in the Chicago area, a source with knowledge of the fight
confirmed to ESPN.com Tuesday.
The
bout pitting two of mixed martial arts' most revered competitors,
which is set to air not on pay-per-view as had been discussed
but on Showtime, marks the first time Emelianenko's promoter,
M-1 Global, and Zuffa, which purchased Strikeforce in March and
has operated the UFC since 2000, would join forces for an event.
Details
are still taking shape but sources said that the fight has been
agreed to in principle and should be finalized within a few days.
Henderson
expressed interest in challenging Emelianenko after the 40-year-old
American captured Strikeforce's light heavyweight title against
Rafiel "Feijao" Cavalcante on March 5. Last month a
representative for Emelianenko informed ESPN.com that the 34-year-old
Russian told his camp he would agree to fight Henderson.
Questions
over the bout's contracted weight limit were laid to rest when
Henderson (27-8), who campaigned the majority of his career at
185 and 205 pounds, said a cap in the neighborhood of 220 pounds
wasn't necessary against a man who ranked as MMA's top heavyweight
from 2003 through 2010.
Coming
off consecutive losses for the first time in his career, Emelianenko
(31-3) was working to slim down anyhow, according to sources
in his camp. In his last appearance in the cage, a technical-knockout
setback against Antonio Silva in February, the Russian appeared
softer than usual around his midsection. He has since traveled
to the Netherlands, where he worked on his fitness and technical
striking skills. He is scheduled to do so again prior to meeting
Henderson.
Based
on the terms of Henderson's contract, the former two-division
Pride champion is owed a fight by the end of July or Strikeforce
would be in violation their agreement.
Josh
Gross covers mixed martial arts for ESPN.com.
Source: ESPN
|
A
UFC for the whole Brazil
by Carlos Eduardo Ozório
Among the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s characteristics
is the ability to bolster tourism anywhere it sets up shop. Fans
of the event find it easy to transit from city, state or country
to see the show. At the fight between Anderson Silva and Vitor
Belfort in Las Vegas, for example, one couldn’t help but
notice the large presence of Brazilians around the Mandalay Bay
hotel and casino and in the arena.
Although
in Brazil tickets will be offered at accessible rates, Dana White
guarantees, the promotion is counting on a market with buying
power. Hence the expectation that fans from all across Brazil
will pack the HSBC Arena on August 27. All one has to do is scan
the card to understand that it’s not going to be a party
just for Rio de Janeiro locals, despite it being called UFC Rio.
Of
course, a good portion of the fighters identify with the city,
even though not all of them are from there, like Rodrigo Minotauro,
Anderson Silva, Vitor Belfort, José Aldo… All these
big names are expected. So far, Anderson is the only one confirmed,
while the others still have a chance to be there or have been
vetoed, as is the case with Belfort.
On
the other hand, some athletes not expected now figure on the
card. While Brazilians are still calling for some big names,
so far the card is an attraction for the entire Brazilian national
territory.
Anderson
identifies a lot with Rio, where he spends most of his time while
in Brazil, but he came to fame in Curitiba and is a native of
São Paulo, cheering for Corinthians soccer team. Luiz
Banha is also from São Paulo. Shogun, a national hero,
draws the public from the south, as do Thiago Tavares and knockout
artist Maiquel Falcão.
The
central-west is represented by Brasília’s Paulo Thiago,
first announced on the Portal do Vale Tudo website. Another who
lives in Rio, but hails from Minas Gerais, Rousimar Toquinho
looks likely to make it onto the card, as GRACIEMAG.com found
out. Now Edson Jr. is from the town of Nova Friburgo, in the
mountains of Rio de Janeiro state.
A
possible call up of José Aldo would boost the public from
Amazonas state, while Minotauro draws those from Bahia. But the
truth is, with all these names, folks will be coming from as
far as Japan to watch; you can count on it.
Check
out who is on the card so far:
UFC
Rio (134)
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
August 27, 2011
Anderson
Silva vs. Yushin Okami
Maurício Shogun vs. Forrest Griffin
Luiz Cane vs. Stanislav Nedkov
Paulo Thiago vs. David Mitchell
Thiago Tavares vs. Spencer Fisher
Edson Barboza Junior vs. Ross Pearson
Maiquel Falcão vs. Tom Lawlor
Rousimar Toquinho
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Doerksen,
Sokoudjou, Carvalho, Others Announced for 'theScore Fighting
Series'
By Ray
Hui
Former UFC competitors Joe Doerksen and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
are among the notable names on the June 10 "theScore Fighting
Series" card in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
The
event promoter, the company behind Canada's the Score sports
television network, announced Wednesday the event as well as
the the participation of Doerksen, Sokoudjou, Antonio Carvalho,
Jordan Mein, Adrian Wooley, Jorge Britto, Josh Hill, Will Romero,
Tyler Hardcastle, Denis Puric and Alex Ricci. Opponents are to
be announced.
--
Doerksen (46-15) is a well-traveled MMA veteran on a three-fight
skid off losses to C.B. Dollaway, Dan Miller and Hector Lombard.
--
Sokoudjou (11-8), who recently won the KSW light heavyweight
title, is quietly riding back-to-back wins against Valdas Pocevicius
and Jan Blachowicz in events in Israel and Poland, respectively.
--
Shooto veteran Carvalho (12-4), a former division top 10 fighter,
came out of a two-year break from MMA in March 2010 and has won
two fights for the Warrior-1 MMA promotion in Canada.
--
Mein (21-7) is a welterweight to keep an eye on, as this year
alone, he's defeated Joe Riggs and Josh Burkman.
--
Another W-1 MMA competitor, Wooley (7-1), made his name fighting
for the now defunct TKO promotion in Canada.
-
Romero (5-2) was an entrant in Bellator's season two featherweight
tournament, losing in the quarterfinal to eventual runner-up
Patricio "Pitbull" Freire.
-
Britto (12-7-1) recently had a four-fight win streak snapped
by Jason Young, who just signed with the UFC.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Zahabi:
St. Pierre about as big as he'll get
By Brett Okamoto
A long shot: Firas Zahabi can't see Georges St. Pierre packing
on many more pounds.Georges St. Pierre’s trainer Firas Zahabi
isn’t against seeing his star fighter move up a division
after his recent sixth straight welterweight title defense. He
is, however, against seeing him pack on a ton of weight to do
it.
According
to Zahabi, St. Pierre (22-2) has probably added all the muscle
his 5-foot-10 frame can athletically carry. If St. Pierre decides
to vacate the 170-pound title and compete at 185, Zahabi says
he’ll encourage him to remain close to the weight he is
now.
“He’ll
be very small for a middleweight,” Zahabi told ESPN.com.
“If I balloon him up to over 200 pounds, it won’t do
any good. There’s a point where you can have too much muscle
and it’s not a good thing. I think he’s got the maximum
amount you can put on his body without it starting to be detrimental.
“If
he goes up [to 185], I would recommend he stay the same size.
You don’t want Georges to go in there bulked up and unable
to perform in the mechanical way that he does.”
Prior
to his fight against Jake Shields at UFC 129, St. Pierre's camp
said its target was for him to rehydrate 22 pounds, to an in-cage
weight between 192 and 193 pound.
Another
reason to not add a ton of muscle is it would be tedious weight
for St. Pierre to shed if he ever chose to move back down. Zahabi
did note, however, that in a proposed fight against Anderson
Silva, he’d experiment adding as much as 10 pounds to St.
Pierre to help keep the lengthy Brazilian down.
“I’d
probably push him up to 200 pounds for that fight,” Zahabi
said. “He still wouldn’t be as big as Anderson and
it wouldn’t be natural, but it would be better. If you do
get on Anderson Silva, having an extra pounds on you is a good
extra 10 pounds.”
St.
Pierre wouldn’t be the first to forfeit size in an effort
to move up divisions. Notably, the only two fighters to ever
hold titles at multiple weights did it. B.J. Penn has regularly
weighed in under 170 pounds as a welterweight -- as little as
166.5 at UFC 63. Randy Couture weighed in nearly 40 pounds less
than Tim Sylvia at UFC 68 when he recaptured the heavyweight
title.
The
move to middleweight for St. Pierre is far from official. A super-fight
between he and Silva has been talked about in the media for years,
but UFC president Dana White continues to refer to it as “a
fantasy fight.”
Zahabi
says his hope for St. Pierre’s next challenge is Strikeforce
champion Nick Diaz, but denied any notion the camp is shying
away from a Silva fight. If the Silva fight does happen, though,
Zahabi believes it would work best as a catchweight fight.
“It’s
up to Zuffa and George’s management to decide that. I’ll
focus on preparing him,” Zahabi said. “But I think
it would be wiser to be at a catchweight because it would be
more fair.”
In
regards to Diaz, Zahabi believes the Strikeforce champ has earned
a shot at St. Pierre and is an intriguing matchup, stylistically.
“He’s
proven himself, especially in his last fight [against Paul Daley],
a really exciting fight,” Zahabi said. “He’s got
a long reach and he knows how to use it. He probably has a longer
reach than Georges. I haven’t measured it myself and you
never know with the fluctuations in reach stats.
“He’s
got a very good pitter-patter style and he’s hard to counter.
Georges has never faced a guy like that.”
Source: ESPN
|
Just
Scrap Event in Hilo
Hilo Civic Center, Hilo, Hawaii
May 6, 2011
|
Kid
Peligro Seminar at Gracie Technics Tomorrow
Black belt and author, the world travelled Kid Peligro will conduct
a seminar at Rylan Lizares' Gracie Technics this Saturday.
Kid
Peligro Seminar
Saturday, May 7th
3:00 - 6:00PM
$60
Gracie Technics
428 McNeil Street
Honolulu, Hawaii
Word has it that there may be as many as 5 BJJ Black belts attending.
|
UFC
130 (5/28 MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas)
By Zach
Arnold
Dark
matches/Spike TV bouts
¦Bantamweights:
Chris Cariaso vs. Michael McDonald (filling in for Kid Yamamoto)
¦Lightweights: Cody McKenzie vs. Bart Palaszewski
¦Middleweights: Kendall Grove vs. Tim Boetsch
¦Bantamweights: Renan Barao vs. Cole Escovedo
¦Bantamweights: Miguel Torres vs. Demetrious Johnson
¦Welterweights: Thiago Alves vs. Rick Story
Main card
¦Middleweights:
Brian Stann vs. Jorge Santiago
¦Heavyweights: Stefan Struve vs. Travis Browne
¦Heavyweights: Frank Mir vs. Roy Nelson
¦Light Heavyweights: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
vs. Matt Hamill
¦UFC Lightweight Title match: Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Anthony
Pettis Still Gets A UFC Lightweight Title Shot If He Beats Clay
Guida in June
by Damon
Martin
Things didn’t go as smoothly for his entrance into the UFC
as he had hoped, but Anthony Pettis still has a title shot in
his future with a win in June.
The
final WEC lightweight champion was on a collision course with
the winner of Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard for his first fight
in the Octagon, but an unexpected draw forced Pettis to wait
on the sidelines.
Not
wishing to sit out for an extended period of time, Pettis opted
to accept a fight against Clay Guida in the main event of “The
Ultimate Fighter Season 13? finale coming up in June. The division
has also continued to develop new contenders as well.
Jim
Miller has staked his claim as possibly the top lightweight in
the UFC not named Frankie Edgar or Gray Maynard, while Melvin
Guillard is on an impressive winning streak, including a first
round drubbing of Evan Dunham in January.
Add
to that list, with Strikeforce now under the Zuffa umbrella,
Gilbert Melendez, who has climbed to the top of the MMAWeekly
World MMA Rankings, has also said he’s hoping for a shot
to prove he’s the best 155-pounder by facing either Edgar
or Maynard in the future.
As
impressive as that list is, Pettis won’t get pushed to the
back of the pack. The terms are the same as they were a few months
ago. Beat Clay Guida and he will get the next lightweight title
shot.
“It’s
Pettis,” UFC President Dana White confirmed when asked who
would be getting the next crack at the championship.
The
confirmation obviously gives Pettis extra motivation going into
the June fight with Guida. A win guarantees a title shot, likely
towards the end of 2011.
Pettis
won’t focus on the title shot at this time though because
the business at hand is beating Clay Guida. Without that, White’s
declaration of his title shot doesn’t even matter.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Opinion:
GSP Needs Diaz -- Now
by Jason Probst
It’s
becoming a trend. If welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre’s
recent performances indicate anything, it’s that he does
not just dispatch challengers. Rather, he dominates them so readily
that he destroys any short-term marketability for a rematch;
at least not without the guy on the losing end -- a running tab
including B.J. Penn, Jon Fitch, Thiago Alves and now Jake Shields
-- putting together an impressive string of wins.
Yet
St. Pierre’s lack of finishes in his last four bouts has
emboldened the critics. What do you do with a champion who clearly
demonstrates superiority in virtually every phase of the fight,
yet does not deliver the requisite red-meat finish with a stoppage?
This, at the end of the day, is the exclamation point we expect
with a championship mismatch.
It
soothes the dashed expectations of a competitive bout, the premise
upon which the product was foisted and offered up for pay-per-view
consumption. Like the previous five defenses of his second reign
at 170 pounds, GSP’s superiority against Shields firmly
settled the question at UFC 129 on Saturday at the Rogers Centre
in Toronto.
However,
the expectable move -- a jump to 185 and, ostensibly, a challenge
of champion Anderson Silva -- is no guarantee. Allow me a venture
into pop psychology here, but I think it’s apparent from
GSP’s post-fight interview and statements on the topic previously
that he is not sold on the idea. That’s no knock on him.
Probst:
Nick Diaz is the answer.A challenge of Silva would be a disruptive
chapter in a seamless title reign. Physically, he would have
to gain a goodly amount of muscle for a fight against an exceptionally
dangerous opponent. If he comes up short, St. Pierre would be
faced with the potential of having to return to 170, which could
be tough given the size he would put on. Style-wise, I do not
think he matches up so well with Silva, who is virtually knockout-proof
and would have five rounds to work his lethal tools.
That
is why Nick Diaz is the perfect next challenger for GSP. Currently
Strikeforce welterweight champion, Diaz was already in UFC President
Dana White’s sights, as White has scheduled a sit-down with
him this week to discuss his career. Diaz, whose inkling to start
a boxing career is something he’s been insistent on pursuing,
has often yearned for the kind of recognition he feels he does
not get.
A
shot against St. Pierre would solve all that. Diaz is the perfect
opponent to keep GSP anchored in the welterweight division, and
here are three reasons why:
•
Diaz is never going to be more red-hot. After dispatching Paul
Daley April, Diaz’s stock is at an all-time high. The time
to put him in against GSP is now. Are you going to wait for him
to make a defense against, say, Tyron Woodley, or some other
wrestler that might give Diaz’s stock a hit with a boring
fight or even a loss? Diaz is perfect, right now, and GSP is
badly in need of a viable challenger.
•
Diaz has the right style to bring excitement. Let’s face
it -- nobody in MMA is going to outwrestle St. Pierre, not at
170 pounds. Thus far, in his second reign as champion, GSP has
picked apart challengers coming in on the wings of a dream: that
they would be able to plant him on the mat, backed up by modest
striking. Josh Koscheck, the best banger of the bunch, never
landed more than a glancing blow or two. GSP manipulates distance
and angles masterfully. Diaz violates all that and would force
confrontations. His high-volume style would, for once, possibly
take the play away from GSP on the feet and force him into exchanges
or to shoot for takedowns. Diaz’s defensive guard and incredible
resilience would serve him well here. He might get wrestled and
controlled positionally, but at the beginning of each round,
he would be right back up pressing and pushing ahead, tossing
punches and cusses and scowls. Diaz is as durable as anyone in
the game, and he never quits. He would either force GSP to beat
him down or risk another five-round snoozer, at which point public
consensus would be well-justified to pack GSP’s bags for
185.
•
Diaz sells -- something the welterweight title definitely needs.
GSP has summarily scuttled the marketability of all his top contenders.
It would be a difficult proposition to sell rematches against
Fitch or Penn; ironically, both were injured and their rematch
will not happen, which clears the welterweight title road for
the time being. Alves is only slightly more marketable because
he can bang, but he has a tough assignment in Rick Story at UFC
130. No guarantee there. It is getting to the point where any
GSP defense against anyone not named Nick Diaz would have to
be paired with another title bout -- like UFC 129 -- to make
it viable.
GSP’s
dominance also has fallout in terms of what it does to contenders.
He has effectively placed Shields, Penn, Fitch and Alves in what
I call “Rich Franklin Territory.” RFT is where the
champion has beaten you so decisively that you are several wins
away from being able to legitimately beat the drums for a title
shot, even though you are still talented enough to beat a ton
of potential guys that might get that shot.
Think
about it -- outside of Story and Jake Ellenberger, there is not
a lot of new blood in the welterweight division that could reasonably
be expected to beat these guys any time soon. In effect, GSP’s
failed challengers can clear out the next tier, further adding
to the wasteland of viable contenders. The UFC smartly moved
Franklin into a weird middle-tier of fights at 195 and 205 against
well-selected opponents to mitigate against this, but no such
options exist for the welterweights.
The
time to strike is now. Diaz has always wanted this, having fought
with a chip on his shoulder his whole career. GSP needs someone
badly -- and now. Rarely does one move solve so many problems
and prove a lucrative boon for everyone involved. It also gives
the UFC time to build Story, Ellenberger or Alves for the next
shot.
Whatever
happens with White’s meeting with Diaz, we can trust that
a strong move will be made. The welterweight title has become
a one-man show. Let’s give Diaz an invite to crash the party.
Source: Sherdog
|
Falling
Action: Best and Worst of UFC 129
By Ben Fowlkes
For those of us who tuned in all the way from the Facebook prelims
to the Spike prelims to the pay-per-view card, UFC 129 made for
a long and sometimes repetitive night.
There's
not necessarily anything wrong with that. A good knockout is
still a good knockout the second (and third) time you see it,
just like 'UFC Central' is still an 'MMA Live' rip-off whether
you're watching on a laptop or a TV. But am I alone in feeling
just a tad overwhelmed by it all?
When
you attend a live UFC event, it's a full evening's worth of entertainment
to begin with. But when you sit through it all from home and
still end up rewatching several of those fights again later in
the night, at some point they all blur together in the mind.
Granted, the UFC can't assume that its entire audience is hardcore
enough to tune in early, but at a certain point it becomes difficult
to keep straight who did what to who, and when. Or maybe I'm
just easily confused.
Now
that we've all had a while to digest and decompress Saturday
night's action, let's look at the big winners, losers, and everything
in between after UFC 129.
Biggest
Winner: Lyoto Machida
Okay, so there wasn't a title on the line. And yes, he did knock
out a 47-year-old man, which just seems sort of mean in retrospect.
But the rules of Falling Action demand that anybody who wins
a fight with a kick that came straight out of "The Karate
Kid" automatically get the top spot. That's just how it
works. This win over a declining Couture may not be the thing
that rockets Machida back to the top of the division, but it
does help him score some style points, which a hit-and-run artist
like himself could always use. Now he'll likely get a chance
to fight someone his own age, and there's no shortage of tough
challenges in that division. Let's see if he can wax on and wax
off against an opponent who doesn't already have one foot out
the door.
Biggest
Loser: Jake Shields
You know what's worse than getting booed in a winning effort?
Getting booed in a losing one. This is the fight Shields has
been working toward for pretty much his entire career, so how
did he manage to look so lost during the first three rounds?
His most significant offense might have been what, in slow-motion
replay, looks like a pretty obvious eye-poke. You hate to think
any fighter would do something like that on purpose, but at the
same time, did he think the open-handed slap was the key to victory?
Because of Shields' fighting style, and because of the way the
fight with GSP went down, it will probably take some doing for
him to get a second shot at any UFC title. Maybe by then he'll
be able to get some offense going before the fight is more than
halfway over.
Least
Impressive in Victory: Jose Aldo
The heaviest favorite on the card seemed to be in cruise control
for much of the fight, yet still did more or less whatever he
wanted to do to Mark Hominick for the first four rounds. When
he felt like a takedown, he got it. When he was in the mood for
shredding Hominick's thigh with leg kicks, no problem. Even when
he wanted to simply stand flat-footed in the center of the cage
and bob and weave, he managed to avoid more punches than he ate.
But when he completely took his foot off the gas (or just ran
completely out of it) in the fifth, his performance ended on
a sour note. Rarely have we seen any champion so content to lay
on his back and absorb punches until time runs out. Most at least
have the good sense to hold on, or else get up and spend the
final minutes circling out of danger. Aldo picked the most painful
way to run out the clock, and he very nearly gave away a victory
in the process.
Most
Impressive in Defeat: Mark Hominick
Every time Aldo turned it on, Hominick seemed like was never
more than one or two strikes away from being finished. But he
hung in there through all manner of physical punishment, still
firing off punches even as his head grew to twice its normal
size. It takes more than physical toughness to endure all that
and still have it in you to go on the attack in the final minutes
of the fight. Most fighters would have had their spirits broken
long before that point. The shots of a deformed Hominick swinging
away on an exhausted Aldo in the final seconds will be enduring
images for years to come in MMA. If only it had been a six-round
fight, he might have a championship belt to go with that forehead
lump.
Most
Underappreciated: Georges St. Pierre
He successfully defended his title for the sixth consecutive
time, winning almost every round against one of the most formidable
men in the welterweight division. And, as if that weren't enough,
he did it mostly with the use of one eye. And still he gets booed?
It wasn't the greatest performance we've ever seen out of him,
and no, it wasn't much fun to watch. But still, it was a clear-cut,
gutsy win from the man who is undoubtedly the best 170-pound
fighter on the planet. The fact that this alone isn't enough
anymore just speaks to how dominant he's been as UFC champion.
Most
Frequent Flier Miles Earned: Nate Diaz
I'm still not sure how much credit Diaz deserves for continuing
to get up just so he could be thrown down again and again by
Rory MacDonald. On one hand, he was down on the scorecards and
couldn't afford to just lie there. On the other hand, at a certain
point it almost seems as though you're offering yourself up to
be thrown, like a child who has just discovered a fun and kind
of scary new ride. Diaz was thoroughly outworked and overpowered
by MacDonald, which makes you wonder how bright a future he really
has at welterweight. That's two fights in a row at 170 pounds
where he's been positively manhandled. Might be time to rethink
that move up in weight.
Most
Surprising: Vladimir Matyushenko
When "The Janitor" said he wanted to stand and trade
with Brilz in order to show off his newly developed striking
skills, it sounded like either a cagey bit of pre-fight gamesmanship
or else a bad idea born out of questionable motivations. Then
he went out and KO'd Brilz in 20 seconds, and suddenly it seemed
like a brilliant decision. Apparently working with Antoni Hardonk
has paid off, because Matyushenko has never been a particularly
big puncher on the feet before. As surprised as we may have been
to see him come up with a killer one-two combo right out of the
gates, imagine how Brilz must have felt. When he woke up and
had "Big" Dan Miragliotta explain it to him, that is.
Best
Decision: Randy Couture's retirement
Even before his tooth went flying into the Toronto night, he
looked like a man on borrowed time. The ageless Couture has been
so good for so long that it's hard to envision him as anything
but a fighter, but this is absolutely the right time to walk
away. He's still relatively healthy (even if he won't be eating
corn on the cob for a while), and he doesn't need the money any
more. He can serve MMA so much better from outside the cage at
this point, and the sport needs that kind of advocate. Let's
just hope the retirement sticks this time. All the fame, glory
and money doesn't mean much if you're not healthy enough to enjoy
it.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Little
guy wins Phoenix Open absolute
by Carlos
Eduardo Ozório
Little guys winning the absolute division has become something
of a fashion, proving how, often, technique can overcome strength.
That was the case last Saturday at the Phoenix Open.
The
big name of the IBJJF event was Laércio Fernandes, who
fights under the Lotus Club coat of arms. The fighter usually
competes as a light featherweight, but took gold in the featherweight
division this time around. The icing on the cake, though, was
that the diminutive black belt hopped atop the winners’
stand for the open weight division too.
In
the absolute divisional final Laércio faced the same opponent
from his final at weight, Gustavo Carpio.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Yahya
Out, Poirier Gets Brit for 131
TUF 13 Finale and UFC on Versus 4
UFC 132
Rani Yahya has withdrawn from his UFC 131 bout against Dustin
Poirier due to injury, UFC president Dana White confirmed today.
Stepping in for Yahya will be English striking ace Jason Young,
making his UFC debut. Poirier has a dangerous stand-up arsenal
of his own and is pegged by many to be a top prospect to watch
at featherweight.
McDonald
in for Kid against Cariaso updated April 27
Bantamweight phenom Michael McDonald is stepping in on short
notice to face Chris Cariaso at UFC 130.
“Kid
Yamamoto has withdrawn from his May 28th bout vs Chris Cariaso
due to injury," said UFC President Dana White. "In
his place will be UFC’s youngest fighter and one of it’s
most exciting, Michael McDonald, who is coming off a recent Fight
of The Night performance. Chris Cariaso carries a great record
of his own with a fast style and he plans on cementing his place
in the bantamweight division with a win over the highly touted
prospect. Both have verbally agreed to the fight.”
Barao-Escovedo
Set for UFC 130 updated April 20
WEC veteran Cole Escovedo, the organization's first featherweight
champ, will make his UFC debut at bantamweight against top Brazilian
prospect Renan Barao at UFC 130, as the two have verbally agreed
to the matchup.
Barao looks to continue his astounding 28-fight unbeaten streak
against Escovedo, who's known for being an incredible finisher.
Barao was originally scheduled to fight Demetrious Johnson -
earlier this week, Johnson replaced an injured Brad Pickett on
the same card.
Mighty
Mouse in for Injured Pickett vs. Torres updated April 20
UFC president Dana white announced that Brit bantamweight Brad
Pickett has suffered an injury, forcing him to withdraw from
his May 28th bout against Miguel Torres at UFC 130.
"The
fastest man in the division has answered the call, and Demetrious
Johnson will move into Pickett’s spot to face the former
divisional kingpin," said White. "Both men have verbally
agreed to the fight."
Johnson
was originally slated to fight rising prospect Renan Barao on
the same date; Barao’s new opponent will be announced shortly.
TUF
Alumni Back in the Octagon updated April 11
TUF 11 star Nick "The Promise" Ring will meet James
Head in Vancouver on June 11. "Seven-and-one James Head
is coming off an impressive victory over UFC veteran Gerald Harris
and has verbally agreed to make his UFC debut against the undefeated
Canadian middleweight Ring," he said.
McKenzie
to face Palaszewski at UFC 130 updated April 10
The master of the McKenzietine, TUF 12 alum Cody McKenzie, will
get a tough test on May 28 in Las Vegas when he squares off against
WEC vet Bart Palaszewski in a UFC 130 lightweight bout that was
verbally agreed to today.
McGee
Out, Weidman in at UFC 131 updated April 5
An injury has forced Court McGee to withdraw from his UFC 131
bout in Vancouver. "Undefeated Chris Weidman, who was impressive
defeating Alessio Sakara in his UFC debut, has verbally agreed
to step in against tough Canadian Jesse Bongfeldt,” said
Dana White.
"Pee
Wee" vs. "The Mexicutioner" at UFC 131 updated
March 31
UFC President Dana White announced another heavyweight matchup
for June's UFC 131 card. “20-2 Heavyweight Dave “Pee-Wee”
Herman has verbally agreed to make his UFC debut against hard
hitting Joey Beltran June 11th in Vancouver,” said White.
Carwin
Returns to Face Newcomer Einemo at UFC 131 updated March 23
UFC President Dana White announced today that Colorado KO king
Shane Carwin is expected to make his long awaited return to the
Octagon on June 11th against newcomer Jon Olav Einemo.
“Submission
wrestling champion Jon Olav Einemo has verbally agreed to make
his UFC debut against former UFC interim heavyweight champion
Shane Carwin at UFC 131 in Vancouver,” said White. “Carwin
is an incredibly tough UFC debut for anyone but Einemo’s
camp loves the style matchup.”
Carwin
had a roller coaster 2010, winning the interim heavyweight crown
with a first round knockout of Frank Mir in March, yet falling
short of winning the undisputed crown as he was submitted in
the second round of a back and forth war with Brock Lesnar. After
undergoing surgery to heal some nagging injuries, he will be
back at UFC 131 to take on Einemo, a 6-foot-6 jiu-jitsu black
belt who has won six of his seven pro bouts, with the only loss
a 2006 defeat in PRIDE to Fabricio Werdum.
Edwards/Stout,
Cerrone/Danzig updated March 14
Two thrilling lightweight bouts have been added to the summer
lineup featuring TUF stars pitted against WEC favorites who've
had success so far in the UFC. “Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone
and TUF 6 winner Mac Danzig have verbally agreed to meet in what
should by a non-stop action fight at UFC 131 in Vancouver,”
said White. He also confirmed a bout between two UFC veterans
on that same card: "Yves Edwards VS Sam Stout, a matchup
of top lightweight strikers has been verbally agreed to."
Bantamweights
Take Vegas updated March 12th:
The bantamweights will be out in force in Las Vegas this spring,
as intriguing 135-pound matchups have been verbally agreed to
for the UFC 130 card.
At
UFC 130, which takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, two
of the division’s top rising stars will meet when speedster
Demetrious Johnson takes on Brazilian phenom Renan Barao. Johnson
is coming off a career-best win over Kid Yamamoto at UFC 126,
and Barao’s stellar win streak, which includes back-to-back
WEC victories, speaks for itself. “One of the fastest men
in the sport, Demetrious Johnson, and Renan Barao, with an incredible
27 fight unbeaten streak, have both verbally agreed to fight
at UFC 130 on May 28th in Las Vegas,” said UFC President
Dana White.
Also
on the UFC 130 card, Japanese star Yamamoto returns in search
of his first UFC win when he faces off against Chris Cariaso.
UFC
131 Card Shapes Up updated March 12th
Also, four bouts on the UFC 131 fight card have been verbally
agreed to, including a matchup of rising middleweights:
* Mark Munoz vs. Demian Maia “Heavy handed Mark Munoz will
take on Demian Maia, one of the top Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black
belts in MMA," says UFC president Dana White.
* Anthony Perosh vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
* Jesse Bongfeldt vs. Court McGee
* Darren Elkins vs. Michihiro Omigawa (at featherweight) UFC
131 will take place June 11th in Vancouver. More details about
UFC 131 including ticket information will be announced soon.
Source: UFC
|
Sherdog
Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings
To
finish or not to finish, that is the question.
Georges
St. Pierre added another world-class competitor to his growing
list of vanquished foes at UFC 129, as he outpointed Jake Shields
with jabs, spinning back kicks, overhand rights and a few takedowns
in front of more than 55,000 fans at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.
Still, the 29-year-old did nothing to quiet his critics, who
point to his last four appearances, all of which ended in the
hands of the judges. Adding more fuel to the fire, St. Pierre
lost a round for the first time since 2007 and left the cage
bloodied, with an injured eye in tow.
What
comes next for the 170-pound king remains very much in doubt.
St. Pierre could move up in weight to face middleweight champion
Anderson Silva in a blockbuster pound-for-pound battle or wait
for the next welterweight contender to emerge from a group that
includes Carlos Condit and Dong Hyun Kim. Many fans and pundits
are already begging for a bout with current Strikeforce titleholder
Nick Diaz.
Meanwhile,
featherweight juggernaut Jose Aldo looked human for the first
time since surfacing as the world’s top 145-pound fighter.
The Nova União ace went the distance with Canadian striker
Mark Hominick in the UFC 129 co-headliner and was forced to withstand
a considerable fifth-round barrage from the hungry challenger.
It appears as if unbeaten Team Alpha Male standout Chad Mendes
will be next in line for Aldo, perhaps at UFC 133 in August.
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. Therefore, the first defense of the new champion
will likely come this fall, perhaps at an October event in Houston.
2.
Brock Lesnar (5-2)
Recluse? What recluse? The infamously standoffish Lesnar is now
front and center on the 13th season of “The Ultimate Fighter,”
where he coaches against Junior dos Santos. The season will set
up a high-stakes heavyweight clash between the two at UFC 131
on June 11 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
3.
Fabricio Werdum (14-4-1)
Werdum is no longer the only man to have bested Fedor Emelianenko
fair and square, but the Brazilian’s shocking June 2010
triangle armbar win over “The Last Emperor” remains
a momentous achievement. On the mend from elbow surgery since
that time, “Vai Cavalo” now awaits his Strikeforce
heavyweight grand prix quarterfinal with Alistair Overeem on
June 18 in Dallas. Werdum submitted Overeem in 2006.
4.
Junior dos Santos (12-1)
Rather than wait for UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez
to heal from his rotator cuff injury, “Cigano” opted
to stay active. Dos Santos is coaching opposite Brock Lesnar
on Season 13 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” culminating
in a clash between the two heavyweights at UFC 131 on June 11.
5.
Shane Carwin (12-1)
After suffering the first loss of his career to Brock Lesnar
in July, Carwin was forced to withdraw from a January bout with
Roy Nelson in order to undergo neck surgery. Now healed, the
former UFC interim heavyweight champ is set to return from his
11-month hiatus against grappling champion and Octagon newcomer
Jon Olav Einemo at UFC 131 on June 11.
6.
Frank Mir (14-5)
After a rumored fight with hot heavyweight prospect Brendan Schaub
fell through, Mir has signed on to meet former International
Fight League champion Roy Nelson at UFC 130 on May 28. The pair
has a history, as Nelson previously defeated Mir in a grappling
match at a North American Grappling Association event.
7.
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.
8.
Fedor Emelianenko (31-3, 1 NC)
“The Last Emperor” has dialed back the retirement talk
brought on by his Feb. 12 doctor stoppage loss to Antonio Silva
and is now likely to compete in July, according to Strikeforce
CEO Scott Coker. While nothing has been confirmed, rumors have
indicated that the Russian great could be on a collision course
with Strikeforce light heavyweight champ Dan Henderson.
9.
Alistair Overeem (34-11, 1 NC)
Having sufficiently terrorized the Japanese scene in both Deep
and K-1 -- where he won gold in the world’s most prestigious
kickboxing tournament last year -- “The Demolition Man”
has set his sights on defending his Strikeforce crown in 2011.
Overeem has looked invincible of late, with his last eight MMA
wins coming inside the first round, many in less than two minutes.
Looking to halt the Dutchman’s streak in the Strikeforce
heavyweight grand prix quarterfinals will be Fabricio Werdum,
who forced Overeem to tap to a kimura in their 2006 Pride Fighting
Championships meeting.
10.
Roy Nelson (15-5)
While “Big Country” suffered a decision loss at the
hands of Junior dos Santos in his last outing, “The Ultimate
Fighter” Season 10 winner’s previous two Octagon appearances
saw him knock out a pair of the promotion’s top heavyweight
prospects: Stefan Struve and Brendan Schaub. His contractual
hurdles now apparently cleared, Nelson is set to meet former
champion Frank Mir at UFC 130 on May 28.
Other
contenders: Josh Barnett, Sergei Kharitonov, Cole Konrad, Ben
Rothwell, Brendan Schaub.
Light
Heavyweight
1.
Jon Jones (13-1)
Immediately after Jones’ brilliant, title-winning performance
against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua on March 19, the focus
turned to the 23-year old champion’s first title defense
against former teammate Rashad Evans. However, that fight will
have to wait, as “Bones” revealed in late April that
he will undergo surgery to repair an injured right hand, sidelining
him until late 2011.
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 (31-8)
“Rampage” was originally set to face Thiago Silva at
UFC 130 in May. However, Silva’s licensed was revoked for
one year after he altered a UFC 125 drug screen. “The Ultimate
Fighter” Season 3 alum Matt Hamill has since been installed
as Jackson’s opponent -- a move “Rampage” himself
has critiqued on Twitter.
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)
After using his devastating right hand to fell Rafael “Feijao”
Cavalcante and snatch the Strikeforce light heavyweight title
in early March, 40-year-old “Hendo” made it known that
he was seeking to make a quick turnaround. It appears the former
two-division Pride champ will get his wish, as both Strikeforce
and M-1 Global have expressed interest in booking a contest between
Henderson and Fedor Emelianenko for July.
Other
contenders: Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante, Rich Franklin,
Matt Hamill, Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal, Gegard Mousasi.
Middleweight
1.
Anderson Silva (28-4)
On Feb. 5, “The Spider” silenced critics with a masterful,
first-round knockout of countryman Vitor Belfort. On Aug. 27
in Rio de Janeiro, he will have a chance to avenge the last loss
on his ledger when he rematches top contender Yushin Okami, who
famously earned a disqualification win over Silva in 2006.
2.
Chael Sonnen (25-11-1)
On April 8, Sonnen was sentenced to 24 months’ probation
and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine for his role in a 2006 money
laundering scheme. With his contract frozen, the fighting future
of the one-time UFC middleweight title challenger remains up
in the air, but one thing is certain: Sonnen will not be coaching
the upcoming season of “The Ultimate Fighter” opposite
Michael Bisping, as previously speculated.
3.
Yushin Okami (26-5)
After 10 wins and nearly 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 18,000
of Silva’s countrymen in Rio de Janeiro.
4.
Nate Marquardt (31-10-2)
Marquardt got back on track with a decision win over short-notice
opponent Dan Miller on March 19, but “The Great” will
not be sticking around at 185 pounds. Instead, the 32-year-old
former King of Pancrase will make his welterweight debut against
Anthony Johnson on June 26 in Pittsburgh.
5.
Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (14-2, 1 NC)
The Brazilian gator has turned away all comers in his Strikeforce
run, most recently submitting Robbie Lawler in January to retain
the promotion’s 185-pound title. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker
has stated “Jacare” will likely return in July, though
one question remains. Who is left to challenge Souza?
6.
Demian Maia (14-2)
Since his five-round decision loss to Anderson Silva in April
2010, Maia has won back-to-back unanimous decisions over “The
Ultimate Fighter” Season 3 winner Kendall Grove and Mario
Miranda. The jiu-jitsu ace will look to make it three in a row
when he meets powerful wrestler Mark Munoz on June 11 at UFC
131.
7.
Jorge Santiago (23-8)
Sengoku’s former middleweight champion has signed on for
a second tour of duty with the UFC. Santiago will make his return
to the Octagon at UFC 130 in May, when he challenges one-time
WEC titleholder Brian Stann in a fantastic middleweight affair.
8.
Vitor Belfort (19-9)
The 34-year-old “Phenom” was unable to capture his
second UFC title on Feb. 5, falling to a devastating front kick
from seemingly invincible champion Anderson Silva. As one of
Brazil’s most famous MMA exports, Belfort was expected to
take a spot on the UFC’s summer card in Rio de Janeiro.
However, he will instead compete three weeks earlier, on Aug.
6 in Philadelphia, when he tangles with Japanese star Yoshihiro
Akiyama.
9.
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.
10.
Hector Lombard (28-2-1, 1 NC)
The Bellator Fighting Championships 185-pound ruler added another
scalp to his collection on March 25, slicing 50-fight veteran
Joe Doerksen with punches and elbows to force a first-round doctor
stoppage in Sydney, Australia. The hard-hitting judoka will attempt
to run his impressive win streak to 18 on May 14, when he meets
surging Hawaiian Falaniko Vitale in a non-title Bellator bout.
Other
contenders: Alan Belcher, Mamed Khalidov, Robbie Lawler, Mark
Munoz, Brian Stann.
Welterweight
1.
Georges St. Pierre (22-2)
It was not pretty, but the world’s preeminent welterweight
once again got the job done on April 30. Before a crowd of more
than 55,000 in Toronto, “Rush” jabbed, crossed and
kicked his way to his fifth five-round unanimous decision in
six fights, this time besting former Strikeforce middleweight
titlist Jake Shields. After the win, talk turned immediately
to the long-rumored GSP-Anderson Silva super fight, something
St. Pierre said is “a lot to consider.” Meanwhile,
fans and pundits alike are clamoring for a matchup with Strikeforce
170-pound champ Nick Diaz.
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.
Thiago Alves (18-7)
Alves did not have much time to savor his win over John Howard
at UFC 124 before his name was right back on the UFC docket.
“Pitbull” will return in May, when he is scheduled
to meet surging welterweight contender Rick Story in a high-stakes
bout at 170 pounds.
4.
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.
5.
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.
6.
Nick Diaz (25-7, 1 NC)
After his April 9 blasting of top contender Paul Daley, Strikeforce’s
welterweight champion was left without a clear-cut top contender.
As such, the Stockton, Calif., native has turned his eye toward
the boxing ring -- possibly a bout with two-time IBF titleholder
Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy -- and manager Cesar Gracie says
talks with Zuffa regarding Diaz’s leap to the sweet science
are progressing.
7.
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.
8.
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.
9.
Paul Daley (27-10-2)
Daley nearly came out on top in the biggest fight of his career,
dropping Nick Diaz early in their April 9 Strikeforce welterweight
title fight. However, “Semtex” was unable to finish
and had his four-fight win streak halted by Diaz body blows and
ground-and-pound late in the first.
10.
Diego Sanchez (23-4)
The 29-year-old is 2-1 since returning to the welterweight division
one year ago. Sanchez claimed a narrow unanimous decision over
Martin Kampmann in March, and UFC brass subsequently announced
that “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 1 winner will face
former 170-pound kingpin Matt Hughes at a fall event. No date
or venue was announced.
Other
contenders: Ben Askren, Jake Ellenberger, Martin Kampmann, Dong
Hyun Kim, Mike Pyle.
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, Edgar fought back
valiantly over the last 20 minutes, shutting down Maynard’s
wrestling and becoming the more effective boxer. After five rounds,
Edgar had forced a split draw in a sensational fight, as well
as a third bout with Maynard at UFC 130 on May 28.
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 Japanese standout
into oblivion at 3:14 of the first period.
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 will square off for the third time on May 28 at UFC
130 in Las Vegas.
4.
Shinya Aoki (27-5, 1 NC)
Dream’s lightweight ace went a long way toward erasing memories
of his disastrous New Year’s Eve encounter with Yuichiro
Nagashima when he ran through lightweight prospect Lyle Beerbohm
in the Strikeforce cage on April 9. Aoki will look to follow
up on that 93-second submission win on May 29, when he meets
an opponent to-be-named at Dream’s “Fight for Japan”
show in Saitama.
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
strap for the first time against second-season tournament winner
Pat Curran, earning one scorecard of 49-46 and two clean sweeps
of 50-45.
6.
Kenny Florian (13-5)
The knee injury which forced “KenFlo” from his January
tilt with Evan Dunham may have been a game-changer. In early
February, Florian -- who began his UFC career at middleweight
-- announced his intention to move down to 145 pounds. The 34-year-old
submission specialist will debut at featherweight against Nova
Uniao product Diego Nunes at UFC 131 in June.
7.
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 resolution of the Frankie Edgar-Gray
Maynard-Anthony Pettis situation.
8.
Anthony Pettis (13-1)
While his guaranteed UFC title shot hit a roadblock in the form
of the Jan. 1 draw between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, Pettis
will stay active. He is set to make his Octagon debut against
tough veteran Clay Guida at “The Ultimate Fighter 13”
Finale in June.
9.
Tatsuya Kawajiri (27-7-2)
The “Crusher” was crushed on April 9, as Kawajiri was
smashed by the elbows of defending champ Gilbert Melendez in
his Strikeforce debut. 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.
10.
Sean Sherk (36-4-1)
With 40-plus fights and more than a decade in the sport, injuries
have piled up for Sherk. As a result, the 37-year-old “Muscle
Shark” has taken time off to heal and rehab and is now targeting
a potential summer return to the Octagon.
Other
contenders: Clay Guida, Melvin Guillard, Benson Henderson, Dennis
Siver, George Sotiropoulos.
Featherweight
1.
Jose Aldo (19-1)
The violent Brazilian dynamo did not deliver one of his trademark
knockouts, but he did survive a late scare from Mark Hominick
to win the UFC’s first featherweight title fight on April
30. Returning from a seven-month shelving brought on by a back
injury, Aldo bobbed and weaved, dodging his challenger’s
strikes for the better part of four rounds before tiring and
being punished on the floor in the fifth. Nonetheless, the champion
took a unanimous decision on the judges’ cards and ran his
win streak to 12 straight.
2.
Hatsu Hioki (24-4-2)
The “Son of Shooto” started his year inside the ring
which birthed him, submitting King of the Cage bantamweight champ
Donald Sanchez via second-round triangle choke at Shooto Tradition
2011 on April 29. What comes next for the current Shooto 143-pound
world champion and Sengoku featherweight titlist remains to be
seen, though the 27-year-old has recently hinted at a stateside
turn.
3.
Chad Mendes (10-0)
Mendes showcased his aggressive and well-rounded style in the
biggest fight of his young career, as he pummeled a tough Michihiro
Omigawa over three rounds at UFC 126. With the win, the unbeaten
Mendes has himself on the cusp of a UFC featherweight title shot.
4.
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.
5.
Michihiro Omigawa (12-9-1)
Omigawa’s return to the Octagon was not a pleasant one,
as the Yoshida Dojo product was beaten up on the feet and on
the floor by hot prospect Chad Mendes at UFC 126. With the loss,
Omigawa is 8-2-1 as a featherweight but 0-3 inside the confines
of the UFC. The 35-year-old judoka will return against fellow
former lightweight Darren Elkins at UFC 131 on June 11.
6.
Marlon Sandro (17-2)
Sandro’s fearsome punching power was no match for the rangier,
slicker and more technical Hatsu Hioki, who took apart the Brazilian
over five rounds to capture the Sengoku featherweight title on
Dec. 30. Following the loss, the Nova Uniao black belt in Brazilian
jiu-jitsu was granted his release from the promotion and signed
a multi-fight deal with Bellator Fighting Championships. Sandro
will not compete in Bellator’s upcoming Season 4 featherweight
tourney, but he is expected to make his debut for the company
in the coming months.
7.
Diego Nunes (16-1)
Since hooking up with top Brazilian team Nova Uniao, “The
Gun” has showed marked improvement with each appearance.
At UFC 125 on Jan. 1, Nunes took his game to another level, outstriking
former featherweight ruler Mike Thomas Brown en route to a split
decision win. For his next challenge, Nunes will welcome former
lightweight title contender Kenny Florian to the 145-pound division
on June 11.
8.
Joe Warren (7-1)
It would not be a Warren fight without a comeback and some controversy.
After appearing to fall behind in his 137-pound catchweight bout
with Marcos Galvao on April 16, Bellator’s featherweight
champion stormed back in the third round and took home a unanimous
decision win. It was the first step in what looks to be an extremely
busy year for Warren, who will defend his 145-pound strap against
either Patricio Freire or Daniel Straus before entering the promotion’s
next 135-pound tournament.
9.
Dustin Poirier (9-1)
Prior to UFC 125, few fans knew Poirier’s name. However,
after a crushing display of offense against the heavily favored
and well-regarded Josh Grispi, it is fair to say that the 21-year-old
“Diamond” has emerged as another young stud in the
145-pound division. The Tim Credeur-trained fighter will take
a further step up in competition when he meets Brazilian grappling
whiz Rani Yahya at UFC 131 on June 11.
10.
Josh Grispi (14-2)
Jose Aldo withdrew from their Jan. 1 bout with a neck injury.
Instead, “The Fluke” made his UFC debut against Dustin
Poirier, who shocked the Massachusetts native in a dominant unanimous
decision, halting Grispi’s 10-fight win streak. Grispi will
get back on the horse this summer, as he meets George Roop at
“The Ultimate Fighter 13” Finale on June 4.
Other
contenders: Patricio Freire, Mark Hominick, Erik Koch, Kazuyuki
Miyata, 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 added another Top 10 win to his ledger
by submitting Wagnney Fabiano and made a successful UFC debut
on March 19 with a unanimous decision over Ian Loveland.
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 (11-4)
A gritty collegiate wrestling convert, Jorgensen had a five-fight
win streak snapped in his final WEC appearance -- a demoralizing
five-round loss to champion Dominick Cruz. However, “Young
Guns” will make his Octagon debut at the “The Ultimate
Fighter 13” Finale on June 4, when he will look to bounce
back against Ken Stone.
6.
Miguel Torres (39-3)
The former WEC bantamweight ruler made a successful Octagon debut
in February, topping Antonio Banuelos via unanimous decision.
Torres will look for his third straight win on May 28, when he
faces Demetrious Johnson, a late replacement for original opponent
Brad Pickett.
7.
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.
8.
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.
9.
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.
10.
Demetrious Johnson (8-1)
The diminutive “Mighty Mouse” was impressive in handling
Japanese star Norifumi Yamamoto on Feb. 5 and was scheduled to
return against Brazilian phenom Renan “Barao” do Nascimento
Mota Pegado on June 4. However, after Brad Pickett was forced
from his May 28 bout with Miguel Torres, Johnson was called in
to face the former WEC bantamweight champion at UFC 130.
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. Urushitani brutally bashed Mori in the
first round, earning his first knockout in the Shooto ring in
his decade-long career.
2.
Mamoru Yamaguchi (25-5-3)
It seems like Shooto’s afroed ace has decided he likes fighting
in America. After besting Greg Guzman in Highland, Calif., in
August, Mamoru will return to action in the Golden State this
spring. The former two-division Shooto world champ will step
in for Alexis Vila to face John Dodson at Tachi Palace Fights
9 on May 6 in Lemoore, Calif.
3.
Ian McCall (9-2)
Previously best known for a 1-2 WEC run at bantamweight, McCall
showed his intentions at 125 pounds by handing top-ranked flyweight
Jussier “Formiga” da Silva his first loss on Feb. 18.
The man nicknamed “Uncle Creepy” will next meet unbeaten
prospect Dustin Ortiz at Tachi Palace Fights 9 on May 6.
4.
Jussier da Silva (9-1)
Following a successful December stateside debut against Danny
Martinez, “Formiga” stepped into the Tachi Palace Fights
cage with another WEC veteran, Ian McCall, on Feb. 18. While
the early going mirrored the Martinez bout, with Da Silva taking
McCall’s back, “Uncle Creepy” outworked the Brazilian
down the stretch, stuffing takedowns and landing punches en route
to a unanimous decision. There has been no word on when or where
Da Silva will return following the first setback of his career.
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. After falling behind early to former 115-pound title contender
Noboru “Shinpei” Tahara, the X-One Gym product stormed
back to blast Tahara on the floor and take a unanimous verdict.
6.
Darrell Montague (9-1)
“The Mongoose” hardly looked like an underdog in snatching
the Tachi Palace Fights 125-pound belt from Ulysses Gomez on
Feb. 18, battering “Useless” with crisp boxing for
five rounds en route to a lopsided unanimous decision. The 23-year-old
Montague has yet to be assigned his first title defense but should
have no lack of challengers in the near future; three world-ranked
flyweights -- Mamoru Yamaguchi, Ian McCall and John Dodson --
and one unbeaten prospect -- Dustin Ortiz -- are all set for
action at TPF’s May 6 event.
7.
Kiyotaka Shimizu (8-3-2)
Returning from a victorious April trip to the Shooto ring, the
flyweight King of Pancrase will make his next title defense against
an opponent he knows all too well. On June 5, Shimizu is set
to once again lock horns with the man whose belt he took, Mitsuhisa
Sunabe. The pair has met thrice before, splitting the series
1-1-1, with their last meeting on Dec. 5 resulting in a three-round
draw.
8.
Ryuichi Miki (10-4-3)
A third bout with Yasuhiro Urushitani was the chance of a lifetime
for Miki, who had the opportunity to vie for the Shooto 123-pound
world title. However, as in the pair’s first two encounters,
it was Urushitani who walked out the victor and remained champion
on May 30.
9.
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 question
for the 1996 Olympic bronze medalist becomes a matter of when
he steps into the cage with another Top 10 flyweight and faces
the division’s best.
10.
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.
Other
contenders: John Dodson, Louis Gaudinot, Ulysses Gomez, Alexandre
Pantoja, Mitsuhisa Sunabe.
Source: Sherdog
|
Gregor
celebrates win in Brazil
Gregor Gracie was one of the main attractions at the IFC event
that shook up the city of Recife, Brazil, this past Friday. It
took the Gracie just 29 seconds to submit Argentina’s Mariano
Hinojal with a choke.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Kid
Peligro Seminar at Gracie Technics
This Saturday
Black belt and author, the world travelled Kid Peligro will conduct
a seminar at Rylan Lizares' Gracie Technics this Saturday.
Kid
Peligro Seminar
Saturday, May 7th
3:00 - 6:00PM
$60
Gracie Technics
428 McNeil Street
Honolulu, Hawaii
Word has it that there may be as many as 5 BJJ Black belts attending.
|
Scrapplers
Fest Jiu Jitsu Tournament
Island School, Puhi, Kauai
(Right behind Kauai Community College)
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Kids
weights and brackets will be made that morning to make fairest
match ups!
White,
Blue belts and Beginner no gi (3 years and under) 131-under,
132-145, 146-159, 160-173, 174-187, 188-201, 202-215, 216-above
Purple-above belts and Advanced no gi (+3years)
159-below,
160-180, 181-201, 202-above
Also
having a 36 year old and above class for gi white belts and blue
belts!
***Not
advertised but Relson Gracie students get an additional $10 off
entry fees.***
Pre-Register
by May 20th and pay
kids/women-$40
Men-$60
Entry
fees on May 21st
kids/women-$50
Men-$70
Men
can add 36-above division to Men division only $10 more! Or just
compete in that division for the Men price
Weigh
ins at Scrappa Lifestylez store in Hanamaulu next to the post
office from 5pm-9pm on Friday May 20th.
Also,
tournament day weigh ins kids/adults till 9am!! And I mean 9am!
Kids
start at 10am
Adults start at 1230pm
Make
sure competitors are there at tournament site at least 1 1/2
hours before estimated times.
There
will be no food allowed in the gym. There will also be food and
drinks available there.
Also
no smoking on school grounds, and no one allowed on the school
playgrounds.
Spectators-
$5 for kids and $7 for adults.
Competitors
will receive competitor shirts while their size last!
Source: Pono Pananganan
|
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
|
Matches
to Make After UFC 129
by Brian Knapp
Georges
St. Pierre left the masses unsatisfied, as the man some view
as the top pound-for-pound fighter in mixed martial arts went
the distance for the fourth time in as many fights.
St.
Pierre defeated Jake Shields by unanimous decision to retain
his welterweight crown in the UFC 129 headliner on Saturday at
the Rogers Centre in Toronto. In doing so, the soon-to-be 30-year-old
turned away yet another chief rival but kept his detractors in
business. St. Pierre has not finished an opponent since he ousted
an undersized B.J. Penn in four rounds more than two years ago.
That nugget seems to have overshadowed his career-best nine-fight
winning streak.
Having
all but eliminated the contender population, St. Pierre has few
worthwhile options left at 170 pounds. He lost a round for the
first time since 2007 but looked no less dominant against Shields,
a durable and driven two-division stalwart who entered the Octagon
on a string of 15 consecutive victories.
A
closer look at the matches we want to see after UFC 129 “St.
Pierre vs. Shields” follows:
Georges
St. Pierre vs. Anderson Silva: If “The Spider” passes
his forthcoming test against Yushin Okami at UFC 134 in Brazil,
he, too, will have effectively wiped out a division. Silva hushed
his own critics in February, when he knocked out Vitor Belfort
with a jaw-dropping front kick. He has won 14 fights in a row,
13 of them inside the UFC. No other man has treated the Octagon
to such dominance. However, St. Pierre’s relentless takedowns
seem a perfect foil for Silva, whose lack of wrestling skills
remains a glaring weakness. Though his latest performance left
many uninspired, St. Pierre did nothing to diminish his status
as the welterweight division’s alpha male. Should he decide
against a move to middleweight, a showdown with current Strikeforce
champion Nick Diaz at 170 pounds would be an easy sell.
Aldo
looked human at UFC 129.Jose Aldo vs. Kenny Florian: Thanks to
the underrated and underappreciated Mark Hominick, Aldo’s
aura of invincibility took a significant hit in his unanimous
decision victory at UFC 129. For once, he looked human.
Pushed
for five grueling rounds, Aldo ran out of gas in the fifth and
was forced to weather a ground-and-pound onslaught from Hominick
for much of the final five minutes. That, combined with an expected
influx of former lightweights to 145 pounds, means his spot at
the top may be far more tenuous than first thought.
Florian,
a two-time lightweight title contender, brings with him a wealth
of experience and a cerebral approach to fighting.
Provided
he gets past the world-ranked Diego Nunes at UFC 131 in June,
he seems like an appropriate challenger for Aldo. However, the
unbeaten Chad Mendes might get first dibs.
Lyoto
Machida vs. Quinton Jackson: Machida kept safe his place among
the world’s premier light heavyweights, as he knocked hall
of famer Randy Couture into retirement with a vicious second-round
front kick. Still very much in his prime, the 32-year-old Brazilian
remains a difficult strategic puzzle to solve. He clearly has
a desire to return to title contention, and that road may lead
to a rematch with Jackson, who faces “The Ultimate Fighter”
Season 3 alum Matt Hamill at UFC 131. Jackson won a controversial
split decision from Machida in November. Would anyone be opposed
to rounds four, five and six?
Vladimir
Matyushenko vs. Luiz Cane: Matyushenko packs quite a punch. Just
ask Jason Brilz. The grizzled 40-year-old Belarusian knocked
out Brilz in just 20 seconds at UFC 129, as he once again slammed
the cage doors on the fingers of Father Time. A powerful wrestler,
Matyushenko can serve as an excellent litmus test for anyone
teetering on the line between contender and pretender at 205
pounds. Cane steamrolled Eliot Marshall at UFC 128 and stemmed
the negative tide that resulted from his back-to-back losses
to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Cyrille Diabate. Matyushenko
would almost certainly probe his takedown defense and ground
skills. Neither man figures to factor into title contention,
but they could still put on a meaningful fight as part of the
light heavyweight division’s middle class.
Benson
Henderson vs. Anthony Pettis: Their first encounter was as memorable
as any in recent memory. There is no reason to think a rematch
would be any different. Henderson made a successful promotional
debut at UFC 129, denying native son Mark Bocek a signature win
in front of his fellow countrymen. The well-rounded 27-year-old
former WEC champion has shown a diverse and complete skill set
since Zuffa LLC welcomed his services in 2009. Henderson pairs
a strong wrestling base with effective striking and an insane
ability to escape danger on the ground. Pettis awaits a June
4 showdown with Clay Guida at “The Ultimate Fighter 12”
Finale. Should he win there, the Duke Roufus protégé
would likely move into position to challenge for the UFC lightweight
crown. A defeat could set the stage for a rematch with Henderson.
Jake
Ellenberger vs. Rory MacDonald: Two of the UFC’s top young
talents at 170 pounds, they have staked their respective claims
to primetime. Ellenberger wrecked Sean Pierson on short notice
at UFC 129, as he finished him with a beautiful counter left
hook and follow-up punches. Not long after, MacDonald corralled
“The Ultimate Fighter” Season 5 winner Nate Diaz. The
21-year-old Canadian dazzled the raucous Rogers Centre crowd
with three belly-to-back suplexes and put on display his wonderfully
diverse skill set. Diaz had no answer for MacDonald, and it stands
to reason that few will as he continues to develop. Ellenberger,
a stout wrestler with legitimate one-punch knockout power in
his hands, has positioned himself for a meaningful fight. The
26-year-old Omaha, Neb., native has quietly compiled a 4-1 mark
inside the UFC.
Source: Sherdog
|
Eight
Ways of Looking at George St. Pierre's UFC 129 Victory
By Ben Fowlkes
Georges St. Pierre won the decision over Jake Shields at UFC
129 in Toronto, but he also injured his eye and got showered
with boos in his home country. Was it a Pyrrhic victory for the
UFC welterweight champ, or just a sign that fans are too hard
on the dominant St. Pierre? The answer depends on how you look
at it.
I.
GSP vs. Nick Diaz is now the biggest (only?) welterweight title
fight the UFC can make. It's not that he's run out of credible
challengers. Carlos Condit, for instance, could still be an interesting
challenger. It's just that, after yet another disappointing decision,
convincing fans to pay for the next GSP fight will be a challenge.
A superfight with Anderson Silva would probably do it, but that's
a ways off, if it happens at all. The champion-versus-champion
nature of a GSP-Diaz is the only thing at 170 pounds that would
sufficiently energize the mainstream fan base. With Diaz's style
– not to mention his penchant for crazy talk before, during
and after a fight – it's a fight that practically sells
itself.
II.
How serious is GSP's eye injury? And how serious does it need
to be for MMA fans to care? St. Pierre tweeted that he still
couldn't see out of his left eye after leaving the hospital,
and it seemed to rattle him more than anything else we've seen
him encounter in the cage. Eye injuries are no joke, but fans
seemed willing to cut him very little slack for it. It didn't
help that they'd just seen Mark Hominick fight through something
that at least looked worse, but how bad does it need to get before
fans will write off the ho-hum fight as a consequence of an unfortunate
injury? Even tough guys have fragile corneas.
III.
Like it or not, you can't argue the result. Even with one eye
out of commission, GSP clearly won that fight. Even giving Shields
two rounds on the scorecards seems generous, and of the people
complaining about GSP's style, no one can dispute its effectiveness.
It's a tough business when you have to win style points while
also beating up the toughest men in the world.
IV.
Jake Shields has been finished exactly once in his career. It
happened in his third pro fight, a little over eleven years ago.
Since then he's only dropped decisions, though he did survive
a close shave after getting Dan Henderson's "H-Bomb"
(hope you're happy Mauro Ranallo, now you've got me doing it)
dropped on his head in the first round of their Strikeforce middleweight
title fight. That's not to say Shields can't be put away, and
it doesn't make Saturday night's fight any more fun to watch,
but it is worth reminding ourselves that the guy can hang in
there even under heavy pressure.
V.
Of the 55,000 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto on Saturday night,
how many went home feeling good about their purchase? You could
definitely argue that they got their money's worth of action
from the undercard, but crowds are like judges: they remember
best what they saw last. UFC 129 drew a record crowd, but how
many of the people booing St. Pierre and Shields will line up
for tickets the next time the UFC comes to Toronto?
VI.
Creating an exciting fight (or not) is rarely the responsible
of only one combatant. If you're unhappy with the entertainment
you got for your money on Saturday night, don't spare Shields
his share of the blame. He had to know he was down on the scorecards
in the final two rounds, but he didn't exactly go for broke.
He got a little more aggressive. He talked a little tougher.
But did he make up his mind to go out on his shield? Hardly.
There's a reason the Fight of the Night bonus goes to both the
winner and the loser. It works the other way too.
VII.
How much does this decision criticism really count for in the
long run? Granted, GSP has taken a lot of heat for going the
distance lately, but consider Randy Couture, who gets treated
like MMA royalty even after getting his teeth kicked out of his
mouth. He'll be remembered as one of the all-time greats, but
he won more fights via decision than by any other method. Some
of his biggest wins – victories over Tim Sylvia and Tito
Ortiz, for example – came by decision. Does anyone remember
that now? If they do, they don't seem to care all that much.
He's a legend for what he did, not just how he did it. Who's
to say it won't be the same for GSP in twenty years?
VIII.
Quick, name the last GSP fight that you'd actually like to sit
down and watch again. Be honest. His last four fights were impressive
displays of dominance, but I'd rather not spend the half-hour
to relive any one of them. Like it or not, in a sport where you
make money based primarily on how many people want to see you
fight, that matters.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Georges
St-Pierre’s Eye Injury Not Serious, Sidelined for 10 Days
by Damon
Martin
After UFC 129 was finished and the post-fight press conference
was starting, one particular fighter’s absence left everyone
a little bit concerned.
UFC
welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre was unable to appear
following his five-round decision win over Jake Shields due to
a trip to the hospital after the Canadian complained that he
couldn’t see out of his left eye.
St-Pierre,
after an initial scare, has consulted with a specialist, who
concluded no serious damage occurred during the fight.
“The
doctors were very worried it was a detached retina because they
couldn’t see inside his eye. They flashed the light inside
his eye and normally they’re supposed to be able to see
inside the eye, but the eye was filled with obstructions. The
doctor was saying he couldn’t see inside, so he needed to
go to a specialist,” St-Pierre’s lead trainer Firas
Zahabi told MMAWeekly Radio.
“Luckily
it was just blood in the eye and not the detached retina. This
occurred after the swipe to the face.”
The
swipe to the face, according to Zahabi, is what caused the eye
injury. In the third round, Shields apparently swung a right
hook that was open handed and his finger caught St-Pierre in
the eye, causing the injury.
While
Zahabi and St-Pierre’s team don’t believe it was intentional,
he still thinks it warranted a pause in the action to allow his
fighter time to recover, but it didn’t happen.
“When
he threw that open handed hook, that was recorded, I complained
to the ref immediately. I saw it, I completely saw it. I complained
about it immediately to the referee that it was an open hand
swipe to the face,” Zahabi described.
“I
don’t think it was intentional, but I mean it still happened,
and he should get a warning and it should be kept in mind that
he’s punching with an open hand. It’s not right, it’s
very dangerous.”
Following
the foul, St-Pierre came to his corner and told his trainer he
couldn’t see. With only a minute to deal with the situation,
Zahabi kept to the basics, knowing that St-Pierre would continue,
but had to be strategic about his approach.
“Because
it’s his left eye, I wanted him to circle to his right,
because he won’t see the shots coming from his left side,”
said Zahabi. “So it’s even more crucial to circle away
from the power side.
“I
knew his depth perception would be compromised, but I didn’t
know to what extent. Later, when we did the examination on his
eye, his vision was very much obstructed.”
The
good news for St-Pierre is that he was able to pull out the final
two rounds despite the injury and ended up the winner after the
five-round fight with Shields.
The
even better news after the fight came from his doctors, who gave
him just the diagnosis he was hoping for, and it won’t require
anything more than for St-Pierre to fill a prescription.
“The
doctors are saying he’s going to have a complete recovery.
I’m really happy with that,” said Zahabi. “He
just can’t do any training for 10 days, he has medication
to take, and he has to do this treatment, and then they’re
going to reassess him in 10 days, but they say he’s going
to make a full recovery.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Coach
compliments Jose Aldo, now sights Chad Mendes
By Guilherme
Cruz
First
fighter in all UFC history to debut on the event with the mission
of defending his title, Jose Aldo had to sweat, but finally beat
up Mark Hominick on a unanimous decision of the judges, on a
duel that happened yesterday in Toronto, Canada.
Glad
about the win, his coach Andre Pederneiras talked to TATAME and
commented on Aldo’s triumph, also analyzed the bout and
pointed out the possible next contender on the line to fight
Jose Aldo: the unbeaten Chad Mendes, on a bout that could even
join UFC 133’s card, or it could happen in Rio de Janeiro.
While
chatting, Andre defends the champion, explaining why the Brazilian
slowed it down when things were almost done. “Count the
number of coups he launched at the guy and then see if anyone
can impose that rhythm without getting tired… The guys ran
though the hell of the other guy for four rounds”, shoot.
Check it:
What
are your thoughts about the fight? Was it tougher than you were
expecting it to be?
We
were hoping it’d finish first, we trained for it, but Hominick
did a good job defending Aldo’s kicks attempts. We had to
change our game plan in the middle of the fight, but it all worked
out after all. Many people think Junior got tired, but count
the number of coups he launched at the guy and then see if anyone
can impose that rhythm without getting tired… The guys ran
though the hell of the other guy for four rounds.
He
really seemed to be more tired on the fifth round…
On
the last round, when he was token down, he laid there resting…
On his mind, he had already won. Some of the guy’s punches
got him, but he was cool. He knocked the guy down and the guy
fell with him on top of the guy, and Junior tried to apply a
guillotine choke, something he never do while on the gym. A guy
who can put him under that kind of pressure, is hard to tire
you up.
Were
you afraid he wasn’t going to make it on the fifth round?
No.
He would never lose. The guy was all wrecked out. When Junior
fought (Urijah) Faber, in California, he blocked two of his arms
and his neck and kept using his elbows for two minutes, and the
guy didn’t even tried to defend himself, and the judge didn’t
do anything. On this one, it shouldn’t have gone that far.
If a huge and swollen hematoma like that explodes, it’s
look pretty bad in television. I was afraid for Hominick’s
health, he was really hurt. It was unbelievable, I’ve never
ever seen something like it before, ever.
On
the press conference after the show, Dana White said Aldo could
now fight Chad Mendes in UFC 133…
For
now, it’s just rumors. While then haven’t sent me the
contract, it’s not decided yet. But probably it’ll
be against Chad Mendes. Its date, however, is up to the UFC to
choose.
Thank
you a lot for the interview, and congratulations on the victory.
Actually,
you have to congratulate all the team. This weekend, Thales became
a champion in Sweeden, Baicao was the champion of WOCS’s
GP and three of our four athletes who fought in Recife won. And
we brought UFC belt back home. Aldo said: ‘now you can say
it. They gave me the belt, but I defended it successfully, it’s
mine’. It wasn’t perfect, but we got close to it. Our
work in the gym has been well done, all of our athletes train
in Brazil and I see it as a victory. I don’t know how long
we’ll be able to keep it that way, but we have a big structure
in our gym that I don’t see anywhere around. That’s
very important to us, our stars continue to train at home.
Source: Tatame
|
Cesar
Gracie: I’m really surprised how well Jake Shields did punching
GSP
By Zach
Arnold
Cesar
Gracie made an appearance on Brian Hemminger’s radio show
yesterday to discuss how his stable of fighters performed at
UFC 129 in Toronto. There was plenty of quality red meat put
on the grill during this interview in terms of choice quotes.
“I
thought Jake probably performed the best out of everybody because
it looked to me like, you know, he… if that fight kept going,
Jake wins, is what it looked like to me. He hurt St. Pierre,
broke his nose, popped his eye, and I was really surprised how
well he did standing with the guy. I got him with a new boxing
coach, this guy named Mario, and the guy really tuned up Jake’s
game. He was throwing a great jab. He landed the right hand a
couple of times really hard and I really think it caught GSP
off-track to see how good Jake has come along in the stand-up
department. Props to GSP for having excellent takedown defense
and making it a stand-up fight where he thought he will win,
but Jake came out to fight and I thought he looked really good.
GSP has beaten everybody else up for the most part and made it
very lopsided in his wins and, even though he was able to take
the fight where he wanted it and that was standing, it looked
like Jake did very well standing, you know, on his feet with
him.”
Scream
all you want, but the reality is that two judges (Nelson ‘Doc’
Hamilton and Richard Berstrand) both scored the fight 48-47 in
favor of GSP. Want to know the reason for the close scoring?
Damage. Get used to hearing this argument.
Of
course, Cesar admitted during his interview with Brian that they
did not want the fight standing up and, conversely, that’s
all this bout ended up featuring.
“Actually,
we did want that fight on the ground because I truly believe
that Jake is superior on the ground than GSP and I think even
GSP believes that, so that’s why you saw him not really
wanting to engage. Georges’ had a couple of good takedowns
and from top position he decided to get back up because I think
he realized he was fighting the superior grappler and, you know,
props to him. Jake had a leg a couple of times, GSP got out very
well, it looked like a couple of times his leg just kind of slipped
right out of there, you know, so it must have been really slippery
or something, I don’t know. So, yeah, he defended all the
takedowns and made it a stand-up fight, so…”
Remember
the moment where Jake asked Gilbert Melendez about pulling guard?
Not part of the script.
“No,
it wasn’t part of the game plan, actually. I think they
were just wanting to bring it to the ground and he was wondering,
‘hey, do you want me to pull guard?’ and was asking
it was a good idea and Gilbert said, no, you know. I think with
Jake even his guard is so good he’ll reverse position if
they, if, you know… He was trying to find a way, you know,
finish this fight. It’s a tough, tough fight for anyone
fighting GSP because the guy’s a master at the point fighting
thing. He’ll go with his striking a little bit and if he’s
not doing that great standing, he’ll take you down. If he
thinks he can pass guard, he will and try for a submission, if
not he’ll just sit there and throw some strikes. With Jake,
he really didn’t want to do either of those so he decided
to stand and try to out-point him standing, which is what he
did and I thought it was close. Again, at the press conference,
Jake was there not looking too bad at all and Georges was at
the hospital, so I don’t know. I thought Jake did great,
really the amount of pressure, both guys looked extremely nervous,
both Jake & GSP coming into that with 55,000 people when
they first got in there and, you know, it’s one of those
things.”
After
the fight, it was made clear that Dana White is very interested
in booking GSP vs. Nick Diaz soon. He’s visiting young Mr.
Diaz in Stockton this week. Luke Thomas reported that Nick, at
the post-fight press conference, expressed interest in fighting
St. Pierre.
So,
what will it take to make it happen? What are the roadblocks
Cesar sees in the way of making that fight?
“I
don’t know how bad is GSP’s eye, is he going to take
six months off? And then why couldn’t Nick box and then
go fight GSP, for example, that kind of scenario. Now, if the
eye if not a really big problem and they want the next fight
for GSP five months from now to be Nick Diaz, I mean obviously
Nick would be, uh… he would be delaying quite a contract,
a money-making contract in boxing so how would that, is he going
to give up that all that money… I mean there’s so many
questions right now and really the only (people) that has the
answers to it are, you know, Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta,
so I’m very much looking forward to meeting with those guys.
Lorenzo’s a guy that I truly like the guy and Dana is a
good guy, too, you know, a good businessman and we’re going
to tell him our concerns and hopefully they have some answers
for us and we’re waiting just like you guys.”
Translation:
Make us an offer we can’t refuse.
As
for how a battle between St. Pierre and Diaz would look if it
was a stand-up war, we’ve seen GSP’s last two fights
against Koscheck & Shields feature tons of stand-up. Cesar
thinks that this kind of fight would be right in Nick’s
wheelhouse.
“(Unlike
other MMA fighters who throw wild haymakers) Nick doesn’t
do that kind of style. What he’ll do is he’ll jab you.
Some of them are very light, they just keeping touching you,
touching you, you don’t know when the hard one’s coming
in. Nick can throw a very hard punch, make no mistake about it.
Most of his punches he’s just not throwing that hard in
there. He times the hard shots. But he definitely hits very hard.
“Styles
makes fights and I think, for example, Jake kind of, you know,
he did really well standing. It’s no secret that Nick is,
I think, probably has the best hands in MMA right now. He knocks
out all the guys that are supposed to knock him out. There’s
no question in my mind that GSP would not stand with Paul Daley,
for example, but Nick did and knocked him out. Aside from all
these guys that GSP would feel extremely threatened by, Nick
would stand up with beat them up so I do not believe that GSP
has better stand-up than Nick Diaz. I think Nick is the superior
striker and if that was a stand-up I think Nick would come out
on top. But it’s an interesting match-up because Nick’s
jiu-jitsu is world-class, also. he has a great guard, he submits
people, he doesn’t get hurt. That might be a nightmare for
GSP and the only way to know that is if these two guys fight,
so we’ll see what happens.”
If
UFC management brings some briefcases full of cash to the Cesar
Gracie camp, we probably will see Mr. Diaz fight Mr. St. Pierre
as long as GSP doesn’t have serious eye damage. Let the
hype train for that fight begin.
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Lyoto
explains “flight of the dragon”; Couture says he’s
calling it quits
by Carlos
Eduardo Ozório
Charismatic manager to the stars Jorge “Joinha” Guimarães
was one of the personalities drawing attention among the 55 thousand
spectators in attendance at the Rogers Centre, where UFC 129
took place this Saturday in Canada. “Flight of the dragon”
was how he described the kick Lyoto Machida launched to bring
an end to his face-off with Randy Couture, who bid farewell to
the fenced cage at 47 years of age. It happened to be the knockout
of the night.
Behind
the scenes at the show in Toronto Machida explained the move
to GRACIEMAG.com’s editor, Marcelo Dunlop.
“My
dad told me to do something different; he said my game was played
out. We practiced the move and I managed to land it twice in
training. I saw an opening and everything worked out,” said
the former light heavyweight champion.
One
of the concerns going into the bout was his opponent’s wrestling
prowess, but training made all the difference.
“I
didn’t even feel any pressure from him, since I didn’t
let him get in range. I trained a lot of wrestling with Glover
Teixeira, who’s a great guy, so I didn’t let him get
a hold on me,” Machida said, without wanting to detract
from Couture’s merits.
“Fighting
him was a dream, an honor. He’s my hero, he’s the man,”
he said moments before conversing with our team, while still
in the octagon.
The
fight is historic, as it very well could be the final appearance
of one of the promotion’s all-time greatest stars –
a former champion in two divisions (heavyweight and light heavyweight).
“You
all won’t be seeing me again; it ends here. I put a lot
of thought into this decisions and they offered me a fight with
Lyoto, which really was something I wanted a lot,” said
Couture, who plays down the wounds suffered in the setback:
“He’s
a great fighter. I think I had all my teeth before this fight!”
“Couture
is now in the hospital, but he’s fine. He thought it was
a punch. I told him we’ll get him a better tooth in Vegas,”
remarked UFC president Dana White at the press conference.
Now
Couture should take to rest, which is what Lyoto has planned
as well – albeit temporarily.
“I’m
going to take a vacation in Natal. I went through 12 weeks of
hard training,” he said in closing.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Dana
White Breaks Down St-Pierre vs. Shields; Is Nick Diaz Next for
GSP?
UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre going in to UFC 129
in Toronto felt that Jake Shields would be one of his toughest
opponents ever. Critiques will surely debate whether he was or
wasn’t, especially since St-Pierre was unable to finish
Shields.
St-Pierre,
whose face displayed the wear and tear of a fight with Shields,
wasn’t able to make the post fight press conference at the
Rogers Centre, but UFC president Dana White gave his take on
it.
He
defended St-Pierre’s inability to finish, saying he is fighting
“the very best fighters in the world.”
While
White agrees that St-Pierre is as close as a fighter can come
to “cleaning out” a division, he also thinks there
are always new challenges on the horizon. He addressed the fight,
and St-Pierre’s future at the press conference, even commenting
on the possibility of a future fight between St-Pierre and Strikeforce
champion Nick Diaz.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Is
UFC President Dana White Ready to Make Nick Diaz vs. Georges
St-Pierre Happen Next?
by Damon
Martin
When the decision was read at UFC 129 and Georges St-Pierre walked
out of the sold out Rogers Centre with a win over Jake Shields,
it may have opened the door to another huge fight at welterweight.
While
on the surface it would appear that St-Pierre has done the best
job possible of cleaning out the division, there’s one very
big name looming overhead that still hasn’t faced the UFC
champion.
That
person of course is Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz.
Diaz
is a longtime friend and training partner of Jake Sheilds, and
had he won those two would never face each other. But with Shields
coming up short against St-Pierre, it would clear a path for
Diaz to take his shot at the Canadian.
UFC
President Dana White spoke about Diaz possibly stepping in to
challenge St-Pierre next, and made it sound like it’s a
fight that would be intriguing to quite a few people.
“I
imagine I could do whatever I wanted to do if I really wanted
to, but we have a contract with Showtime and he’s a Showtime
fighter. I don’t know we’re going to have to see how
this whole thing works out. That’s an interesting fight,”
White said about Diaz coming over to face St-Pierre.
White
plans to fly out to Stockton, Calif. next week to meet with Diaz
and discuss his desire to try his hand at professional boxing.
The UFC President did emphatically say ‘no’ when asked
if he would tempt Diaz with a shot at St-Pierre if he decided
not to box.
However,
White did say that current contracts in place would not prevent
him from bringing Diaz over from Strikeforce if that’s what
they chose to do.
“I
can do what I want to do,” White stated.
That
said however, White still has to tackle the problem of Diaz wanted
to do the professional boxing thing.
“I’ve got to go talk to him about boxing first and
then we’ll see what happens there,” said White.
One
person who is already lobbying for Diaz to get the title shot
is his teammate and close friend Jake Shields. While the former
Strikeforce champion is hopeful to earn his way back to a title
shot of his own one day, Shields believes Diaz deserves a shot
at St-Pierre next.
“Of
course I’d love to see Nick get it,” Shield stated.
“He’s one of my best friends, I think he has a good
shot. I think his style matches up really good, his pressure
boxing could hopefully do what I couldn’t and cut him off
and put more pressure on him.
“We
don’t know what happens till we see it, that’s why
I would like to see it.”
Still
holding his cards close to his chest, White did admit he really
enjoyed watching Diaz’s last fight against Paul Daley and
again had one word to describe a fight between him and St-Pierre.
“I
was there live for that last fight, I was blown away by Nick
Diaz’s last fight. He looked incredible,” White said
about Diaz.
“Interesting.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Machida
Overcomes Pressure, Kicks Couture into Retirement
by Mike
Whitman
Lyoto
Machida’s back was against the wall. After beginning his
MMA career 16-0, the Brazilian karateka suffered consecutive
defeats to Mauricio Rua and Quinton Jackson. Add to that the
magnitude of fighting a beloved UFC Hall of Famer in front of
more than 55,000 fans, and the sum total could have been disastrous.
Rather
than freeze in the moment, however, Machida used his trademark
footwork and speed to stifle opponent Randy Couture at UFC 129,
eventually knocking out the former five-time UFC champion with
a deadly front kick to the face.
“Yes,
I did feel a lot of pressure, because I was coming off of back-to-back
losses. I wanted to show the best Lyoto Machida that the world
has ever seen,” said Machida at the post-fight news conference.
“My training was pretty much the same, but we did bring
on a nutritionist and a different coach to help in some areas.”
Although
the former 205-pound champion mixed up his regimen to maximize
his physical abilities, he asserted that equally important was
remembering what brought him to the dance in the first place:
his karate.
“The
main changes were to my strength and conditioning, but also to
my karate,” said the Brazilian. “I went back and trained
a lot of the karate that brought me to where I am today.”
Machida’s
bout-ending kick looked strikingly similar to one used by teammate
and UFC middleweight king Anderson Silva against Vitor Belfort
in their February clash. Both Machida and Silva have famously
trained with former action film star and aikido practitioner
Steven Seagal, and both credited the actor for his help following
their victories.
“I
trained this kick a lot. I’ve had it in my arsenal and I
just had to wait for the right moment to pull the trigger and
utilize it. [Steven Seagal] always reinforced to me to try that
kick, and when it lands, it will work. I definitely give credit
to him for helping me perfect that kick,” said Machida.
“The
technique itself, [Anderson and I have] known for a long time.
But I definitely think that Seagal helping us perfect it made
a difference.”
Though
the kick provided him with a much-needed victory, Machida also
recognized that he had effectively retired one of the sport’s
greatest competitors of all-time. Ever the sportsman, Machida
gave credit where it was due following the fight.
“I
came here to win the fight and that was my goal, but as a professional
athlete who cares about other athletes, I definitely wanted to
make sure that [Couture] wasn’t hurt and nothing serious
happened to him,” said Machida. “I did notice [the
cheers when Couture arose after the knockout]. It’s completely
well-deserved after everything Randy has done for this sport.”
Source: Sherdog
|
UFC
129 Morning After: The Unique Talent of Lyoto Machida
By Michael David Smith
It's been said a million times that Lyoto Machida has a unique
style in mixed martial arts, and that's certainly true. But Machida
showed in his knockout victory over Randy Couture on UFC 129
that even more significant than a unique style is his unique
talent: Machida can do things inside the Octagon that no one
else can do.
Think
for a moment about what it really means to say that Machida has
a unique style: It doesn't mean that he's aware of some secret
method of fighting; the style he employs is based on karate,
which is studied by millions around the world. What it really
means is that what he can do with karate is different from what
all those other millions of karate students can do.
That's
about talent. That's what makes Machida special.
Machida
is incredibly light on his feet, like a dancer. No, it doesn't
sound like a compliment to compare a fighter to a dancer, and
sometimes the way Machida's fleet-footedness manifests itself
is in backpedaling inside the Octagon, a tactic that's been widely
criticized. But when Machida's footwork manifests itself the
way it did against Couture, it's a beautiful sight to behold.
The jumping front switch kick that Machida employed to knock
Couture out required a degree of speed, power and explosiveness
that very, very few athletes possess. That's what makes Machida
special.
"He's
a tremendous fighter -- I felt like I was standing still out
there," Couture said afterward. "He caught me with
a good straight one. He's a tremendous athlete."
When
Machida beat Rashad Evans to win the UFC light heavyweight championship
two years ago, he was praised a little bit too much: The declaration
of the "Machida Era" before Machida had even defended
his title looks silly in hindsight, and there was something of
a fan backlash when Machida won a controversial decision against
Shogun Rua, then lost the rematch to Rua and then lost to Rampage
Jackson. It became easy to dismiss Machida as overrated.
But
the truth is, Machida is a special athlete, and a special fighter.
His victory over Couture re-establishes him near the top of the
light heavyweight class, and he may soon earn a fight with another
uniquely talented light heavyweight, Jon Jones.
Notes
from UFC 129
-- Greg Jackson gave a great set of instructions to Georges St.
Pierre after the first round, first trying to get St. Pierre
to relax, and then trying to get St. Pierre to focus on the game
plan.
"Deep
breath, Georges," Jackson said as St. Pierre took a seat
on his stool. "Settle down, my friend, settle down. Excellent
job. Deep breaths. Calm down. Very good controlling the distance,
very good disengage and re-engage. I need you to start attacking
his jab. He's hiding behind that jab. Counter right hands, whatever
you want to do. Second thing, set up your kicks."
It's
easy to hear what Jackson says to St. Pierre and understand why
that's the man St. Pierre wants in his corner.
--
It's going to be tough for the UFC to find a featherweight who
can give Jose Aldo more of a challenge than Mark Hominick did,
but Chad Mendes getting the next shot would make a lot of sense.
The 10-0 Mendes would be the best wrestler Aldo has ever faced,
and might be able to do to Aldo on the ground what Hominick did
to him in the fifth round.
Quotes
from UFC 129
"I was telling myself, as soon as I landed one knee or even
half a knee he's going to start protecting, and that's what I
was waiting for. Then when I got him, he started protecting,
got his arm down, I had the whizzer to flying triangle. I was
going to go for an arm bar but he ended up rolling and when he
rolled I was just like, I'm going to keep it." -- Pablo
Garza, explaining the chess match that was his flying triangle
choke submission victory over Yves Jabouin. I love fighters who
have a great game plan and can stick to it.
"If
we sent him home looking like that, we should never be allowed
to put on a fight again." -- UFC President Dana White, when
asked whether Mark Hominick was sent to the hospital to have
his badly swollen face checked out.
Good
call
Although the Aldo-Hominick fight became hard to watch late in
the fourth round as Aldo made a mess of Hominick's face, referee
Big John McCarthy made the right decision in saying that if the
cageside doctor was willing to keep the fight going, he wouldn't
stop it. The doctor said Hominick could keep fighting, and Hominick
showed in the fifth round that he did, indeed, have plenty of
fight left in him. Credit McCarthy for giving Hominick that chance.
Bad
call
UFC announcer Mike Goldberg suggested during the broadcast that
Mark Bocek is the best Brazilian jiu jitsu practitioner in the
lightweight division. No, he isn't. Joe Rogan quickly chimed
in and noted that B.J. Penn and Shinya Aoki would argue with
that. So would several other fighters, including Jim Miller,
Kenny Florian and George Sotiropolous. Goldberg has a tendency
to overstate the quality of the fighters in front of him at any
given time, and he definitely did that in talking up Bocek.
Stock
up
All five of the winners of the fights that were streamed live
on Facebook looked great: Kudos to Pablo Garza, John Makdessi,
Jason MacDonald, Ivan Menjivar and Claude Patrick on great fights.
And kudos to the UFC for a great decision to stream all the preliminary
bouts live on Facebook. Here's hoping that's a permanent decision
going forward.
Stock
Down
Nate Diaz has now been overpowered by stronger opponents in two
consecutive fights. Diaz needs to leave the welterweight class
and move back down to lightweight, where he won't be taking on
bigger, more muscular fighters.
Final
thought
As great as Machida's finishing kick was on Saturday night, it's
bittersweet that the kick likely ended Couture's career. If the
great Couture is done, all of us who love MMA should thank him
for the memories.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
White:
between recognition and controversy in Canada
by Marcelo
Dunlop
Dana
holds a towel for Ben Henderson to weigh in disrobed. Photo:
Marcelo Dunlop.
Hurricane UFC is making its mark on Toronto, and Dana White is
splashed across the newspapers daily.
Yesterday
the UFC front man was the subject of two different, nearly opposite
discussions. The first’s been shelved – already taken
care of. The second may still cause the president of the fastest
growing promotion on the planet some headaches.
The
good news first?
Mr.
White was awarded a prize for businessman of 2011 by Top Choice
Awards, based in Toronto. Dana grabbed the trophy, asked his
press adviser to hold it, and showed himself to be truly stoked.
Now
the bad news. The Canadian press decided to hop on board the
UFC-and-doping bandwagon. In a short but provocative piece, executives
from the World Anti-Doping Agency, or WADA, said the UFC isn’t
serious enough in carrying out drug exams on its fighters, just
sugarcoating to satisfy fans. Canada’s Center for Ethics
in Sport and the US Anti-Doping Agency were also sought out by
news agency Reuters, and they informed the UFC that it has never
asked them to perform urinalysis on any its fighters.
The
UFC press department was short and curt in its response, saying
the promotion is rigorous in testing and only uses WADA-accredited
laboratories, despite the exams not being under the direct control
of WADA itself. So the president dove into the debate, as he
always does.
“People
don’t realize that we’re regulated by the government.
The government supervises what we do, and the government is the
one that comes and does the anti-drugs tests on the guys. If
you use steroids these days you have to be a complete idiot,”
said Dana White.
Could
this issue snowball into a headache for White, or will it too
be shelved? At a time when the Jiu-Jitsu gang is saying an antidoping
exam will settle everything, it’s something to think about.
If even the Ultimate Fighting Championship can’t satisfy
WADA, what will be said about amateur gentle art championships?
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Georges
St-Pierre and Mark Hominick Among UFC 129 60-Day Medical Suspensions
UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre continued to establish
his legacy as one of the most dominant fighters of all time with
his victory over Jake Shields at UFC 129 on Saturday night at
the Rogers Centre in Toronto.
He
was, however, one of the many fighters that received more than
the standard 14-day precautionary medical suspension doled out
by the Ontario Ministry of Consumer Services.
St-Pierre
was among seven fighters that were suspended for 60 days following
UFC 129. The welterweight champion’s suspension was due
to an eye injury, which must be cleared by an ophthalmologist
before he can fight again. Fellow Canadian Mark Hominick was
also suspended for 60 days as a precautionary measure and must
undergo a CT scan before he can return.
The
other 60-day suspensions stemmed from knockout losses. Randy
Couture, Jason Brilz, Sean Pierson, Charlie Valencia, and Kyle
Watson, who was also cited for a left eye laceration, all must
have a CT scan before being cleared to fight again.
Nate
Diaz and Jake Ellenberger received 45-day suspensions. Diaz’s
stemmed from a left eye laceration, while Ellenberger’s
was due to a possible hand injury. Ellenberger must undergo an
x-ray before he can return to the Octagon.
UFC
featherweight champion Jose Aldo and lightweight Mark Bocek were
both suspended for 30 days, Aldo for facial lacerations and Bocek
due to a head laceration.
The
rest of the fighters on the card were all suspended for 14 days
as a precautionary measure.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Brendan
Schaub wants to fight ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira in UFC Rio
By Guilherme
Cruz
UFC
Rio card started to be shaped, but until now the name of Rodrigo
Nogueira, a big name to be on this historical show, still didn’t
appeared on the official list. If it depends on the American
Brendan Schaub, it can already be matched up.
Right
after knocking out the legend Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic
in UFC 128, in New Jersey, the American chatted with TATAME and
revealed his wish to fight Minotauro in UFC Rio. “I’d
love to fight in Brazil… There’re a Brazilian heavyweight
who can be matched, who’s (Rodrigo) Nogueira, so maybe…
But I’ll fight who they want me to fight”, he said.
Until
now his request hasn’t been accepted by Ultimate’s
organization, but he can see it coming. “That’d be
a tough one. He’s talented, he’s good on the ground,
he’s a veteran, so it’s the same story, another monster,
another legend”, analyzes the American, who’s coming
from victories over Cro Cop and Gabriel Napao, two great names
on the division. “Three legends. It might be some good”.
Click
here to read the exclusive chat with the fighter and check below
the current card for UFC Rio, event that will happen on August
27th, at HSBC Arena, in Rio de Janeiro.
UFC
Rio
HSBC
Arena, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Saturday,
August 27th of 2011
-
Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami;
-
Maurício Shogun vs. Forrest Griffin;
-
Edson Barboza Junior vs. Ross Pearson;
-
Thiago Tavares vs. Spencer Fisher;
-
Luiz Cane vs. Stanislav Nedkov.
-
Yuri Marajó vs. Mackens Semerzier;
-
Maiquel Falcão vs. Tom Lawlor.
Source: Tatame
|
All
the media fallout from Toronto’s UFC 129 event
By Zach
Arnold
These
are little snippets from articles published today for your perusal.
If anyone listed here wants to take down their snippet, contact
me.
By
the way, Cage Potato claims that Ken Hayashi’s Ontario Athletic
Commission did not oversee the drug testing of the UFC 129 event.
Headlines
Luke
Thomas: Georges St. Pierre should fight Nick Diaz, not Anderson
Silva
A
question was posed from a Brazilian journalist to UFC President
Dana White about the future prospects of George St. Pierre vs.
Anderson Silva. … That’s when I heard Nick Diaz quietly
say as if to suggest “why not me?” the following simple
statement: “I want to fight George St. Pierre.”
I
want Nick Diaz to fight Georges St. Pierre, too.
Jason
Probst: GSP needs to fight Nick Diaz — now
A
challenge of Silva would be a disruptive chapter in a seamless
title reign. Physically, he would have to gain a goodly amount
of muscle for a fight against an exceptionally dangerous opponent.
If he comes up short, St. Pierre would be faced with the potential
of having to return to 170, which could be tough given the size
he would put on. Style-wise, I do not think he matches up so
well with Silva, who is virtually knockout-proof and would have
five rounds to work his lethal tools.
That
is why Nick Diaz is the perfect next challenger for GSP.
“The
fact that we sold out at a 60,000-seat stadium with our sport
— it’s just an indication of one, the Canadian fan
base, who I think, in a lot of ways, got and embraced this sport
a lot sooner than the American market did, and two, just how
far we’ve come in the sport.
“I
think this is going to be a benchmark moment for the sport, not
just in attendance, but in the type of shows were going to see
or at least what everything’s going to be measured by going
forward,” said Couture.
Take
note of what Randy also has to say about a fighter’s union
or something equivalent to Rob Maysey’s MMAFA.
Bruce
Dowbiggin (Globe and Mail): Toronto savours UFC forbidden fruit
Why
is UFC successful? White has taken the Vince McMahon big-event
strategy from World Wrestling Entertainment – that many
of his fans grew up on – and added real blood. All it needs
it Miss Elizabeth (sadly demised) and Bobby (The Brain) Heenan
to complete the model. The intimacy of the event, compared to
football or hockey, is also key to the televised look of UFC.
The
London Free Press (Canada): Mark Hominick does himself proud
“I
came in a 4-1 underdog,” Hominick said. “A lot of people
didn’t think I would last a round. I lasted all five. If
there was a sixth round, I would have won.”
If
he had another minute, he might have won.
“I
knew he was running out of steam. I could hear him breathing
hard after the first two rounds.”
Kevin
Iole: Mark Hominick shows warrior’s heart in defeat
He
looked like guys do when they owe the mob some money and don’t
pay.
There
was, however, no bigger winner at UFC 129 on Saturday than the
gritty featherweight who is due to become a father any day now
Source: Fight Opinion
|
A
Battle With a Union At the Heart of the UFC and MMA Not Being
Santioned in New York
by Damon
Martin
With
the first ever UFC show in Canada’s province of Ontario
a rousing success, the world’s biggest MMA promotion now
only has one more giant task to tackle when it comes to conquering
a new territory.
New
York State.
Sanctioning
for mixed martial arts has happened in almost every state, as
well as all the major areas in Canada, and across the world,
but New York still seems to be the thorn in the side of the UFC
as they try to get the sport legalized there.
The
UFC has held rallies and events in New York City and event had
assemblymen stand up for them, and say that the sport should
be legal in the state.
In
the past politicians like Assemblyman Bob Reilly have been huge
opponents of mixed martial arts, saying the sport is too violent,
and even going as far as having a poll commissioned to test New
Yorker’s opinions on the sport coming to their state.
Well
now for the first time ever, UFC President Dana White spoke out
about the ongoing situation in New York, and whey he believes
the company is still sitting on the sidelines in that state.
“It
has nothing to do with mixed martial arts the reason that we’re
not in New York. It has to do with the Culinary Union. The Culinary
Union is spending millions of dollars of all these people who
pay dues to keep us out of there. Because my partners the Fertitta
brothers are the largest non-union gaming company in the country,”
White told MMAWeekly.com.
“These
union idiots, all these people work in the Culinary Union, paying
all their money towards dues, this is what all their money’s
being spent towards.”
The
Culinary Union 226 based out of Nevada consists of over 60,000
union members working in the food service industry in the state.
Based
on their website, Culinary Union 226 is by no means a fan of
Station Casinos, the organization headed up by UFC owners Frank
and Lorenzo Fertitta. Culinary Union 226 has held protests and
gone after Station Casinos several times including demonstrations
and picketing in and around Nevada.
As
a matter of fact, in the current news section of the Culinary
Union 226 website, only stories containing the fight against
Station Casinos are listed. The union is after Station Casinos
for a myriad of reasons, but the biggest of which revolves around
their supposed ‘anti-union’ bullying of employees.
Now
at this point the question has to be asked what does a Nevada
based company have to do with MMA being legalized in New York?
Well,
according to White this is the way they are building their battle
against Station Casinos by continuing to fund and work to make
sure the Fertitta brother’s other major entity, the UFC,
doesn’t get something it wants.
“It
has nothing to do with MMA. It has to do with the Culinary Union,”
White said. “They’re very powerful in New York. These
unions on the east coast are still strong like the old school,
and that’s really what’s going on.”
The
story goes deeper than this however. The Culinary Union while
based out of Nevada has powerful ties to other organizations
and unions from across the country.
One
of those organizations is possibly in cahoots with both the Culinary
Union and New York Assemblyman Bob Reilly in their attempt to
keep MMA out of the state.
White
stated that the public relations firm that ran Reilly’s
privately funded poll in 2009 that showed a majority of New Yorkers
didn’t want MMA in their state was actually run by a group
that also works for the Culinary Union.
Gramercy
Communications was the company that was funded by Reilly to handle
the polling. Coincidentally, Gramercy Communications was founded
by Tom Nardacci.
Nardacci
was the former communications manager for 1199 SEIU. Now the
SEIU is one of the most powerful unions in the United States
as they represent factions of employees from the health care
industry, public services and property services (which include
food service workers like those covered in the Culinary Union).
Nardacci’s
firm, Gramercy Communication, handled the polling for Reilly’s
infamous list that stated only 18% of New Yorkers polled wanted
‘ultimate fighting’ legalized.
At
the end of the road, White doesn’t understand how the private
interests of a few outweigh the public interests of the millions.
Looking at how successful the UFC was in Toronto just this past
week, White believes New York would pay off just as much.
“Fighting
the UFC from coming there and bringing money into the state of
New York,” White said about what the unions are doing. “Basically,
when we go in, look at what’s happened here. People stay
in hotels, go to restaurants, malls, etc.
“This
is what the union’s spending the people’s dues on.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Find
out who in Brazil qualified for the ADCC
The weekend was a lively, with the ADCC qualifiers shaking things
up at São Paulo’s Clube Sírio club. After
a day of competition on Saturday, Sunday featured the semifinals
and finals defining who will be representing South America at
the ADCC, which is set to take place September in England.
Check
out who took top spot at the event:
Bruno
Frazatto was the one to qualify from the men’s under 66
kg division. After three preliminary matches on Saturday, he
met Gabriel Marangoni in the semifinal before facing and beating
Caio Izidro in the final.
Under
66 kg men
1st
Bruno Frazatto – (Atos Jiu Jitsu)
2nd
Caio Izidro – (Power Lotus Team)
3rd
Gabriel Marangoni – (Brasa Jiu Jitsu)
In
the men’s under 77 kg division – one of the most stacked
of the event – the winner was the focused Murilo Santana.
Murilo eliminated the likes of Rodrigo Caporal, who had the quickest
submission of the competition, in the semifinal, before winning
his ticket against Antonio Roberto in the final.
Under
77 kg men
1st
Murilo Santana – (Barbosa Jiu Jitsu)
2nd
Antonio Roberto Crivelari – (Check Mat)
3nd
Rodrigo Caporal – (Atos Jiu Jitsu)
Claudio
Calasans came up spades in the men’s under 88 kg division
after four matches. He beat Cristiano Titi in the semifinal,
before facing David Vieira Silva, who had overcome several of
the favorites, securing his spot at the main event in England.
Under
88 kg men
1st
Claudio Calasans – (Atos Jiu Jitsu)
2nd
David Vieira Silva – (Gordo Jiu Jitsu)
3rd
Cristiano Lazarine – (Gracie Barra)
Augusto
Ferrari was the big name of the under 99 kg division.
Under
99 kg men
1st
Augusto Ferrari – (Cícero Costha)
2nd
Renato Ferreira – (KGB)
3rd
Mauro Celso Santiago – (Gracie Barra)
Gabriel
Vella showed he had the goods in the over 99 kg division. He
beat the likes of Joaquim Mamute in the preliminaries and went
past Luiz Big Mac in the semifinal, before facing last year’s
qualifier’s winner Glover Teixeira.
Under
99 kg men
1st
Gabriel Vella – (Ryan Gracie)
2nd
Glover Teixeira – (Soul Figthers)
3rd
Luiz Theodoro “Big Mac” – (Godoi Jiu Jitsu)
Female
In
the under 60 kg women’s division Michelle Nicollini took
the cake.
Under
60 kg women
1st
Michele Nicolini – (Check Mat)
2nd
Marina Soares Ribeiro – (Check Mat)
3rd
Priscila Hamada – (Check Mat)
Talita
“Treta” Nogueira was the winner of the over 60 kg division,
having beaten Delcia Enricone in the prelims, then Fernanda Mazellia,
and a riveting final with Roberta Pain.
Over
60 kg women
1st
Talita Nogueira “Treta” – (Ryan Gracie)
2nd
Roberta Pain – (Neo Dojo)
3rd
Fernanda Mazelli – (Striker)
ADCC Brazilian tryouts: semifinals good to go
This Saturday marked the first of two days in the Brazilian qualifiers
for ADCC 2011, the pinnacle of grappling arts tournaments, set
to take place in England this year. The semifinals and finals
will be held this Sunday, and the matchups have already been
made:
MEN
+99kg
Luiz
Big Mac vs. Gabriel Vella
Glover
Teixeira vs. Alan Galvão
99kg
Augusto
Ferrari vs. Mauro Celso
Renato
Ferreira vs. Pablo Sacramento
88kg
Cláudio
Calasans vs. Cristiano Titi
Bruno
Távola vs. David Vieira
77kg
Rodrigo
Caporal vs. Murilo Santana
Ricardo
Scalass vs. Antonio Roberto
66kg
Caio
Izidro vs. Valter Mota
Bruno
Frazatto vs. Gabriel Marangoni
WOMEN
60kg
Marina
Ribeiro vs. Michele Tavares
Michele
Nicolini vs. Priscila Hamada
+60kg
Luiza
Monteiro vs. Roberta Paim
Talita
Treta vs. Fernanda Mazelli
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
MMA
Diet: Creatine
by Cameron Conaway
If
you’ve ever eaten salmon or steak you’ve eaten creatine.
Of all topics related to human health, perhaps the topic of creatine
is the one I’ve received the most questions about over the
years. A few among the many: Is it safe? How much should be used?
Should it be cycled? Should it be loaded? Will I cramp? Will
it help me gain muscle? Will it ruin my liver? What brand should
I choose? Do I need to take it with sugar? Do I need to increase
my water intake if I take it? Can I mix it with my protein drink?
Should I take it before, during or after my workouts?
Most
athletes have done a Google search for “creatine” –
whether out of sheer interest or in an attempt to find a safe
product that gives them a competitive edge. They’ve surely
come across the countless studies by seemingly every university
that has proven creatine effective when used to increase levels
of strength. It’s been the hottest supplement topic (as
well as the most studied) since it gained worldwide attention
during Mark McGwire’s seventy home-run season in 1998. Most
of the absurd rumors and misinformation has been squelched, and
a mounting body of legitimate research has prevailed. Years ago,
a competitive bodybuilder once told me that creatine was actually
like sharp pieces of finely ground glass and that shortly after
consumption it will go in and cause microscopic tears in your
muscle fibers, these tears will then heal and your muscles will
grow bigger and stronger. A nutritional supplement store employee
once told me to “get ready” because after I take it
I may need to get larger clothes since it would make my muscles
bulge.
Misinformation
certainly still abounds, but often too much scientific information
can stifle an athlete’s research and lead them to simply
take advice from a friend or salesman rather than one who has
studied sports performance nutrition.
I’ll
answer the twelve questions from above as simply as possible.
As studies are constantly underway regarding each answer I provide,
the responses below are based on information gathered over the
course of years from a variety of respected sources.
(1)
Is it safe? Yes, in moderation. In fact, it’s so safe that
researchers are continuing to study creatine’s positive
impacts on human health – including, among others, how it
may help the brain recover after a stroke, boost memory, and
increase mood in the sleep-deprived. A typical 170lb MMA fighter,
before they even supplement with creatine, already carries on
average about 131 grams of creatine in their body.
(2)
How much should be used? Less than 5 grams per day – about
one teaspoon. Studies are showing that at this amount most people
can reach maximum saturation levels and experience a majority
of the positive benefits.
(3)
Should it be cycled? The answer is still up in the air. In my
opinion, it wouldn’t hurt to stop taking it for a few weeks
just so the body doesn’t adapt, desensitize and/or forget
how to use its own stores most effectively. One jargon term to
describe this phenomenon is “receptor attenuation.”
(4)
Should it be loaded? It’s not necessary. This was once popular,
but we’ve learned that most side effects come during this
process. If 5 grams a day can get somebody to their saturation
point, there’s no sense in overloading the body.
(5)
Will I cramp? If taking the dosage I recommend and slightly increasing
water intake, most likely not. But creatine acts like a sponge
and bodies react differently, so although it’s not likely,
it’s also not out of the question.
(6)
Will it help me gain muscle? It certainly can, especially when
athletes, like MMA fighters, who train anaerobically (short bursts
of explosiveness) are also taking in a surplus amount of calories
in order to gain weight. When creatine reaches the muscles it
becomes creatine phosphate. At this point, it serves as a backup
to ATP – the body’s primary energy source. Among other
actions, creatine hydrates muscles with water and a fully hydrated
muscle can work longer as well as regenerate and recover from
workouts more quickly.
(7)
Will it ruin my liver? Not if used as recommended. No studies
have proven this.
(8)
What brand should I choose? Regardless of brand, look for “100%
German micronized creatine monohydrate.” This simply means
that the creatine is broken down into smaller, easier to digest
particles. Many brands add all sorts of worthless fillers to
their creatine in order to make it look more appealing so they
can jack up the price. Skip the fluff.
(9)
Do I need to take it with sugar? Most studies are conducted with
water; however, some studies have shown that creatine is better
absorbed by the body when taken with a non-acidic juice like
grape juice.
(10)
Do I need to increase my water intake if I take it? This is highly
recommended. It needn’t be much. An additional 12oz per
day on top of what you’re normally getting is fine.
(11)
Can I mix it with my protein drink? Yes. In fact, this is often
the easiest way to take it. At first, many thought creatine would
quickly become destroyed if placed in water. Then some logical
thought took root: Muscles are 80% water and creatine does just
fine there.
(12)
Should I take it before, during or after my workouts? Most studies
show that post-workout creatine is more effective than pre-workout
creatine. However, there’s also nothing wrong with simply
getting your teaspoon’s worth by mixing it in your morning
shake or oatmeal. You’re keeping your body primed. Also,
studies are showing that the benefits of creatine are also within
the brain.
The
more I learn, the more I’m beginning to see creatine not
just as a muscle supplement but as a vitamin for the entire body.
Source: Sherdog
|
UFC
129: Post-Fight Bonuses Revealed
by Al Yu
Jose
Aldo and Mark Hominick win Fight of the Night Bonus
The UFC returned to Canada for a highly anticipated welterweight
battle between kingpin Georges St-Pierre and challenger Jake
Shields. A total of $516,000 was handed out to the evening’s
outstanding performers.
At
the post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White reported
that UFC 129 earned $12.075 million at the gate and 55,724 fans
were in attendance at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.
Jose
Aldo and Mark Hominick were awarded bonuses for “Fight of
the Night.” Each fighter took home $129,000 for his efforts.
Aldo successfully retained his UFC featherweight title after
five rounds and extended his winning streak to 12 fights.
Lyoto
Machida earns KO of the Night Bonus
Lyoto Machida earned “Knockout of the Night” honors
and a $129,000 bonus with his front kick knockout of UFC legend
Randy Couture. The win snapped a two-fight losing streak for
the former UFC light heavyweight champion.
Pablo
Garza earned “Submission of the Night” with a tight
triangle choke victory over Yves Jabouin. Jabouin seemed to control
the fight early with powerful low leg kicks until a flying triangle
attempt by Garza changed the tempo. Garza transitioned the triangle
to a mounted position and back to finally seal the deal. He earned
his second UFC victory and secured a $129,000 bonus for his efforts.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
MMA
Reacts: Osama Bin Laden’s Demise
by Jason
Probst
Once
the world’s most wanted man and long regarded as its most
notorious terrorist, Osama bin Laden is finally no more.
With
President Obama’s announcement on Sunday that bin Laden
had been killed by U.S. Forces in Pakistan, the news resonated
across the world like few stories in recent years. Bin Laden,
the leader of Al-Qaeda and the architect of the Sept. 11 attacks,
had evaded capture for well over a decade, stretching back to
the Clinton Administration in the 1990s.
After
being tracked to a compound in Abottabad, Pakistan, a joint operation
of U.S. forces and CIA operatives killed bin Laden. His death
elicits a wide range of feelings and reactions, given the duration
of the chase and stakes involved.
Sherdog.com
weighed in with fighters and others in the fight game to share
their thoughts on the matter.
“I
wish it was me that put a bullet in him. Zombies are the only
thing I want to kill more than Osama. I hope everyone does not
think that this means all of our troops will immediately come
home. There is still a lot of work to be done there, but this
is definitely an opportunity for us to push the enemy harder
and really break their backs.” -- Tim Kennedy, Strikeforce
middleweight
“After
serving in Afghanistan for more than four years, this news brought
a huge sense of peace and satisfaction to me and makes all the
sacrifices feel worthwhile. It has been the biggest privilege
of my life to have been blessed with the opportunity to serve
my country in the capacity that I have. To all my JSOC brothers,
well done! To those continuing to fight the good fight of freedom
and those continuing to put yourselves in harm’s way daily,
God bless, God speed and good hunting. Today is a good day, a
day of victory, but there will always be villains, and, with
that, there will always be warriors ready to put them down. God
bless the peacemakers!” -- Chad Robichaux, Bellator Fighting
Championships bantamweight
“When
I heard about the death of Osama bin Laden at the hands of a
heroic team of American forces, I was hit with so many emotions.
First, I was relieved that an architect of the biggest mass murder
of innocent American citizens was permanently checked off the
active list. Second, I was sad because it made me remember the
pain I felt in my heart when 9/11 happened. Thirdly, I was glad
they whacked that scumbag. And lastly, it made me a little numb
because I realized the sobering reality that this thing will
probably never be over. There will always be another lunatic
wearing a ski mask and waving an AK-47 in the air while making
videotapes of hatred and vows of revenge towards America from
the safety of some remote location. But alas, this is life.”
-- Stephen Quadros, Showtime color analyst
“It
definitely brought to me, anyway, a feeling of satisfaction that
justice was served. I think it also brought a feeling of closure
to many of the 9/11 victims’ families and reminded many
others of the horrors of that day. It seemed as the years went
by many people got complacent and forgot what a threat these
terrorists really are. Hell, it seemed at times people in this
country were more concerned about the rights of terrorists held
at GITMO than they were about protecting ourselves! It also shows
the grit and determination of our armed forces to have pursued
him all these years and finally put him down. I find it ironic,
however, that after all the sacrifices made by our armed forces
over the last decade, many of our politicians would still find
it prudent to put them in harm’s way and yet impose budget
cuts to our military!” -- Colin Oyama, Team Oyama head coach
“I
believe this is a great moment in history, not to celebrate another
death but to take a moment and remember why this justice feels
good and to remember all who have fallen.” -- Rick Story,
UFC welterweight
“Where
are the pictures of Osama being dead? Hearing too much about
burying him because of his religion; there should be a documented
trail of his death.” -- Javier Mendez, American Kickboxing
Academy head trainer
“Great
news! Hopefully we’ll nab everyone else involved.”
-- Cesar Gracie, Cesar Gracie Academy head trainer
“It’s
a relief, but I don’t think it will go unanswered. I think
we need to be on point more so now and expect retaliation.”
– Eddie Wineland, UFC bantamweight
“My
response is: who cares about Bin Laden? The Jose Aldo-Mark Hominick
fight was amazing.” -- Din Thomas, UFC veteran
“I
was like every American -- very happy and relieved that someone
like that has been got rid of from this world. Anyone that kills
innocent people does not deserve to live in my book. I wanna
thank the men and women that serve our country all over the world.
Best wishes and God bless!” -- Ray Sefo, Strikeforce heavyweight
“I
think it is awesome that our troops finally exacted justice.
I think this great act will unfortunately be overshadowed by
scummy politicians trying to take credit for it, when not one
of them was in the trenches with a finger on the trigger. Great
news. Let’s remember who the heroes are and who risked their
lives every day. God bless our troops.” -- Trevor Prangley,
Strikeforce light heavyweight
“When
I heard the news, I had chills run down my spine and almost broke
down in I guess what you could call happy tears, even though
it was a terrible day when those two towers fell and killed our
friends, family and loved ones. When I say happy tears, I’m
talking about a state of mind that the fallen can now rest in
peace! This country is the greatest in the world, and I’m
proud to be an American. These country boys can survive!”
-- Tim McKenzie, UFC veteran
“They
[have] been looking for bin Laden for some time and all that
has been happening is the gas prices going up. Now that they
finally got him, hopefully they can work on getting the gas back
to a price everyone can manage.” -- Jaime Jara, Bellator
Fighting Championships veteran
“The
capture and killing of bin Laden is bittersweet for me. While
I’m glad our military captured and killed him, it is also
a reminder of all the men and women we lost because of him. Bottom
line, the world is now a better place, and justice was served.”
-- Mike Roberts, MMA Inc. chief operating officer
“It
was an historic day. I’ll never forget where I was when
he orchestrated the attacks against us on 9/11, and I’ll
never forget where I was when I heard we put a bullet through
his [expletive] brain.” -- David Martin, Martin Advisory
Group founder.
Source: Sherdog
|
Strikeforce
Champ Nick Diaz Could Be Georges St. Pierre's Next Opponent
By Mike
Chiappetta
TORONTO -- Georges St. Pierre was barely a few minutes out of
his last fight when the MMA world began speculating about what
fight he would find himself in next. One thing is certain: the
welterweight ranks keep thinning as GSP continues to mow through
contenders. And since he's beaten several of the top-ranked UFC
stars already, the UFC might well go to plan B.
Long
discussed has been the possibility of a super fight with middleweight
king Anderson Silva, but there are a few possible roadblocks.
For one, St. Pierre hasn't committed to moving up a weight class.
Also, he'd be forced to wait a few months, as Silva already has
a scheduled title defense against Yushin Okami in late August.
The
other alternative? How about a champion vs. champion bout with
Strikeforce titleholder Nick Diaz?
"I'd
like to see it," said just-vanquished Jake Shields, a teammate
of DIaz's.
What
say you, UFC president Dana White? Since Diaz is a Strikeforce
fighter, and has the ability to box in his contract, could that
fight even get made?
"I
imagine I could do whatever I wanted to do if I really wanted,"
White said. "But we have a contract with Showtime, and he's
a Strikeforce fighter. We'll see how it works out, but that's
an interesting fight."
Later,
when White was asked if St. Pierre had exhausted all his challenges
at 170, White brought up Diaz again as a possibility.
St.
PIerre improved to 22-2 with his five-round win over Shields
in the main event of UFC 129, snapping Shields' 15-fight win
streak in the process. St. Pierre did it despite injuring his
eye around the second round. He said afterward that he couldn't
see out of the eye for the rest of the fight. Because of it,
he went to the hospital afterward.
While
the Silva superfight has been talked for months now, White warned
that the UFC has yet to approach either side about it, and given
White's praise of Diaz, it seems he's just as strong a possibility.
That would be just fine with Shields.
"I
think he has a good shot," Shields said. "He has a
style that matches up pretty good. His pressure boxing could
cut him off and put pressure on him. We don't know what happens
until we see it, so I'd like to see it."
"I'll
tell you what, I was there for that last fight, and I was blown
away by his last fight," White said. "He looked incredible.
It's interesting."
In
that bout, Diaz defeated Paul Daley via TKO. Afterward, he said
he may leave MMA for boxing, but White said he will try to dissuade
Diaz from doing that even though Diaz has a clause in his deal
which allows him the option. The two met briefly during fight
week, as Diaz was in town to corner both his brother Nate as
well as Shields. White plans to soon fly to California and meet
with Diaz in an effort to keep him in the fold. With Diaz looking
for a big-money bout and St. Pierre possibly in need of an opponent,
perhaps Diaz has leapfrogged Silva as the likely next man to
face GSP.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
José
Aldo in: “Codename: Scarface”
by Marcelo
Dunlop
When José Aldo stepped up on stage at the Ricoh Centre
to meet up with the other six UFC champions he was a kind of
dizzy. He was weak with hunger from shedding pounds to weigh
in a few minutes later. “He’s hungry for victory,”
whispered training partner on team Nova União Marlon Sandro.
After
making weight the Amazonas native nicknamed “Scarface”
by fans went to his hotel room, where he has been in concentration
since his arrival on Thursday and didn’t come out even to
watch his beloved team Flamengo on TV at a Brazilian restaurant
on Wednesday. He opted to surf the internet instead.
After
weigh-ins he took to rest and slowly nourished him back to strength.
This is the time when team Nova União works on another
important aspect: the codewords they use during the fight.
“When
he fought Faber, yelling instructions in Portuguese was no good
because he does Jiu-Jitsu, he understands some, and there are
always Brazilians in his corner. These days there’s always
a Brazilian in everyone’s corner, so we developed a system
of codewords. In the days before the fight we pass them on to
him for him to remember them automatically in the octagon,”
says Marlon.
How
about an example, Marlon? “You’ve never heard us shouting
‘Nas coxinhas, nas coxinhas!’ before?” (meaning
“on the skinny thighs”), said Marlon, “That’s
a codeword for a move.” So if you hear some nonsense being
spouted, reader, don’t get confused. It’s Aldo getting
ready to go into full gear.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Johny
Hendricks vs. Mike Pierce Latest Addition to UFC 133 in Philadelphia
UFC 133 in Philadelphia is filling up fast. The latest bout to
be announced pits wrestlers Johny Hendricks and Mike Pierce on
a collision course on the card.
The
UFC announced the match-up on Monday.
Johny
Hendricks (10-1) will look to build on his last win at UFC Fight
Night 24, where he TKO’d Anthony Waldburger in the first
round of their fight in Seattle.
Overall,
Hendricks has gone 7-1 during his time with the UFC and WEC,
with his lone loss coming by way of decision to rising welterweight
competitor Rick Story.
Challenging
Hendricks in Philly will be fellow wrestler Mike Pierce (12-3),
who currently rides a three fight win streak into UFC 133.
Pierce
has looked very strong over his last few fights, which included
victories over Julio Paulino, Amilcar Alves, and Kenny Robertson.
The
bout between Hendricks and Pierce will likely occupy a slot on
the preliminary portion of the show.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Via
Twitter, Kenny Florian answers Diego Nunes; says he’s his
“toughest battle”
By Guilherme
Cruz
Ready
to debut on the featherweight division against Diego Nunes, Kenny
Florian took advantage of an interview with Dana White, UFC president,
at ‘MMA Live’, and asked him if he would get a title
shot in case he succeeded on his next fight.
His
boss’ answer was positive, but the Brazilian Diego Nunes,
while talked to TATAME, sent a message to Florian. “Well,
that’s a shame… That, unfortunately, will not happen”,
answered the athlete of Nova União (click here to read
the full article).
Right
after the news was published on our English website, Kenny Florian
responded back to the Brazilian on his Twitter, on a message
sent to TATAME’s reporter. “Nunes is a great fighter.
I expect it to be the toughest of my career. Looking forward
to the battle”, wrote Florian.
The
fight will finally happen in June 11th (UFC 131), in Canada,
on a show which will have the bout between Brock Lesnar vs. Junior
dos Santos as its main event.
Source: Tatame
|
Dana
White: I haven’t been approached with criticism about the
GSP UFC 129 fight
By Zach
Arnold
From
a post-fight interview with MMAFighting.com:
DANA
WHITE: “If you are looking for criticism from me, which
sounds like you are, the only criticism I have is he was throwing
a weird overhand right, like this… looping overhand right,
which I’ve never seen him do before. Usually he throws that
straight Superman punch, his punches are straight down the pike,
I was trying to figure out why he kept throwing the same punch
all night. He was throwing it hard, like he was trying to knock
him out, like he was trying to force a knockout, so…”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “Dan Henderson caught Jake Shields with that kind
of punch, so maybe he was trying to recreate that.”
DANA
WHITE: “Maybe. Dan Henderson didn’t finish him. *chuckles*”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “That’s true. So, is the criticism fair? Because,
you know, I’m sure you heard from some fans and people talking
already, he’s not going for the finish, he doesn’t
seem to have that killer instinct. Would you agree with that?”
DANA
WHITE: “Nobody said anything to me. When I was leaving here
tonight, everybody said great fight, nobody said anything negative
about the fight whatsoever to me.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “So, no problems in terms of the fact that he hasn’t
finished anyone in a while or anything like that? He’s just
fighting tough guys. in your opinion.”
DANA
WHITE: “Yeah, listen, when you’re at the level he’s
at, you’re going to continue to fight the best guys in the
world and, you know… Georges St. Pierre keeps winning. He
keeps winning. He isn’t catching anybody with any exciting
front kicks or anything like that, but he’s a winner.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “What did you think of Jake Shields?”
DANA
WHITE: “I thought Jake… uh… you know… he
busted up Georges’ eye… I don’t know what his
game plan was. I was always interested in this fight because
I honestly didn’t know what was going to happen. I said
maybe Georges is going to use his wrestling defense to stand
up and try to use his hands against Jake and I always wondered
if Jake could take him down. I thought Georges would say, ‘I’m
a great wrestler, I’ll take him down and get right into
his game because I know I’m better than him at that anyway
and beat him there.’ I honestly didn’t know what was
going to happen.”
¦Bloody
Elbow: Georges St. Pierre Holds Back UFC’s Canadian Coming
Out Party at UFC 129
¦Mike Chiappetta: Strikeforce Champ Nick Diaz Could Be
Georges St. Pierre’s Next Opponent
ARIEL HELWANI: “Is there even any fight at 170 that interests
you for Georges?”
DANA
WHITE: “Yeah, there’s always going to be fights out
there at 170 that are interesting, there’s going to be new
guys coming up, you know, Nick Diaz is out there…”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “But can you make that fight?”
DANA
WHITE: “Um… can I make that fight? We’ll see what
happens.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “But he says he wants to go box first. What is
the likelihood of him boxing before ever fighting back in the
UFC?”
DANA
WHITE: “Well, he fights for Strikeforce, you know, he’s
a Strikeforce champion. He wants to box. I’m going to go
to Stockton this week and talk to him.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “You’re making an appearance in the 209?”
DANA
WHITE: “Oh yeah. I am.”
ARIEL
HELWANI: “Don’t get slapped.”
DANA
WHITE: “It’s going to be tough to do there.”
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Ryan
Hall beats Diego Sanchez at UFC Fan Expo
by Carlos
Eduardo Ozório
First Ryan Hall submitted Jorge Britto with a heelhook, clearing
the way to face Ultimate Fighter reality show winner Diego Sanchez.
Now
Sanchez had to get past Canada’s Andrew McInnes, which he
did.
When
they met in the final, Ryan got the better of his more famous
opponent by a score of 8 to 2
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Fight
Supervision: An Inside Look at Event Regulation
by J.R.
Riddell and Tracey Lesetar
LEMOORE,
Calif. -- The California State Athletic Commission granted Sherdog.com
an all-access pass to observe its operations at Bellator Fighting
Championships 35 on March 5 at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino,
providing a behind-the-scenes look at all that goes into regulating
an MMA event.
Although
the event was broadcast live through Bellator’s new partner,
MTV2, CSAC regulators treated the eight-bout event the same as
the 84 mixed martial arts shows, both televised and untelevised,
it oversaw in 2010. Those who do not make their living in the
fight game may be surprised to learn just how much goes into
the regulation of a single MMA event.
According
to CSAC Executive Officer George Dodd, the commission’s
number one priority in regulating MMA is the safety of the fighters.
From the start of the event until the finish, it was clear that
Dodd’s philosophy was shared by all 18 of the CSAC representatives
on site.
As
a starting point, the term “athletic commission” is
somewhat of a misnomer. Although the term suggests the commission
regulates all types of athletics, athletic and boxing commissions
are state-run agencies that regulate various forms of combat
sports. Like its counterparts in other states, the CSAC regulates
professional MMA by licensing all participants -- promoters,
fighters, chief seconds, referees, judges, etc. -- and overseeing
all professional events.
Weeks
in the Making
The
on-site regulation of Bellator 35 began on Friday afternoon,
when the CSAC’s first inspector arrived on site at the Tachi
Palace Casino. Separate and apart from the on-site regulation,
the CSAC’s oversight of the event actually began about six
weeks earlier, when the commission received the bout cards from
Bellator. Before sanctioning the event, the CSAC first reviewed
the initial tournament matchups divined by Bellator matchmaker
Sam Caplan to ensure the proposed fights appeared reasonable
based, in part, on fighters’ experience and professional
records.
Once
bouts are approved, the commission ensures that fighters, their
seconds and managers are licensed in the state of California.
The commission also requires the fighter to submit up-to-date
medical exam records. All of this initial paperwork, plus additional
licensing forms, drug test kits, examination forms for the ringside
physician, bout agreements, scorecards and post-fight evaluation
forms, finds its way into that first inspector’s immense
rolling briefcase that follows her around the Tachi Palace.
The
CSAC’s lead inspector for this MMA event, Sarah Waklee,
arrived at the venue the day before the fights for weigh-ins
and a host of other activities. The following day, she would
be joined by 17 other CSAC representatives from throughout the
state. Waklee, an outgoing and matter-of-fact supervisor who
has been with the CSAC for seven years, effectively had the final
word on what was permissible and impermissible at the event.
The
minute Waklee finishes the three-hour drive from Sacramento,
Calif., to Lemoore, she is on duty. With only an hour and a half
before the fighters report for weigh-ins, there are a slew of
issues to work through before beginning the evening’s nonstop,
four- to five-hour run of pre- and post-weigh-in activity. Waklee
meets with Bellator representatives to discuss missing medical
records, fight night report times, order of weigh-ins and drug
testing.
With
this being the CSAC’s first live event involving MTV2, Waklee
also meets with the production team to discuss the logistics
of the live broadcast and ensure everyone was on the same page.
Athletes and trainers find her in between meetings to ask last-minute
questions about the weigh-ins, rules or fight night, but they
only catch her on the move, as she whisks from one activity to
the next.
Before
weigh-ins begin, fighters not only undergo a steroid test but
also a pre-fight physical exam. Pre-fight physicals are a crucial
part of regulation because previously submitted medical records
can permissibly be up to a year old and therefore might not capture
recent injuries, trauma or sickness. A physician could call off
a fight for any number of reasons during a pre-fight exam --
all of which contemplate whether the fighter could incur a life-
or career-threatening injury if allowed to go through with the
bout.
Waklee
recalls a handful of occasions when fighters did not pass the
pre-fight physical examination. One example was an exam that
revealed a fighter had developed a heart murmur; as a matter
of fighter safety, the CSAC called off the bout. However, the
pre-fight exam is crucial even when athletes are fit to fight.
For example, the examining physician needs to be sensitive to
how much weight the fighter has cut prior to his or her exam.
At times, according to Waklee, the doctor will tell the CSAC
that, from a medical standpoint, a fighter cannot safely cut
any more weight. As a result, if that fighter does not make weight,
the fight is either called off or the fighter can forfeit 10
percent of his or her purse to the CSAC and 10 percent to the
opponent, as long as the opponent is willing to fight the overweight
fighter. She explains that fighters who do not make weight but
are cleared to cut more, if necessary, have two hours to cut
up to two pounds; anything more can be dangerous.
The
night before Bellator 35, the weigh-ins go off without a hitch,
with all athletes medically-cleared and only one needing two
attempts to make weight. While fighters slowly rehydrate and
begin eating after weigh-ins, Waklee takes the opportunity to
conduct her rules meeting. She stresses the consequences of not
following CSAC rules during fight night and fields questions
from the fighters and their cornermen.
At
the conclusion of her long day, Waklee eats dinner at 10:30 p.m.
and decides to review the bout contracts in the morning with
a fresh set of eyes.
Fight
Day Arrives
On
fight day, Waklee starts working again at about 8:30 a.m., beginning
with a thorough review of the bout agreements between Bellator
and the fighters. She also verifies that the promoter has all
the requisite insurance coverage in place. Having verified the
fighter purse and bonus amounts, she sends a list back to Bellator’s
chief financial officer so he can cut and hand all the fighter
purse and bonus checks over to the CSAC.
Waklee
does not, however, leave her hotel room until she is certain
she has all of her ducks in a row to begin the fights; there
is never any time to return to her hotel room once things get
rolling. Her pre-fight ritual includes what is best described
as either a very late lunch or extremely early dinner. As our
waitress rushes to get us food quickly, Waklee explains that
once the 3 p.m. show time rolls around, there would be no time
to grab food for at least six and a half hours. As if on cue,
when her salad arrives, welterweight Rick Hawn comes up to ask
whether he can tape his ankles. In fact, throughout the day,
she is repeatedly stopped for rule clarifications while walking
through the casino.
At
3 p.m. -- two hours before the first fight -- the CSAC team of
18 begins reporting for duty. Note that this ratio means the
CSAC has more than one official on hand for every fighter competing
that night. This team is comprised of the lead inspector, seven
other inspectors -- all dressed in red neckties and black suits,
which is reportedly helpful in camouflaging blood -- three referees,
three judges, two timekeepers and two physicians. Waklee explains
that the fights cannot start without at least one of the physicians
on hand. In addition to the physicians, two sets of paramedics
and their ambulances are also stationed on site as a precautionary
measure. In response to various questions about the purpose behind
many of the rules and rituals, members of this team, such as
inspector Mike Bray, repeatedly stress that their chief concern
is the fighters’ safety and the fairness of the bouts.
The
inspectors assemble to receive their assignments. Waklee charges
three inspectors with responsibility for the eight fighters assigned
to the red corner. The other three oversee the blue corner fighters,
with the seventh inspector assigned to suspension and payout
duties.
Next
is a quick talk with the paramedics. Waklee is not thrilled to
learn from them that the closest emergency room is approximately
30 minutes away. Regardless, she confirms that at least one of
the ambulances is solely dedicated to Bellator to the exclusion
of any other emergency calls at the casino.
Waklee
next turns to Bellator Executive Director of Operations Joe Kelly,
also CEO of Titan Fighting Championship, who is also present
for the briefing. She informs him that the CSAC’s physicians
usually charge $300 to stitch a laceration. Without hesitation,
Kelly responds that Bellator will cover the costs associated
with any stitches. At the end of the night, Bellator made good
on that promise. Fighter Jaime Jara requires several sets of
stitches to his face following a heated split-decision battle
against Waachiim Spiritwolf in the last -- and clearly the crowd’s
favorite -- fight of the night. Although not televised that night,
Bellator decided to air the fight the following week, reportedly
in response to fan requests.
At
3:15 p.m., the fighters begin checking in. From that moment until
completion of the physician’s post-fight evaluation, they
are under the watchful jurisdiction of the CSAC and its inspectors.
Although the promotion continues responsibility for production
and the time between bouts, it has no real oversight of the fighters
from this point forward.
The
first order of business is providing another urine sample. This
second sample is to screen for drugs of abuse; the commission
tested for steroid use the day before. Each fighter provides
a specimen in an integrated drug testing cup. Once the sample
is in the CSAC’s custody, an inspector turns a plastic key
on the outside of the cup that causes the sample to activate
the drug test. The results of the test are visible on a label,
similar in concept to a litmus test or those roadside drug tests
seen on “Cops.”
With
one exception, all the samples come back negative, clearing the
fighters for their bouts. The sole exception is a defective testing
cup. When the key is turned, the test cup fails to properly activate.
Because the test is inconclusive, the sample is retained by Waklee,
to be taken back for lab testing. CSAC representatives explain
that when drug tests do come back positive, the fighter still
gets to compete, although the sample is preserved for additional,
more conclusive lab testing.
Preparing for Battle
All
16 athletes and their cornermen pack into a large room with six
partitions set up -- blue fighters on one side and red on the
other. A lit-up sign adorns the wall with the word “Bingo,”
a subtle nod to the room’s less extraordinary purpose before
Bellator rolled out its carpet for the weekend. The room is filled
with the buzz and excitement of fighters and cornermen in all
stages of their mental and physical preparation to go to battle.
The
air, laced with an iPod mix featuring Johnny Cash’s “God’s
Gonna Cut You Down” several times over, becomes more and
more humid as the evening wears on and the athletes begin warming
up, practicing submission escapes and working the pads. Those
fighting later in the evening would have a long wait ahead of
them. Some take refuge in their headphones, while at least one
fighter finds room to escape and focus under a table.
There
is certainly no mistaking the inspectors for anyone else in the
room, as they are the only people wearing suits. Inspectors in
Nevada are easily identified, as well; fans routinely see them
on UFC broadcasts escorting fighters into and out of the Octagon
sporting those fashionable maroon blazers. The CSAC inspectors
divide themselves among the fighters and spend time with each
of them and their cornermen -- up to 4 -- to cover the commission’s
expectations related to locker room conduct: no supplements,
alcohol, drugs or oxygen canisters allowed. The corners are also
advised about what will happen in the one-minute, three-second
rest period between rounds; three seconds were added for this
televised event. Only two corners are permitted to enter the
cage between rounds, but if a cutman goes in for damage control,
only one corner is permitted in the cage. Once the inspector
tells them it is time to get out, they have just 10 seconds to
vacate the cage. The corners are also instructed that if a fighter
goes down, they will need to remain outside the cage to allow
the ringside physician to tend to the fighter. Corners are also
told to remain in their chairs outside the cage. Throughout the
night, several Inspectors gave corners a mindful tap and even
a tug on their belts to remind them to remain in their seats.
While
instructing the fighter is fine, corners are cautioned against
excessive cheering and clapping. For some, like renowned trainer
Mark DellaGrotte, remaining seated is no obstacle to being heard;
as many in the auditorium could testify, his voice and instructions
are clearly audible as he coaches pupils Hawn and Zoila Gurgel
to victory.
Although
the inspectors’ lectures appear routine for some fighters
and consistent with the expectations of other commissions, they
hold more significance for the fighters and cornermen that had
never before fought in California.
Next,
the hand-wrapping process begins for many of the fighters. While
some of the cornermen take responsibility for wrapping their
own fighters’ hands, all fighters have the option to use
either of the promotion’s cutmen to do the wrapping. From
start to finish, the hand wrapping takes place under the watchful
eyes of the inspectors to ensure that the hand wraps only included
methods, tape and gauze authorized under section 323 of California’s
Business and Professions Code.
As
he observes professional newcomer Paul Ruiz’s hands being
wrapped, Bray explains that he has seen hands wrapped in all
sorts of authorized techniques, effective and not-so-effective,
but acknowledges his role is not to judge the effectiveness.
Instead, he is there to ensure compliance with the regulations.
He also half-jokingly notes that inspectors pay very close attention
to hand wrapping in the wake of CSAC’s allegation that it
found a plaster-like substance in the hand wraps of boxer Antonio
Margarito in January 2009.
Even
as Bray explains what he is looking for, he never once takes
his eyes off the fighter’s hands. Once both hands are wrapped,
he marks them and prints his name across all the layers of tape.
Bellator provides each fighter with a brand new pair of MMA gloves.
The gloves are also put on under an inspector’s supervision
and sealed with either red or blue tape around the wrists.
Tying
Up Loose Ends
The
three referees brief the fighters and corners on how they intend
to officiate the fight, including discussion of a rule applicable
only to half the fighters on the card. The eight fighters participating
in Bellator’s welterweight tournament were prohibited from
delivering elbows to the head in hopes of reducing the risk of
lacerations that could potentially jeopardize a prevailing fighter’s
ability to fight in the next round of the draw just weeks later.
Fighters are also reminded that the tournament-style format calls
for a fourth five-minute round in the event that the bout was
judged a draw at the conclusion of the third round.
While
all this is happening in the locker room, Waklee is cageside,
attending to last-minute issues, including where her timekeepers
would be seated and whether they would signal the end of a round
with a bell or air horn. She also collects insurance forms, determines
the amount the CSAC was due from the promoter, as set by a pre-determined
formula, and secures checks to pay the fighters. The CSAC’s
policy is to pay fighters immediately after their bouts, as opposed
to after the post-fight press conference. Bellator’s CFO
hands over two checks for each fighter -- one of which was a
win bonus if he or she prevailed.
Minutes
before 5 p.m., the first fighters and their cornermen assemble
in preparation to make their entrance to the cage. However, timing
the fighters’ progression from the back room to the pre-fight
inspection area is an inexact science throughout the night. The
first of the two fighters in each bout and his or her cornermen
inevitably have to wait for some time backstage while the previous
fight comes to an end. Before walking out, each cornerman’s
bucket is inspected to protect against any unauthorized items
making their way to the cage. To reduce the possibility of any
claims of foul play, the fighters are each escorted to the cage
by an inspector, who remains with the fighter’s cornermen
for the duration of the fight.
Before
entering the cage, fighters are all given one last inspection
by one of the referees, who also oversees the application of
Vaseline by one of Bellator’s cutmen. Dean Lassiter, who
has been in the business for more than 20 years, does his job
with paternal seriousness, giving his assigned fighter encouragement
as he carefully applies the grease to his face, assuring him
that he will take care of him if anything happens during the
fight.
Referee
Josh Rosenthal explains that, in addition to ensuring the fighter
remembers his or her mouth guard and cup, he is checking to ensure
finger nails are properly trimmed and that there is no improper
“grease” on the body. Rosenthal laughingly recounts
how he had once come across a fighter who was already slippery
and explained to Rosenthal that he was just helping the process
along by “pre-Vaselining.” Rosenthal thus checks all
fighters’ limbs and behind their ears for “pre-Vaselining.”
Although he inspects with his black surgical gloves on, other
refs, such as Jason Herzog, prefer to do the inspection without
them.
The
cage-side area continues to bustle with activity until the referee
finally yells “fight” and all eyes move to the cage.
The three judges are stationed around the cage with three completely
different vantage points. Throughout the night, the judges can
be seen viewing the fights, either through the cage or, when
their view becomes obscured, through the TV camera feeds streaming
to enormous screens. Each of them has his or her own set of colored
scorecards: pink, white or blue.
The
physicians are seated immediately next to one of the cage doors,
ready to come in if called upon by the referee, while Waklee
sits at a table inches from the cage to vigilantly observe as
events unfolded during and between rounds, along with her inspector
in charge of suspensions and payouts, Tim Huff. At the conclusion
of each round, one of the referees collects the scorecards, which
are folded in half, and provides them to Waklee. She in turn
records and tallies the scores on a master score sheet that she
flips over to preserve the integrity of the scores.
For
those fights that went all three rounds, Waklee tallies the final
scores and delivers them to announcer Michael C. Williams to
be read aloud.
An
Exhausting Night
Each
fighter is escorted back to the locker room after his or her
fight. Some are exhausted. Others are quietly disappointed, like
Anthony Lapsley, who was on the losing end of a very controversial
referee stoppage against Jay Hieron.
Huff
quickly makes his way back to the room on their tails, along
with the ringside physician. He waits patiently while the physician
goes through his routine post-fight exam, checking jaw alignment,
vision and for any lacerations that might need stitching. He
fills out his post-fight evaluation form, which dictates how
long the fighter’s medical suspension, if any, will last.
Huff moves in to give the fighter his or her purse check and,
if applicable, win bonus; he voids the bonus check made out to
the fighter who lost. Each signs off for his or her check, but
some express concern at the length of their respective medical
suspensions.
Lapsley,
lucid and visibly uninjured, joined in the dialogue about the
classification of his controversial loss because it could cause
him to be issued a suspension. The doctor inquires about the
exact classification of the stoppage, and Huff assures Lapsley
that he will obtain clarification and report back to the physician
with the necessary information. Huff did so, and Lapsley was
not issued a suspension. After the last fight of the evening,
Spiritwolf is shocked by his suspension.
“Sixty
days?” he asks.
He
smiles coyly as the laceration above his eye buckles and shakes
it off.
“Man,”
he says, “they can’t keep me down for even 60 seconds,
you know?”
At
the end of the night, while the crowd disperses and Bellator’s
team begins dismantling its elaborate production set, Waklee
secludes to a small, windowless room with the entire team --
with the exception of one physician who is mending Jara -- for
the post-fight briefing. She gives all the opportunity to ask
questions or raise concerns, but the overwhelming consensus is
that the night ran incredibly smoothly from a regulatory perspective.
Indeed,
it was exhausting keeping up with the CSAC staff and its frenetic
pace. Every aspect of the event was accounted for. All in all,
the commission’s performance seemed to safely dispel any
notion that MMA is anything other than a highly regulated sport
in California.
Source: Sherdog
|
Jose
Aldo vs. Chad Mendes Possible for UFC 133 in Philadelphia
by Erik Fontanez
UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo looks like he may defend
his title against Chad Mendes at UFC 133 in Philadelphia, PA.
The
UFC president, Dana White, confirmed that the fight may go down
at the UFC’s first fight in Philly since UFC 101 in August
of 2009.
“Probably,”
White said at the post-fight press conference. “He and I
haven’t talked yet.
“Kenny
Florian couldn’t be ready by then. Chad Mendes is 10-0,
undefeated, makes sense.”
Mendes
is yet to see what defeat tastes like in MMA, and comes off a
unanimous decision win over Michihiro Omigawa at UFC 126: Silva
vs. Belfort. The fighter out of the Alpha Male camp in Sacramento,
Calif. seems like the most appropriate opponent for Aldo’s
next fight.
MMAWeekly.com
will have more on this fight as information becomes available.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
UFC
129 Results: Lyoto Machida Uses Karate Kid’s Crane Kick,
Knocks Out Randy Couture
Lyoto
Machida pulled something out of a movie and landed a perfect
crane kick, knocking out Randy Couture in the second round of
their fight at UFC 129: St-Pierre vs. Shields.
“The
Karate Kid,” Machida, ended the fight and Couture’s
career with quite the impact in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Couture
and Machida started with the two fighters measuring distance.
At a minute in, Randy came in and got tagged with a Machida punch.
The more Couture came in, the more Machida tried to counter.
Just after the halfway point of the round, Machida landed a nice
right hand. Later, Machida landed a solid knee as Couture shot
in for a clinch. The final minute had Randy shooting in for another
clinch against the cage, but Machida sliped out and landed a
solid midkick and knee to the body. The round ended with Machida
getting the edge.
The
second round had Randy coming straight into a Machida flurry.
Later, Machida lands what can only be described as a “crane
kick,” much like you can see in film The Karate Kid. Machida
ended the fight with that strike and the referee stepped in to
put a stop to the action.
Lyoto Machida at UFC 129
Lyoto
Machida after win at UFC 129
The
official call was Machida defeats Couture by knockout at 1:05
of the second round.
“I
feel very, very, very well,” Machida said after the win.
“I trained a lot for this kick.”
Machida
also gave praise to the man he defeated, Randy Couture, saying,
“it’s an honor for me to fight this guy…He is
a hero.”
Couture
also confirmed this was, indeed, his last fight in the UFC, saying
he was done after the fight.
“You’re
not going to see me again. This is it,” Couture said.
With
the win, Machida gets back on the winning track and looks to
get back in the title mix at light heavyweight. Couture, a fighter
that paved the road for nearly all athletes in the sport of MMA,
hangs up his gloves, closing the doors to one of the most storied
careers in all of pro sports.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
UFC
129 Results: Jose Aldo Defends Title in a Hard Fought Battle
UFC
featherweight champion Jose Aldo had one of the toughest fights
of his career against top contender Mark Hominick. Despite a
huge final round for the Canadian fighter, Aldo utilized quick
head movement, takedowns, punishing leg kicks and powerful hooks
to successfully retain his title.
Aldo
attacked the leg early on and countered with uppercuts. The fight
was beginning to mirror Aldo’s performance against Urijah
Faber where he battered the former champ’s leg with chopping
low kicks. About halfway through the opening round, Aldo secured
a takedown. Hominick countered with an armbar attempt but Aldo
defended well. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt pinned Hominick
towards the cage and was content to throw elbows and strikes
from his guard.
Round
two saw Hominick doing a better job at closing in on Aldo. Aldo
displayed great head movement but Hominick was able to land more
strikes than he did in the first. The young Brazilian took his
Canadian counterpart down again midway through the round and
was able score points by posturing up with strikes. Referee John
McCarthy stood the fighters back up with a minute left but Aldo
took Hominick down again, landing in side control and finished
the round there.
Jose Aldo and Mark Hominick at UFC 129
Round
three saw both fighters content to stand and exchange jabs in
the center of the cage. Hominick began to feel his rhythm with
the left jab as Aldo countered. As the “Machine” began
to get comfortable after a few failed takedown attempts by Aldo,
he was rocked by a right-left combo. Aldo tried to finish the
Canadian but was unable to do so by the end of the round.
Jose Aldo and Mark Hominick at UFC 129
The
Nova Uniao fighter brought his momentum into the fourth round
and his right hand found its home on a few occasions. A straight
right hand dropped Hominick again halfway through the round and
Aldo followed him down to punish him near the fence. A huge hematoma
could be seen developing on Hominick’s forehead. With less
than a minute left, referee John McCarthy halted the fight to
bring in the doctor. Surprisingly, Hominick was given the green
light to continue. Aldo finished the round with a takedown.
Jose Aldo and Mark Hominick at UFC 129
Aldo
continued to attack the leg and head of Hominick in the final
round. Hominick was able to score a takedown as blood poured
out from under his eye. The fans erupted every time Mark landed
strikes as a seemingly exhausted Aldo defended. Hominick tried
his best to finish the round, throwing everything in his arsenal
but it was not enough to finish the UFC champion. It was a valiant
effort in the final round but it was a little too late.
Jose
Aldo retained his UFC featherweight championship with a unanimous
decision after five rounds.
“Take
your hat to Mark Hominick, he’s a hell of a fighter,”
said Aldo.
“First
off, I just want to say to my wife that I hope I didn’t
put you into labor. I know you’re do any minute. I love
you, babe and I hope that you’re okay. And second, I just
want to thank John McCarthy for not stopping the fight. I was
never going to give up,” said Hominick graciously.
“I
didn’t throw enough combinations. I was throwing all single
shots. I wanted to get one up on him and I let him get one up
on me. It’s one of those things, you go back to the drawing
board and I’ll come back stronger.”
“I
thought I could’ve attacked a bit more on the ground. I
thought he was going to be attacking me more instead of holding
me down. I fought hard for you guys and I hope you enjoy the
fight.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Lyoto
Machida exclusive: “Everybody called me ‘Karate Kid’”
With
a kick a la “Karate Kid”, the former UFC light heavyweight
Champion Lyoto Machida knocked legendary Randy Couture out at
UFC 129 to get back to the victories in a spectacular fashion.
Heading back to Brazil, “The Dragon” spoke with TATAME.com
and talked about the pressure, knockout, Couture’s retirement,
Jon Jones and UFC Rio.
What
are your thoughts on the fight?
I
was very well trained for this fight. I was with a confident
for this one like I wasn’t for the last fights. I increased
my training, demanding more from my sparrings, and I felt comfortable
in every single situation. When he held me on the clinch, I knew
I would get out of there. I wasn’t expecting such an impressive
victory, but I knew I couldn’t leave it to the judges.
How
did you felt for being Couture’s last opponent? You were
very emotional after the fight…
It
was all the context… I needed the win too much, I was fighting
a legend, a man that helped to build this sport. It was an unique
moment. A legend retiring and me doing his last fight… When
will it happen again?
And
where did you take that kick from?
This
kick is from Karate, it’s the Kanku Dai. When I started
my preparation, after I did a hernia surgery, I couldn’t
do everything in training, so my father (Yoshizo) told me to
train three or four types of kicks and use them in sparring,
but very carefully, because they hurt a lot, it’s like the
elbow. When I came to Canada I met Steven Seagal, and he told
“Lyoto, this kick will hit”. But I wasn’t worried
to use it or not, I’d do it if the opportunity came. I came
more relaxed to the second round and hit that. It’s not
like it came from nowhere.
It
was just like “Karate Kid’, right?
That’s
true… Everybody at the stadium called me ‘Karate Kid’
after that (laughs).
Did
you feel an extra pressure for seeing that the whole crowd for
chanting Randy’s minute one minute before you knocked him
out?
At
that moment I wasn’t hearing anything anymore, I was just
so concentrated on the fight. But I felt that when he walked
in… I realized that the crowd was totally on his side. No
that they were against me, but they preferred him. That’s
normal, he’s a legend.
After
all the criticism you received before the fight, you came more
aggressive to this bout?
I
felt myself more aggressive… I kept my style, but with an
upgrade.
Where
do you see yourself in the division now?
I
swear, swear and swear… I don’t think too much far
away, I take step by step. I know every fight is important to
become better. I don’t have that pressure to become the
champion again. I’ll get that chance. I even prefer to take
another fight first to feel myself stronger and safer.
And
who will be this next fight?
I
don’t know that either, I don’t have a clue. There’s
a lot of fighters: Ryan Bader, Rampage, Phil Davis… I’m
just waiting.
A
lot of people pointed you as a possible threat to Jon Jones.
Do you think your style is the best to defeat him?
I
believe so, my style matches well with his. He’s very eclectic,
has many resources, bu I have too, and my timing and distance
would help me a lot.
What
do you expect for the future? Will you fight at UFC Rio?
I’d
like to have a chance to fight at UFC Rio, but I believe it’d
be hard to. After the fight ends we need a time to rest. Maybe
I won’t have time to fight at Rio.
Source: Tatame
|
With
his opponent in Rio known, Aldo has but one concern
A
special spectator, Palhinha, drew a lot of attention to himself
in the front row at UFC 129, near the octagon. The Brazilian
from Belém do Pará screamed himself hoarse for
his idol Lyoto Machida but also for featherweight champion José
Aldo, who quickly made his way to talk to the karateka following
the event. He’d heard Palhinha shouting the whole time.
Aldo’s
coach, Dedé Pederneiras, was brimming with pride: “He
did everything like we’d planned it. The only thing he he
did that was off the program was go for that guillotine, when
he sat back. He’d never done that in training,” he
told GRACIEMAG.com’s editor, Marcelo Dunlop.
“We
got tense at the end of the fight,” admits chief training
partner Marlon Sandro.
“I
saw his neck exposed and went for it, I thought I could get it,”
said Aldo in response, already with the belt dangling from his
arm, Nikes on his feet, and wearing Nova União shorts.
Then he added: “I knew I’d won the earlier rounds,
so I took it easy playing guard in the last one. I’m a Flamengo
(soccer team) fan and like excitement. That’s why I liked
the fight – that excitement in the end!”
Now
it’s more than likely he’ll face the undefeated Chad
Mendes, more than likely at UFC Rio, which anyone following GRACIEMAG.com
on Twitter (@graciemag_br) knew even before Aldo had stepped
into the octagon this Saturday.
“Now
UFC Rio is coming up and the foreigners will get to see what
it’s like fighting in their opponents’ hometown. Chad
Mendes is a really tough guy who’s been moving up the ranks
in the event. If the boss gives the go-ahead, it will be a good
fight; I’m a UFC employee.”
However,
Dana White says the fight may end up taking place at another
event, perhaps in Philadelphia.
Mark
Hominick, the opponent at the 129th installment of the show,
didn’t fold. White also had nothing but good things to say
about the doctors not interrupting the fight, even after a worryingly
huge welt developed on Mark’s forehead – the fighter
went straight to the hospital alongside his wife, who is near
the end of her pregnancy.
“It
was an awesome fight! Mark really brought the goods, he’s
a great fighter, really tough. I knew his boxing was great and
had sharpened up his muay thai for this. I looked to kick his
legs a lot and strike. But all my fights leading up to this one
were tough, not just this one. It was great for the crowd to
see that I’ll go a full five rounds,” said Aldo, breaking
down the fight.
Despite
the black eye, there’s only one thing concerning the champion
for the time being: the upcoming final game of his beloved soccer
team, Flamengo, against Vasco da Gama on Sunday.
“I
don’t know if I’ll get to see the game, I’m catching
a flight to Orlando tomorrow.”
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
St-Pierre
says sorry and talks Anderson Silva
It
would be a stretch to say the fight between Georges St-Pierre
and Jake Shields was a great one. Nor can one say the Canadian
crowd was much bothered about the businesslike manner in which
GSP came about his win. Despite a few boos scattered around the
stadium, the welterweight champion’s image remains untarnished
in his country, and he an undisputed hero. Overall, the crowd
was content as they left the Rogers Centre, where UFC 129 was
held this Saturday. That’s what the GRACIEMAG.com team in
Toronto gathered.
“He
came on strong, stronger than I figured he would. I expected
to beat him, finishing him on the ground. I apologize to the
fans for not finishing before time was up. I know he’s really
good, but I could have done better,” said GSP about Shields.
Indeed,
his opponent’s aggressive attacks yielded wounds that hampered
the run of combat.
“I
got hit early on and had trouble seeing, my vision was blurry
and I have to go to hospital to get checked on,” he says.
Regarding
the question on everyone’s mind, the fight with Anderson
Silva:
“I
just won this fight and I have a lot to think about in terms
of my career. We’ll see what happens. Perhaps there are
other ways of doing things,” he said in closing.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
UFC
129 Results: The Janitor Cleans Up, Finishes Brilz Early
Long
time veteran Vladimir Matyushenko said he wanted to make a big
statement prior to his fight against and he did just that tonight.
The
“Janitor” landed a counter uppercut and left jab combo
that dropped Brilz early on. Three subsequent hammer fists forced
referee Dan Mirgliotta to stop the fight. Brilz briefly protested
the result after coming back to his senses but stoppage was just.
“I’ve
been working on my striking skills a lot,” said Matyushenko
after the fight.
For
Brilz, the knockout was a setback and marked the first two-fight
losing streak of his career. Prior to the match, Brilz was coming
off of a split decision loss to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Brilz
took the fight on short notice and many onlookers felt that he
should have been given the victory. The Omaha, Nebraska fighter
gained a lot of new fans after that night and built up some momentum
coming into his fight against Matyushenko.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Egan
and Enson's Ganbatte Japan fundraiser this weekend TODAY
Pacific Beach Hotel
Sunday, May 1st
We have some great stuff going on...
Fitness classes, autograph signings by Chris Leben, BJ Penn,
Sunny Garcia and more.
Mike Fowler will be doing a BJJ seminar and Egan's teaching a
MMA Bootcamp class.
There will also be silent auction, keiki fun zone, health &
beauty zone and much more.
For more info please contact me at 271-3779 or minoue@estudiohawaii.com.
Enson just arrived here today and will be showing footage at
the fundraiser of his trips to the evacuation centers, etc.
We hope you'll join us in promoting this great event.
Thank you.
Here is the Press Release:
EGAN AND
ENSON INOUE TO HOST "GANBATTE JAPAN" FUNDRAISER FOR
JAPAN EARTHQUAKE/TSUNAMI RELIEF
Brothers
aim to raise $100,000 at May 1 event
HONOLULU
- Egan and Enson Inoue, two of Hawaii's most decorated athletes
and mixed martial art (MMA) fighters, today announced the formation
of the "Ganbatte Japan" fund to benefit victims of
the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that struck the Tohoku region
of Japan. To benefit the fund, the brothers will host a fundraiser
from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, May 1 at Pacific Beach Hotel's
Grand Ballroom, of which 100% of all proceeds will go directly
to Japan relief efforts.
"I've
spent the last 20 years living in Japan, and immediately after
the catastrophe, I felt compelled to do something," said
Enson Inoue. "I recently returned from a trip to Tohoku,
where I delivered much-needed supplies, and the devastation I
witnessed there was heartbreaking. It left me convinced that
we must all do our part to help the people of Japan as they show
their ganbatte ("do your best") spirit."
Scheduled
events include high-energy classes such as Zumba, CardioMix,
Turbo Kick Box taught by Hawaii's top instructors, performances
by noted traditional Japanese singing instructor Dennis Oshiro's
students and Egan Inoue's popular Bootcamp classes throughout
the day. Other events include martial arts demonstrations, gourmet
bake sale, silent auction, keiki fun zone and health & beauty
zone. MMA champion BJ Penn and surfing legend Sunny Garcia are
just some of the names scheduled to appear for an autograph sessions.
Tickets
are $30 for adults and $15 for children between 4 and 15 years
of age; children under 4 are free. Tickets can be purchased online
at www.hawaiifitcamp.com or www.showclix.com/event/33582. Free
parking will be provided with all advanced ticket purchases;
otherwise, parking is available at Pacific Beach for a $5 fee.
Source: Marcia Inoue
|
UFC
129 Results & Live Play-by-Play
Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Pablo
Garza vs. Yves Jabouin
Round 1
Jabouin is simply brutalizing Garza with leg kicks early. One
particularly hard strike cuts Garza’s leg out from underneath.
A punch soon after knocks his mouthpiece out. Another kick buckles
the American’s left leg and he tries to retaliate with one
of his own. Midway through the round, Garza ties up, lands knees
and leaps into a triangle choke. The lanky “Scarecrow”
has it locked up, but it’s loose. Garza adjusts and it’s
looking very tight now. He elbows Jabouin’s head and rolls
on top. Garza is trying to tell referee Yves Lavigne that Jabouin
is out, but Jabouin signals that he’s okay. A moment later,
Garza pulls down hard on the head, forcing the tap at 4:31 of
the opening round.
Kyle
Watson vs. John Makdessi
Round 1
The lightweights lob tentative punches in the opening minute,
the longer Watson flicking out leg kicks. Makdessi times a low
kick and socks Watson with a straight left; two minutes in, it’s
the hardest offense of the fight. Watson looks to go low for
a double momentarily, then thinks otherwise. Another leg kick
is countered with a Makdessi left hand. Watson leaps inside to
clinch and gets one knee off, but eats a quick flurry from Makdessi
as they split. Makdessi turns into a side kick that grazes Watson’s
midsection. Hook kick from Makdessi, but it’s off the mark.
Makdessi gets off another pair of stiff lefts in the last minute;
Watson thuds a kick to his body at the horn.
TJ
De Santis scores the round 10-9 Makdessi
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Makdessi
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-10
Round
2
Makdessi getting busy with low and front kicks early in the second.
The grappler Watson is still trying to hang on the feet, but
despite his reach advantage, just can’t find the range.
Makdessi is wheeling backward, picking Watson apart with counter
left hooks and straight right hands. Watson gets off a slapping
head kick, but Makdessi doesn’t fall. Makdessi goes back
to the turning side-kicks and Watson tries to emulate, with less
success. Two minutes left in the round and “The Bull”
is still playing matador to Watson. Watson misses a spinning
back fist and Makdessi lands one seconds later. Big, close-quarters
left hook from Makdessi buckles Watson’s legs. He stays
up and Makdessi decks him again, this time right under the jaw.
Makdessi starts pushing forward with kicks in the last 15 seconds
and zaps Watson with a nasty right, and another one-two just
before the horn.
TJ
De Santis scores the round 10-9 Makdessi
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Makdessi
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 Makdessi
Round
3
The lightweights touch gloves to begin the final round and Makdessi
whips Watson with another turning kick shortly after. Finally,
Watson ties up and muscles Makdessi into the cage. They disengage
and Watson seems to be cut under the eye. As he’s checking
the damage, Makdessi blitzes. Punches land, further leg kicks
and then it happens. Makdessi fakes a right leg kick and drills
a spinning left back-fist directly into Watson’s bloodied
cheek. Watson falls to his back, out cold, and referee Dan Miragliotta
steps in for the save. It’s a highlight reel knockout for
John Makdessi at 1:27 of the third round.
Jason
MacDonald vs. Ryan Jensen
Round 1
Herb Dean is the referee for this middleweight bout. Jensen rushes
right in with straight punches and MacDonald goes low for a takedown.
Jensen’s back is to the fence and he jumps guard with a
guillotine. The Canadian extracts his head and the Toronto crowd
likes the turn of events as MacDonald climbs onto Jensen’s
back. Jensen twists into his foe and tripods up in MacDonald’s
guard at the base of the cage. MacDonald throws up a triangle
and it must be tight, because Jensen immediately tries to slam
his way free. He can’t, and the slam only helps MacDonald
to tighten the choke. Jensen throws a few punches in vain before
tapping out at the 1:37 mark.
Ivan
Menjivar vs. Charlie Valencia
Round 1
Valencia comes out with kicks to the body and then the bantamweights
start sniping. Menjivar lands a solid one-two down the pipe and
the pair clinch up. Menjivar fires hard left elbow in the clinch.
The first doesn’t drop Valencia, but the second elbow crushes
his nose and sends him dropping to the floor. Menjivar follows
up with punches from above and referee “Big” John McCarthy
rescues the helpless Valencia just 90 seconds into the first
round.
Claude
Patrick vs. Daniel Roberts
Round 1
Roberts comes straight at Patrick, who changes levels and puts
“Ninja” on his back. Roberts is leaning to his right,
looking for an arm as Patrick scoots him around the cage. One
minute in, he finds it and Patrick is forced to slow his roll
and defend. Patrick opts to stand and the southpaws go back to
throwing. Roberts lands a pair of short knees, but Patrick is
controling the action from the clinch. Patrick is chopping away
with knees now. Roberts breaks away. Roberts throws a superman
punch but whiffs. Patrick lands a nice straight left over the
top, then rushes in and lands an elbow before clinching. An outside
leg trip from Patrick puts Roberts on his back once again. Patrick
lands in half guard. Roberts has rubber guard with 30 seconds
left and Patrick backs out. The Canadian drills Roberts with
a left hook and Roberts is in trouble. Patrick rushes him with
uppercuts, maybe half a dozen to the head and body, but can’t
finish before the horn.
TJ
De Santis scores the round 10-9 Patrick
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Patrick
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 Patrick
Round
2
Roberts absorbs more punches and leg kicks from Patrick for 30
seconds before taking Patrick down. They don’t stay on the
mat for long, as Patrick gets to his feet and Roberts clinches
him into the cage. Patrick digs a few punches to Robert’s
ribs over the shoulder. They split and Patrick connects with
a step-in knee with the Thai plum. Roberts misses a Superman
punch, then lands a solid kick to the gut of Patrick, who answers
with a chopping leg kick. Patrick floors Roberts with a high
double-leg and Roberts is sitting against the cage, where he
finds a guillotine. Ninja can’t finish the choke, but uses
it to sweep and take side control with two minutes to go. Roberts
is looking for an arm-triangle choke, but he’s in a tricky
spot at the base of the fence. Patrick regains half-guard and
open-hand slaps Roberts three times to the back of the head.
Roberts looks at ref Dan Miragliotta, to no avail. Patrick regains
full guard and then stands, but has his back taken in the scramble.
Roberts brings him to the floor, but can’t hold Patrick
down. Patrick lands a leg kick and a solid one-two in the last
30 seconds, while Roberts wings a dozen tired punches that don’t
connect.
TJ
De Santis scores the round 10-9 Roberts
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-10
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-10
Round
3
Roberts looking exhausted as he lands another thudding body kick
in the opening minute. Patrick catches the next one and shoves
Roberts into the cage, where he pops the American with a short
left and trips him to the floor. Patrick takes full mount without
much space to work, driving a left hand or two into Roberts’
face before being stuffed back to full guard. Roberts shrimps
after another left hand and gets to his feet. More tired punches
from Roberts until he gives up and goes for a takedown. Patrick
defends it and grabs a guillotine, then gives it up and puts
Roberts’ back to the cage. Patrick obeys the Toronto crowd
hollering for knees and throws a few up the middle. Roberts reverses
Patrick into the fence and stalls out. Miragliotta restarts them
with 50 seconds to go. Patrick is letting Roberts punch from
a mile away but not throwing anything of his own. Roberts tries
for a takedown with 20 seconds left and it’s stuffed. Patrick
tries a guillotine that allows Roberts to get on top and finish
the round with weary punches to the body.
TJ
De Santis scores the round 10-10 (29-29 Draw)
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Patrick (30-28 Patrick)
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 Patrick (30-28 Patrick)
Official
scores: All three judges have it 29-28 for the winner by unanimous
decision, Claude Patrick.
Sean
Pierson vs. Jake Ellenberger
Round 1
Herb Dean referees the show’s first televised prelim. Tentative
trading in the early going, with Ellenberger sticking the hometown
favorite with a pair of solid left hands. Ellenberger plows Pierson
down with a double-leg, but Pierson hops right back up. Right
hook lands for Ellenberger, then a left, and Pierson clinches
up. They split quickly and Pierson’s bleeding under his
right eye. A massive left hook from Ellenberger spins Pierson
around. Two more punches come from Ellenberger as Pierson falls
limply to the canvas. Herb Dean calls the stop at 2:42 and it’s
a vicious knockout win for Jake Ellenberger.
Rory
MacDonald vs. Nate Diaz
Round 1
The southpaw Diaz assumes his rangy, pawing stance as MacDonald
flicks slapping kicks to the head and body. After a minute of
tentative exchanging, Diaz holds his arms out in the typical
style and implores the Candian to come forward. MacDonald lands
a nice one-two as Diaz comes in to tie up. He shoves MacDonald’s
back into the cage and throws a few hands to the gut. MacDonald
gets an underhook and reverses, then goes low for a takedown.
Diaz defends, but MacDonald tries to pull him into guard. Nothing
doing and the welterweights go back to the feet. MacDonald with
a Superman punch, a left jab, then just misses with a head kick.
Diaz keeps coming forward and MacDonald begins finding success
with counter-punches. They clinch up again with neither getting
the upperhand, and MacDonald exits with a knee at the 70 second
mark. Diaz ducks a MacDonald left and goes for a single. The
Stockton, Calif., native can’t execute and changes to a
double as MacDonald puts his back to the fence. Knee to the body
from Diaz is answered by a right hand from MacDonald. The horn
sounds and ref John McCarthy steps between the fighters as Diaz
keeps jawing.
Tony
Loiseleur scores the round 10-9 MacDonald
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 MacDonald
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 MacDonald
Round
2
More clinching early. They split and Diaz catches a front kick
from MacDonald, lets it go, and taunts his Canadian opponent.
MacDonald bullies Diaz against the cage and tries to trip him
down as Diaz punches to the body and head. MacDonald succeeds
with the trip, but Diaz quickly gets back to his feet. Now, MacDonald
slams Diaz to the mat in the center of the cage. MacDonald stands
and dodges upkicks, then socks Diaz with a nice right hand as
Diaz stands. Diaz still coming forward, trying to find his range,
and he puts a straight left on MacDonald’s cheek. Another
clinch and MacDonald snaps Diaz’s head back with an uppercut.
Face reddened, Diaz resists a MacDonald single-leg and takes
the power position in the clinch. Diaz shrugs his right shoulder
into MacDonald’s jaw and trips him down, but MacDonald just
stands back up. Diaz pushes forward with a slapping one-two.
MacDonald leaps in with a flying knee and then tries a single-leg,
but abandons it when Diaz looks for a standing kimura. MacDonald
snaps off another one-two-leg kick combo before the horn.
Tony
Loiseleur scores the round 10-10
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 MacDonald
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 MacDonald
Round
3
MacDonald just misses on a right high kick. Diaz continues coming
forward, whereupon he’s clinched into the cage by “The
Waterboy.” Diaz tries to pick the ankle of MacDonald and
instead eats a hard punch from his knees. MacDonald hops onto
Diaz’s back and twice ragdolls him to the floor with huge
power. Big punches from MacDonald on top before he backs out.
Diaz still on the mat, MacDonald comes back in with more shots,
then suplexes Diaz once again for good measure. Two minutes to
go and MacDonald stuffs a trip attempt from Diaz as they clinch
against the fence. Diaz’s single-leg is sprawled on and
MacDonald connects with more punches, elbows. MacDonald winds
up on top with a minute to go. He stands and dodges upkicks in
the last minute before the horn sounds on what should be a unanimous
decision for the Canadian prospect.
Tony
Loiseleur scores the round 10-9 MacDonald (30-28 MacDonald)
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-8 MacDonald (30-26 MacDonald)
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 MacDonald (30-27 MacDonald)
Official
scores: The scores are 30-27 and 30-26 (twice) in favor of Rory
MacDonald, who takes a unanimous decision before a raucous Rogers
Centre crowd.
Benson
Henderson vs. Mark Bocek
Round 1
Bocek puts a straight right on Henderson and the pair clinch,
with Henderson reversing to take dominant position. The former
WEC champ has double underhooks as he tries to trip Bocek to
the ground. Bocek resists and eats a knee to the gut, but answers
with one of his own. The lightweights jockey for position and
aren’t active enough for ref Yves Lavigne, who restarts
them in the center. Bocek puts another right hand on “Smooth”
and they clinch again. Left elbow comes over the top from Henderson,
then a right leg kick. Henderson pumps his right jab in Bocek’s
face and then comes forward with a Superman punch and a hard
leg kick. Another punch-kick combo from Henderson and Bocek shoots
for a single leg. Henderson gets a half dozen hard punches off
as he hops on one leg, but eventually succumbs to the takedown.
Bocek works from Henderson’s butterfly guard with less than
a minute to go. He can’t pass before the horn, while Henderson
lands some elbows from the bottom.
TJ
De Santis scores the round 10-9 Henderson
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-10
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-10
Round
2
Henderson resists a Bocek single-leg and elbows to the Canadian’s
body as they clinch against the fence. Henderon with a takedown
now; Bocek gets up and is tripped straight back down. Bocek looks
for a leg or arm as Henderson sits atop in half-guard, punching
away. Henderson’s leg slips loose as Bocek gets up and clinches.
Henderson soon has underhooks, though, and goes back to punishing
Bocek against the cage. Knees inside from Henderson until Bocek
grabs a front headlock and drags him to his knees. Bocek has
a guillotine and he’s switching to an anaconda. Bocek rolls,
can’t finish, stands back up and adjusts the choke. It’s
a standing guillotine now, but Bocek rolls again to try and finish.
Henderson pops loose and goes wild, blasting Bocek with vicious
elbows and knees to the body. When the round ends, Bocek is busted
wide open with red blood staining his hairline and forehead.
TJ
De Santis scores the round 10-9 Henderson
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Henderson
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 Henderson
Round
3
Bocek is patched up and toweled down with a great gob of Vaseline
on his cut. He brings Henderson down and finds himself in the
American’s tight, closed guard. Henderson is keeping active
with short punches from underneath and then throws his legs up
for an armbar. It doesn’t come, but does allow him to sweep
and pummel Bocek from the standing position. Bocek drives forward
and jumps on Henderson’s back standing, but soon slips off.
Henderson takes underhooks and knees Bocek inside. Bocek’s
bleeding again as he elbows the ribs of Henderson, who’s
looking for a double-leg. Henderson gets it and sprawls on a
counter-shot while driving elbows to the head and punches under
the arm. Bocek stands and takes more damage in the form of knees
to the midsection and punches up top. With 40 seconds remaining,
Bocek charges forward and gets a takedown. Henderson shrimps
to his knee, nearly gets caught in a guillotine, but escapes.
He slams Bocek with more knees against the cage just before the
end of the bout.
TJ
De Santis scores the round 10-9 Henderson (30-27 Henderson)
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Henderson (30-28 Henderson)
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 Henderson (30-28 Henderson)
Official
scores: It's a unanimous decision with all three judges' scorecards
reading 30-27 in favor of Ben Henderson.
Vladimir
Matyushenko vs. Jason Brilz
Round 1
Matyushenko throws first, big bunches of punches as Brilz ducks
low. A big right uppercut cracks Brilz on the temple, and a forearm
finds its mark as he goes down. Brilz’s lights go out as
Matyushenko blasts him with hammerfists and Dan Miragliotta is
forced to intervene. Brilz comes to right away and protests,
but replays show the stoppage was righteous. The official time
is 20 seconds of the first round.
Randy
Couture vs. Lyoto Machida
Round 1
Couture whips his head from side to side, dodging Machida’s
first punches. The wrestler shoots for the waist of Machida and
then dips back out. Machida sneaking some solid right hands through
as the 205-pounders feel one another out. Couture pushes forward
and Machida wings counterpunches, clipping “Captain America”
with an uppercut in the clinch. Couture punches to the body of
Machida, who replies with a sharp one-two to the mush. Couture
still inching forward, but Machida is being Machida and staying
out of range. Machida leaps into the pocket with a knee and Couture
tries to bully him into the cage, but the Brazilian won’t
have it. Couture tries a waistlock, can’t get it, and settles
for clinching on the fence. They don’t stay there long,
as Machida circles out and kicks Couture in the gut. Machida
lands another knee to the gut in the closing seconds.
TJ
De Santis scores the round 10-9 Machida
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Machida
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 Machida
Round
2
Couture fakes a few shots, but is clearly cautious of coming
inside on Machida, who continues to counter with big hooks and
push kicks. Out of nowhere, in center cage, Machida plants a
hopping front kick straight out of “The Karate Kid”
on Couture’s chin. Randy goes down and ref Yves Lavigne
waves it off, the end coming at 1:05 of the second round. Speaking
to Joe Rogan after the fight, Couture confirms that he is now
retired.
UFC
Featherweight Championship
Jose Aldo vs. Mark Hominick
Round 1
John McCarthy is the referee for the first featherweight title
bout in UFC history. Aldo stares at the ground during final instructions,
only looking up at Hominick as they retreat to their corners.
The Brazilian looks relaxed, the Canadian twitchy as they touch
gloves and circle. Aldo fires a one-two, a leg kick, an uppercut,
another leg kick. He dodges a big right hand from Hominick and
then drives a left hand to the gut. Another leg kick buckles
the left knee of Hominick. Left hand from Hominick finds it mark;
Aldo replies with another leg kick. Hominick catches a front
kick and Aldo falls down, but hops right back up. Aldo is going
after the left leg of Hominick, who’s now checking the strikes.
Aldo plows Hominick down with a double-leg and avoids an armbar
attempt. Working from Hominick’s closed guard, Aldo lays
a forearm across his challenger’s throat and slams him with
short staples. Aldo postures up, can’t find space, and goes
back down. Hominick’s doing well to tie up and avoid punishment,
prompting McCarthy to tell the pair to get busy. Aldo responds
by dropping elbows on Hominick’s face. Some more strikes
come from on top and Hominick is bleeding from the nose and cheek,
looking lumpy around the forehead. They’re not active enough
for McCarthy, who stands them up with 30 seconds left. Hominick
pops the champ with a left hook, but eats another leg kick and
is taken down again by Aldo. That’s where the first round
ends.
TJ
De Santis scores the round 10-9 Aldo
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Aldo
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 Aldo
Round
2
Hominick comes out the aggressor, looking for uppercuts and left
hooks. He drives a particularly hard left to Aldo’s body.
Right uppercut from Aldo and he ducks a left hook. Hominick stuffs
a shot and punches to the body again. Aldo has slowed significantly
and is not dodging Hominick’s punches as well as he did
in the first frame. Just after he eats a one-two, he uses head
movement to avoid about six consecutive Hominick shots. Aldo
gets a takedown with three minutes to go and Hominick goes back
to tying up. The Canadian uses his feet to push off the fence
and further neutralize Aldo. The champ drops a few hard punches
from on top. McCarthy warns Hominick for grabbing the fence with
his hands and pushing off, an infraction Hominick has repeated
a few times now. They’re stood up with a minute to go, but
Aldo soon floors Hominick with another double-leg. Hominick is
pushing off the cage with his feet again with Aldo in side control.
Again, Aldo can’t get space to do damage and the round ends
in a stalemate.
TJ
De Santis scores the round 10-9 Aldo
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-10
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-10
Round
3
Hominick looks the much fresher fighter at the start of the third.
He circles the champion and flicks out his left jab while Aldo
tries to counter and lobs leg kicks. Aldo ducks in behind an
uppercut and tries a takedown, but Hominick slips it. Aldo’s
head movement still looks good, as he dodges punches while standing
almost stock still. Another chopping leg kick from the champ,
then a straight one-two down the pipe. Hominick snaps Aldo’s
head back with a jab. Both men dig to the body at the same time.
Aldo gets a single-leg takedown, but Hominick’s right back
up, jabbing away. The Brazilian’s face is reddened, even
as he continues to move out of the way of a number of Hominick’s
punches. Aldo throws a right that clips Hominick behind the ear
and a follow-up hook sends the challenger to his back. Aldo pounces
and lands a few flush shots, but can’t finish and settles
down into Hominick’s guard with a minute to go. Aldo drops
a few elbows; Hominick boxes his man’s ears with open palms.
TJ
De Santis scores the round 10-9 Aldo
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Aldo
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 Aldo
Round
4
Hominick’s left eye looks to have sustained serious damage
as the championship rounds begin. Aldo gets back to his leg kicks
and then cracks Hominick with a left that stumbles the challenger.
Aldo thinks an inside thigh kick catches Hominick low and offers
to stop, but Hominick wants to keep going. Twenty seconds later,
Aldo steps in with a knee and does clip Hominick’s cup.
Hominick is ready to get going seconds after and they go back
to swinging. A few more kicks from Aldo and Hominick’s left
leg is looking like rubber. Left hands from Aldo find their marks
on the badly moused cheek of “The Machine.” Another
direct hit to Hominick’s left leg. Double jab from Hominick
is answered by an Aldo right straight and Hominick falls to his
back. Aldo goes into the Canadian’s guard and tries to elbow.
Hominick ties up but now has a giant, Hasim Rahman-sized knot
on his right forehead. McCarthy allows them to fight on for 20
seconds before calling for the cageside physician. The doctor
surprisingly clears Hominick to continue and they resume with
40 seconds left. Aldo scores another takedown before the end
of the frame.
TJ
De Santis scores the round 10-9 Aldo
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Aldo
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 Aldo
Round
5
Just as the final round is set to begin, McCarthy calls for the
doctor again. The doctor performs some eye checks and clears
the challenger for battle once more. The featherweights slap
hands to begin the last frame and Aldo goes to his leg kicks.
He slips a one-two from Hominick and drills an uppercut to the
gut that seems to hurt the Canadian badly. Hominick gets a takedown
and tries to punish from top position. Aldo eats a few left hands
before trying to tie up with Hominick, who’s now bleeding
profusely from the left side of his face. Short right hammerfist
bounces off Aldo’s face. The champion is shrimping, but
weary and unable to escape the punishment. Still 2:30 to go as
Hominick works from the Brazilian’s open guard. Aldo covers
his head and Hominick punches to the body. Zero offense coming
from the champion on the bottom and plenty coming from Hominick
on top in the form of elbows, forearms, punches. Dozens of unanswered
strikes come from Hominick with Aldo helpless to prevent it.
Aldo hangs on for dear life with 30 seconds to go. Hominick stands
and tries to dive past Aldo’s guard. He lands a few left
hands on the way in, but can’t pass. It’s right down
to the buzzer and it looks as though Aldo will hold on. He does
and Hominick helps him up at the final horn. The pair embrace
before Hominick drops down for some push-ups; Aldo follows suit
and the Toronto crowd laughs.
TJ
De Santis scores the round 10-9 Hominick (49-46 Aldo)
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-8 Hominick (48-47 Aldo)
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 Hominick (49-47 Aldo)
Official
scores: Judge Douglas Crosby scores it 48-45, while Nelson Hamilton
has it 48-46 and Sal D’Amato 49-46, all in favor of the
winner and still UFC featherweight champion, Jose Aldo.
UFC
Welterweight Championship
Georges St. Pierre vs. Jake Shields
Round 1
Referee Herb Dean is in charge of this welterweight title tilt.
Shields is flicking the jab out early, throwing body kicks which
St. Pierre blocks. The challenger catches a kick from GSP and
shoves him into the fence, where he lets the let go in favor
of over-unders. St. Pierre spins him around and then disengages.
Shields still trying to jab, but he’s not in range. St.
Pierre stings him with a right straight, misses a spinning back-kick.
Left jabs starting to get through for GSP. Another side-kick
finds Shields’ midsection. St. Pierre with a right hand
over the top just before the two-minute mark. A stiff left jab
from St. Pierre coincides with a Shields kick, sending Shields
toppling to the mat. He’s stung, but pops right back up
and goes toe-to-toe with GSP again. St. Pierre is mixing right
leg kicks with his left jabs in the last minute, already putting
marks on his challenger’s face as the first round ends.
TJ
De Santis scores the round 10-9 St. Pierre
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 St. Pierre
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 St. Pierre
Round
2
Blood comes from the mouth of Shields as the second round begins
and St. Pierre paws with more jabs. Shields gets off a right
straight, but that’s about it in the first 60 seconds. GSP,
meanwhile, lands jabs and leg kicks, occasionally throwing an
overhand right to back Shields up. One right hand lands behind
Shields’ ear and the Cesar Gracie protégé
tilts before circling out. St. Pierre stalks, hunting for the
big, right-handed haymaker now. Turning back-kick goes straight
to the gut of Shields, who is looking off-balance and unstable
as St. Pierre picks his punches. St. Pierre dances and feints,
chopping Shields down with leg kicks. Shields shoots, but there’s
nothing there.
TJ
De Santis scores the round 10-9 St. Pierre
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 St. Pierre
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 St. Pierre
Round
3
St. Pierre is still looking for the big right hand, keeping out
of range of Shields, who stands flat-footed and moves in straight
lines. Neither man finding much success in the first half of
the round, but the champion undoubtedly looks the better and
more in-control fighter. He sprawls all over a shot from Shields,
lands a leg kick, then a right hand. Shields gets a kick to the
body through, but eats a right hand in return. St. Pierre catches
the next kick and drives a straight right down the pipe. St.
Pierre doubles up on a jab and slams Shields to the ground, finishing
in half-guard. The champion is clearly bothered by a small mouse
under his left eye as he walks back to his corner at the end
of the period.
TJ
De Santis scores the round 10-9 St. Pierre
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 St. Pierre
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 St. Pierre
Round
4
St. Pierre gets another takedown early, but doesn’t want
the fight there. He lets Shields back up and goes back to jabbing,
kicking, Superman-punching. With 2:40 to go, a left head kick
hurts Shields badly. He recovers quickly on the ground and St.
Pierre wants to keep it on the feet. St. Pierre’s left jabs
and straights are coming in at will. Shields throws his arms
up in frustration, taunting the champion in the manner of teammate
Nick Diaz. St. Pierre is bleeding on the left side of his face
now, cut on the bridge of his nose.
TJ
De Santis scores the round 10-9 St. Pierre
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 St. Pierre
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-10
Round
5
St. Pierre looks to keep his rage as the final round begins,
jabbing and switch-kicking as Shields inches in to close the
gap. The champ catches Shields coming in with a combo and staggers
him with a counter right hand. Halfway through, the last round
is still up for grabs, but Shields likely needs a finish here.
St. Pierre’s left eye looks a mess, now streaming blood,
and Shields is trying to target it with straight rights. St.
Pierre lands a left jab with 40 seconds left that has Shield
pawing at his right eye. Shield’s nose is badly busted up
now. At the 10-second mark, GSP tries for one last takedown,
but Shields stuffs it. The men embrace at the final horn.
TJ
De Santis scores the round 10-9 Shields (49-46 St. Pierre)
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-10 (50-46 St. Pierre)
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-10 (50-47 St. Pierre)
Official
scores: It’s a unanimous decision, with judge Douglas Crosby
scoring it 50-45, Nelson Hamilton 48-47 and Richard Bertrand
48-47, all in favor of the reigning UFC welterweight champion,
Georges St. Pierre.
Source: Sherdog
|
UFC
Targeting Cain Velasquez for October; Could It Be in a Stadium?
by Damon Martin
UFC
heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez at UFC 121
UFC
heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez is on the comeback trail,
looking to defend his belt later this year in what could be the
biggest fight of his career.
Velasquez
has been sidelined for the past few months after suffering a
shoulder injury that required surgery and put him on the shelf
until later in 2011.
The
UFC's top heavyweight will watch with a special interest in the
upcoming fight between Junior Dos Santos and Brock Lesnar, because
the winner will be the one welcoming him back to the Octagon
later this year.
According
to UFC president Dana Whtie, Velasquez is right on track and
they have targeted a time for his return to action.
"Cain's
good. He's coming along great. He's actually going to be here
for this fight," White commented on Wednesday.
"I
think we were talking about him in October."
Velasquez
will be in Toronto to participate in the UFC Fan Expo as well
as the "Super 7" presentation with all seven of the
UFC's champions making an appearance on stage prior to the weigh-ins
for UFC 129.
When
Velasquez is ready to return, if the cards are dealt correctly,
he could also get a shot at headlining a stadium show. Dana White
has stated that after the success of UFC 129 in Toronto, that
another huge show could follow and a heavyweight title bout may
just fill the bill.
"I
think stadium shows are going to be one off shows. Every time
there's a huge, great fight, I think GSP vs. Anderson Silva if
that fight happened, would be a stadium show. Depending on who
wins out of Dos Santos and Lesnar against our heavyweight champion,
could be a big fight, so who knows," White stated.
Lesnar
has proven to be a huge asset whenever he's involved in a pay-per-view,
so if he's successful in his fight against Dos Santos, thus earning
the rematch with Velasquez, it may be just the fight the UFC
is looking for to fill the need for another stadium show.
Dallas
Cowboys Stadium has been mentioned as one of the biggest options
for a future UFC stadium show, but whether or not that will come
to fruition in 2011 remains to be seen.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Coker
Reflects on Promoting with Zuffa
Now
that Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker has had the chance to promote
under the Zuffa banner, he is confident that he made the right
decision to sell his company to the UFC owners.
"I'm
glad it's all moving forward and people can see the fights are
still going to happen, that I'm still running Strikeforce and
we're going to have a contract with Showtime still," Coker
said recently during a "Savage Dog Show" interview.
"People say it's not business as usual, but really, if you
watched the telecast on Saturday night, it looked like business
as usual. There might be some changes in the back, but at the
end of the day, I love promoting fights and I get to continue
promoting fights."
Coker
was referring to the April 9 Strikeforce "Diaz vs. Daley"
card, which featured a thrilling main event between Nick Diaz
and Paul Daley. Although the Showtime telecast looked like a
typical Strikeforce event, Coker appreciated the help Zuffa provided
backstage.
"It's
nice to have a big staff working toward one goal," he said.
"In the past we had a smaller staff. Our smaller staff was
obviously very good. It's just that the Zuffa machine has a lot
more people, a lot more marketing, a lot more PR, a lot more
bodies around in the back. Believe me, they do it right. I think
that where we had to cut some corners in the past, they don't
need to do that. They're on top of everything. They have a great
system."
The
sale to Zuffa came after Coker's partners at Silicon Valley Sports
& Entertainment decided to exit the MMA business.
"For
[Silicon Valley Sports] it was just a business deal," Coker
explained. "For me it was something that I had a lot more
passion behind. ... When I think of Strikeforce, it's like your
baby. You grew it, and you're seeing it grow up. But at the end
of the day, it is a business. ... When you take the emotion out
of it, it made a lot of sense. It made good business sense to
do it."
Coker
also countered the belief that the UFC plans on absorbing Strikeforce.
He said he expects Strikeforce to succeed at a level where merging
will not make sense.
"That's
what I believe," Coker said. "My goal is to make [Strikeforce]
as profitable as I can and make it such a rich venture that they'll
keep it going for many years to come."
Source:
Sherdog
|
Randy
Couture comments on why he wanted Lyoto Machida as his final
opponent
By Zach
Arnold
KENNY
RICE: "I think this is different, though, than any other
time we've had you on because going into this fight now we might
actually be talking about, is this going to be your last fight
win, lose, or draw?"
RANDY
COUTURE: "I think it is. I think it's time, you know, I
kind of want to go out on my own terms, don't want to wait until
there's an injury that forces me out or you lose two or three
fights and everybody's thinking you should retire. I've been
on a good run, I've probably pushed it further than anybody's
going to push it in a long while and I've got a lot of other
things that I'm working on that I want to focus on and I think
it's time."
KENNY
RICE: "You know, we've talked about this before, several
times it's been bounced around for the last year or so. Was there
a particular moment where you said, this is it, I've decided
that the (Lyoto) Machida fight is it. Is it just something that's
progressed, Randy?"
RANDY
COUTURE: "It's more something that's kind of progressed,
you know, there's kind of been a transition. I've been getting
more, more and more acting jobs and betting acting jobs, and
obviously all the other businesses that I'm involved in are doing
very well, the gym is great and the clothing line and all those
things are doing fantastic. So, I really want to focus on those
things and, to be frank, I want to enjoy life a little bit. I
don't want to grind out another camp, I'm not interested in making
a run at the title or any of those things. Regardless of the
win record is right now, it's been about fighting. It's been
about going out and doing what I have a passion to do and what
I love to do and I've wanted this fight for a long time and this
seems like, it's my 30th fight, it's a great fight to finish
on."
TITO
ORTIZ: "So, Randy, what do you think are some of the key
elements for you to win this fight?"
RANDY
COUTURE: "Well, I think everybody who's faced Machida has
to pressure him. I think he doesn't do well backing up, he's
not a big fan of standing and banging, he doesn't really like
to get hit or trade that way and so I think using the cage effectively,
using footwork to cut him off, we saw that with Shogun, we saw
that with Rampage. Try to keep him off-balance and not walk into
any of those things. If you play around and stay out of his distance,
he's got some pretty sharp kicks, he's got a great straight left
hand. He's a very elusive guy, so sometimes during camp I felt
like I've been in a track meet rather than a fight. But, it's
been a fun and interesting camp to train and get ready for."
TITO
ORTIZ: "Sounds like you've done homework because those are
the mistakes I made when I competed against Machida, so I wish
you a lot of luck."
RANDY
COUTURE: "Thanks, I appreciate it, Tito."
KENNY
RICE: "And you've learned from that?"
TITO
ORTIZ: "Yes."
KENNY
RICE: "And Randy watched your tape. Has he thrown something
at you, Machida, that, you know, you talk about the track meet
and the speed and all that that he brings into it. Has he been
somewhat different than anybody else you've faced in your distinguished
career?"
RANDY
COUTURE: "You know, he has been different. He's got a very
complex and very unique style, I think based on his Kyokushin
Karate background. The footwork that he uses, his stance, the
way he moves and sets up things, even the feints that he uses,
the little hip movement and moving his feet the way he does are
all different and not used to seeing a lot of that, it's not
grounded in boxing or Western kickboxing. It takes you some time
to try to get used to seeing what you're seeing and until you
get used to it, you get hit with a lot of different things, things
that you don't expect that come from weird places. So, it's been
a little frustrating at the beginning but, you know, no different
than having 280-290 pound guys on top of you for the first three
weeks of camp and having that frustration, so it's been frustrating
but in a different way."
Source:
Fight Opinion
|
Renan
Barão: "I'm focused on finishing the fight"
at UFC 130
By Guilherme
Cruz
Undefeated
for 26 fights, Renan Barão had been chosen to fight Demetrius
Johnson in UFC 130, which happens in May 28th. But, things changed
and the Brazilian's opponent was replaced by Cole Escovedo, the
first champion in WEC's history.
On
an exclusive interview with TATAME, Renan talked about his trainings
and the expectations for debiting in Ultimate, commenting his
game plan for the bout. "The two fights I did in WEC I came
in willing to strike, and both fights ended on the ground. What
I can tell you is that I'm focusing on finishing the fight",
guarantees, without minding the title yet. "Every UFC employee
has dreamed or still dream about winning that belt (laughs),
but I'm focused on my next fight".
Demetrius
Johnson bases his game on Wrestling. What do you know about your
new opponent?
If
we check his numbers, which don't say who's the better fighter,
they show that Escovedo may be a more dangerous guy than Demetrius
on the ground than striking, because he won with submissions
ten times, which is almost the total number of fights Demetrius
did, without mentioning Escovedo's win by knockout, which were
six, and one decision, with a total of 17 wins. But Demetrius
has better Wrestling, and fought tougher guys on his two last
fights.
This
replacement will change your trainings or your game plan?
I
was dedicating myself on training Wrestling a lto for Demetrius
and on the ground game, since my game plan was striking. But,
on the other hand, I've improved my conditioning, which was one
of Demetrius' strongest points, so I intend to use it against
Escovedo all the time... As for the trainings, I changed my focus,
but I won't change my sparring trainings much, I'll just try
to train with guys taller than me.
He's
a former champion of WEC on the division above yours and he kept
changing divisions. Do you think it makes any difference for
you, once you used to fight on the heavier division before joining
WEC's cast?
I
don't think so. I'm fighting MMA since I was 16 and I've fought
a lot on the division above, and even on the division above that.
And, as a consequence, with bigger and heavier athletes than
Escovedo. I'm evolving a lot physically, because when I'm in
Natal I work hard with Adriano Coringa, who's doing an excellent
work with me, and when I'm in Rio I continue to work on my conditioning
with Ramon Carrisso, who's a black belt from Nova Uniao, who
has helped me a lot on that part too.
After
two good wins on WEC, what are your expectations for debuting
in UFC?
I
hope to get better and better every time I fight and thanks'
God I believe I'm on the right track. On my debut on WEC, I finished
the fight on the third round, on the second I finished it on
the first round. I'm training for fighting three rounds, but
my goal is to finish it before the end and, if possible, present
myself better than I did on WEC, because I can tell I've evolved
since my last fight.
Escovedo
conquered most of his wins by submission, just like you did.
Will it take place on the ground?
MMA's
unpredictable, that's why it's growing so much. Just for you
to know, the two fights I did in WEC I came in willing to strike,
and both fights ended on the ground. Actually, on the second
fight, against the striker Cris Cariaso, I focused on striking
rather than the ground game, and it went to the floor anyway.
What I can tell you is that I'm focusing on finishing the fight.
Now, if it'll be standing up or on the ground, only God knows.
In
case you beat him down, you'll be undefeated for 27 fights. Do
you wonder about the belt?
Every
UFC employee that got there determinate and willing to win has
dreamed or still dream about winning that belt (laughs), but
I'm focused on my next fight. The most important thing is what
I'm doing now, which is training. I'm really training a lot.
I'm in Rio de Janeiro a while now and I'm focused for this fight.
I miss my home so much, my family and friends. But I'm here training
this hard for me and for them too.
Do
you want to leave a message?
I'd
like to thank TATAME for the support, also Joao from Rip Dorey,
and all the guy of Nova Uniao, because I've got everything I
need right here, good trainings and friends, and my family Kimura
Nova Uniao, that even when I'm not there they always call me
check how I'm doing.
Source:
Tatame
|
Shooto
world champion Beição comments on WOCS GP
by Carlos Eduardo Ozório
Beição
with South American and World Shooto belts. Photo: Rogério
Gomes
Four
fighters will step up for the WOCS 11 welterweight Grand Prix
this Friday in Campo Grande, Brazil. Facing off in the cage are
beasts like Luis Beição, André Chatuba,
Mauro Xuxa and Tico Pedroso. The GP format is a show all its
own.
"I've
been in two GPs in my career. You have to be physically prepared
for it, and you have to be more strategic in your fights. It's
important to always try and get the submission or knockout as
quickly as possible in the first fight so you'll have an advantage
in the second. It's a different and exciting system of fighting,"
remarks Beição, the Shooto world and South American
champion.
The
Nova União rep is keen to his opponents.
"I
feel the GP is at a high level, with top fighters from around
Brazil. Tico entered last - he's an excellent striker from a
traditional muay thai school. I think Xuxa and I made our MMA
debuts at practically the same time; he comes from a Chinese
boxing background but trains Jiu-Jitsu with the guys at CheckMat.
Chatuba is a finisher, has good takedowns and has a really potent
weapon in his arm-triangle. We don't know who we'll be facing,
so I'm training a bit of everything for the event," he advises.
And
WOCS forges ahead in its marathon of events with two more GPs.
On May 7 the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, will host the under-66-kg
(featherweight) GP, and on the 13th Brasília will host
the under-83-kg (middleweight) GP.
Check
out the card for Friday's event:
WOCS
11 - Campo Grande MS - 29 de abril
Under-77
Kg (welterweight) GP
André Chatuba (Relma / Minotauro)
Luiz Beição (Nova União)
Mauro Xuxa (CheckMat)
Tico Pedroso (World Strong)
Superfights
William Viana (TFT) vs. Luizinho da Silva (Gracie BarraMS)
77
kilos
Ivan freitas (TFT) vs. Gilmar Sanches (GB MS)
62
kilos
Fábio Larvinha (TFT) vs. José Elias (GB MS)
77
kilos
Nilson Pulgatti (TFT) vs. Davi Sutil (Freestyle) 84 kilos
Wande Lopes (TFT) vs. Cleiton Alves (Dojô Fight CG)
Over
93 kilos
Bruno Swarts (TFT) vs. Sergio Freitas ( Dojô Fight CG)
Source:
Gracie Magazine
|
Report:
Marketing Agency Sues Over 'Fan Expo' Title
by Mike Whitman
Ultimate
Fighting Championship parent company Zuffa, LLC, is reportedly
being sued by a Canadian marketing agency over the use of the
term "fan expo" in the promotion of UFC 129.
As
reported Tuesday by ComicBookResources.com, Toronto-based Hobby
Star Marketing, Inc. -- which operates the annual Fan Expo Canada
comic book and gaming convention -- has filed an injunction against
Zuffa and partners Reed Exhibitions. Hobby Star has reportedly
filed trademark infringement charges against the parties over
use of the "UFC Fan Expo" title, as well as the web
domain UFCFanExpo.com and the slogan "The Ultimate Fan Experience."
The
injunction, reportedly filed in Toronto's Federal Court, would
prevent the promotion or sale of any items or events bearing
the trademark. Hobby Star is also seeking that all goods violating
the injunction be either handed over or destroyed under oath.
The
UFC has held multiple events in the past bearing the "Fan
Expo" title, both in the United States and abroad. The UFC
129 event will be held at the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto
and will begin on Friday, April 29. The expo will feature question-and-answer
sessions with UFC personnel, autograph opportunities with fighters
and a four-man exhibition grappling tournament.
Fan
Expo Canada was founded in 1994 by Hobby Star Marketing and is
a multi-genre fan convention similar to San Diego's famous Comic-Con.
The convention, which caters to fans of comics, sci-fi, anime,
horror and video games, is the largest Canadian event of its
kind.
Source:
Sherdog
|
Ivan
Salaverry Comes Out of Retirement to Fight at BAMMA 6 in the
U.K.
The
full card for BAMMA 6 has been announced by the British promotion
and it includes the return of former UFC middleweight Ivan Salaverry.
While
quite a few fighters lately have been calling it a career, Salaverry
has now decided to end his retirement and come back in the U.K.
this May.
Prior
to his announcement to retire, Salaverry had dropped two fights
in a row in the UFC in 2006 and 2007, and then opted to walk
away from the sport and focus on training new fighters. It appears
the itch to fight got back in Salaverry's blood.
Salaverry
will actually be stepping onto the BAMMA card to replace fellow
UFC vet Phil Baroni who was knocked off the show due to injury.
Salaverry will now face Matt Ewin on the May 21 show.
The
other main card bouts for the show include the main event pitting
BAMMA champion Tom "Kong" Watson against Murilo "Ninja"
Rua.
Also
co-main event fight featuring Frank Trigg against John Phillips
and Kurt Johnson taking on Kenny Moyston.
The
BAMMA 6 card will air live in the U.K. on SyFy and in other areas
on BAMMA.tv.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Why
do we allow MMA promoters to hire referees/judges when it's illegal
to do in boxing?
By Zach Arnold
That
is the question that friend to the site Rob Maysey of the Mixed
Martial Arts Fighters Association asked us the other day in response
to the uproar over comments judge Chuck Wolfe made in regards
to his scoring of the Joe Warren/Marcos Galvao fight.
On
his Tuesday radio show, Jordan Breen addressed the topic in this
manner.
"In
regards to it, I don't see that much of an issue. Obviously,
one of the things that we like to say about Mixed Martial Arts
that makes the sport, you know, clean or... pure or, more civil,
than many spectators and naysayers choose to believe is that
the Government helps regulate this sport and that the refs &
judges & these people are not decided on by promoters, there's
no favoritism involved and, so forth. So, that's nice. But the
fact is, there's still massive chunks of the world that MMA existing
there is vital and there's no way around the fact that referees
are going to get paid to be there. Unless, I mean, simply it's
not a conscience-able stance to say that unless MMA is regulated,
it shouldn't exist because every Brazilian fighter you know is
about to go down the tubes then. There's no, I shouldn't say
there's no regulation in Europe, I mean there's regulation, you
know, in Sweden for instance, but if you ever want to see another
British fighter again, sayonara. Eastern Europe? Done. Brazil?
Brown broad. Perish the thought. Japan? You're never going to
see a Japanese fighter ever again, not until the Japanese Boxing
Commission gets on board. These things are not happening, so
it's ridiculous to act as though that all refs and all judges
should be appointed by an athletic commission by virtue of the
fact that most MMA at this point in time still isn't regulated.
So, then it becomes a question of, well, if you're not regulating
Mixed Martial Arts, who's appropriate to use as an official?
And regardless whether or not you have to pay them, surely the
best people to use as officials are good, experienced referees
and judges. On top of that, as John McCarthy pointed out in his
treatise that he posted on The Underground , he's often being
paid in many situations because he's being put on a poster and
his image and his presence helps to sell and market the event.
And if that's the case, he deserves to be compensated for his
likeness and whatever intangible presence he brings, whatever
infusion of interest he brings to the table. I don't see anything
wrong with that."
In
other words, he views the situation through the prism of realpolitik.
"The
question that really informs the whole discussion, though, is
how are we supposed to feel when these refs or judges are brought
in another jurisdiction, paid to perform by a promotion, what
is their responsibility? Do they have any responsibility to the
promotion to, you know, favor a certain guy or can we ever put
in a situation where because they're being paid by a promotion
that referees will be inclined to act a certain way? Well, I
can't speak for every referee or every judge, I can't, but if
you're the kind of person that feels like you want the promotional
poster boy to win because that promotion happened to pay you,
you're probably not a good person, you're not that rational and
you're not doing a good service for Mixed Martial Arts and you
probably shouldn't refereeing, that's about as straightforward
and simple as I can make that. On top of that, there's simply
no realistic, better alternative, which I think is the most important
thing to consider. If there was a better thing to do than to
have a promoter pay John McCarthy $2,000 to fly and do their
event or pay Herb Dean to come to their resort or casino that
they're having a card in South Africa or Costa Rica or the tip
of Argentina, have him show up and all-expenses-paid hang out
and do your thing and ref some fights Saturday night. Now, is
there a better alternative to that? Not really, not at this point
in time. There are so few well-trained judges and referees all
around the world that if you want to have a legitimate world-class
event you're better having a ref or a judge or judges who are
aware of these things so bringing them in is relatively important
to begin with. But on top of that, the options that are available
to you locally, regionally are probably not as good."
Source:
Fight Opinion
|
Brazil's
new generation wants to invade Worlds
by Carlos Eduardo Ozório
They
are two submission-savvy aces brought up at Fabio Andrade's goodwill
project in Bangu, in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, and
they represent the country's new generation in Jiu-Jitsu. Now
they want a shot at the greatest championship of all, the World
Championship.
Marcio
André figured in the article "Ten fighters to keep
an eye on in 2011" (reread it here). Proof GRACIEMAG.com's
scouting is up to snuff, Marcio is still carrying on strong.
At the World Pro the blue belt had five matches and got the finish
in three of them before capturing the gold over another revelation,
João Miyao, in the 62kg division. Now Iris Batista had
four matches in Abu Dhabi to take top honors in the over-63-kg
division.
The
athletes boast major IBJJF titles on their CVs, like the Brazilian
Nationals, Brazilian Team Nationals and the Rio International
Open. However, the aim now is to reach the top of the world,
at the Jiu-Jitsu World Championship to take place June 2 in California.
"As
I often say, there may very well be someone as happy as me, but
there's no way there's anyone out there happier than me! Teaching
at a goodwill project and coming up with talent that can stand
up to the top guys is a gift of God; I feel so privileged for
it. They want to tear into the Worlds, and I'm running around
trying to find backing for us to do it. If anyone is interested..."
remarks Coach Fabio Andrade of Nova União team pridefully.
Source:
Gracie Magazine
|
The
Real Tiger Mask
by Tony Loiseleur
TOKYO
-- The massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastated
the northeast of Honshu, Japan, has united people the world over
in bringing relief to the Tohoku region's survivors. Japan's
mixed martial arts community has also answered the call, as grassroots
promotions and Dream conduct charities, while fighters like Hayato
"Mach" Sakurai , Ryo Chonan and Enson Inoue have made
headlines by volunteering their energies and funds toward raising
money and shipping supplies north.
However,
one helping hand has been hesitant to receive this same kind
of attention. Partly by personal preference, Shuichiro Katsumura
has flown under the media radar despite regularly traveling to
Tohoku to deliver emergency supplies.
More
surprisingly, he is doing so while in the midst of fight camp
for his first defense of the Shooto 132-pound world championship
at Shooto Tradition 2011 on Friday, when he is slated to meet
former 132-pound Pacific Rim champion Koetsu Okazaki in the co-main
event.
At
first glance, Katsumura looks like the type to shy from attention.
He has a subtle, ever-present smile which widens into a full
grin at a moment's notice. Incredibly polite and quick to laugh,
he has the quiet, soft-spoken patience one would expect from
a mild-mannered elementary school teacher.
In
truth, he actually happens to be one, but he is also the lead
instructor of Reversal's Yokohama Ground Slam gym and Shooto's
current 132-pound kingpin. While he admits to being no angel
during his younger days, teaching and charity work are to the
adult Katsumura like striking and grappling are to the nature
of MMA.
"When
the earthquake happened, I was in the gym. We don't have a television,
so we couldn't tell what was really going on, but I knew it was
serious because the trains stopped and people couldn't return
home," says Katsumura. "After I realized what happened,
I wondered if there was anything I could do. When the Great Hanshin
earthquake happened in 1995, I was still young and selfish, and
I didn't do anything. I regretted that. Now that I can do something
though, I am."
Consulting
a close friend whose family manages the non-profit volunteer
nursing group Cannus, Katsumura immediately volunteered to make
supply runs to Tohoku. In addition, he vowed to donate his next
fight purse to charity.
Those
familiar with Katsumura will attest that this type of magnanimity
is nothing new. Before becoming a school teacher, he worked at
a child welfare center and often donated his fight purses to
charity. It was these characteristics that earned him the nickname
"The Real Tiger Mask" during his brief stint in K-1.
No
Longer Anonymous
The
Tiger Mask mythos is an attractive one for Japanese who grew
up in the 1960s and 1970s, watching cartoons and reading comics
about the masked professional wrestler's heroic in-ring exploits
and his unmasked alter ego's pure-hearted mission to care for
orphans. Thus, many looked up to Tiger Mask as a role model,
and while fighters like Ikuhisa Minowa and Katsumura have had
the rare and enviable ability to momentarily become him in the
ring, it is only recently that everyday Japanese have begun emulating
Tiger Mask by way of charity.
It
started with an anonymous donation of "randoseru" knapsacks
-- sturdy leather backpacks costing upward of $300, which serve
both as companion bags designed to accompany children through
their first six years of elementary school and a strong visual
and ideological symbol of Japanese compulsory education -- to
child welfare offices on Christmas Day. Copycats have anonymously
donated food, money, stationary and yet more backpacks across
the nation's 47 prefectures in the weeks following. Linking these
donations was the name in which they were made: Naoto Date, Tiger
Mask's civilian name. This wave of anonymous donating was appropriately
dubbed the "Tiger Mask Phenomenon" by the local media
earlier this year.
For
the most part, this kind of anonymous philanthropy seems to suit
someone like Katsumura quite well since he has attempted to deny
the Tiger Mask association in the past. However, it was his public
blogging of his efforts in Tohoku that surprisingly resonated
amongst friends and fans. He inspired many of them to similar
action.
"It
was something I hadn't counted on happening," he says, with
excitement. "I didn't know whether it was good to be competing
at a time like this, so I decided to donate my next purse. When
friends and others heard about this, more and more volunteered
to help, so it's [a movement that is] getting bigger and bigger."
Listening
closely to this excitement, one can tell Katsumura is more enamored
with how his recent recognition benefits the relief effort. He
will be the first to tell you that the "Real Tiger Mask"
gimmick was something that was foisted upon him because the character's
background as a champion for orphans coincidentally aligned with
his own work helping and teaching children. Katsumura grew up
with no special affinity for the comic character or professional
wrestling. Consequently, he wanted to distance himself from the
comparison, so much so that he had a Reversal brand T-shirt printed
with the words "I'm not [the] real Tiger Mask" emblazoned
on the front.
"When
people in the media started calling me 'Real Tiger Mask' [in
2006], I didn't like it, even though I was a fighter already
involved with charity. But now, I'm kind of changing my mind
about that since I think it's something that I might be able
to use to help more people," he admits, with an embarrassed
laugh.
Given
that the Tiger Mask character went to great lengths to keep his
real identity as Naoto Date a secret, it is perhaps no surprise
that Katsumura may want to do the same if, in fact, he is secretly
a masked superhero.
"Actually,
I do kind of feel the same way [that Tiger Mask does]. I don't
think I should brag about doing charity or donating a fight purse.
That's not why I do those things," he says.
After
renouncing the gimmick following his run in K-1 MMA, Katsumura
has finally come to accept it, not because he enjoys it -- if
anything, it dredges up dark ghosts of the past for him that
he is reticent to talk about -- but because it has new utility
given the circumstances of Japan's recent crises.
"In
the beginning, when media outlets like Sherdog started asking
me to talk about what I was doing in Tohoku, I didn't really
want to do it," admits Katsumura. "But then I thought
about it and realized that more could be done if more people
knew about it. To be honest, I still don't really like the [Tiger
Mask] association, but I realize now that it can help.
"If
I tell people what I'm doing, then those around me tend to want
to do the same. If I wasn't a fighter that people already knew,
then maybe I'd continue to do this anonymously, but because people
know who I am from fighting, I suppose the Tiger Mask thing is
something that can help," he concedes. "Some people
may still criticize the idea of coming out of anonymity, saying
that I might be doing it only because I want attention, but I
believe that it's more important to move others to help than
to worry about what some people may think."
Katsumura
debuted in Shooto in 1999 and, over the next five years, became
one of its top talents. A 2004 loss to Marcos Galvao, however,
saw Katsumura diverge from Shooto to compete in ZST.
"When
I debuted in Shooto, I thought I wanted to be there for the rest
of my career. I was one of the top-ranked Shootors then, but
when I lost to Galvao, I began thinking that aiming for the top
would be too difficult," recalls Katsumura.
Utilizing
the Rings "King of Kings" rules, ZST is particular
for its closed-guard and ground-and-pound moratoriums, which,
in theory, promote grappling action. ZST has thus produced idiosyncratic
fan favorites like Hideo Tokoro , Masanori Kanehara , Masakazu
Imanari and, in a sense, Katsumura himself. In fact, it was seeing
Tokoro "having fun in the ring" that finally convinced
Katsumura that ZST was the place he wanted to be.
Likely
due to ZST's connection to Rings, Katsumura also competed in
K-1 "Dynamite" and Hero'S in 2006 and 2007. K-1's MMA
efforts at the time were spearheaded by Rings founder Akira Maeda.
"I
was hesitant [to fight in K-1] because it would be difficult
fighting bigger opponents," says Katsumura, who at the time
was a featherweight stepping into lightweight competition. "But
the people around me encouraged me to participate because the
fights would be televised and everyone would see it."
As
expected, K-1's media savvy and slick promos characterizing Katsumura
as the child welfare worker who moonlighted as a professional
fighter -- in essence, "The Real Tiger Mask"-- boosted
his visibility. However, turmoil in his personal life and budding
stardom made for a bad mix, leading Katsumura to resent the attention
and ultimately alienating him from the sport . It is a time about
which he offers little detail or explanation, speaking of it
only in the broadest of terms.
"I
lost twice in a row, but because I was on television, I got pretty
popular. I didn't feel like myself at the time, which is something
I only realized much later. I didn't really like what I had become,"
he says, quietly and with apparent difficulty. "I wasn't
doing well in work or in my private life, so I decided to leave
MMA for a little while."
Katsumura's
hiatus lasted approximately one year, during which serious soul
searching and the encouragement of his closest friends finally
saw him found the Groundslam gym with ZST's blessing and assistance.
"When
I returned, the people that came to me during the time I was
on television had all gone. The only people left were my friends
who had known me for a long time. With their encouragement, I
realized what was important to me, and I came back to start this
gym," says Katsumura. "I opened it as a way to show
my appreciation and thanks to those that supported me. It wasn't
my intent to return to fighting, but after six months, the gym
was doing well and ZST and Shooto asked me to fight."Birth
of the Ninja Choke
In
his November 2009 Shooto return, Katsumura defeated tough contender
So Tazawa by brabo choke, immediately earning a shot against
then 132-pound world champion Masakatsu Ueda -- a fundamentally
solid wrestler with wins over current UFC fighter Takeya Mizugaki
, Dream veteran Atsushi Yamamoto , Koetsu Okazaki and Eduardo
Dantas Katsumura's rushed shot against the then Top 5 bantamweight
seemed a harsh second turn in his Shooto homecoming. The fight
was justified primarily on the drought of strong title contenders
to Ueda and on Katsumura's own grappling prowess, though pundits
and fans predicted Ueda to neutralize him for a 15-minute decision
victory.
Katsumura's
subsequent upset of Ueda to take the title at "The Way of
Shooto 2" in March 2010 came with much surprise. Most shocking,
however, was that he tapped Ueda in the second round with a modified
brabo choke. While most fans point to Eddie Bravo for naming
the creative finisher, given his history and penchant for naming
everything he encounters, the responsibility in fact lies solely
with Katsumura.
"Actually,
I named it the ninja choke," says Katsumura, with a proud
grin.
The
process of inventing the choke lasted years, according to Katsumura.
Enamored with both Bravo's rubber guard system and its slick
implementation by Dream lightweight champion Shinya Aoki, Katsumura
sought to create a signature choke that not only finished an
opponent without the typical arm-in setup but one that was also
effective in minimizing the risk of ground-and-pound damage.
Naming it was also an exercise in practicality.
"I
wanted to find a way to be remembered when I went to fight in
Lithuania [in 2006] and thought that the easiest way for people
to know me as a Japanese fighter was to enter the ring dressed
as a ninja."
"Before
I left Japan, I told everyone that if my choke happened, I'd
call it the ninja choke since that would be easy to remember,
too," says Katsumura.
Though
the spectacular choke catapulted Katsumura back into relevance,
his following title reign was unfortunately not without turbulence.
One of the more confounding practices of Japanese MMA is the
tendency to give reigning champions non-title fights between
defenses. Shooto, while not strictly a promotion, is no exception
to this practice, often putting the legitimacy of its champions
uncomfortably into doubt whenever non-title bouts do not go swimmingly.
Such
doubt was cast when, in the main event of "The Way of Shooto
5" in September, Dream and Strikeforce veteran Darren Uyenoyama
brutally smashed Katsumura to a second-round technical knockout.
"I
admit I wasn't at my best, and my motivation wasn't very high.
Darren definitely studied me very well, however, and had the
perfect game plan," admits Katsumura.
A
Ralph Gracie black belt, Uyenoyama's jiu-jitsu was used less
to put Katsumura on grappling notice than to escape his submission
attempts and counter with punches on the ground. Katsumura latched
on multiple heel hook attempts that left Uyenoyama sore in the
knees after the fight, but the champion was still outgunned for
nearly nine minutes. Uyenoyama's only serious injury was to his
hand, which he used to batter the champion to the stoppage.
"A
few years back, I became friends with Joachim Hansen and Antonio
Carvalho. I learned a lot of stuff from them but never got to
incorporate it into a fight. The way I fought Katsumura is a
way that I've trained but just never got to show until then,"
says Uyenoyama.
While
the opportunity for a title rematch never arose as promised to
Uyenoyama, another door with potentially greater opportunity
opened for the American; he is slated for Dream's upcoming Japan
Grand Prix bantamweight tournament. Uyenoyama hopes for an eventual
return to Shooto, but he admits that a return to Dream is something
he cannot deny. Unfortunately, this still leaves the legitimacy
of Katsumura's reign in question.
"I
feel kind of the same way," says Katsumura, agreeing to
the subsequent criticism and doubt that the non-title loss has
wrought. "Certainly, if it can happen, it's a rematch I
want. I thought we were going to do it, but it didn't [happen]
and I don't know why. I didn't have a choice in it, unfortunately."
Despite
both longing for a rematch that now seems distant at best, Krazy
Bee's Atsushi Yamamoto lies ahead for Uyenoyama in the Dream
tournament. Meanwhile, former Shooto 132-pound Pacific Rim champion
Okazaki awaits Katsumura at Shooto Tradition 2011. The main event
on Friday will be the first time Katsumura officially defends
his title and the second time that Okazaki will vie for it. At
7-1-1, Okazaki's only loss came to the aforementioned Ueda in
a fight that began the stalwart wrestler's reign.
Okazaki
rebounded with a win over Hiromasa Ogikubo to capture the Pacific
Rim title and a subsequent defense against Tetsu Suzuki , ensuring
his ranking and an immediate turnaround for a second crack at
the world title. Given his otherwise stellar record and in-ring
performances, many pundits, even in Japan, are leaning toward
the Osaka-based fighter to steal the title from Katsumura.
"He
fought with Ueda for the title and lost, but that's his only
loss. He's won all his other fights so he's incredibly good,"
says a wary Katsumura. "Okazaki can strike and grapple and
do everything, but he's a lot better in striking than I am, I
believe." Given that even Katsumura concedes his opponent
is the favorite in the fight, it makes his decision to split
his time between driving supplies to Tohoku and training that
much more remarkable.
"As
an athlete, I know that I might receive criticism for not devoting
everything to training for such an important fight, but even
though I'm a fighter, I'm also a human being," Katsumura
explains. "Coming not from the perspective of a fighter
but as Katsumura Shuichiro, the person, I asked myself what there
was that I could do. Taking a few days off to help in Tohoku
and to spread the word is more important than training."
Though
Katsumura is hesitant to admit it in such stark terms, his stance
is one in which moral failure lies with those who act only to
seek attention for its own ends, at the expense of those who
have suffered. He is keenly aware that there are those who, in
the wake of the recent disasters, have been moved to action,
not out of humanitarian concern but to build a name and craft
a narrative focused on one's self off of the backs of the Tohoku
disaster's survivors. While the emergence of these types of people
is inevitable, Katsumura is wary of becoming one.
It
is thus with no small effort that Katsumura reconciles his otherwise
natural need to do charity with that of accepting recognition
for it.
Despite
the potential for criticism, Katsumura has come to accept recognition
and a label in "The Real Tiger Mask" that is reminiscent
of troubled times of the past because it now presents a way to
inspire others to help him build a brighter future for the people
of Tohoku. He may not realize it, but his critics -- if, in fact,
any exist -- can find all the justification they need in this
fact, as well as the revelation that his charity work is more
important than committing to a full fight camp in a title defense
that most expect him to lose.
It
is this selfless will to charity that, in concert with his acceptance
of the Tiger Mask mantle, makes Katsumura not only an admirable
champion and human being but a fitting and true successor of
the Tiger Mask legacy, whether he wants that distinction or not.
Yuko
Komiyama and Go Yamamoto contributed to this story.
Those
interested in contributing to the ongoing relief and rebuilding
effort in Japan are encouraged to donate directly to the Japanese
Red Cross Society. Donations can be made online via Paypal.
Source:
Sherdog
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Diego
Sanchez Meets Matt Hughes at UFC Event This Fall
By Damon Martin
Diego
Sanchez will face a UFC Hall of Famer this fall, as he has been
scheduled to meet former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes.
The
UFC made the announcement about the match-up on Thursday.
While
no date has been set for the fight, the UFC stated the bout will
take place this fall.
"A
match-up 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."
Sanchez
has gone two-for-two in his last couple of bouts, picking up
wins over Martin Kampmann and Paulo Thiago. The former "Ultimate
Fighter" winner also re-joined his old team at Jackson's
MMA in New Mexico, and has been raving about the results he's
had since then.
Matt
Hughes enters the fight coming off a fast first-round knockout
at the hands of B.J. Penn last November. The multi-time UFC welterweight
champion had been riding a three-fight win streak, including
victories over Matt Serra and Ricardo Almeida.
The
bout will likely take a main slot in one of the upcoming cards
in the fall.
Source:
MMA Weekly
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