Upcoming
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(All events on Oahu, unless noted)
2011
12/9/11
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
11/18/11
Island Heat 3: Tha Comeback
(MMA)
(Waipahu Filcom,Waipahu)
11/11/11
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
11/5-6/11
Eternal
Submissions
(BJJ & Submission Grappling)
(Kauai Beach Resort, Kauai)
11/5/11
Hawaii Toughman
(Kickboxing)
(Hilo Civic Ctr)
Chozun-1
(Kickboxing)
(The Waterfront, Aloha Tower Market Place)
10/22/11
NAGA Hawaii
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
10/21/11
Destiny MMA
(MMA)
(The Waterfront, Aloha Tower Market Place)
10/15/11
Up N Up
(MMA)
(Kodak Room, Waikiki Shell)
10/7/11
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
9/24/11
Aloha
State of BJJ
(BJJ/Sub Grappling)
(Kaiser HS)
Amateur Boxing
(Boxing)
( Palolo District Park Gym)
9/23/11
808 Battleground Presents: Unstoppable
(MMA)
(The Waterfront, Aloha Tower Market Place)
9/3/11
Australian Fighting Championship 2
(MMA)
Melbourne Aquatic & Sports Complex, Melbourne, Australia)
9/2/11
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
8/27/11
Pro
Elite MMA
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
Toughman Hawaii
(Boxing, Kickboxing)
(Hilo Civic)
Add to events calendar
8/20/11
POSTPONED
Maui Jiu-Jitsu Open Tournament
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Neal Blaisdell Center
Lahaina Civic Center, Lahaina, Maui)
8/13/11
Destiny
(MMA)
(Waterfront at Aloha Tower)
8/12/11
Up N Up: Waipahu Brawl
(MMA)
(Waipahu Filcom)
8/6/11
Just Scrap
(MMA)
(Hilo Civic Center, Hilo)
7/22/11
808 Battleground & X-1 World Events
Domination
(MMA)
(Waterfront at Aloha Tower)
Vendetta
(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)
Rener Gracie Seminar
O2 Martial Arts Academy
$65
7-9PM
7/1/11
Mad Skills
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
6/25/11
Kauai Cage Fights
(MMA)
(Kilohana Estates)
6/17-19/11
Big Boys & MMA Hawaii Expo
Neal Blaisdell Center, Honolulu)
6/18-19/11
Hawaii
Triple Crown
“State Championships”
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Neal Blaisdell Center, Honolulu)
6/18/11
Destiny: Fury II
(MMA)
(Neal Blaisdell Center, Honolulu)
6/17/11
UpNUp: On The Rise
(MMA)
(Neal Blaisdell Center, Honolulu)
6/10/11
Genesis “76 South Showdown Kickboxing”
(Kickboxing)
(Campbell H.S. Gym, Ewa Beach)
6/2-5/11
World
Jiu-Jitsu Championship
(BJJ)
(California)
5/28/11
HUAWA Grappling Tournament 2011
Grappling Series II
(Submission grappling)
(Mililani H.S. Gym, Mililani)
Cancelled
Battleground 808
(MMA)
(The Waterfront, Aloha Tower)
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
5/21/11
Scraplafest 3
(BJJ & Submission Grappling)
(Island School, Puhi, Kauai, behind Kauai Commuity College)
5/20/11
Kauai Knockout Championship II: Mortal Combat
(MMA)
(Kauai War Memorial Convention Hall, Lihue)
5/14/11
Boxing Smoker
(Boxing)
(Palolo District Gym)
5/6/11
Just Scrap
(MMA)
(Hilo Civic Center, Hilo)
4/28/11
Destiny: Fury II
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
4/23/11
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
Gladiators for God
(Amateur Muay Thai)
(Wet&Wild Water Park)
4/16/11
Hawaiian
Championship of BJJ
(BJJ
& Sub Grappling)
(Kaiser H.S. Gym)
4/15/11
Destiny
& 808 Battleground presents "Supremacy"
(MMA)
(Aloha Tower Waterfront)
4/9/11
Fight Girls Hawaii
(MMA)
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
4/2/11
Toughman Hawaii
(Kickboxing)
(Hilo Civic Ctr)
3/24-27/11
Pan
American Jiu-Jitsu Championships
(BJJ)
University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA)
3/26/11
Mad Skills
(Kickboxing, Triple Threat)
(Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
HUAWA Grappling Tourney
(Sub Grappling)
(Mililani HS Gym)
3/12/11
X-1:
Dylan Clay vs Niko Vitale
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
3/11/11
Chozun 1: "the Reckoning"
(Kickboxing)
(The Waterfront at Aloha Tower Marketplace, Honolulu)
3/5/11
Just Scrap
(MMA)
(Hilo Civic Auditorium, Hilo)
2/25/11
808
Battleground Presents
War of Warriors
(MMA)
(The Waterfront At Aloha Tower, Honolulu)
2/20/11
Pan
Kids Jiu-Jitsu Championships
(BJJ)
(California State University, Carson, CA )
2/19/11
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
2/5/11
Garden Island Cage Match 10: Mayhem at the Mansion 2
(MMA, Kickboxing)
(Kilohana Carriage House, Lihue, Kauai)
Amateur Boxing
(Boxing)
(Palolo District Park Gym)
2/4/11
Amateur Boxing
(Boxing)
(Palolo District Park Gym)
1/29/11
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
Battle At The Barn
(MMA)
(Molokai H.S. Gym, Molokai)
1/8/11
Hawaii Toughman
(Kickboxing)
(Hilo Civic Center, Hilo)
|
|
November
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!
|
Want
to Advertise on Onzuka.com?
Click here for pricing and more
information!
Short term and long term advertising available.
More than
1 million hits and counting!
|
O2
Martial Arts Academy
Your Complete Martial Arts School!
Click here for pricing and more
information!
O2 Martial Arts features Relson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu taught by Relson
Gracie Black Belts Chris and Mike Onzuka and Shane Agena as well
as a number of brown and purple belts.
We also offer 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
Nearing
the End of His Career, Matt Lindland Has One More Run in Him
At
one time just a few years ago, Matt Lindland was considered possibly
the top middleweight in the entire sport of MMA.
The
Team Quest fighter had faced some of the top competition in the
world at 185lbs, and was actually rumored to face current pound-for-pound
king Anderson Silva in Cage Rage in England before a more lucrative
offer came across his plate and the fight never materialized.
Over
the last two years, Lindland has gone just 1-4 in his fight career
and suffered some tough losses along the way including two vicious
knockouts courtesy of Vitor Belfort and Robbie Lawler.
As
Lindland enters a new phase of his career where he’s taken
on a roll with media company Takedown Entertainment as an advisor
and continues to work with up and coming athletes at his gym
in Oregon, the former Olympic silver medalist says he’s
not done with fighting just yet, but the twilight of his career
is upon him.
“I
think I’m nearing the end of that, I’m 41, but if I
got the right offers and the right contract, and I’ve been
looking at some stuff recently, early this spring,” Lindland
said when speaking to MMAWeekly Radio.
“I
think I’ve got at least another tournament or one more run
at it with a promotion company that wants to get behind and support,
and try to push that envelope.”
No
longer under contract to Strikeforce or Zuffa, Lindland still
feels like he has one more run in his career because his competitive
juices are still flowing.
“I
really believe I still possess all the skills and my skills keep
getting better. I learn something new everyday. I’m having
a lot of fun coaching, I’m having a lot of fun running the
gym, and working with Takedown and the promotion. As an athlete,
it’s so hard to give that up. It’s not something you
do for the money, it’s something you do intrinsically because
you like to compete and you like to prove you can still get out
there and compete,” said Lindland.
“Age
starts to catch up with you and it slows you down and it does
make you a little less active.”
While
Lindland wouldn’t reveal the promotion he’s currently
in negotiations with, he does believe that this will be his shot
at one last run in competitive MMA. He admits it’s hard
to see the end of the road ahead, but he’s realistic about
where he stands in regards to his place in MMA.
“I
think I’m going to go ahead and just throw caution to the
wind this spring and if this contract comes to fruition and I
sign with this new promotion company, and we’re just going
to jump in this tournament and go in there to win,” Lindland
stated.
“You
can’t do this forever.”
Lindland
recently promoted the latest installment of the SportFight series
in his home state of Oregon, a promotion he started several years
ago with former Team Quest partner Randy Couture. He’s also
taking a more active role with Takedown Enterntainment, but looks
at 2012 as his chance to take another shot in the cage.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Is
Mixed Martial Arts the New Martial Art?
‘Strike
first, strike hard, no mercy’
It’s
hard to forget those famous lines from the classic 1984 film
‘The Karate Kid’ in which a kid from New Jersey relocates
to California and soon runs into a class full of martial arts
bad boys who quickly put the beat down on him.
The
kid, Daniel LaRusso, then finds a martial arts teacher of his
own and learns karate and eventually beats them at their own
game in a tournament to become champion.
For
years after that movie, kids of all ages flocked to karate academies
all over the world to see if they could become the next champion,
and some might have even wanted to learn the infamous ‘crane
kick’.
Over
the last several years, mixed martial arts has become one of
the hottest sports on a national level with the UFC leading the
way and also spanning a new worldwide phenomenon. It’s hard
to find a town in America or anywhere really where there isn’t
a school that teaching mixed martial arts.
Even
established martial arts academies that for years taught only
karate, kung-fu or taekwondo have added MMA programs to attract
new students and continue evolving with the times.
Some
martial arts instructors and traditionalists have resisted the
movement that MMA has made over the last few years, but it’s
hard to deny that mixed martial arts in 2011 is taking over what
karate and other martial arts were in the 80?s and 90?s.
“Mixed
martial arts is the new martial art,” UFC President Dana
White said recently. “Kids are growing up taking it, it’s
really spread like wild fire all over the world.”
While
there still may be some resistance among some schools, most academies
or dojo’s have added new classes or even instructors to
adapt to the growing world of mixed martial arts. Most large
MMA gyms also have kid’s programs that welcome youngsters
of all ages to come and learn under some of the top instructors
in the sport.
Renzo
Gracie, who has one of the largest schools in America and a growing
student base in his main academy in New York City, has several
kid specific programs including ‘kid-jitsu’ and kid’s
Muay Thai.
Greg
Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn run one of the most well-known and
well respected MMA training facilities in the world, but they
also have programs specifically geared towards kids as well.
Children as young as 6 years of age are able to take classes
at the gym under instructors like 11-2 pro fighter Buddy Roberts,
who heads up the kid’s instruction.
Gym
manager Ricky Kottenstette says that the programs have done very
well over the years, and the kids are taught on a developmental
level as they get older and more mature. For instance, the kids
as young as six are taught elements of MMA, but never anything
dangerous like chokes or submissions.
Urijah
Faber, who grew up as a wrestler in California, has seen the
growth of the kid’s programs in his system as well, with
teenagers competing at the highest levels.
“We’ve
got young kids, 13-year olds and some 16 and 17 year olds that
just competed in the Pankration world championships over in Yugoslavia
and the Ukraine. It’s an understatement when you talk about
the younger guys coming up tough,” Faber told MMAWeekly.com
recently.
Despite
his enthusiasm for the youth of today developing into the champions
of tomorrow, Faber still believes that athletes should focus
on one discipline before taking on all of them at once. Much
like Faber, many of the fighters on his Team Alpha Male squad
come from wrestling backgrounds and have tasted quite a bit of
success since transitioning into MMA.
“I
still feel like it’s good to get focused in one area and
get really good at it, but kids are starting from such a young
age and learning everything. It’s becoming second nature
to them. We’ve just got to keep bringing the standard up
and you can just see how good these young guys are,” said
Faber.
There
are several high profile MMA fighters however who still subscribe
back to their traditional martial arts roots. Fighters like UFC
welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and Lyoto Machida still
speak very highly of the training they received in disciplines
like karate, that helped them get their start towards a future
in MMA.
Of
course no matter how big mixed martial arts gets, there will
always be karate academies, taekwondo academies and other ‘traditional’
martial arts schools that will exist and thrive. MMA specific
gyms however are popping up seemingly everyday, and almost every
fighter has a dream of one day owning a place of their own.
On
a global level, mixed martial arts is certainly gaining more
and more headway to be considered the biggest and most practiced
discipline in the world.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Assuncao’s
surgery a sucess, back to training in 6 weeks
Far
from the octagons since the victorious fight at UFC Rio, Raphael
Assuncao will have to wait a little longer to return to the cage.
The forced vacations are due to a surgery he had to go through
last Wednesday, in Atlanta (USA), to correct a dislocated septal.
While
he’s getting better from it, he’ll have to stay on
hold for six weeks, and the Brazilian fighter told TATAME he
didn’t intend to do it this year because he wanted to fight
in December or in January, but he felt he needed to do it to
intensify his preparation.
“I
wasn’t breathing normally. During the trainings, as I got
punched it got worse, and I stopped breathing from one side of
my nose. On my last fight it got like 10% worst. On daily basis,
it doesn’t change much, but when I’m training, trying
to do my best on the trainings, my body needs to be 100% gas,
so I was feeling this problem”, said the athlete.
After
a two-hour surgery, Assuncao could tell he was breathing much
better. He regretted the swollen, the local bleeding, but he
knows that some bad things come for his own good. “I might
fight in February or March. I’m excited to be back. In two
weeks I can start running, but MMA trainings, sparrings and these
things only sex weeks from now”.
Source:
Tatame
|
Caio
Terra makes history
Caio
Terra of Gracie Fighter is a Jiu-Jitsu name everyone knows for
one reason or another. He’s a world champion in the gi,
he’s the little light featherweight who competes in open
classes everywhere and wins them regularly, showing us all the
true nature of what Jiu-Jitsu is really about, and he is the
outspoken black belt who can sometimes stir up controversy with
the things he says.
Well,
this year at the No-Gi Worlds, he can be known for one more thing:
Caio Terra is the only black belt to have ever won the No-Gi
Worlds a whopping four times in a row. He won 2008, 2009, 2010,
and now in 2011 he has won again, making history within the event.
Caio
has had a rough year. He says there isn’t a place on his
body that isn’t injured. Coming into the No-Gi Worlds his
hands were completely bandaged because he burned the skin off
of them while trying to train before the event; not to mention
both his shoulders are damaged, one completely separated; he
has a rib injury, a knee injury, and a foot injury among other
things. He says he’s only been able to train something like
60 days this whole year. “I feel bad that my performance
has not been up to par lately,” he says, “I want to
apologize to everyone for that, but now I need to take some serious
time off to heal my body. I will be back for the Gi Worlds next
year, but hopefully before that if I can.”
Caio
says that he doesn’t have plans to compete at the 2012 Pan,
but he probably will. He can’t resist competitions, which
is part of the reason why his body has steadily fallen apart
over the course of the last year. But with all that being said,
Caio turned up at the No-Gi Worlds and had three matches in his
light featherweight division and won them all. In his first match
he submitted his opponent with an armbar, and he beat his second
opponent on points. In the final he faced Laercio Fernandes of
Lotus Club, saying that it was a good, tough match between the
two.
“Laercio
was smart and got a takedown right away,” Caio says, “I
was losing by two points and I was getting desperate. I got a
sweep and attacked his foot a few times. I also had him in a
kneebar. They were all deep. It was incredible how he didn’t
tap. Did you see how flexible he was?”
Caio
and Laercio scrapped for a little while longer, Laercio sweeping
Caio back and getting him in a really tight position. Caio swept
Laercio at the end of the match and Laercio almost swept him
back, but Caio held on. “I got my foot stuck in his uniform,”
Caio says, “I couldn’t stand up, but I was able to
keep my balance.” This allowed Caio to pull off his 4th
big, history-making No-Gi Worlds gold medal win.
“With
all the injuries I’ve been dealing with, this is a really
important win for me,” Caio says, “I was out of shape
before coming here. I hadn’t trained much and had only rolled
lightly at the seminars I’d given recently. My MMA coach,
Kirian, told me to start working on the VersaClimber to help
me get ready for the No-Gi Worlds. It was helpful in getting
me here today.”
“I
really just want to give a shout out to Laercio,” Caio says,
“He is a really tough opponent.” Caio goes on to say,
“I don’t need to prove anything here today. I’ve
already proven it, but I like to come to these events to learn
more so I can teach my students the best Jiu-Jitsu they can get.”
Source:
Tatame
|
In
addition to title fight, FOX Deportes to air Henderson-Guida
and Poirier-Garza
Although
the primary FOX network will air just one fight during next week's
UFC on FOX 1 event, its sister channel, FOX Deportes, will air
three.
In
addition to the heavyweight headliner of champ Cain Velasquez
(9-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) vs. Junior Dos Santos (13-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC),
FOX Deportes also will air lightweights Clay Guida (29-11 MMA,
9-5 UFC) vs. Ben Henderson (14-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) and featherweights
Dustin Poirer (10-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) vs. Pablo Garza (11-1 MMA,
2-0 UFC).
UFC
on FOX 1 takes place Nov. 12 at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
The
event is a teaser of the landmark UFC-FOX deal that officially
kicks off in 2012. As part of FOX's one-hour special, only Velasquez
vs. Dos Santos will air live. (The entire undercard streams on
FOX.com and Facebook.) FOX Deportes, though, starts two hours
earlier and will air the three fights.
FOX
is available in approximately 115 million homes. FOX Deportes,
a Spanish-language channel, is available in approximately 18
million.
Rodrigo
Arana, Mario Delgado and Troy Santiago call the action for FOX
Deportes.
Despite
the one-hour run time on FOX, officials initially said a second
fight could make it to air, presumably via tape delay, if the
main event ended early. Most notably, that opened the door for
Guida vs. Henderson, which very well could determine the UFC's
next lightweight title challenger.
However,
earlier this week, UFC president Dana White confirmed that only
Velasquez vs. Dos Santos will be part of the FOX broadcast. Guida's
manager later told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) it was FOX's
decision, not the UFC's.
As
part of the UFC-FOX deal, which runs seven years and is believed
to be worth approximately $100 million per year, FOX will air
four annual events. Additionally, UFC Fight Night events and
"The Ultimate Fighter" reality series will move to
FOX-owned FX, and FUEL TV also will air the UFC's specialty programming,
including UFC on FOX 1's official fighter weigh-ins on Nov. 11.
For
the latest on UFC on FOX 1, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section
of MMAjunkie.com.
Source:
Yahoo Sports
|
UFC
138: Anthony Perosh Submits Cyrille Diabate
Anthony Perosh submits Cyrille Diabate at UFC 138.Anthony Perosh
survived an early barrage on his feet and then looked tremendous
on the ground, beating Cyrille Diabate with a second-round submission
on Saturday at UFC 138.
The
victory was the second in a row for Perosh, who has been surprisingly
successful since coming to the UFC in 2010 as a late replacement
to fight Mirko Cro Cop. Perosh lost that fight, but he's now
won both of his UFC fights since then.
"The
first win was a big relief, and the second one in a row was even
better for me because I didn't want the first one to be a fluke,"
he said. "I'm here to stay at light heavyweight."
More Coverage: UFC 138 Results | Anthony Perosh vs. Cyrille Diabate
Live Blog
Diabate landed a good combination very early in the first round
to open a cut on Perosh's face, and he also landed a body kick
that turned Perosh's ribs red. In the early going it looked like
it was going to be all Diabate, but Perosh did a nice job of
catching a body kick and taking Diabate down into side control.
However, while Perosh stayed on top for the rest of the round,
Diabate did a nice job of neutralizing Perosh and not taking
much damage. It was a first round that Diabate deserved to win.
In
the second round, however, it was a different story: Perosh took
control early, getting full mount on the ground and attempting
to get into position for an arm-triangle choke a couple of times.
When that didn't work, Perosh stayed in the mount until Diabate
tried to buck him off, then took Diabate's back, battered him
with ground and pound, sunk in a rear-naked choke and forced
Diabate to tap.
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
Pro
Elite 2 Returns Poor Performances from Sylvia, Arlovski and Penn
Pro
Elite put on their second show under new ownership on Saturday
night in Illinois, but several heavyweight fights at the top
of the card left a lot to be desired.
Going
5-1 over his last six fights, former UFC heavyweight champion
Tim Sylvia looked for another win as he took on relative unknown
Andreas Kraniotakes. What resulted was a three round hug fest
that the crowd jeered loudly, and left even HDNet’s broadcast
team ready for a nap.
Sylvia
pulled off the unanimous decision win, and while a victory is
a victory in MMA, this one won’t gain the former heavyweight
champion very many fans.
Andrei
Arlovski was also hopeful to continue his career rejuvenation
in Pro Elite, but outside of a highlight reel knockout to end
his bout with journeyman fighter Travis Fulton, he also looked
like a fighter well past his prime.
Arlovski
and Fulton put on a terrible performance for the live crowd and
the ones watching at home, but the Belarus native was able to
secure a head kick KO with literally one second remaining on
the clock. It’s two wins in a row for Arlovski, but unfortunately
for the former UFC champ his best days are behind him.
Reagan
Penn, younger brother of UFC legend B.J. Penn, made his second
foray into MMA on Saturday night, and proved that cardio issues
may run in the family. B.J. Penn was criticized for years for
his lack of attention to cardio, and although he’s fixed
the problem in recent years, Reagan may need to follow in his
footsteps if he wants to continue fighting.
Penn
lost a lopsided decision to Evan Cutts after 15 brutal minutes
in the cage.
Ryan
Martinez put a stop to the Mark Elllis’ hype train on Saturday
night, defeating the former NCAA champion wrestler by three round
decision. Ellis has been working non-stop at the American Kickboxing
Academy as he continues his push into MMA, but Saturday was definitely
not his best showing. Martinez however tries to continue his
run as a prospect to watch as he moves on in the Pro Elite heavyweight
Grand Prix.
Full
Results for Pro Elite 2: Big Guns
Tim
Sylvia def. Andreas Kraniotakes by unanimous decision
Andrei Arlovski def. Travis Fulton by KO (head kick) at 4:59,
R3
Evan Cutts def. Reagan Penn by unanimous decision
Ryan Martinez def. Mark Ellis by unanimous decision
Jake Heun def. Ed Carpenter by TKO at 3:17, R1
Cody Griffin def. Justyn Riley by TKO at :32 seconds, R3
Richard Odoms def. Rodney Housley by unanimous decision
Waylon Lowe def. Floyd Hodges by TKO (doctor’s stoppage)
at 5:00, R2
Todd Monaghan def. Richard McCraw by submission (rear naked choke)
at :29 seconds, R1
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Chael
Sonnen and Mark Munoz Both Want Title Shot, Who Wins Out?
Let the middleweight contender argument begin.
After
taking care of business at UFC 138 with a win over Chris Leben,
Mark Munoz shared his feelings about his place in the middleweight
rankings. “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” feels he’s
worthy of a shot at the kingpin… Anderson Silva.
“I
paid my dues in this weight class and I think I deserve a title
shot,” Munoz said. “I consider (Anderson Silva) a friend,
but right now I would love to get a title shot.”
Some
may look at this stance as bold, but Munoz has indeed fought
for it. The fighter out of Reign Training Center has topped seven
of eight middleweight opponents and finished four of those fights
before going to the judges.
Another
middleweight that gets a lot of contender talk – even when
it doesn’t come directly from him – is the always-vocal
Chael Sonnen. His manager, Mike Roberts, feels his client deserves
another shot at Silva, but representing Munoz as well, he wouldn’t
sell his other charge’s efforts short either.
“Mark
and Chael both deserve a title shot,” Roberts told MMAWeekly.com
via text message.
Obviously,
UFC president Dana White and matchmaker Joe Silva will have the
final say in who Silva defends his belt against next. It’s
only appropriate that both Sonnen and Munoz are speculated to
be the front-runners for No. 1 contender status, but only time
will tell who gets the next crack.
Maybe
the method in which Munoz and Sonnen call out the champion will
be taken into consideration. Munoz had the very respectful approach
and admitted he has all the respect and honor for the champ.
Sonnen, however, had one of the most memorable call outs in recent
history when he said, “Anderson Silva, you absolutely suck!”
Clearly,
Sonnen’s and Munoz’s methods are polar opposites. Now
fans wait to see which message comes across louder to White and
Silva.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Johnny
Eduardo injured, out of UFC 139 bout with Michael McDonald
Johnny
Eduardo is out of UFC 139 card. The Nova União product,
who made his UFC debut with a unanimous decision loss to Raphael
Assunção, told TATAME on Friday that he has suffered
an shoulder injury, forcing him to cancel his bout against Michael
McDonald.
“I
was training hard, super confident, but I hurt my left shoulder
defending a takedown. Last week an felt too much pain and Dede
(Andre Pederneiras) sent me to the doctor, who asked for a MRI”,
Johnny explains.
“It’s
20 sessions before heading back to the doctor and reevaluate
if I’m going to need more sessions on my shoulder or if
I’ll be able to return to training. Unfortunately, I’m
out of the fight. Actually, I don’t know if they’re
going to postpone the bout of just find a replacement. It’s
better wait and fight with no injures”.
Source:
Tatame
|
Luis
Ramos vs. Matt Riddle agreed to UFC 141
Luis
“Beicao” Ramos will get another chance inside the octagon.
The former Shooto welterweight world champion, who made his UFC
debut with a first round KO loss to Erick Silva, told TATAME
he’ll fight Matt Riddle at UFC 141, on December 30 in Las
Vegas, Nevada.
“I’m
training hard since I lost, now I just have to focus on him.
I’ll sign the contract on the next few days,” Ramos
told us, waiting for some pressure. “He’s under pressure,
so I am. Whoever loses will leave the UFC”.
Ramos
has more time to get ready for the bout, differently from his
UFC debut. “You’ll never see me like in this next fight.
I’ll go for the knockout or the submission all the time.
It’s my career on the line”.
Source:
Tatame
|
Cobrinha
is back to stay
After
winning his third No-Gi World Championship featherweight title,
on Saturday, Rubens Charles “Cobrinha” made an official
statement to GRACIEMAG: “I’m done with retirement.
I’m back! Next year I’ll be stronger than ever!”
The
31-year-old superstar thought when he moved to Los Angeles last
year and opened up his school, he’d have way too many responsibilities
and no time to train or even think about competing but he says
his students have been so supportive of his competition lifestyle,
he doesn’t have any excuses not to get back out on the circuit
and compete again. “My students keep asking me to compete,”
he says, “They motivated me. Everybody supports me. My life
is beautiful. Life is easy. We just make it hard. I realize now
that my family is here in California, so I’m gonna stop
saying I’m retiring. I’ve got a lot left to do in Jiu-Jitsu.
I haven’t done enough. I can do more. I can win three or
four more times in a row.”
Cobrinha
has already done so much in his career, He has won the Gi Worlds
and Pan four times apiece. Now, he can add three-time No-Gi Worlds
winner to his resume.
Squeezing
out the armbar
On
Saturday, Cobrinha had two matches for the day in the featherweight
division. In his first match, against Renen Borges of Brazilian
Top Team, Cobrinha submitted him with a choke from behind. He
did the same in the final, against Justin Rader of Ribeiro JJ,
but Cobrinha says the two had a really great match. “It
was a scramble,” Cobrinha laughs, “I showed that I
still feel 22 years old! Justin was scrambling and I attacked.
I played open guard and looked for submissions. I have to give
him credit. I’ve fought him before. He’s a young kid,
and he’s hungry. He did great. He deserves this win as much
as I do.”
Cobrinha’s
goals for 2012 have changed completely, and his fans will be
thrilled with their transformation. “My fire’s back!
I’m going to do every tournament – the Pan, the Worlds,
the World Pro… I’m going to compete as much as I can.
The one thing I learned from my mom was to be smart. She used
to tell me, ‘When you open your mouth, make sure you’re
right about what you’re saying.’ So, the next time
you hear me mentioning retirement, it’ll be because I’m
going to open my own bakery in L.A.!”
Source:
Gracie Magazine
|
SCC
3 Results: Alessio & Marunde Score Big
LAS
VEGAS – This past Friday, Nov. 4, at The Orleans Hotel &
Casino, two fighters took big steps forward in their dreams of
reaching the UFC with their victories at Superior Cage Combat
3.
In
the main event of the night, John “The Natural” Alessio
won his ninth fight in his last 10 with a close unanimous decision
victory over former Pride star Luiz “Buscape” Firmino.
Ex-IFL light heavyweight Bristol Marunde continued his tear at
185 pounds and claimed the SCC middleweight championship after
winning by unanimous decision over former UFC fighter Jay Silva
in a bout that earned both men Fight of the Night honors.
In
other action, former MFC light heavyweight title contender Emanuel
Newton submitted James McSweeney with five seconds left in the
first round to earn his fifth win in a row. And former UFC lightweight
Shane “Sugar” Nelson picked up his third consecutive
win via TKO when opponent Lance Wipf could not continue due to
a knee injury in the second round.
Full
SCC 3 Results:
John Alessio def. Luiz Firmino by Unanimous Decision (29-28,
29-28, 29-28)
Bristol Marunde def. Jay Silva by Unanimous Decision (48-47,
48-47, 49-46)
Emanuel Newton def. James McSweeney by Submission (rear naked
choke) at 4:25, R1
Steve Lopez vs. Dominique Robinson ends in Majority Draw
Porfirio Alves Jr. def. Alonzo Martinez by Unanimous Decision
(29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Shane Nelson def. Lance Wipf by TKO (Dr. Stoppage) at 2:15, R2
Phil Dace def. Dave Terrel by Unanimous Decision (29-27, 29-27,
29-27)
Cameron Diffley def. Sidney Silva by Submission (arm bar) at
4:01, R1
Shawn Fitzsimmons def. Blas Avena by KO at 3:42 in R2
Shorty Weikel def. Kui Gonsalves by Submission (rear naked choke)
at 2:30, R2
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Two-time
No-Gi world champ Brandon Mullins
Some
competitors made history at the No-Gi Worlds last Saturday, and
roosterweight Brandon Mullins of Gracie Barra Texas was one of
them. Brandon had one match, a super fight, he called it, against
Joseph Capizzi of Renzo Gracie and won on points, making him
a two-time American No-Gi Worlds champion, which no American
has ever done before, except for Rafael Lovato Jr., who also
claimed this victory on Saturday.
The
match against Joseph was a repeat of last year: the two ended
with the same amount of points from the same moves, a takedown
and a guard pass, and luckily for Brandon, it resulted in the
same ending: a gold medal for him. “Joseph is always an
incredibly tough opponent,” Brandon graciously says, “His
game was a lot different from last year. It was a hard fight
and he had me in some bad positions.” Brandon says he came
into the No-Gi Worlds healthy, but after his one super fight,
he’s leaving with a twisted neck and foot.
Brandon,
who turns 32 in December is a first-degree black belt and has
been training for 12 years. He says he feels like he’s in
his prime and, although he may look young, he doesn’t fight
like he’s young. He competes all the time, and the No-Gi
Worlds is his 15th tournament this year. “I try to do two
a month,” he says, “I hit all the local Houston tournaments,
NAGA, Grappler’s Quest… I like to meet new people.
I find it easier to make improvements to my game when I compete
against people I’ve never met before. I can try out new
aspects to my game and create new strategies that they’re
not expecting.”
At
the No-Gi Worlds Brandon says he changed it up this year and
used a different takedown and opened his guard from the opposite
side that Joseph is used to seeing. He doesn’t have a favorite
Jiu-Jitsu move, he just takes whatever’s given to him, so
he has worked on his defense a lot lately. “Joseph is a
great competitor,” he says, “He studies an incredible
amount of tape. So, I refined and tightened up my game. I improved
my defense.”
Brandon
says his greatest strength is his willingness to work hard and
never miss training. “I love to train,” he says, “A
lot of people don’t, but I do. This makes it easy for me
to improve. I have a really great time with Professor Draculino
and Pablo Silva. I really love training with them.”
As
for his great performance at the No-Gi Worlds, Brandon says,
“I look forward to the opportunity to prove that I’m
the best again.” Brandon would like to thank Professor Draculino,
everyone at GB Texas and Campbell’s Compounding.
Source:
Gracie Magazine
|
UFC
138 Results: Mark Munoz vs. Chris Leben
Before
UFC 138 ever started, Mark Munoz said that he believed he was
finally hitting his stride and was ready to make a statement
in the middleweight division.
The
former two-time NCAA champion wrestler did exactly that with
a hard-fought performance and victory over Chris Leben to cap
off UFC 138.
In
what had to be one of the craziest rounds of the year, Munoz
and Leben went after each other with reckless abandon during
the first five minutes of their fight, throwing the fact that
they had 25 minutes to battle out the window.
Leben
on a couple of occasions looked to put Munoz away with guillotine
chokes, as well as launching his signature sledgehammer lefts
and rights. Meanwhile, Munoz played a very smart and tactical
strategy putting Leben on his back and wailing away with what
has become the most vicious ground and pound in the sport.
Munoz
has learned so much about MMA since he started fighting that
some wondered if he was going away from his wrestling too much,
but he fought Leben with the best strategy available to him and
he says that was the game plan all along.
“I
had to get my angles, utilize my wrestling, hit my single leg
and use my ground and pound. That’s what I did,” Munoz
said.
The
first round was a dogfight with back and forth exchanges, and
both Leben and Munoz tried to gain a slight upper hand. As the
fight wore on, however, Leben’s gas tank started to drain
and Munoz was able to kick into overdrive.
A
right hand came crashing down on Leben’s eye courtesy of
Munoz, and a large gash was opened up as the former “Ultimate
Fighter” season 1 competitor started to wear a crimson mask
of blood. A brief doctor’s check allowed the fight to continue,
but Munoz was unrelenting in his attack.
Seeing
Leben as a wounded animal, Munoz went in for the kill and threw
punches with all of his force behind him, looking for the finish.
The second round horn sounded, but that was all she wrote.
As
Leben’s corner checked on him, he simply said that he couldn’t
see and that was all they needed to signify the fight was over
and declare Munoz the winner.
“Chris
Leben is a tough, tough competitor,” Munoz said about his
opponent. “I knew I had to look out for his left hand, and
he came with it. I had to get rid of my brawling instincts and
I had to stick to my wrestling, so that’s what I did.”
While
it certainly wasn’t the highlight finish he was looking
for, Munoz punished Leben and definitely earned the victory.
Following the fight, Leben paid Munoz credit for his evolved
fight style and his ability to get the victory.
“Hard
to fight when you’re choking on blood. He got me good,”
Leben stated. “Munoz is a National Champion wrestler, he’s
as good as they come on the ground and I definitely need to evaluate
my ground game after that performance. He did a fantastic job
on the ground. It takes a man to know to know when they’re
beat and he beat me tonight.”
The
win marks Munoz’s fourth win in row and two straight over
top ten level competition. Munoz has always been known as one
of the most respectful competitors to ever step foot in the Octagon,
so it’s no surprise that even when he asks for a title shot,
it’s a polite request.
“I
paid my dues in this weight class and I think I deserve a title
shot,” Munoz said. “The thing is, Anderson Silva is
by far the best pound-for-pound fighter. I give him all the respect
and honor, but I think I deserve a title shot right now. I consider
him a friend, but right now I would love to get a title shot.”
Munoz
and Silva have spent considerable time training together in the
past, although recently the two middleweights haven’t worked
together. The UFC’s reigning middleweight champion would
appear on a collision course for a rematch with Chael Sonnen,
but if the UFC opts to go another direction Munoz seems to be
the perfect choice.
Source:
Yahoo Sports
|
Munoz
transitions his way up UFC ladder
The
formula is tried and true. It works, and it has led many fighters
to significant victories, world titles and Hall of Fame careers.
Tito
Ortiz remains one of the greatest mixed martial arts fighters
ever by using just the style that has helped propel Mark Munoz
toward the top of the UFC’s middleweight division: Use wrestling
to take an opponent down, hold him on his back until you secure
position and then end the fight with a brutal attack of elbows
and hammer fists from the top.
Munoz
is among the best in the world at the tactic. Like Ortiz during
his heyday as the UFC’s light heavyweight champion, Munoz’s
elbows while in the guard are something to be feared.
But
Munoz, who faces Chris Leben in a key five-round middleweight
bout at UFC 138 on Saturday in the main event of a Spike-televised
card from Birmingham, England, wasn’t content to simply
be a wrestler and a ground-and-pound specialist.
His
standup was rudimentary when he joined the UFC and his transitions
were non-existent. He was a wrestler, plain and simple, and wasn’t
close to being a true mixed martial artist.
That’s
not so much the case today. The Munoz that Leben will face on
Saturday is as comfortable on his feet as he is on the ground
and has developed into a legitimate contender.
“I
noticed that from when I first lost to Matt Hamill and then had
my second loss to Yushin Okami, that to get to the upper echelons
of this sport, I had to learn more about the transition game,”
he said. “It’s all about the transition from striking
to wrestling and from wrestling to jiu-jitsu. I’ve really
worked on having a seamless transition game.”
Munoz
just completed a 15-week camp for the fight, which is well beyond
the norm, where he spent hours refining his transitions and fine-tuning
his standup. He trained with middleweight champion Anderson Silva
as well as with boxer Danny Perez, among many others. He was
tutored by Chute Box founder Rafael Cordeiro as well as Abel
Nunez and Ed Buckley.
He
went through a camp that’s more than double the length that
many top MMA fighters use, but Munoz is in his element and unconcerned
about burnout because he says he enjoys it so much.
He’s
won three in a row since his loss last year to Okami and is coming
off a victory at UFC 131 over former title challenger Demian
Maia.
A
win over Leben, one of the division’s hardest punchers and
best brawlers, would put him on the verge of a title shot. The
obvious way for him to win would be to use his wrestling to take
Leben down and pound him in an Ortiz-style manner, but Munoz
insists he’s not going to shy away from the standup.
That’s
the best news for Leben, who who has vowed to put on a Fight
of the Night-type match.
“We
both throw bombs,” Leben said. “You guys will have
a main event you’re not going to have to worry about.”
For
Munoz, the fight will be fun. The worrying will come later. He’s
become friends with Silva and said there will be some tough decisions
to be made if he, in fact, becomes the No. 1 contender and is
offered a shot at the title.
Munoz
and Silva have discussed the situation and haven’t come
to a decision.
“That’s
a very touchy subject for us,” Munoz said. “We’ll
have to talk about it a lot. I consider Anderson a friend and
a training partner. Unfortunately, he has the belt and it’s
what I want to do, to become the world champion. It’s not
a personal thing. It’s all about being the best.
“I’ve
paid my dues and done all I can to put myself into position to
become the champion. We had talked about this before and we figured
he’d be retired before I got into position to fight for
the world title. But it’s been kind of a meteoric rise for
me and now, all of a sudden, a lot sooner than any of us thought,
we’re here. I still have to take care of business [on Saturday]
and I haven’t thought about anything other than how to beat
Chris. But I know if I win, I’m going to be right there
and then we’ll have to talk.”
Munoz
said “a win over a guy as talented and highly regarded as
Chris Leben means a lot,” and said he’s excited about
not only being in the main event of a numbered UFC card for the
first time, but also to show the development in his game.
He
knows where he’ll find Leben – directly in front of
him – and knows his odds of winning improve exponentially
if he can avoid being on the receiving end of one of those powerful
Leben lefts.
Still,
Munoz loves a scrap and he knows that’s the kind of bout
Leben is known for.
“You
look at Chris’ style and you look at my style and you have
to say, ‘How can this not be anything be a great fight?’
” Munoz said. “And of course you like to fight in those
kinds of bouts. I got into the UFC in the first place because
I want these kinds of fights, big fights, with title implications.
It’s going to be great. I can’t wait to get going.”
Source:
Yahoo Sports
|
UFC
138 and the Trouble With Tape-Delay
Mark MunozWell, I tried. I did my best to honor the sanctity
of tape delay, to make it an entire day without spoilers so I
could sit down to watch UFC 138 on Saturday night as if it was
a live event. In my hubris, I thought it would be easy. I thought
I could, through sheer force of will, make the Spike TV tape
delay a non-issue. I thought I'd be able to enjoy UFC 138 like
it was any other event. I was so, so wrong.
I
didn't go into this without a plan. I knew the internet would
be a minefield, and that if I so much as opened my web browser
my homepage (MMAFighting.com, naturally) would spoil it for me.
Twitter
was totally out of the question. Facebook? I have way too many
British and European fight fans as friends. Since the entire
world seemed to be getting the event live, I knew I'd have to
avoid entirely the very medium that connected me to the world.
And
I did it. I watched the Facebook prelims, and then I resolved
to shut my laptop until the Spike broadcast started some five
hours later. Thus disconnected, I thought I was home free. Then
my phone buzzed with a text message from a friend. I should have
thought twice before checking it, but habit got the better of
me. That's about when my day was ruined.
The
text was, let's just say, unnecessarily unkind to Chris Leben.
The text also assumed that I'd been following the action live
and had seen the cut stoppage already. When I replied that I
had not, along with a few choice obscenities for my fight-spoiling
friend, the next text was unnecessarily unkind toward me, with
even more choice obscenities in response.
So
there it was. Now I knew, and I could not un-know. I still had
to wait a couple hours for the broadcast on Spike TV, when I
would tweet along with the action for the other sad sacks who
were seeing it for the first time on tape delay, but I admit
that I felt like the one kid in the neighborhood who was still
clinging to a hollow belief in Santa Claus.
The
weird part was, only the main event had been spoiled for me.
I still didn't know what happened in the Brad Pickett-Renan Barao
fight. I'd even maintained an impressive degree of ignorance
with regards to the fate of Thiago Alves. So why couldn't I enjoy
it as if it was live?
Maybe
it was just the fact that other people knew. Maybe it was that
half the fun of watching fights is the idea that anything can
happen, and none of us can know for sure how it will end. Unless,
that is, some of us get to watch it live while others get tortured
by the same few commercials on Spike TV hours after the fact.
Over
the years, I've gotten up ridiculously early and stayed up ridiculously
late to watch live MMA events on foreign soil. Neither is especially
fun, but I've come to the conclusion that it's better to be a
zombie for the rest of the day and get your results as they come
in rather than be well rested and intentionally ignorant.
And
sure, you could argue that no one can complain about seeing the
event a little late as long as it's on free TV, but stay with
that reasoning and see where it goes. If Spike TV showed UFC
138 the following day, is it worth complaining about then? How
about a week later?
As
the difficulty in avoiding real-time results tells us, we live
in the age of instant information. The UFC knows it, as does
Spike TV. So why go through the sad charade of tape-delayed events?
Wouldn't it be better to broadcast live to an interested audience
in the afternoon than to a ghost town in the evening?
Maybe
the boxing fans of 80 years ago could wait weeks to see the moving
pictures of a fight, but they didn't have Twitter. They didn't
have "friends" who would text them unsolicited live
commentary. Instead they had polio and fireside chats. All things
considered, I'd rather live in our age than theirs. I'd also
rather watch my MMA live, no matter what time of day it is, than
get a warmed-over broadcast in primetime.
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
UFC 138 Winner Alves Ecstatic with Second Victory on British
Soil
Though Thiago Alves has only fought twice in the United Kingdom,
it has already become one of his favorite stages for combat.
On
Saturday, Alves’ sophomore U.K. effort earned him a first-round
submission over highly touted prospect Papy Abedi. Following
his win over the previously unbeaten Swede on the main card of
UFC 138 at LG Arena in Birmingham, England, Alves is now a perfect
2-0 on English soil.
“It
feels amazing. I love England. Every time I come here, I have
the best times of my career,” Alves told UFC.com immediately
after defeating Abedi. “[I got] my win over Matt Hughes
[at UFC 85], and now this win, which means a lot to me.”
Abedi
entered the Octagon with a purpose, trying to control the standup
by moving forward against the muay Thai specialist. Previously
competing as a middleweight, Abedi looked chiseled for his 170-pound
debut, showing little regard for Alves’ considerable reputation
as a dangerous striker.
“I
expected him to come out very strong at first, because it’s
his first fight [in the UFC] and he wanted to make a good impression,”
said Alves of his foe. “He’s also a big guy. If you
look at him, he’s not your typical walking weight.”
In
the end, the standup mismatch became apparent, as “Pitbull”
clipped Abedi with a punch combination that put the Swede on
wobbly legs. Pouncing with ferocious ground-and-pound, Alves
dropped serious punishment on Abedi before taking his back and
finishing with a rear-naked choke.
“I
knew he was going to come strong, but I saw a few flaws in his
game,” said Alves. “Every time he threw something,
he would drop his hands. Every time I looked down, he would drop
his left hand, so I came up with the right overhand and just
went for the kill.”
After
choking out an opponent for the first time in his decade-long
career, Alves gave credit to his camp at American Top Team for
the victory. Rebounding from a setback against Rick Story in
May, Alves said he will use his rediscovered confidence to realize
his full potential as a UFC welterweight.
“My
coaches... it’s all because of them. They made me believe
in myself again, now more than ever,” said Alves. “I’m
ready to be everything I said I was going to be. So, bring it.”
Source:
Sherdog
|
Carlos
Condit vs. Josh Koscheck Headed to UFC Super Bowl Card
It
looks like Carlos Condit has his opponent for the Super Bowl
weekend show as Josh Koscheck has been tabbed as the man for
the job.
UFC
president Dana White spoke about the potential match-up at the
UFC 138 post-fight press conference on Saturday.
“Right
now, Carlos wants to fight. He wants to fight on the same card
as GSP and Diaz, so we’ll see what happens. Koscheck has
been offered (the fight),” White said.
Sources
close to at least one of the fight camps also confirmed that
the bout has been verbally agreed to when speaking to MMAWeekly.com
on Saturday.
Koscheck
actually offered to step up and fight Condit on short notice
when Georges St-Pierre had to drop out of UFC 137 due to injury.
At the time, the UFC opted to pull Condit from the card to allow
him to face St-Pierre when he was healthy again.
The
only problem was after Nick Diaz defeated B.J. Penn at UFC 137,
St-Pierre then asked the UFC to face him instead, leaving Condit
without a title shot or a fight.
Now
the former WEC champion has an opponent, a date, and it looks
to be a grudge match in the works.
“This
dude should have took the fight on a week’s notice because
if he had a chance to make it a close fight it was then. Now,
zero chance,” Koscheck wrote on his Twitter account last
week alluding to Condit.
Koscheck
also confirmed his appearance on the card via Twitter after White’s
initial announcement
“Yep,
when I talk, I get,” Koscheck wrote. “Feb. 4 weekend
Vegas, I will be fighting!”
It
appears he’ll have the chance to back that up when he faces
Condit on Super Bowl weekend.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
O2
Martial Arts Academy Was On A Tear This Weekend!
In California:
Greg “Pressure”
Reed Is the No Gi World BJJ Champ!
Greg captured the title in the Blue Belt Senior 1 Super Pesado
division in Long Beach, California
BLUE
BELT SENIOR 1
SUPER
HEAVY
FIRST
Gregory Reed Relson Gracie
SECOND
Heriberto Cordero Clark Gracie JJ
THIRD
Robert Hill Nova União
On Kauai:
Eternal Fighter Submission Grappling Tournament Day 1
Zachary Kaina-Kokubun
& Nakela Snyder
both won their divisions in the gi and are resting for tomorrow’s
no gi’s divison. Great job boys!
|
Worlds
No Gi: the black belt champions
The No-Gi Worlds went down in California this Saturday, with
900 taking to the mats but just one leaving with the main throne.
Marcus Vinicius “Bochecha” of CheckMat was the grand
champion of the absolute black belt division and became the king
of Long Beach for the first time, closing out with João
Assis, Bochecha’s teammate who agreed to be runner-up between
the two.
The
Worlds had other standouts in the adult black belt division,
as you can see below. Michelle Nicolini won the absolute among
the women with a submission over Bia Mesquita. In the overall
team contest, CheckMat took first and Gracie Barra came in second.
In the master division, Fabiano Pega-Leve won the absolute.
For
complete results, check out IBJJF.org.
Absolute:
Marcus Vinicius (CheckMat) and João Assis (CheckMat) closed
out the bracket.
Rooster:
Brandon Mullins def. Joseph Capizzi (5 – 0)
Light
feather: Caio Terra def. Laércio Fernandes by 3 advantage
points (4 – 4 on points)
Feather:
Rubens Cobrinha def. Justin Rader by points
Light:
Lucas Lepri def. Augusto Tanquinho by 1 advantage point (0 –
0)
Middle:
Victor Estima def. Thiago Aragão (footlock)
Medium-heavy:
Rafael Lovato Jr def. Pablo Popovitch by 4 – 0 (penalty
and sweep)
Heavyweight:
Lucas Leite def. Roberto Tussa by 1 advantage point
Superheavy:
Marcus Bochecha subbed Antonio Peinado (arm-and-neck choke)
Ultraheavy:
Roberto Cyborg subbed Ricardo Feliciano (triangle)
Female
Absolute:
Michelle Nicolini subbed Bia Mesquita (footlock)
Feather:
Michelle Nicolini subbed Nyjah Easton (armbar)
Light:
Bia Mesquita def. Tracey Goodell by points (takedown)
Middle:
Rachel Leigh subbed Emily Kwok (kneebar)
Heavy:
Emily Wetzel subbed Katrina Weilbacher (rear-naked choke).
Source:
Gracie Magazine
|
UFC
138 Results: Munoz Pounds Leben Out
Before
UFC 138 ever started, Mark Munoz said that he believed he was
finally hitting his stride and was ready to make a statement
in the middleweight division.
The
former NCAA champion wrestler did exactly that with a hard-fought
performance and victory over Chris Leben to cap off UFC 138.
In
what had to be one of the craziest rounds of the year, Munoz
and Leben went after each other with reckless abandon during
the first five minutes of their fight, throwing the fact that
they had 25 minutes to battle out the window.
Leben
on a couple of occasions looked to put Munoz away with guillotine
chokes, as well as launching his signature sledgehammer lefts
and rights. Meanwhile, Munoz played a very smart and tactical
strategy putting Leben on his back and wailing away with what
has become the most vicious ground and pound in the sport.
Munoz
has learned so much about MMA since he started fighting that
some wondered if he was going away from his wrestling too much,
but he fought Leben with the best strategy available to him and
he says that was the game plan all along.
“I
had to get my angles, utilize my wrestling, hit my single leg
and use my ground and pound. That’s what I did,” Munoz
said.
The
first round was a dogfight with back and forth exchanges, and
both Leben and Munoz tried to gain a slight upper hand. As the
fight wore on, however, Leben’s gas tank started to drain
and Munoz was able to kick into overdrive.
A
right hand came crashing down on Leben’s eye courtesy of
Munoz, and a large gash was opened up as the former “Ultimate
Fighter” season 1 competitor started to wear a crimson mask
of blood. A brief doctor’s check allowed the fight to continue,
but Munoz was unrelenting in his attack.
Seeing
Leben as a wounded animal, Munoz went in for the kill and threw
punches with all of his force behind him, looking for the finish.
The second round horn sounded, but that was all she wrote.
As
Leben’s corner checked on him, he simply said that he couldn’t
see and that was all they needed to signify the fight was over
and declare Munoz the winner.
“Chris
Leben is a tough, tough competitor,” Munoz said about his
opponent. “I knew I had to look out for his left hand, and
he came with it. I had to get rid of my brawling instincts and
I had to stick to my wrestling, so that’s what I did.”
While
it certainly wasn’t the highlight finish he was looking
for, Munoz punished Leben and definitely earned the victory.
Following the fight, Leben paid Munoz credit for his evolved
fight style and his ability to get the victory.
“Hard
to fight when you’re choking on blood. He got me good,”
Leben stated. “Munoz is a National Champion wrestler, he’s
as good as they come on the ground and I definitely need to evaluate
my ground game after that performance. He did a fantastic job
on the ground. It takes a man to know to know when they’re
beat and he beat me tonight.”
The
win marks Munoz’s fourth win in row and two straight over
top ten level competition. Munoz has always been known as one
of the most respectful competitors to ever step foot in the Octagon,
so it’s no surprise that even when he asks for a title shot,
it’s a polite request.
“I
paid my dues in this weight class and I think I deserve a title
shot,” Munoz said. “The thing is, Anderson Silva is
by far the best pound-for-pound fighter. I give him all the respect
and honor, but I think I deserve a title shot right now. I consider
him a friend, but right now I would love to get a title shot.”
Munoz
and Silva have spent considerable time training together in the
past, although recently the two middleweights haven’t worked
together. The UFC’s reigning middleweight champion would
appear on a collision course for a rematch with Chael Sonnen,
but if the UFC opts to go another direction Munoz seems to be
the perfect choice.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
UFC
138 Bonuses Net Fighters $70,000 Extra
It may have been a while since the UFC set foot on British soil,
but their return with UFC 138 in Birmingham, England, on Saturday
provided numerous fireworks for the fans that have been not-so-patiently
awaiting their return.
Several
fighters delivered, and those that caught the brass’ eyes
were awarded $70,000 (U.S.) post-fight bonuses for their efforts.
With the card being heavily laden with British talent, it’s
no surprise that of the four bonus winners, three were from England.
Che
Mills, having disappointed during his run at The Ultimate Fighter,
delivered in spades on his home turf. He stormed the Octagon,
dropping Chris Cope twice inside of 40 seconds before finishing
him off with a flurry of strikes. Mills scored the UFC 138 Knockout
of the Night.
After
nearly a year and a half out of the Octagon, Terry Etim, another
Brit, didn’t spend much time in it before taking care of
Edward Faaloloto. It took Etim just 17 seconds to seal the deal,
finishing him with a guillotine choke for the $70,000 Submission
of the Night.
While
Brad Pickett was the third Brit to earn a bonus, unfortunately
for him, it didn’t coincide with a victory. He and Renan
Barão fought a tremendous co-main event, going toe-to-toe,
but it was Barão that notched the victory with a rear
naked choke late in the opening round. Both fighters walk away
with an extra $70,000, however, for their UFC 138 Fight of the
Night performance.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Official
UFC 138 Attendance and Gate
UFC
138: Leben vs. Munoz drew a reported attendance of 10,823 with
a gate revenues of $1.5 million (U.S.), according to UFC president
Dana White.
UFC
138 was the promotion’s first event on British soil since
UFC 120 in October of 2010. The fights, headlined by a middleweight
brawl between Chris Leben and Mark Munoz, took place at the LG
Arena at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, England.
UFC
120 dwarfed UFC 138 in both attendance, at 17,133, and also gate
revenue, at $2.56 million. It was also held in the country’s
largest metropolis, London, and at a much larger venue in the
O2 Arena.
There
is no sanctioning body for UFC events in England, so the numbers
are reported solely by the promotion itself, whereas in most
markets, an athletic commission or other governing body would
maintain official records.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Jose
Aldo honored by Rio’s Council, happy to defend his title
in Rio against Chad Mendes
Jose
Aldo is on the top of the world. In 2010, the fighter was already
considered the number one of the world, but only the WEC title
didn’t make him known in Brazil. As he was absorbed by UFC,
the Brazilian gained space on the headlines. In 2012, he’ll
be the star on the return of UFC to Brazil, on January 14th.
On an exclusive chat with TATAME, the representative of Nova
Uniao team talked about the changes in his life in and outside
the octagon, about the preparations for the release of the film
about his life and the broadcast of his bout against Chad Mendes
by TV Globo, besides the well-deserved City Council honor of
Rio de Janeiro, with the Pedro Ernesto medal. Check it out:
Your
coach, Andre Pederneiras, was honored with this medal. How does
it feel to gain the same honor he once did?
It’s
great, it’s a dream come true. To be honored is always a
great gift. I guess it’s all the result of the work I’ve
been doing.
They’re
producing a movie about you, and your bout will be live on Globo…
How do you see this moment in your career?
Great.
It’s a moment all athletes dream about. Thanks God, I’m
going through it right now and I hope it lasts, not forever because
it’s hard to keep, but for a long time (laughs).
Jorge
Turco told us you’re becoming a Rio de Janeiro’s Citizen.
How do you see it?
That’s
right, I’ve talked to Jorge. I told him that, when I get
it, I want to get it because the city has welcomed me and given
me this opportunity I’m today having, so I’m already
feel like I belong here.
You’re
becoming a role model to the kids and the young people who want
to enter the sport...
Many
kids, mainly in pour areas, always dream about becoming a footballer
or to be the one who leads the community. Nowadays, with this
big fighting movement, I guess the kids wanna become like Anderson
Silva, Rodrigo Nogueira, Jose Aldo. So I feel like I’m part
of this change in children’s mind.
Do
you believe anything will change now you’re becoming a move
star and you’ll be live on TV Globo?
Not
to me (laughs). I never let it affect me with everything I’ve
done in my life. To me, it doesn’t change a thing, I’m
just a little more recognized, but I guess you gotta know how
to handle it. I’m young, there’re many things I still
want to do so I’ll have to work a lot.
2012
begins with your bout. What are your expectations for the next
year?
To
win. I guess next year will have a good start, with a fight on
January 14th. I hope I defend my title so I can keep it.
How
does it feel to be back home?
Yeah.
The good son returns home. I’ve always fought here in Rio,
but now it’s a special fight, it’s a UFC fight, the
biggest event of the world is coming to Rio de Janeiro again.
It’s a big thing, but we gotta know how not to let it affect
you. I gotta train, I gotta do my best and go to the gym everyday
so I get there in a good shape to defend successfully my title.
There
were rumors about UFC Manaus, but they’re not talking about
it so much anymore. Do you dream on fighting in Manaus?
Man,
now only for my family. My family, my mom and sisters are there.
Nowadays here is my home, so I was born there, but my entire
life I lived in Rio de Janeiro, here is where i grew up, where
I learned to fight and here is where I became a man. So it’s
a huge pleasure to fight here. But, if I fight there someday,
it’s great. My whole family is there, so it’ll be the
same to me.
Is
your family coming to Rio to watch your fight?
I
hardly think so. It’s hard for my family to watch me fighting,
specially my mom, her heart beats fast, so no. My mother doesn’t
even watch it, so I doubt she’ll come here to watch it,
but I’m sure she’ll be sending good thoughts and vibes
to me so I can, once again, be victorious.
Your
wife commented she’ll need a doctor because she can’t
stand watching your fights, but here in Brazil she’ll have
to. Does she get a lot anxious about it?
A
lot, she gets a lot nervous. She says it’s a stomachache,
she gets the chills and nervous. She doesn’t even see it,
she stays in the room praying and then she watches it.
But
here in Rio she’ll watch it?
I
don’t know if she’s watching it or not. It’s up
to her. I’ll be down there, cool. I’ll be focused on
my job.
Try
to finish it quickly, right?
Absolutely.
This one in particular, I’m already training for it so,
God bless me, everything work out and I finish it quickly.
Do
you feel any pressure because of that? You’ve always got
quick wins in WEC, but UFC you had to fight twice for 25 minutes...
Man,
I don’t feel any pressure. I guess I just gotta fight. That’s
what I have to do. And now it’s changed. When I first started,
I was a sniper, I’d go there and risk it all. Now I got
a much greater responsability on my back, so it’s entirely
different. Now people study me much more than they used to. Before
nobody knew who Jose Aldo, so I’d go there and do my job.
I’m cool, I respect my opponents and train hard. I try to
knock them out or submit them the fastest I can, but I goota
see my opponent’s side too. My opponent is right there and
he’s also trying, so it’s cool. The important thing
is that I’m training, going to the gym everyday, so I can
get there and win.
On
the first UFC Rio the Brazilians did great. Do you feel any extra
pressure to be the main star of this second UFC Rio?
Not
at all. Not even if it was the third, fourth. No pressure. I
don’t bring the pressure up to my mind. As I told you, I
believe my work. I go to the gym everyday, train, study my opponent,
we do everything right. If it, someday, happens that I lose,
it happens. Nobody’s perfect, so one day can come a guy
that can beat me. It’ll be great to fight in Rio. I’ll
be tehre fighting and representing my country, everybody will
try to do their best and it’ll be a greater happiness. All
Brazilians want a big party.
You’re
studying Chad Mendes. What have you found out about him? No one
has ever defeated him, he doesn’t have much flaws in his
game...
That’s
right. But I haven’t studied him yet. That’s up to
Andre, but he’s too busy, he just travelled again. But when
it gets closer, when we sign the contract... Everything is official,
but we haven’t signed the contract yet, so we want to sign
it so we start looking for his weak and strong points. Then we
start to really study him.
Source:
Tatame
|
UFC
138 Results and Play-by-Play
LG Arena
in Birmingham, England
November 5, 2011
Chris
Cariaso vs. Vaughan Lee
Round 1
The southpaws feel one another out with high kicks, but it’s
Cariaso who slips a right hand through Lee’s guard first.
Lee snares Cariaso in a standing guillotine and puts his back
to the fence, where he peppers the American with hard knees low.
Cariaso extracts his head and reverses, giving Lee some knees
back until the Englishman trips him to the canvas. Lee works
from Cariaso’s full guard, stands up and drops a hard punch
on his way down. Lee considers the guillotine again, doesn’t
grab it and Cariaso scrambles up. Good single-leg defense from
Cariaso this time, but the larger Lee has him pinned on the cage
and grinds until he gets Cariaso down again. Cariaso gets back
up, but is met by more kicks and another takedown. Cariaso scores
with knees on the inside as the pair finish the round clinching.
Freddie
DeFreitas scores the round 10-9 Lee
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Lee
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 Lee
Round
2
Lee attacks with kicks, scores another takedown and clinches
Cariaso, as he did in the previous round. Cariaso exits with
a hard standing elbow and looks to put combinations together
until Lee rushes him again. Cariaso reverses, but can’t
keep the larger Lee in place. Finding success with close combinations
and elbows, Cariaso opts for the takedown and puts Lee on his
rear. Cariaso scoots his man away from the cage as he works from
half-guard on Lee’s left. Cariaso advances to mount with
1:40 left in the round and works to secure the position. Lee
bucks Cariaso off before he can drop any offense from the mount,
but Cariaso is back there within 30 seconds. Lee escapes again,
showing a triangle and forcing Cariaso to finish the round in
his full guard.
Freddie
DeFreitas scores the round 10-9 Cariaso
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Cariaso
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 Cariaso
Round
3
Cariaso lands a few inside low kicks and a pair of crisp right
hooks to the jaw of Lee, who responds by shoving him into the
cage. Cariaso gets off a few knees inside before referee Dan
Miragliotta splits them up. Cariaso shoots now and Lee defends,
returning to the familiar position on the cage. Cariaso lands
a few more knees until Lee breaks off, then forces Lee to cover
up with a combination. Lee misses a spinning kick, drops for
a single-leg on the fence and is stifled by Cariaso. Midway through
the final round, Cariaso reverses Lee against the cage and spins
him to the floor. Cariaso goes from Lee’s left side to side
control on the right, then takes mount. Lee gives up his back
and Cariaso sinks both hooks in, then rolls to his back. Twisting
out, Lee finds himself mounted once again and Cariaso looks to
frame up an arm-triangle choke. Nothing comes, so Cariaso goes
back to mount and drops hard elbows. Lee gives up his back one
last time, absorbs more rough punches and ends the bout defending
against a rear-naked choke.
Freddie
DeFreitas scores the round 10-9 Cariaso (29-28 Cariaso)
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Cariaso (29-28 Cariaso)
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 Cariaso (29-28 Cariaso)
Official
result: The judges have it 29-28 Lee, 29-28 Cariaso and 29-28
for the winner by split decision, Chris Cariaso.
Chris
Cope vs. Che Mills
Round 1
Mills presses the action from the center and the welterweights
trade leg kicks. The Englishman starts an onslaught with a right
hook and a big knee to the face. Referee Marc Goddard appears
to shove Mills away as he punches the scrambling Cope, then backs
off. After another knee drops Cope to the ground again, Goddard
steps in to end the contest officially at 40 seconds of the first
round.
Michihiro
Omigawa vs. Jason Young
Round 1
Omigawa comes forward, but it’s Young putting punches on
his foe’s face early. Omigawa initiates the clinch and tries
to wrestle Young to the floor. Good defense from Young, who keeps
vertical and has a thudding right high kick blocked by Omigawa’s
forearm. The featherweights bounce and feint, Young breaking
the standoff with a pair of sharp outside leg kicks. Omigawa
dips inside with a long left hand, eats a counter right. Young
shoves Omigawa to the ground when the judoka tries for a takedown.
Omigawa pops right back up and works his way inside again, putting
Young on the fence and tripping him to his back. Omigawa works
from half-guard on Young’s left with two minutes left in
the round as the partisan crowd boos the slowed pace. Young struggles
to his feet and Omigawa tries to keep him on the fence, eating
a few knees in the process. Young escapes and zaps the charging
Omigawa with a nice kick to the body and a knee to the face shortly
thereafter. The clinch comes from Young this time and he works
Omigawa with a couple solid shots. He tries for a takedown and
Omigawa catches him in a guillotine, finishing the round on top.
Young returns to his corner with significant damage on his right
eye; a replay shows that the cut came from an accidental clash
of heads.
Freddie
DeFreitas scores the round 10-9 Young
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Young
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 Young
Round
2
Omigawa sneaks through a few left hands before the pair clinch
and trade knees. Takedown for Omigawa away from the cage, but
he quickly scoots Young over to a post. Omigawa is in side control,
leaning across to control Young’s right wrist. Young grabs
his shorts to defend against the armlock and Omigawa starts dropping
elbows and mashing with short punches. Young doesn’t tolerate
this long, rolling out of the bad position and back to his feet,
where he gets back to work with leg kicks and an uppercut. They
tie up in the center of the cage and Omigawa effortlessly trips
Young to the canvas. Again, Omigawa doesn’t do much with
the position, instead working to improve his position. Omigawa
has a neck crank, steps into mount and releases it, then gets
pushed back to half-guard. Young is just playing defense on the
bottom, escaping Omigawa’s mount once again in the waning
seconds.
Freddie
DeFreitas scores the round 10-9 Omigawa
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Omigawa
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 Omigawa
Round
3
Omigawa catches Young off-balance with a counterpunch early in
the final round and the pair start slinging leather in the pocket.
Omigawa throws a bunch of uppercuts in the tie-up which Young
answers with a knee to the midsection. Omigawa lands a solid
kick to the body, wraps Young up and trips him to the ground
again. Omigawa drops back for a heel hook and Young goes to his
knees, crawling out of the hold and scrambling to his feet. Young
connects with a hard outside thigh kick, a right cross. Omigawa
tries for another guillotine and puts Young on his back, losing
the choke. Side control for Omigawa, who drops punches with two
minutes remaining. Young is looking exhausted as he’s shoved
into the fence, his face lumped up while he defends against a
kimura. With 15 seconds left, Young drives forward and puts Omigawa
on his back, finishing the bout with a flurry of punches on top.
Freddie
DeFreitas scores the round 10-9 Omigawa (29-28 Omigawa)
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Omigawa (29-28 Omigawa)
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 Omigawa (29-28 Omigawa)
Official
result: All three judges score the bout 29-28 for Michihiro Omigawa,
who gets his first UFC victory in five tries via unanimous decision.
Rob
Broughton vs. Philip De Fries
Round 1
De Fries goes low for a double-leg, doesn’t get it and instead
pushes Broughton into the fence. It isn’t long before referee
Dan Miragliotta tells the heavyweights to get busy. They continue
to battle for position, Broughton landing a knee up the middle
before Miragliotta splits them up. De Fries ducks a punch to
get inside again, this time working for a single-leg as Broughton
defends on the cage. De Fries picks the ankle and finally gets
Broughton down. Broughton tries to push off the fence with his
feet to escape side control with De Fries on his right side.
Broughton regains deep half-guard, then gets to his knees and
has his back taken. He turns over and traps De Fries in half-guard
again, then puts him back in full. Broughton lands a few punches
from the bottom and dodges slow shots from De Fries, who stands
up and tries to pass. De Fries grabs a loose guillotine as Broughton
gets to his knees and drives forward. De Fries spins and takes
Broughton’s back again with 10 seconds left in the round.
Freddie
DeFreitas scores the round 10-9 De Fries
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 De Fries
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 De Fries
Round
2
De Fries goes straight back to the clinch and brings Broughton
down to the base of the fence within 30 seconds. Broughton goes
to his knees and De Fries tries to take the back again, blocked
this time by Broughton, who keeps active and rolling. De Fries
stays with him and hops on back with the next try, keeping a
waistlock as Broughton again escapes. Broughton just can’t
shake De Fries, who stays glued to the back of “The Bear”
as they stand and go back down. Broughton uses a deep kimura
to sweep and drops punches to the body of De Fries from side
control while De Fries looks for a kimura of his own. Broughton
traps the right arm of De Fries between his legs and rains down
punches from the crucifix position to De Fries’ unprotected
face. Broughton considers an armlock, gives it up and blasts
his man with more elbows. Broughton closes out the round on top,
smothering De Fries and dropping punches.
Freddie
DeFreitas scores the round 10-9 Broughton
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Broughton
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 Broughton
Round
3
De Fries sticks Broughton with a nice jab and quickly comes inside
to bring the Bear down again. Broughton gasps for air underneath
as he struggles to escape De Fries’ side control. De Fries
shoves Broughton into the cage and Broughton wall-walks out of
the position, then nearly has his back taken. The big men wind
up in the same position as before, De Fries now working from
side control on Broughton’s right. De Fries attacks the
back once again and Broughton turns, landing De Fries in full
mount. The UFC newcomer throws sporadic punches and maintains
his position as Broughton tries to push off the cage and escape.
De Fries gets unbalanced eventually and lands in north-south
position, then side control again. Broughton can’t escape
and just throws short punches to the ribs of the inactive De
Fries until Miragliotta stands them up with 10 seconds left.
Freddie
DeFreitas scores the round 10-9 De Fries (29-28 De Fries)
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 De Fries (29-28 De Fries)
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 De Fries (29-28 De Fries)
Official
result: All three judges score the bout 29-28 for the winner
by unanimous decision, Philip De Fries.
John
Maguire vs. Justin Edwards
Round 1
Edwards’ first offense is a series of inside thigh kicks,
two of which clip Maguire low. Referee Leon Roberts warns Edwards
that the next infraction will cost him a point and the action
resumes after a minute. Edwards is aggressive, chasing Maguire
down with kicks and punches, and dropping the English fighter
right a spinning back-kick to the body and big right hook. Maguire
absorbs some punches on the bottom before driving forward and
finding himself in a guillotine. Extracting his head, Maguire
winds up in Edwards’ closed guard and puts short punches
on the American’s ribs. Edwards posts and uses the fence
to work back to his feet, but is clinched by Maguire as soon
as he’s there. Maguire keeps tight until he can bring Edwards
down and drop more shots. Edwards scrambles up again and takes
a couple knees to the face and body before reversing Maguire
into the fence. Edwards cracks Maguire with another punch, but
Maguire secures the back standing and twice drags Edwards to
the ground. Edwards pops back up and Maguire keeps him on the
cage with a headlock. When Edwards pops loose, Maguire goes low
for a single and Edwards pulls guard with a far-side guillotine.
Maguire escapes and throws some more shots before the horn.
Freddie
DeFreitas scores the round 10-9 Edwards
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Maguire
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-10
Round
2
Maguire sticks Edwards with jabs in the early going of round
two, covering up for the American’s counterpunches and stuffing
a shot. An inside thigh kick lands for Maguire before Edwards
closes the gap and puts the fight back on the fence. Maguire
gets double underhooks, a body lock and drags Edwards down. Edwards
stands but is dragged down again, and this time Maguire takes
the back. Maguire has a body triangle and thuds punches to the
ribs of Edwards, while “Fast Eddy” covers his face.
Maguire is hunting for the rear-naked choke, relentlessly working
to soften Edwards up for the final 90 seconds of the round. Maguire
switches to an armbar attempt but Edwards defends and is saved
by the bell.
Freddie
DeFreitas scores the round 10-9 Maguire
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Maguire
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 Maguire
Round
3
Maguire sticks with his jab while Edwards looks to repeat his
power punches and spinning kicks of the opening frame. Maguire
brings his man down in the middle of the cage and Edwards rolls
for a leglock. Maguire goes for a toe hold of his own and the
pair struggle on the ground until Edwards opts to stand. Maguire
gets Edwards in a headlock and drills him with a few knees, forcing
Edwards to tripod with his hand on the canvas. Edwards turns
the table with a headlock of his own and tries to drop for a
guillotine, but Maguire stifles it and moves to side control,
his arm still trapped between Edwards’ legs. Edwards rolls
and gives up his back, which Maguire quickly takes and secures
with another body triangle. With two minutes left in the bout,
Maguire goes back to peppering Edwards with short punches, looking
for the opportunity for another choke attempt. Edwards rolls
to his knees, trying to come out on top, but Maguire stays glued
and underhooks the left arm of Edwards in the process. Edwards
finally escapes to his feet with 30 seconds to go, dives down
to punch Maguire and gets swept. Maguire tries one last guillotine
and finishes the round on his back with Edwards in north-south.
Freddie
DeFreitas scores the round 10-9 Maguire (29-28 Maguire)
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Maguire (30-27 Maguire)
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 Maguire (30-28 Maguire)
Official
result: All three judges score the bout 30-27 for the winner
by unanimous decision, John Maguire.
Terry
Etim vs. Edward Faaloloto
Round 1
Etim strikes first, stunning Faaloloto with quick, snapping punches
and leg kicks. Faaloloto drives forward for a takedown, but runs
straight into the guillotine of Etim. Jumping guard, the Englishman
wrenches the choke and forces Faaloloto to submit. Etim’s
first trip to the Octagon in 19 months ends in just 17 seconds.
Cyrille
Diabate vs. Anthony Perosh
Round 1
Perosh bounces around the outside while the rangy Diabate feints
knees and tests the range with a push kick. Long punches from
Perosh miss and Diabate chases him down with a combination. Perosh
is clearly looking to close the space and shoot, but Diabate
isn’t letting him inside and the Australian is forced to
circle out. Perosh takes a kick to the body and fails to tie
up. Boos shower down as the slow pace continues and Diabate looks
to pick his punches. The Frenchman stuffs a shot from Perosh,
then another and Perosh pulls guard. Diabate mashes with a few
punches from on top before backing out and motioning Perosh to
the feet. Perosh catches a hard kick to the guts and uses the
leg to bring Diabate down. Landing in side control on Diabate’s
left, Perosh winds up in half-guard with 60 seconds left, referee
Marc Goddard urging the 205-pounders to get busy. Diabate ties
up from the bottom and manages to dodge Perosh’s few attempts
at offense in the final minute.
Freddie
DeFreitas scores the round 10-9 Diabate
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Diabate
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 Diabate
Round
2
Diabate tags Perosh with a knee to the body when the “Hippo”
tries to come inside. Perosh keeps at it, though, and once again
pulls Diabate down to the floor. Perosh hops into full mount
and Diabate gives up back after a short struggle. Perosh tries
to slap on a rear-naked choke and Diabate turns around again.
Perosh is transitioning all over Diabate in top position, though
Diabate manages to retain a very deep half-guard. A brief arm-triangle
attempt from Perosh falls by the wayside and he takes Diabate’s
back again. This time, Perosh throws punches until Diabate gives
up his neck, then latches on a deep RNC. Diabate is trapped this
time and is forced to tap out at 3:09 of the second round.
Thiago
Alves vs. Papy Abedi
Round 1
Abedi slips a low kick and throws a combo at Alves, who covers
up and returns fire with better kicks and a sweeping left. Abedi
comes forward with punches and shoves Alves into the fence, and
the welterweights trade knees inside before splitting off. Alves
puts a hard right kick on the midsection of Abedi, who rushes
with punches again and takes another kick. Abedi pins Alves on
the fence again midway through the round, but can’t hold
him there long. Alves puts a few nice right hooks on the chin
of Abedi, then staggers him with a left. Another right has Abedi
is in dire straits, barely surviving as Alves takes full mount
and pummels with brutal hammerfists and elbows. Referee Dan Miragliotta
is inches from waving the contest off, but allows it to continue
as Abedi gives up his back. Aves quickly applies a rear-naked
choke and Abedi is forced to tap out at of 3:32 of round one.
Brad
Pickett vs. Renan Barao
Round 1
Pickett swings a long, hard right hand and misses. The bantamweights
are quickly into a firefight, Barao landing the better of the
quick combinations thrown. Barao lands an outside leg kick and
Pickett counters with speedy punches, a right hand tagging the
jaw of the Brazilian. Barao misses with a leaping knee and they
trade short combos to the body and head. Pickett pushes in with
a left that staggers Barao, who comes right back with a kick
and a shot. The takedown try is stuffed by Pickett, but Barao
zaps his man with a left in the next exchange, then sticks him
with a jab. Pickett is pushing forward for power punches, Barao
looking to counter. Pickett catches Barao with a right and Barao
replies by moving straight ahead and pouring on combos. A high,
step-in knee catches Pickett and the Brit crashes to his back
with Barao standing over him, raining punches down. Pickett stays
with it as referee Leon Roberts hovers, but “One Punch”
gives up his back in the scramble. Barao quickly tries to apply
the rear-naked choke, but can’t get under the chin. He wrenches
hard anyway and a dejected Pickett submits at the 4:09 mark.
Chris
Leben vs. Mark Munoz
Round 1
Referee Marc Goddard is the third man in the cage for the UFC’s
first five-round non-title fight. Munoz lobs an inside thigh
kick early, slips a punch from Leben and single-legs him to the
ground. Leben loses a guillotine quickly, then tries to post
and escape as Munoz works to flatten the veteran out. Leben works
to his feet with the help of the cage, but Munoz keeps him there
and drills Leben’s ribs with punches. Munoz grabs for another
single-leg, gets Leben down but lets him right back up. Leben
hits a takedown now and cracks Munoz with a couple rights before
the wrestler can get back up. Leben has Munoz on the fence and
begins socking away with rights, but Munoz scoots out and reverses
the position. The pair break with 2:20 remaining and Leben corners
Munoz, tags him with a left. Munoz digs an underhook and tries
to connect with a high knee, but Leben catches it and dumps Munoz
to the ground. Munoz hops up and tries again, landing a takedown
with 90 seconds left. Munoz works from half-guard on Leben’s
right, occasionally posturing up with nasty right hands. Leben
keeps active with short punches from the bottom and then gets
zapped with a big right as he tries to get to his feet. Munoz
pours on more rights when Leben does get up, then has a shot
sprawled on. Munoz slips on a punch and finishes the round on
his knees with Leben throwing half a dozen punches.
Freddie
DeFreitas scores the round 10-9 Munoz
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Munoz
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 Munoz
Round
2
Leben rushes and backs Munoz into the cage with long punches,
and Munoz takes the opportunity to clinch. Munoz drags him down
after a minute and lands rights to the ribs from Leben’s
full guard. Munoz comes over the top with harder rights which
cut Leben at the corner of his left eye. Leben gets to his feet
and pushes in again, only to be clinched and tripped back down.
Again from side control, Munoz tries to further the damage to
Leben’s face with elbows. Leben wearily tries to escape,
getting to his knees before being put on his back again. Leben
grabs a guillotine which forces Munoz to go fetal in defense.
Leben’s face is an absolute mess, blood all over his left
eye, and referee Goddard calls in the physician. Leben appears
to be saying that he can’t see, but ref Goddard asks him
again and Leben says he can. The fight continues and Leben backs
Munoz into the cage with punches. Munoz dives forward, then springs
from his knees to take the back of Leben. Instead, Leben puts
his back to the cage, seated, and Munoz unloads with punches
from a short full mount. Munoz is stuffed back to guard, but
regains mount in the final seconds and gets off a few more shots.
Freddie
DeFreitas scores the round 10-9 Munoz
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Munoz
Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 Munoz
In
between rounds two and three, Leben informs his team that he
cannot see. Referee Marc Goddard waves off the bout, awarding
Mark Munoz the win by technical knockout due to corner stoppage.
Source:
Sherdog
|
Fighter
fit for title defense
By KEVIN JAKAHI
Tribune-Herald sports writer
Ronnie Carvalho's enthusiasm keeps running around the block.
"I can't sleep at night and I feel like it's the first day
of school," he said. "I can't wait. I'm very excited,
very eager to get out there and let everyone know why I'm the
champ."
Carvalho, 26, is the Toughman Hawaii kickboxing heavyweight champion
(201 to 220 pounds), and he faces Kona's John Rosa in a title
fight, looking nothing like he did a year ago.
Back then, the 2003 Hilo graduate had ballooned up to 260 pounds,
easily qualifying for the Toughman super heavyweight division,
reserved for the big boys 230 pounds and over. But trudging into
a cage and throwing down was the furthest thing from his mind
at that point.
"I last fought in October 2009 at Just Scrap," he said.
"I gave mixed martial arts a try and didn't like it. I feel
my bread and butter is kickboxing. I haven't fought in the Toughman
in five years.
"I had a baby and was taking care of my son. I was focusing
on being a parent. I got up to 260 pounds when my baby was born.
When my girlfriend got pregnant and when she ate, I ate. I wasn't
working out, training or eating right. I came home and ate a
lot."
Then he snapped his bad cycle of repetitive eating when his brother,
Aaron Carvalho, gave him a swift verbal kick in the pants.
"He said to stop that because I was getting too fat,"
Carvalho said. "He told me to get back in the gym and work
out and the pounds melted off. I've been training since July
with Pops (his grandfather Wally Carvalho). I got passed over
for the last couple of shows my dad (Wally Carvalho) had, but
I can't wait for Saturday."
Now, Carvalho is 202 pounds, finding a tough time adding weight.
He pointed out the size of his stomach has shrunk, as well as
his appetite.
"I felt good about the weight loss, but felt weak. I had
lost that in a couple of months," he said. "Now, I
weigh the same as I did two years ago and feel great. I've been
working on my cardio, timing, mitt work, running, training, jumping
rope, taking it back to the basics.
"It's been a roller coaster the past three years, not knowing
if I wanted to pursue this, especially with my son. But things
took a right turn and here I am. I want to give the fans, everybody
a show. After all, I am still the champion."
Carvalho saluted his bosses at Macy's for allowing him to work
during the day. After work, he'll run to the Waiakea Recreation
Center, where Pops trains his Hawaii International Boxing Club.
And while there's no curb to his enthusiasm, he'll enter the
cage with his guard up. He did his due diligence on his opponent.
"I expect to fight a war. John is no pushover," Carvalho
said. "I saw his fights on the Internet. He looks like he
shows up to fight. This is one fight everybody should show up
to watch."
Pagan vs. Motta
Toughman promoter Wally Carvalho Jr. has a sentimental touch
about the Anthony Pagan vs. Dave Motta battle for the masters
(35 and over) welterweight belt, not because he's in their age
group, but for the simple fact he feels old-time fight fans are
drooling about the matchup.
"They're both experienced fighters," he said. "I
guarantee it will be one of the best fights on the card. Pagan
is a former welterweight kickboxing champion.
"Dave is one of the top amateur kickboxers from Hilo and
he's had thousands of rounds. He'll go 15, 20 rounds in training
and not get tired. He spars with the young kids he coaches. For
this fight, don't blink. Somebody is going to get knocked out."
Source:
Hawaii Tribune Herald
|
ETERNAL
SUBMISSIONS TODAY
Brazilian Gi & NoGi Tournament
November 5th & 6th, 2011
Kauai Beach Resort, Kauai
www.eternalsubmissions.com
Weigh-ins
are Friday, Nov 4th from 5-9pm at the event ballroom in the Kauai
Beach Resort (all Kauai residdents MUST weigh in on friday- outer
island competitors can weigh in day of division)
Gi
Divisions on Saturday, Nov 5th and start by 10am with the kids,
adults to follow.
Womens
Superfight on Saturday around 12 noon between Tracey Goodell
and Kanani Ragasa
NoGi
Divisions on Sunday, starting at 9am with Kids, Adults to follow
Divisions:
Kids
Women
Adults
Masters
and Adult Absolute for Belt in gi & nogi
We
are working on NoGi superfights and a mens gi super fight
(our previous match of Mike Fowler and Luke Hacker rematch was
cancelled due to the stabbing.)
Special
rates at the resort for competitors for $109/nt by calling the
resort at (808) 245-1955 and using code EFC
We
will have food booths, sponsor booths, giveaways, drawing and
more.
THANKS
:)
Shauna
Low rate offered to competitors and spectators $114/nt at the
Kauai Beach
Resort
also
a special rate for tighter budgets
for Eternal Submissions guests
at the Aloha Beach Hotel
for $81/nt (about 2-3 miles away)
Friday,
Nov. 4th
weigh-ins from 5-9pm
(ONLY outer island competitors can weigh in day of)
Saturday,
Nov. 5th
ALL GI DIVISIONS
Starting at 9am with kids. Teens, women & men to follow
Sunday,
Nov. 6th
ALL NOGI DIVISIONS
Starting at 9am with kids. Teens, womens & mens to follow
PRE-REGISTRATION
due by Monday Oct. 24th for FREE competitor tshirt
Registrations will be accepted until Friday night weigh ins (Sat
or Sun
morning for off-island competitors ONLY), however will not receive
the FREE
shirt, you will be able to purchase the event shirt there, first
come first
serve, limited availability.
More
info www.eternalsubmissions.com
or call Shauna (808) 652-6849
Source: Event Promoter
|
Man
Up & Stand Up Presents Vendetta
Waipahu
Filcom Center
November 11, 2011
Doors open at 6:00
TYLER LAUIFISHWMATT TUILESU
CHAMPIONSHIP
ANTHONY RIVERA155WALTER WALKER
CHAMPIONSHIP
LAWRENCE COLLINS 180 ALBERT
NAPOLEON (O2 Martial Arts Academy)
CHAMPIONSHIP
CHEZ CANTERA135EDDIE ROBINOL
CHAMPIONSHIP
TONY HERMAN160JOSPEH ENAENA
VINCE LEOPOLDO185ALFRED COFFIN
RANKIN LORICO155JAHRIN LINO
KENNY ANGLEMEYER205KOA KONDO
GUSTANO GONZALEZ170TAU VAESAU
JON AMU145JEFF LAGAMAN
NEVADA HARRISON140ANTHONY REYES
STUART KAMEMOTO200JON GALARZA
TOFI MIKA140POOKELA YAHIKU
TIFFANY WICKS190MEAGHAN
JULIUS AMISONE155ALLEN BROWN
ZANE WOOD175JAMES REYES
FREDDY RAMAYLA140KAYLEN STAFFORD
ABEL ROSESHWOTTO HOOPILI
CHRIS MIYOSE135JOE GOGO
KAI KUNIMOTO140LINK MERRIT
KAIMI PAKELE165JUSTIN
JONAVON MASON185KALEO KULANA
All matches & participants are subject to change.
Source: Derrick Bright
|
Velasquez
vs. Dos Santos Will Be Only Fight on Fox
by Damon
Martin
The
upcoming fight card for the UFC on Fox debut is all on the shoulders
of Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos.
Why
you ask?
Well,
regardless if the fight goes 25 minutes or 10 seconds, Velasquez
vs. Dos Santos will be the only fight featured on the Fox broadcast
scheduled for next Saturday night, Nov. 12, at 9 p.m. ET.
“There’s
only going to be one fight. Heavyweight championship fight is
the only fight that’s going to be on Fox. (Even if) it goes
10 seconds,” UFC president Dana White confirmed on Wednesday.
The
rest of the undercard will be streamed on the UFC’s Facebook
page and FoxSports.com, but it does answer the question about
the other marquee fight on the show.
The
lightweight bout between Clay Guida and Ben Henderson will only
be featured during the online broadcast, and won’t see airtime
on Fox even if the title fight is short and over quickly.
What
is likely to happen is a lot of lead-up content before Velasquez
and Dos Santos hit the cage during the 9 p.m. ET hour.
White
also said that they will be doing a lot more in terms of preview
and analysis leading up to the fight before the champion and
challenger step foot in the cage.
“There’s
going to be a lot of breaking down the fight, features, going
backstage. This is probably the first time we’ve ever done
this I think, if we did we did it a long time ago, an interview
with the guys before they come out. It’s going to be a completely
different format than we’ve ever done before,” White
revealed.
The
UFC has stated several times that they will be making some major
changes in regards to production and the look of their shows,
but that won’t begin until January when their deal with
Fox actually kicks in.
UFC
on Fox 1: Velasquez vs. dos Santos, however, will feature a different
feel than their normal pay-per-view broadcasts, but the cat won’t
be let out of the bag until next weekend.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Campuzano
out of McCall Bout; Tachi in Talks with Ex-Shooto Champs
By Mike
Whitman
Will
Campuzano has been forced to withdraw from his flyweight title
bout against Ian McCall at Tachi Palace Fights 11 due to a rib
injury.
Sherdog.com
confirmed the news with Tachi Palace entertainment coordinator
Jeremy Luchau on Tuesday following an initial report from MMAJunkie.com.
Luchau also confirmed that well-traveled veteran Thomas Denny
has pulled out of his bout with Fabricio Camoes.
According
to Luchau, the promotion the search for a replacement opponent
for McCall (Pictured) is already underway. The promotion is currently
in talks with a pair of former Shooto champions, Shinichi “B.J.”
Kojima and Rambaa “M16” Somdet.
“Ian
wants to fight someone in the Top 10, and Rambaa and B.J. might
be available,” Luchau told Sherdog.com. “We are in
negotiations currently. We want to put on the best fight possible.”
Formerly
Shooto’s 123-pound titleholder, 32-year-old Kojima won the
title in 2006 by choking out Mamoru Yamaguchi. Kojima successfully
defended the belt three times before falling to Jussier da Silva
in a 2009 non-title affair and subsequently vacating the title
due to injury. He recently returned from a two-year hiatus, outpointing
Masaaki Sugawara on April 6.
Somdet
won Shooto’s inaugural 115-pound title in November 2009,
earning a technical knockout over Noboru Tahara to capture the
belt. The muay Thai stylist would defend his title only once
before succumbing to injury, however, vacating the championship
in April due to a torn biceps.
Going
down Dec. 2 at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in Lemoore,
Calif, Tachi Palace Fights 11 event will also feature featherweight
and bantamweight title contests, as Issac DeJesus and Ulysses
Gomez lock horns with Georgi Karakhanyan and Cody Gibson, respectively.
Source:
Sherdog
|
Fedor-Monson
to air on pay-per-view
By Sergio
Non, USA TODAY
Fedor
Emelianenko's attempt to break a three-fight losing streak will
cost about $30 to watch in the United States.
Emelianenko
vs. Jeff Monson is scheduled for M-1 Global's Nov. 20 event in
Moscow. The live broadcast will air on pay-per-view for $29.95
through In Demand, DirecTV, Dish Network and Avail-TVN, broadcast
distributor Integrated Sports Media announced Thursday.
Considered
the No. 1 heavyweight in mixed martial arts for most of the 2000s
before his current run of setbacks, Emelianenko hopes to rebound
against one of the most experienced fighters in the heavyweight
division. Monson, one of the most accomplished grapplers in MMA,
has 43 victories in 55 fights, including a run in the Ultimate
Fighting Championship that culminated in an unsuccessful title
shot.
The
Nov. 20 broadcast starts at 7:30 a.m.
M-1's
co-main event pits lightweight champion Jose Figueroa against
German submission expert Daniel Weichel. Other bouts announced
so far:
•
Welterweight: Aleksander Yakoviev vs. Juan Suarez
•
Welterweight: Mairbek Taisumov vs. Josh Thorpe
•
Middleweight: Arthur Guseinov vs. Xavier Foupa-Pokam
Source:
USA Today
|
Japan
2011: The more things change, the more they stay the same
By Zach
Arnold
While
the Fertitta family faces some nagging troubles over Xyience…
Most
fascinating is that news about K-1 and new ownership is getting
zero mainstream press traction in Japan. It’s a dead story.
Most incredible.
What’s
not incredible or shocking is that there will be yet another
attempted New Year’s Eve event at Saitama Super Arena this
year, promoted by Real Entertainment. The former employees of
PRIDE will work in conjunction with Antonio Inoki as the front
man, just like he was last year. The show title will be called
“Genki desu ka!” which is Inoki’s trademark slogan.
It’s a sweetheart deal for him. The discussion is that there
will be 20 matches on the card and that IGF aces Peter Aerts
& Jerome Le Banner will be on the card. There is some hope
of getting the telecast on broadcast television, but nobody is
sure how things will play out given that it’s already November
and it’s short time for a TV network to get an ad agency
working at the last-second to make the numbers work.
Shin’ya
Aoki & Tatsuya Kawajiri are also rumored to be fighting on
the show. I thought Aoki was supposed to fight Eddie Alvarez
in the States in January? Perhaps they fight here on this card…
or Aoki gets an easy opponent and sets up the fight with Eddie
in the States for Q1 2012.
The
most depressing takeaway from what’s currently happening
in Japan is that it’s the same old players. There’s
no true, new blood entering into the space. In America, we see
how UFC & Bellator are positioned. There isn’t even
a promotion like Bellator in Japan at this point that could be
bought as a real turnkey operation. Sengoku’s dead, K-1
is persona non grata in media circles, the magazines are dying,
newspaper publications are fortunate to cover other sports, and
TV backing is gone which means it’s really hard to create
new stars. The UFC Japan sold show in February is by no means
any threat to whoever is remaining standing in Japan, but that’s
not really saying much at all.
I
have lots of friends in Japanese media circles who are moving
into other professions or just scaling back tremendously their
activities in the sport. It’s predictable and inevitable,
but it still hurts.
As
for Kazuyoshi Ishii still hanging around K-1, I’m 100% not
surprised. Even if he’s still a front man and/or getting
a cut of the action, he’s a man who would never let go of
the K-1 name. It’s his whole social identity. With that
said, his social identity is supposed to mean soemthing…
in Japan. Running shows in Hong Kong or mainland China isn’t
going to attract a lot of interest amongst the Japanese sports
public at large. Plus, Ishii’s got a notorious history with
contracts and legal matters. When he and agent Ken Imai were
buddies a decade ago, it was Imai who handled the paperwork and
Ishii who was the social hustler. As Tony laid out in his Sherdog
article, we all saw what happened when Ishii got busted by the
authorities.
Furthermore,
the size & scope of the Japanese fight game is entirely dependent
on how much illegal cash is available. Given the renewed efforts
of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police to deal with the various gangs,
it will be interesting to see if the fight game can still active
the money marks or if the sport has lost so much value in terms
of social credibility that people who would normally blow cash
on it no longer see much value in doing so.
Source:
Fight Opinion
|
Judge
Orders Sanctions Against Fertittas In Xyience Case
A
federal bankruptcy judge has ordered sanctions against Fertitta
Enterprises for failing to turn over e-mails from its chief financial
officer suggesting the firm might have had a hand in the bankruptcy
of sport-drink maker Xyience. The Fertittas, Las Vegas gambling
tycoons who also own the Ultimate Fighting Championship franchise,
are accused by the trustee of bankrupt Xyience of lending the
firm $12 million at a time of crisis and then using the loan
to strip the company’s assets from its shareholders.
Move
up Move down
Xyience
is a major sponsor of Ultimate Fighting Championship, which the
Fertittas bought in 2001 for $2 million and quickly turned into
a cash machine. The energy-drink company was founded by a twice-convicted
felon and sales genius named Russell Pike, who raised millions
of dollars from Midwest labor unions and other investors who
later accused him of fraud. The Fertitta brothers also control
Station Casinos, which emerged from bankruptcy in 2009.
In
an Oct. 28 order, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Lloyd King held that
William Bullard, the chief financial officer of Fertitta Enterprises
and a manager of Xyience, failed to comply with discovery requests
for documents related to the company’s bankruptcy. Bullard
said e-mails had been destroyed, yet he was obligated to keep
them since he knew the loan deal might spawn litigation and trigger
rules requiring the retention of all relevant documents. (At
a November 2007 Xyience board meeting, before the loan was made,
he refused to serve as a director because of threatened shareholder
litigation.)
E-mails
were later found on computers at a Las Vegas beer company where
Bullard also works. They detailed how Fertitta proceeded with
the loan even though there was a potential $150 million buyout
offer from Canada’s Cott Corp. Judge King said Fertitta’s
“wilful, bad-faith discovery behavior justifies the imposition
of monetary sanctions” to be determined at a December hearing.
The
whole imbroglio is small potatoes for the Fertitta brothers,
Frank and Lorenzo, who pulled their Station Casinos through bankruptcy
and now control a large part of the lower-cost local gambling
market in Las Vegas. The order for sanctions is vindication for
attorney Jonathan Brackman, who as I described in this earlier
post is a Harvard Law grad who got dragged into this case from
his home in Bloomington, Ill. after a request from some of his
former law-firm partners. A lawyer for the Fertittas previously
called Brackman’s request for sanctions “outrageous
and abusive,” because the plaintiffs allowed all the messages
originally on Xyience computers to be destroyed while still in
their possession.
Source:
Forbes
|
Details
on Kazuyoshi Ishii’s new FIKA group begin to trickle out
in regards to backing K-1
Kazuyoshi
Ishii officially announced FIKA today, and has promised it will
be a new day for K-1 worldwide. FIKA is the Federation International
K-1 Association, and will apparently be the new governing body
for K-1. There will be a K-1 World Grand Prix in 2012, but to
fully grasp what Ishii and his new partners have planned, think
big.
FIKA
is to be headquartered in Hong Kong and they are going to appeal
big time to Chinese audiences by having some of their biggest
shows take place in China. There will still be a "World
Stage" event in Japan, but it doesn't appear to be the Finals.
They are looking to hold events around the world to bring a 'World
Cup' feeling and will try to be the FIFA of Kickboxing. FIKA
has also brought on famous Chinese folk singer Song Zuying to
sing the official FIKA theme song, which was apparently the big
headline grabber in China in regards to this announcement, on
top of the list of famous people at the event. The theme song
will apparently be recorded in English as well, which Zuying
was quoted saying it would help FIKA have a global appeal.
Seven
Star Entertainment Fund, a branch of Sun Redrock Investment Group
will serve as a partner in FIKA, owning about 60%, with the rest
of the management team comprising the remaining 40%. Who is actually
a part of this team outside of Ishii is not clear, but with the
rumors of Bas Boon looking to invest in K-1 and this looking
to be the future of K-1 and Bas Boon was on stage for the announcement
with Semmy Schilt, it would be hard not to make connections.
FIKA is looking to make for a much stronger push into the United
States and China for K-1 and be less Japan-centric.
As
of press time there is no firm details on a schedule or possible
television deals. The only schedule is a rough one on the FIKA
website's press release, which states April for the world qualifiers,
May/June for the 32 stage, Sept/Oct for the 16 stage and Oct
to December for the Final 8. This will be in three weight classes;
63kg, 70kg and 95kg.
Source:
Liver Kick
|
UFC
on FOX Devoted Solely to Title Fight, but dos Santos Says It
Won't Go Distance
By Mike
Chiappetta
The
calendar has finally turned to November, and the countdown is
officially on for the UFC on FOX premiere. Since signing the
deal in August, much of the company's attention has been focused
on its new partnership, and now, the days will quickly wind down
until it's showtime. There is still much work to do until then,
but UFC president Dana White says that one thing not on his list
of concerns is the night's main event fight.
Heavyweight
champion Cain Velasquez and challenger Junior dos Santos both
safely made it through their respective training camps and are
primed to seize the spotlight afforded them.
At
least to dos Santos (13-1), he doesn't expect that spotlight
to last very long. Even though the UFC has confirmed that one
and only one fight will be shown on the broadcast, dos Santos
doesn't plan on taking all 25 minutes afforded to him.
"I
would be ready for five rounds if it went to five rounds, but
personally, I don't think the fight will go five rounds,"
he said through his interpreter during a Wednesday teleconference.
"Both Cain and myself are aggressive fighters. Both of us
go on offense. We look to fight. We don't dodge fights.
"I
know Cain's been out of the octagon for a while, but I also know
he's a phenomenal fighter," he continued. "He's a professional,
and I'm sure he's going to bring his best inside that octagon
and he's going to be ready. I don't want to fight an injured
Cain Velasquez. I want to fight the best Cain Velasquez. That's
what I'm preparing for. I don't think he'd take a fight if he
couldn't give it his all. It's going to be his first title defense.
It's a very big fight for him. I look forward to meeting up with
the champion Cain Velasquez at his best."
Velasquez
(9-0) says that he will indeed be at his best, his shoulder at
full power and range of motion after surgery, rehabilitation
and a full camp.
Velasquez
stopped short of predicting a stoppage-shortened fight, but given
the historic nature of the fight and the UFC's trust in the fighters
by placing them in the honored roles, he expects a scrap worthy
of the attention it's receiving.
"I'm
hoping to make it an exciting fight for the fans," he said.
"dos Santos is a great opponent, and we're definitely going
to go out there and just throw down. That's pretty much it. People
love to see that."
At
least by the numbers, dos Santos has some precedent for his prediction.
Both fighters have been big finishers throughout their careers.
The challenger dos Santos has 11 stoppages in his 13 victories
while the undefeated champion Velasquez has stopped opponents
in eight of his nine wins. Velasquez is currently considered
a slight favorite according to recent lines.
For
the UFC there is plenty riding on the November 12 foray into
network TV. White said as early as this weekend, his crew will
be utilizing extra rehearsals to shore up event production. The
show will include elements like backstage interviews with the
main-event fighters before the title bout, and other wrinkles.
Those changes and the importance of the show caused White to
admit that it's the first time in a long time he's had some nerves
about a show he's produced. But as far as the in-ring action,
he has no doubts. He knows Velasquez and dos Santos will deliver.
"We're
working hard and we're going to nail this thing," White
said. "I know the fight is going to be great. The fight
is the least of my worries. That's why these two are in the spotlight
and in this position."
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
UFC
on Fox Debuts in International Markets
by Damon
Martin
The
UFC on Fox debut show will be a showcase for the promotion after
reaching a 7-year deal with the television giant, kicking off
Nov 12 with the UFC heavyweight title up for grabs between champion
Cain Velasquez and challenger Junior Dos Santos.
Fans
in the United States will be able to tune into one of the largest
network television stations to watch the action kicking off at
9pm ET/6pm PT on Saturday Nov 12.
The
only question left unanswered up until Wednesday was the availability
for international fans to be able to watch the fight.
UFC
President Dana White answered that question by stating that the
main event would be available in more than a dozen countries.
“It’s
going to be in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, France, Greece,
Italy, Japan, Korea, Fox Sports Latin America, Mena, New Zealand,
the Philippines, Thailand, Ireland and the U.K,” White revealed.
For
Canadian viewers, the UFC’s broadcast partner Rogers SportsNet
will broadcast the Velasquez vs. Dos Santos fight.
The
other countries will have similar deals where fans can tune in
to watch the UFC heavyweight title fight that will kick off a
new era in mixed martial arts history.
The
remaining fights on the card will be available on Facebook.com
through the UFC’s official page as well as Fox.com.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
A
certain Tererê in Porto Alegre
Ivan Trindade
The
life of Fernando Tererê, 31, has gained public attention
for its glories and its tragedies.
The
glories were all conquered in the gi, a result of his unique
talent.
“I
was a world champion from blue belt to black,” he recollects.
His
winning routine began in 1997, when at 17 he won the lightweight
division.
With
every passing year, Tererê moved up a belt and kept taking
his place at the top of the podium.
In
1998, he won his second world title, at purple belt; in 1999,
as a brown belt, his third.
In
the year 2000, he made his black belt debut and was crowned four-time
world champion.
In
2001, he took runner-up after losing the middleweight title to
Victor “Shaolin” Ribeiro.
In
2003, he had his greatest moment of all. He won his second world
title as a black belt (fifth overall) upon submitting Marcelo
Garcia in the middleweight final.
No
one since then has even managed to beat Garcia in the division,
much less submit him.
In
2004, rather than defend his throne, he decided to test himself
against the big guys, signing up for the ultra heavyweight division,
despite weighing only 80 kg.
He
ended up taking runner-up, losing to Fabrício Werdum.
It
was in 2004 that his problems turned into tragedies.
Following
a two-week stint teaching seminars in the United States, Tererê
suffered a mental breakdown on a flight from Miami to São
Paulo.
Just
three years after September 11, 2001, he disturbed passengers’
peace and was given the severe penalty of spending 30 days in
custody in Florida.
What
followed the crisis was more psychological issues that alcohol
and drugs only made worse.
“I
spent six years away from Jiu-Jitsu. Six years without putting
on a gi,” Fernando asserts.
Over
those six years, now and again he would resurface, but he didn’t
seem to be well. The news coming from his end got worse and worse.
Diagnosed
with severe depression, on November 16, 2009, on his 30th birthday,
GRACIEMAG.com put in a call to his home, in the Cantagalo favela
of Rio de Janeiro.
His
mother, Regina Helena, answered the phone, but there was no joy
in her voice: “He stays in his room almost all day. We made
a cake and sang Happy Birthday, but I don’t think he really
understands what’s going on.”
Despite
the deteriorating outlook, Helena was sure of one thing: “The
family will never give up on him!”
Days
after the phone call, more news arose, and with it, hope.
Finally,
Tererê had agreed to be treated for depression and drug
abuse – crack even.
“I
went to some clinics and did a complete detox,” recalls
Tererê.
The
cost of his treatment was footed by friends, acquaintances and
fans. Stars like Marcelo Garcia, Bráulio Estima, Rômulo
Barral and other collaborated by holding seminars, auctions and
making donations to pay for the clinic in São Paulo state.
In
March 2010, the news was better; the champ had put on weight
and rediscovered his smile. In May, he went back to training
with Alexandre “Gigi” Paiva at Alliance Rio. In June
he was in Mexico teaching seminars. In July he headed for Europe.
He passed through England, Poland, Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
Portugal and Italy in over three months of travel.
In
2011, Tererê continued to make changes in his life. In
August, he joined Sasha Hook, and English girl, in matrimony.
Now he plans to go live in the country of his beloved.
“I
just waiting on the visa,” he reveals.
Before
flying out, he’s continuing to make his living through seminars.
We caught up with him early last night in Porto Alegre, Brazil,
at the location for the next of them.
We
caught up with him at the academy of Mário Reis, who recently
joined up with Alliance, and class was packed.
As
Tererê arrives on the scene he is greeted by everyone,
many of them white and blue belts who had never seen him compete
before, if not in videos on the internet. Even so, the reverence
and support was there.
“It’s
this affection and support that makes me forge ahead,” he
remarks, already sporting the custom gi made for him by his new
sponsor, Tatami Fight Wear.
And
forging ahead also means returning to the USA, without fear.
“I
want to train with my friends, Cobrinha, Michael Langhi, Lucas
Lepri…” he announces.
But
won’t his having been detained there in 2004 be a problem?
“I
wasn’t deported, so there’s nothing holding me back
from getting a new visa,” he replies.
But
before his stateside return, he’ll head back to England
to meet up with Sasha and get his plans for a brighter future
underway.
“I
want to set up my own academy, start my own team, but first I’ll
keep up the seminar routine. That’s how I’ve been making
my living since leaving the clinic,” he reveals.
Mário
Reis has already wrapped up the students’ warmup. Before
teaching the first position of the night, he advises his students
that Tererê will be holding a seminar there in two weeks.
“It’ll
be 60 reais (35 dollars) to learn from a legend! No one should
miss this opportunity to learn from the guy who taught Cobrinha,
Langhi, André Galvão. He taught Ramon Lemos and
others,” Reis informed them.
After
a photo shoot to be published in GRACIEMAG, Tererê agreed
to teach the position in the video.
He
demonstrates a hook sweep that ends with an armbar.
Worked
up, he decides to show all the students the position.
He
gives instructions naturally; Tererê repeats then, emphasizing
the finer details.
Everyone
pays their full attention. A number of them take out their cell
phones to film his explanation.
The
position taught, Tererê observes them as they attempt the
move.
Before
making our way out, we ask one last question. When will we see
him back in competition? It would be great to see him at the
Europeans in 2012.
He
smiles and gives an enigmatic answer, speaking softly, “I’m
waiting on my body to fill out!”
We’ll
be rooting for him.
Source:
Gracie Magazine
|
UFC
All About Lauzon v Pettis; Super Bowl Bound?
by Damon
Martin
Joe
Lauzon has become a very popular fighter to call out in the last
few months.
Following
a knockout win over Shane Roller at UFC 132, Melvin Guillard
said that he’d like to fight Lauzon for his next match-up.
Lauzon stepped up and ended up submitting Guillard in only :47
seconds at UFC 136.
Now
after that fight was over, former WEC champion Anthony Pettis
became the latest fighter to utter Lauzon’s name after picking
up a win on the same card. Pettis said he looked at Lauzon as
a good fight and somebody he’d like to take on next.
“I
have no idea what’s going on, I’m getting called out
left and right,” Lauzon said in an interview with MMAWeekly
Radio. “I must look like an easy target or something. I’m
not really sure what’s going on.”
Obviously
Lauzon is anything but an easy target, but he’s happy to
accept the challenge from Pettis, and it appears the UFC is very
much on board as well.
“I’m
always down for whatever the UFC wants. It sounds like that’s
a fight that’s super exciting, so I’m all about it.
I talked to Joe Silva, he’s all about it, Pettis seems to
be about it, I’m about it, so I’m sure it’s going
to happen,” Lauzon revealed.
“I
don’t know exactly when, I’m trying to get on the Super
Bowl card. I think that would be awesome.”
While
discussions have taken place that almost make the fight a lock
at this point, the only thing left to figure out is when and
where Lauzon vs. Pettis will happen. Lauzon is hopeful for the
early February date, but he’ll follow the UFC’s lead
when they make the fight official.
“I’m
trying to make that happen, but I think it’s definitely
going to happen, I just don’t know when,” Lauzon said.
As
far as the match-up goes, Lauzon looks at Pettis as a very dangerous
and high level lightweight, which is exactly why he would accept
the fight. The Massachusetts’ native admits that he trains
that much harder for a tough opponent, and Pettis certainly fits
the bill.
“I
really like watching Anthony fight. That to me is just as important,
I like fighting guys who go for the finish. He’s got great
stand-up, he’s working on his wrestling, which is still
pretty good, and he’s good off his back too. I think it
will be an exciting fight,” Lauzon commented.
“I
don’t think either one of us are going to blow the other
one out of the water with stand-up or ground. I think it will
be a dog fight.”
What’s
guaranteed in the fight with Lauzon and Pettis is a new contender
in the lightweight division. Pettis bounced back from his loss
to Clay Guida in his UFC debut and beat Jeremy Stephens at UFC
136, while Lauzon has now won two fights in a row including the
dominant victory over Melvin Guillard.
A
win for either fighter could vault them right into lightweight
title contention. Now it’s just a matter of figuring out
when they will face off.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Nick
Diaz “not satisfied” with his win over BJ Penn, says
Cesar Gracie
By Marcelo
Barone
The
performance of Nick Diaz against BJ Penn, on the main event of
UFC 137, event that happened last weekend, on the United States,
made Cesar Gracie glad, since he’s the coach of the welterweight
champ of Strikeforce. The fight, chosen as the best of the night,
was won by Diaz, on a unanimous decision of the judges.
On
an exclusive interview to TATAME, the Brazilian coach didn’t
spare compliments to his student in Ultimate, since he trains
with his brother Nate, besides Gilbert Melendez, Jake Shields
and with the BJJ black belt Caio Terra.
“Nick
Diaz is a great fighter, and he really proved to have a big heart.
He’s amazing, he has an amazing Boxing, just like his Jiu-Jitsu.
He’s a complete fighter. He doesn’t move backwards,
he’s always moving forwards. Fighters usually get tired
after the first round, they get tired. It’s normal. But
not with Nick. He gets stronger. The first round is the worst
for him. Then he growns and his opponent can’t take it.
Nick is secure, he knows he trains with the bests guys in the
world. He believes his abilities”.
Despite
the win, Cesar revealed Diaz hasn’t left the cage feeling
he has accomplished his mission because he believed he could’ve
done better.
“Nick
wasn’t pleased, because he didn’t have a good Boxing
sparring for this fight, someone good on the stand-up. On his
mind, it wasn’t perfect. But I thought so. He didn’t
like it. He’s so perfectionist, he thought he could’ve
prevent some punches. He doesn’t want only to win. He want
to be satisfied about it”, comments the coach, clearing
the misunderstood about Diaz having provoked BJ and his team
when the fight was over. “Nick really likes BJ. On the TV
it may seem like it (that he poked him), but Nick respects him
a lot and likes the way he fights”.
Source:
Tatame
|
FOX
Announces Loaded TV Lineup for UFC Debut
By Ariel
Helwani
FOX
has announced its full lineup of programming that will air before
and after next Saturday's historic UFC telecast, and it's without
a doubt the most impressive TV lineup served up to fans surrounding
any UFC event.
In
addition to the one-hour telecast on FOX, which will feature
Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos for the UFC heavyweight
title, UFC programming will air on FUEL TV and FOX Deportes.
Below
is an easy to read schedule of everything you can expect to see:
Friday,
Nov. 11:
7:00 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT -- Weigh-ins live on FUEL TV
7:00 P.M. ET -- Cain Velasquez: Brown Pride, episode 3 on FOX
Deportes
Saturday,
Nov. 12:
3:00 p.m. ET -- Cain Velasquez: Brown Pride, episodes 1-3 on
FOX Deportes
4:45 p.m. ET -- UFC on FOX prelims live on Facebook and FOXSports.com
5:30 p.m. ET -- Weigh-ins re-air on FUEL TV
6:00 p.m. ET -- UFC Primetime re-air on FUEL TV
6:00 p.m. ET -- Re-air of Cain Velasquez vs. Brock Lesnar on
FOX Deportes
7:00 p.m. ET -- UFC prelims live on FOX Deportes
7:00 p.m. ET -- Pre-fight show on FUEL TV, hosted by Glazer,
along with Kenny Florian and Stephan Bonnar
9:00 p.m. ET -- UFC on FOX broadcast, hosted by Curt Menefee,
along with Dana White, Brock Lesnar and Joe Rogan. Mike Goldberg
and Rogan will call the heavyweight title fight.
10 p.m. ET -- UFC on FOX post-fight show on FUEL TV, hosted by
Glazer, along with Florian and Bonnar
In
addition, FOX Sports Radio will air five hours live coverage
on Nov. 12, which will include pre-fight analysis, the call of
the heavyweight title fight and a post-fight show hosted by MMA
journalist Larry Pepe.
UFC
on FOX 1 takes place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
By
the Numbers: UFC 137
By Brian
Knapp
Trademark
aggression and crushing pace carried Nick Diaz, as he made a
triumphant return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the
expense of former two-division champion B.J. Penn.
Diaz
overwhelmed Penn with punches en route to a clear-cut unanimous
decision in the UFC 137 headliner on Saturday at the Mandalay
Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, as he recorded his career-best
11th consecutive victory and, with it, secured a coveted title
shot against reigning welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre.
Beyond
the outcome, rests the facts and figures. Here is a by-the-numbers
look at UFC 137 “Penn vs. Diaz,” with statistics provided
by FightMetric:
150:
Total strikes by which Diaz outlanded Penn in their action-packed
three-round encounter. The 28-year-old Cesar Gracie disciple
connected on 125 punches in the second round alone.
.500:
Diaz’s winning percentage in fights that have gone the distance.
The former Strikeforce champion started his career 1-5 in bouts
involving the judges. Diaz has not lost a decision since bowing
to Sean Sherk at UFC 59 in April 2006.
21:
Appearances Penn has made inside the Octagon, good for fifth
on the all-time list. The Hawaiian trails only Matt Hughes (25),
Tito Ortiz (25), Randy Couture (24) and Chuck Liddell. Three
of those men are in the UFC Hall of Fame and Ortiz figures to
someday join them.
1:
Victory for Penn outside of the lightweight division since 2005.
44:
Significant strikes landed by French kickboxer Cheick Kongo in
his unanimous decision victory over “The Ultimate Fighter”
Season 10 alum Matt Mitrione in the co-main event. By comparison,
Mitrione connected on only 21.
693:
Days Mitrione spent as an undefeated professional mixed martial
artist. He had defeated Marcus Jones, Kimbo Slice, Joey Beltran,
Tim Hague and Christian Morecraft before falling short against
Kongo.
7.5:
Pounds “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 10 winner Roy
Nelson shed between his UFC 130 defeat to former heavyweight
champion Frank Mir and his UFC 137 victory over Mirko “Cro
Cop” Filipovic. Nelson weighed in at 260 against Mir, 252.5
against Filipovic.
6-6:
Filipovic’s record since his crowning achievement -- winning
the 2006 Pride Fighting Championships open weight grand prix.
100:
Percentage of takedowns on which Scott Jorgensen was successful
in his unanimous decision over Jeff Curran. Jorgensen -- who
wrestled collegiately at Boise State University, where he was
a three-time Pac-10 Conference champion -- secured five takedowns
in the match.
2,828:
Days between Curran’s first UFC appearance -- a decision
loss to Matt Serra in 2004 -- and his return against Jorgensen,
which also ended in his defeat on points.
5,683:
Miles former Sengoku Raiden Championship and Shooto titleholder
Hatsu Hioki traveled to make his promotional debut, as he captured
a split decision from “The Ultimate Fighter” Season
8 semifinalist George Roop.
42:
Total strikes by which Roop outlanded the world-ranked Hioki.
77:
Percentage of Donald Cerrone victories that have come via submission.
The surging Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts standout put away
Russian-born German kickboxer with a first-round rear-naked choke,
extending his current winning streak to six fights.
16:
Fights in between Siver’s submission loss to Cerrone and
his last choke-related tapout -- a May 2006 defeat to Daniel
Weichel under the Tempel Fight School banner in Germany.
15:
Official first-round finishes in Bart Palaszewski’s career.
The 28-year-old WEC import made Tyson Griffin his latest victim,
as he stopped the reeling Xtreme Couture Mixed Martial Arts representative
with a brutal barrage of punches to the head in the first round.
6:
Total strikes on which Griffin connected in his loss to Palaszewski.
Source
Sherdog
|
TUF
15 Tryouts Kick Off in December
by Damon
Martin
The
new version of The Ultimate Fighter is on its way and fighters
in the lightweight and welterweight divisions are up to bat.
The
UFC on Wednesday announced that open tryouts will be held starting
on Dec. 5 at Texas Station in North Las Vegas. For those that
cannot attend, applications can be filled out, but must be submitted
no later than Dec. 1.
All
fighters attending the open tryouts must have at least three
professional fights to their record.
The
tryouts will kick off in December, and sources speaking to MMAWeekly.com
have confirmed that production for the show is expected to kick
off in March for the new version of The Ultimate Fighter that
will air on FX.
With
the show shifting to FX, TUF will air on Friday nights with live
fights taking place every week. After the 13-week schedule, the
final fight will be held a week later with the coaches from the
show facing off just a week after that.
While
the weight classes for the show are listed as welterweight and
lightweight, many past seasons have tried out a few weight classes
and sometimes the UFC has chosen both or they may opt to only
showcase one division once the fighters are whittled down and
selected.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
UFC
138 Today
National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England
November 5, 2011
TV: Spike TV
Hawaii
Air Time:
5:00PM SPIKE Channel 559
Dark matches
Welterweights: John Maguire vs. Justin Edwards
Featherweights: Chris Cariaso vs. Vaughan Lee
Welterweights: Chris Cope vs. Che Mills
Heavyweights: Phil De Fries vs. Rob Broughton
Featherweights: Michihiro Omigawa vs. Jason Young
Light Heavyweights: Cyrille Diabete vs. Anthony Perosh
Main card
Lightweights: Paul Taylor vs. Anthony Njokuani
Lightweights: Terry Etim vs. Edward Faaloloto
Welterweights: Thiago Alves vs. Papy Abedi
Featherweights: Brad Pickett vs. Renan Barao
Middleweights: Mark Munoz vs. Chris Leben
Source: Fight Opinion
|
ETERNAL
SUBMISSIONS TODAY
Brazilian Gi & NoGi Tournament
November 5th & 6th, 2011
Kauai Beach Resort, Kauai
www.eternalsubmissions.com
Weigh-ins
are Friday, Nov 4th from 5-9pm at the event ballroom in the Kauai
Beach Resort (all Kauai residdents MUST weigh in on friday- outer
island competitors can weigh in day of division)
Gi
Divisions on Saturday, Nov 5th and start by 10am with the kids,
adults to follow.
Womens
Superfight on Saturday around 12 noon between Tracey Goodell
and Kanani Ragasa
NoGi
Divisions on Sunday, starting at 9am with Kids, Adults to follow
Divisions:
Kids
Women
Adults
Masters
and Adult Absolute for Belt in gi & nogi
We
are working on NoGi superfights and a mens gi super fight
(our previous match of Mike Fowler and Luke Hacker rematch was
cancelled due to the stabbing.)
Special
rates at the resort for competitors for $109/nt by calling the
resort at (808) 245-1955 and using code EFC
We
will have food booths, sponsor booths, giveaways, drawing and
more.
THANKS
:)
Shauna
Low rate offered to competitors and spectators $114/nt at the
Kauai Beach
Resort
also
a special rate for tighter budgets
for Eternal Submissions guests
at the Aloha Beach Hotel
for $81/nt (about 2-3 miles away)
Friday,
Nov. 4th
weigh-ins from 5-9pm
(ONLY outer island competitors can weigh in day of)
Saturday,
Nov. 5th
ALL GI DIVISIONS
Starting at 9am with kids. Teens, women & men to follow
Sunday,
Nov. 6th
ALL NOGI DIVISIONS
Starting at 9am with kids. Teens, womens & mens to follow
PRE-REGISTRATION
due by Monday Oct. 24th for FREE competitor tshirt
Registrations will be accepted until Friday night weigh ins (Sat
or Sun
morning for off-island competitors ONLY), however will not receive
the FREE
shirt, you will be able to purchase the event shirt there, first
come first
serve, limited availability.
More
info www.eternalsubmissions.com
or call Shauna (808) 652-6849
Source: Event Promoter
|
Hawaii
Toughman Today
Saturday, November
5, 2011
Hilo Civic Center
Doors open at 5:00 pm, Fights starts at 6:00 pm
For a video link of the upcoming event, click here!
|
UFC
138 Preview: The Main Card
By Jason
Probst
Kicking
off free on Spike TV from the LG Arena in Birmingham, England,
UFC 138 on Saturday will showcase a clash of middleweights, as
Chris Leben meets Mark Munoz. The bout holds some historical
significance, as it will be the first non-title fight scheduled
for five rounds.
Chael
Sonnen has returned, and champion Anderson Silva’s nemesis
is back making expectable noise in his campaign for a second
title shot. However, beneath that 1-2 duo at 185 pounds, there
is room for maneuvering, and the Leben-Munoz matchup offers considerable
possibilities for either man to move up key notches in the divisional
pecking order.
In
the co-main event, bantamweights Brad Pickett and Renan “Barao”
do Nascimento Mota Pegado square off in a contenders bout at
135 pounds. Here is a closer look at the main card matchups,
with analysis and picks.
Middleweights
Chris Leben (22-7, 12-6 UFC) vs. Mark Munoz (11-2, 6-2 UFC)
The
Matchup: Not many fighters can resurrect their career momentum
like Leben, whose ability to deliver thrilling knockouts is matched
by few others. Fresh off his 27-second stoppage of Brazilian
icon Wanderlei Silva at UFC 132, Leben takes on the tough Munoz,
whose steady improvement in recent outings makes him a compelling
matchup for “The Crippler.”
There
are no mysteries to Leben’s style. The left-handed slugger
combines aggression with a big-time belief in his chin and ability
to absorb punishment; 2010 was a stellar year for him, as he
put together gut-check victories over Aaron Simpson and Yoshihiro
Akiyama in a two-week span. Knocked out in a one-round loss to
Brian Stann on Jan. 1, Leben was reportedly sick coming into
the bout but went ahead anyways, looking somewhat flat and unable
to get going. With his showing against Silva, he is back to being
Leben, an easy-to-sell product precisely because he will trade
shots with anyone, which often makes for an edge-of-the-seat
fight.
Style-wise,
Munoz has the advantage. The former NCAA wrestling champion at
197 pounds has an outstanding takedown game, combined with an
ability to wrest himself out of bad spots on the mat. Munoz’s
standup is improving, and it has gone a long way toward helping
him set up shots. Early performances in his WEC and UFC career
saw him go for long-distance, low-percentage takedown attempts
that he either willed himself into finishing or got stuffed on,
which was the case in his decision loss to Yushin Okami at UFC
Live 2. Munoz will not be stuffed here, as Leben is not a good
enough wrestler to stymie him. However, he will have to be careful
letting Leben get too many chances to let his hands go. Leben
is good from the sprawl position, where he will stuff the head
and punish an opponent with his left hand.
The
fact that this is a five-round fight is a huge advantage for
Munoz. He was buzzed in the opening moments of his close decision
win over Demian Maia at UFC 131 but has shown an ability to kill
the clock and recover in several bouts. The longer fight allows
Munoz more time to gauge distances and Leben’s timing and
close the gap for a leg takedown or tie-up. Another small factor
in Munoz’s advantage is his ability to fight from the conventional
or southpaw stance, which will let him see which angles work
best prior to closing for a takedown attempt. Physically, Munoz
is the superior athlete, and, if they tie up, watch for him to
work a quick takedown. Leben will be looking to land his big
left hand, and while he has decent kicks, he probably will not
use them much for fear of Munoz catching one and planting him
on the mat. This is the kind of fight that Leben could be losing
every minute of until he lands his massive equalizer: a crushing
left that has rescued him on many occasions.
Munoz
has shown maturity in his tactical approach, which has evolved
in recent fights. He will switch stances as necessary, finding
the distance to close the range and get the fight to the mat.
That is where his best asset -- insanely hard ground-and-pound
-- comes into play. For various reasons, Leben has not been subjected
to a lot of ground-and-pound in the cage, as opponents tend to
be negated by his underrated positional jiu-jitsu. However, Munoz
is a rare bird, simply too strong to lock up and hold in the
guard.
The
Pick: Once Munoz gets the takedown, he will work to improve position,
possibly threatening with chokes while smashing and passing.
In a five-round fight, he simply has too much wrestling and power
from top position to be denied, and he will bloody and batter
Leben in an increasingly one-sided match en route to a third-round
stoppage.
Bantamweights
Brad Pickett (20-5, 0-0 UFC) vs. Renan “Barao” (26-1,
1 NC, 1-0 UFC)
The
Matchup: Rated at the top of Sherdog’s “10 Brazilian
Prospects to watch in 2010” list, Barao has since gone 3-0
in WEC and UFC bouts, running his impressive ledger to 26-1.
The gaudy record includes a decision win over Cole Escovedo at
UFC 130, where he showed a decent work rate to secure the victory.
Well-schooled in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a training partner and
teammate of featherweight boss Jose Aldo, Barao could be the
Next Big Thing in the bantamweight division -- a weight class
led by an exceptionally versatile and difficult to beat champion
in Dominick Cruz and populated by top contenders in Urijah Faber,
Joseph Benavidez and Demetrious Johnson, all of whom Cruz has
already decisioned. An impressive win against the hard-charging
Pickett could position him for an imminent title run.
Pickett
will have something to say about that, as he always does. The
tough slugger combines solid takedowns with a down-and-dirty
brawling style, forcing confrontations and exchanges as he sits
in the pocket and unleashes hard combinations while daring opponents
to trade. Pickett’s ability to transition from striking
to quick takedown attempts is excellent, as he will change levels
after unloading on opponents to close the gap and make them defend
against a shot. Pickett can take a punch and works at a fast
rate, making him a handful for any opponent that cannot outwrestle
him and place him on his back -- something Scott Jorgensen was
able to do in spots to partially defuse his attack at WEC 50.
Therein lies a key part of his strategy.
Barao
may be the more talented fighter with the more impressive record,
but Pickett will likely hold the wrestler’s initiative.
He can take it to the ground, or use the threat of a takedown
to parlay that into shots that land. Given the pace at which
he works, Barao will need to have improved his standup considerably
or he will be on the defensive end of the exchanges, something
Pickett relishes because he simply never stops punishing and
working foes.
Barao
has to take this fight over from the opening round and must not
cede a big exchange or takedown, which will only cause Pickett’s
confidence to surge. He will probably have to time a perfect
counter shot or land first to get it to the ground in top position,
as he does not seem to have the wrestling to take down Pickett
in a tie-up. For his part, Pickett would be smart to let both
men get a good sweat going before taking it to the mat, where
Barao’s excellent jiu-jitsu and submission game will be
exceptionally tricky early. However, Pickett’s intensity
and two-handed attack, plus his ability to keep pressuring and
punishing, are going to be a handful here.
The
Pick: Expect Pickett to score first in some exciting exchanges
early. He will work elbows and the grind as they clinch and battle
on the cage, wearing down the Brazilian. Pickett will also throw
in a mid- to late-fight takedown or two to switch gears and win
close rounds, pushing through some threatened submission attempts
en route to a clear-cut but exciting unanimous decision.
Welterweights
Thiago Alves (18-8, 10-5 UFC) vs. Papy Abedi (8-0, 0-0 UFC)
The
Matchup: Contenders who have lost one-sided title shots and key
elimination bouts occupy a curious position in MMA’s pecking
order. In general, they are still betting favorites against anyone
but the elite of the division, yet are so far away from getting
a second crack at the belt that the only plausible course of
action is to keep matching them tough in hopes of either creating
a new contender or giving them a chance to generate momentum
for another title run. Alves fits that definition precisely.
The American Top Team welterweight remains one of the best standup
artists in the division and a tough nut to crack, especially
that he now seems to have his weight issues in check. Though
he has gone 1-3 in recent outings, those losses are all decision
setbacks to champion Georges St. Pierre and then Jon Fitch and
Rick Story.
Facing
him is Abedi, a debuting UFC fighter with one of the most difficult
first assignments a guy could get. Abedi, unbeaten in eight bouts,
is a talented lefty with a powerful physique and a strong left
hand. He has also faced woefully modest competition in compiling
that record, leaving one to wonder if the UFC knows something
the rest of the masses do not.
One
obvious hole in Abedi’s standup game is his tendency to
go straight back when avoiding strikes, a troublesome trait for
anyone and especially bad for a southpaw. He will need to have
corrected that or Alves will exploit it by tossing off hard straight
counters, following punches with booming kicks as Abedi retreats.
Abedi’s experience on the competitive grappling and judo
circuits might suggest his best tactic is to take down Alves.
However, Alves’ ability to shuck off clinches and resist
being grounded-and-pounded are pretty sound. Only top-notch wrestlers
with exceptionally good takedowns and top games are going to
take and physically dominate him. No one can be certain if Abedi
is there yet.
In
short, this is a bit of a throw-him-in-there-and-see-what-happens
fight for Abedi. If he wins, he will have to show a special blend
of first-timer composure and game planning against Alves. Despite
his decision loss to Story, Alves still had a solid showing.
He displayed good stamina in the final round, cracking some big
shots off Story’s jaw and really battling until the end
in a fight that was hard-nosed and fast-paced. Plus, his combination
of whipsaw kicks and strong punches remain outstanding weapons.
Alves
loves to feast on opponents who offer openings for his kicks,
particularly when they are not confident enough to breach the
gap and try to close the distance, something at which Fitch and
GSP are masters, hence their one-sided dominations of Alves.
However, Abedi has not shown he is at that level yet. Alves’
counter right hand and punching will have to set the table early;
he will probably be a little hesitant to bank heavily on kicks
early, as he figures out Papi’s timing and standup, which
typically consists of pushing forward and tossing off punches
followed by a heavy straight left down the pipe.
Alves
is such a talented fighter that we tend to focus on his faults
a bit much, given his penchant for seemingly underachieving given
his obvious potential; this kind of matchup will remind everyone
why people have set the bar so high on him. He will counter Abedi’s
attempts to engage and close the gap with sharp counterpunches,
throwing kicks into the mix once Abedi eats some hard counter
shots. Even if Abedi manages to get it to the ground, Alves has
a great ability to scramble and negate positional improvements,
eventually getting back to his feet without taking too much punishment.
The
Pick: Alves does not spend a lot of time in top position on the
ground because he prefers to stand and strike, but his jiu-jitsu
game is especially good. He will drop Abedi with a counterstrike
in the second round after winning the first by evading and punishing
him. Alves wins by second-round knockout after a ground-and-pound
assault prompts the stoppage.
Lightweights
Terry Etim (14-3, 5-3 UFC) vs. Eddie Faaloloto (2-2, 0-1 UFC)
The
Matchup: With overseas cards, it is in the promotion’s interest
to create a matchup or two that serves a morale-booster for the
home crowd. This is that matchup.
At
2-2, with both losses coming in his WEC and UFC appearances,
Faaloloto is the equivalent of the non-conference team visiting
the ranked powerhouse in Etim, an Englishman fighting on his
home turf. In knockout losses against Anthony Njokuani and Michael
Johnson, Faaloloto has shown little to suggest he can compete
at this level, but that can be changed with a victory against
Etim.
Style-wise,
Etim remains somewhat limited on the feet, as the lanky lightweight
does not have a lot of power or heft on his shots. However, he
does have a solid chin and a versatile submission game, which
he showed in wins over Shannon Gugerty, Justin Buchholz and Matt
Grice.
The
Pick: Etim will look to get this to the ground as soon as possible,
where his length and solid jiu-jitsu should allow him to have
his way. He will either land a submission or control Faaloloto
on the floor enough to pound him relentlessly from an advantageous
position, winning in the second round after wearing him down
in an increasingly one-sided bout.
Source
Sherdog
|
UFC
138: By the Odds
By Ben
Fowlkes
UFC
138 comes to us on tape delay from across the pond this weekend,
and like many UFC events in the U.K. it features no shortage
of fights that, at least on paper, seem a little bit lopsided.
What
does that mean for you? Well, if you know how to pick 'em you
could profit handsomely off an outsized betting line here or
there. If you don't, you could end up crying into a pint of the
dark stuff along with all the Brits who made ill-advised bets
on Premier League games. Hey, at least you won't be drinking
alone.
Now
let's take a look at the odds on UFC 138's main card bouts, and
see if we can't find a bargain.
Chris
Leben (+200) vs. Mark Munoz (-255)
Remember
when Leben was a hefty dog against Aaron Simpson, who also seemed
like a sure bet to out-wrestle him thoroughly and completely?
All it took was a couple patented Leben bombs to turn that one
into the kind of street fight he was looking for, so why couldn't
history repeat itself? Before we get carried away in that comparison
we should note some differences between Munoz and Simpson. For
starters, Munoz owns a victory over the A-Train, which has to
count for something. But more importantly, Munoz has improved
his all-around game greatly in the past couple years, so if he
has to he can hold his own on the feet with Leben, at least for
a little while. That's not to say he'll necessarily want to try
for the knockout, of course. The smart play would be putting
Leben on his back and keeping him there, but Munoz can swat when
he wants to. Just ask CB Dollaway. By the same token, Leben can
take it and keep coming back with more. Just ask Akiyama.
My pick: Leben. Any time you throw your money down on the Catsmasher,
be prepared to lose it. That said, I just can't turn my back
on odds like these, especially when they're attached to a guy
who is never more than one left hand from victory.
Brad
Pickett (+105) vs. Renan Barao (-135)
It's
still hard to tell just how good Barao really is. He won both
his WEC fights and then edged out Cole Escovedo at UFC 130, but
he hasn't stepped up to take on that next level of competition
yet -- at least, not until now. Granted, Pickett wouldn't be
this high on any UFC card outside the U.K., but this is still
a man with wins over both "Mighty Mouse" Johnson and
Ivan Menjivar in the past year and a half, so it's not as if
he's just some bloke who's been plucked from the local pub and
thrown into the cage. Like many British fighters, he could stand
to improve his wrestling. That might be more of a concern if
he was going up against an All-American from some Big Ten school,
but against a Brazilian like Barao it might be less of an issue.
You know Pickett will have the crowd on his side, which could
help swing it if the fight goes the distance. Barao's winning
streak is impressive on paper, but it's one thing to beat local
dudes in Brazil and quite another to take on an experienced opponent
like Pickett in his home country.
My pick: Pickett. He's only a slight underdog, but I'd take him
here if the odds on it were even.
Thiago
Alves (-300) vs. Papy Abedi (+230)
These
UK cards are usually great opportunities for lesser-known European
fighters to get beat up by UFC mainstays, which is exactly what
oddsmakers think is going on here. Abedi is a Swedish fighter
who's undefeated against a handful of Europeans you've probably
never heard of, and here he is making his UFC debut against human
buzzsaw Thiago Alves, who is sorely in need of a victory to lift
him out of the rough spot he's in. In one way, it's a tough fight
for Alves. After going 1-3 in his last four, he can't afford
to lose to some guy from Sweden who's making his UFC debut. If
Abedi gets knocked out by Alves, hey, what did anyone expect?
But if Alves does anything but dominate Abedi, it looks bad.
That's a lot of pressure to perform, and at a critical time in
his career.
My pick: Alves. Debuting against a guy like Alves is asking a
lot of Abedi. If he turns out to be up to the task, he'll surprise
a lot of people, me included. But I'm not willing to bet on it.
Terry
Etim (-600) vs. Eddie Faaloloto (+400)
Etim's
an exciting young fighter who's been out of action since the
UFC's trip to Abu Dhabi in April of 2010. Now he makes a comeback
in front of his countrymen, and it seems like he might be getting
a bit of a softball. Faaloloto is very inexperienced, and he
has yet to win a fight under the Zuffa banner. He didn't even
make it out of the first round in his only UFC fight, so it seems
as if just maybe the brass is feeding him to Etim with the expectation
that the British crowd will enjoy seeing an American get pummeled
by one of their own. That's not bad logic, but it is bad news
for Faaloloto unless he's a lot better than he's shown so far.
My pick: Etim. With odds like those, it's almost not worth including
in the parlay. Almost.
Cyrille
Diabate (-400) vs. Anthony Perosh (+300)
At
first glance, it seems like sort of a miracle that Perosh is
still in the UFC. He got back in the organization as a late replacement
against Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, who brutalized him
something awful until the doctors finally stopped it. He got
the requisite make-up fight back in a weight class more to his
liking last February, and he made the most of it with a submission
win over Tom Blackledge. Now he has to leave the friendly confines
of Australia and take on the French kickboxer Diabate in an old
school striker-versus-grappler match. As you can see, oddsmakers
like the striker's chances, and with good reason. Diabate is
not only dangerous on the feet, he's also learned to use his
lanky frame on the mat in recent years. In fact, he's only lost
to two people in the last five years, and one was "Shogun"
Rua. The other was Alexander Gustafsson, which is still not too
shabby for a guy in his late 30s. Perosh, who is also pushing
40, seems like he can't be long for the UFC with his up-and-down
performances. Then again, I never would have guessed he'd hang
on this long.
My pick: Diabate. Another one for the parlay. Sadly, I can't
bring myself to take the long odds on "The Hippo."
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
UFC
138 Predictions
By Michael
David Smith
Will
Chris Leben and Mark Munoz provide some fireworks in the first
five-round non-title fight in UFC history? Will British bantamweight
Brad Pickett make a big statement while fighting in the co-main
event before his local fans? We'll try to answer some of those
questions below.
What:
UFC 138: Leben vs. Munoz
Where:
LG Arena, Birmingham, England
When:
Saturday, the live Facebook stream begins at 12:30 PM ET and
the tape-delayed Spike TV broadcast begins at 9 PM ET/PT
Predictions
on the five televised fights below.
Chris
Leben vs. Mark Muñoz
Leben has been on a roll lately, going 4-1 since the start of
2010, including a 27-second knockout of Wanderlei Silva in his
last fight. But for as exciting as Leben can be with his stand-and-bang
style, I don't think he has a great chance against a great wrestler
like Mark Munoz, who was an NCAA champion at Oklahoma State.
As I think about this fight I have flashbacks to the last time
Leben fought an NCAA wrestling champion from Oklahoma State,
at UFC 102, when Jake Rosholt choked him out. I don't know if
Munoz is going to submit Leben, but I do think he'll use his
superior wrestling to take Leben down and control him on the
ground.
Pick: Munoz
Brad
Pickett vs. Renan Barão
Barao is currently riding an incredible 26-fight winning streak,
although he hasn't fought much high-caliber opposition during
that streak. Pickett is 21-4 in his career and is by far the
toughest opponent Barao has ever fought, and I think Pickett
wins most of the striking exchanges and wins a decision.
Pick: Pickett
Thiago
Alves vs. Papy Abedi
Putting this fight on was a surprising matchmaking decision by
the UFC: Abedi is 8-0 and has shown a lot of promise in his MMA
career, but he's debuting in the UFC and has never fought anyone
even close to Alves' level. Alves has lost three of his last
four and probably needed to take a step back, but he should handle
Abedi.
Pick: Alves
Terry
Etim vs. Edward Faaloloto
Faaloloto is just 2-2 in his MMA career (0-1 in the UFC) and
should be an easy opponent for Etim, who's 14-3 (5-3 in the UFC).
Etim should be able to submit Faaloloto without too much trouble.
Pick: Etim
Cyrille
Diabate vs. Anthony Perosh
Diabate is usually fun to watch and should be too much for Perosh,
who's best known for putting up a spirited effort in a losing
cause when he was asked to fight Mirko Cro Cop on short notice
last year.
Pick: Diabate
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
UFC
on Fox 1 Weigh-ins to Air Live on Fuel TV
by Ken
Pishna
The
UFC on Fox 1 weigh-ins will air live on Fuel TV, according to
UFC president Dana White.
The
Ultimate Fighting Championship’s official start date with
the Fox family of networks isn’t until January 2012, but
that hasn’t stopped the two from giving fans a major sneak
peak at what’s to come. UFC on Fox 1: Velasquez vs. dos
Santos isn’t part of the official seven-year television
del between the UFC and Fox, but it’s not being treated
as a throw-in.
UFC
on Fox 1 features heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez defending
his belt against Junior dos Santos at the Honda Center in Anaheim,
Calif., on Nov. 12, and will be the only fight featured on a
special one-hour Fox Sports telecast on Fox’s broadcast
network. The entire undercard will stream live on the UFC’s
Facebook page, as well as on FoxSports.com.
The
UFC on Fox 1 weigh-ins, however, will air live on Fuel TV, one
of Fox’s networks, and a channel that is expected to become
a bastion of UFC programming once the TV deal shifts into high
gear next year. The weigh-ins air live beginning at 7 p.m. ET/4
p.m. PT.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Gracie:
Diaz Saved UFC 137
Cesar
Gracie doesn’t believe the UFC compensated Nick Diaz fairly
for his win Saturday over B.J. Penn in the UFC 137 main event.
Diaz
was originally scheduled to challenge welterweight champion Georges
St. Pierre in the headliner. After missing consecutive pre-UFC
137 news conferences, however, Diaz was pulled from the fight
and replaced by Carlos Condit. The UFC then moved Diaz to a bout
against Penn, which became the main event when St. Pierre injured
his knee.
The
problem, Gracie told the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Rewind”
show, is that Diaz’s UFC contract wasn’t set up to
compensate him adequately for headlining against someone other
than St. Pierre.
“What
happened,” said Gracie, Diaz’s longtime coach and manager,
“is you can’t pull a guy off a card and then bring
him back on: ‘Oh, he’s not good enough to fight. We
pulled him out of the card. He can’t be in the main event.
Yeah, here you go. Oh, wait a minute, guess what happened? Our
little star guy over here, his knee hurts. Oh my God, we need
Nick Diaz. Let’s put him back in the main event.’ Everybody
wants to see that fight. He delivers. Well, little star guy didn’t
fight and Nick Diaz did, but they pulled a lot of money from
Nick’s purse because it wasn’t structured for him to
make as much if it wasn’t GSP, even though he was the main
event now and put the people in the seats.”
Gracie
doesn’t think Diaz should have been yanked from the St.
Pierre fight in the first place. He suggested that the UFC should
have fined Diaz for missing the news conferences, which were
scheduled to promote the fight, but that pulling him from the
match was, in retrospect, too harsh.
Regardless,
in Gracie’s view, Diaz more than made amends with his performance
against Penn. He also said that while St. Pierre didn’t
fight injured, Diaz did.
“Nick
Diaz saved that card. OK?” Gracie said. “That’s
what people need to remember when they talk about responsibility,
is that he showed up, hamstring injury, knee injury, whatever.
He had the same thing. He’s the guy that showed up. He’s
the guy that fought his heart out, him and B.J. Penn. They put
on a show. They’re two great warriors. They saved the UFC
that night.”
UFC
President Dana White announced in June that Diaz was leaving
Strikeforce to return to the UFC. Diaz had been discussing an
interest in boxing at the time, but Gracie said the UFC sweetened
its offer to lure him into the Octagon. A multi-year, multi-fight
contract was the result, with a title shot against St. Pierre
scheduled for October, but of course that shot was nixed and
apparently it affected Diaz’s pay.
“That’s
a hard pill to swallow,” Gracie said. “I think it’s
patently unfair. Myself, in my opinion, that’s unfair. I
think Nick obviously knows it’s unfair, and these are talks
we’re going to have with Dana White and with the UFC.”
White
has already announced that Diaz will get the next crack at St.
Pierre come next year, but Gracie said some details need to be
worked out first. The manager is optimistic.
“We’ve
had good negotiations with Dana before,” he said. “We’re
going to put everything on the table, and I’m confident
that we’re going to be able to iron all of this out and
that Dana will make it right.”
Source:
Sherdog
|
Joe
Rogan: If NASCAR’s not a monopoly, UFC isn’t either
(and they should buy K-1)
By Zach
Arnold
Our
friend Dave Walsh thinks K-1 would be a great buying opportunity.
Joe Rogan agrees with him. However, I don’t think Dana White
can buy out K-1 because, after all, Viacom buying out Bellator
means that UFC is a “Mom & Pop” MMA organization.
“You
know, people always say that the UFC is a monopoly, you know,
they’re actually being even investigated by someone, Federal,
Federal Trade, FTC, Federal Trade Commission and they’re
being investigated as being a monopoly but… it’s not
a monopoly, they just do it better than anybody else. It’s
like you can’t say that NASCAR is a monopoly but… if
you wanted to say, hey, let’s start up our own car league,
you know, we’re just going to race cars all across the country.
What are you going to call it, the New Car League? Everybody
would be like, ‘but it’s not NASCAR, right? No.’
Well, it’s not NASCAR has a monopoly, it’s just they’re
the best at it. You could start your own car league if you want
to.
“That’s
the same thing with the UFC. The UFC’s not a monopoly, you
know? They just have the best fighters right now because they
have the most money and the most popularity. But they built this
up, man! If you want to do it by yourself, do it by yourself.
And Bellator’s doing it by themselves. There’s a company
called Bellator, they’re , they’ve got some good fighters,
man. They’ve got a good show, they got this guy Jimmy Smith
who does the commentary, he’s really good at it, he’s
a black belt in jiu-jitsu, knows what the is going on, he gives
excellent commentary, their color guy’s really good. They
have a good show. They do a different format where they have
tournaments and they hold this tournament and the tournament
takes place over several weeks or several months rather and then
they pick a guy who wins the tournament and then he fights for
the title and, you know, they do a real good job, man, they do
a real good job of it and they just got bought out by Viacom.
Loretta
Hunt: Eddie Alvarez almost bought part of Bellator before Viacom
did
“So,
it’s not that the UFC is a monopoly, there’s other
people in the game. They’ve just been in the game longer,
they spent more money, they invested more time, they do it better!
It’s that simple. You know, it’s like… there’s
a certain amount of people that whenever you get to a certain
level of success, they want to think that you did something wrong
to get there. But if it wasn’t for the UFC, man, nobody
would have invested that kind of money. Eventually, I think,
MMA would have slowly broken through to the mainstream over the
course of who knows how many years or it could have been wound
up like soccer where everybody thought it was going to make it
but it never did. You remember soccer when we were kids? They
were pushing soccer like soccer’s eventually going to be
a big professional sport? I remember that. But they just never
quite marketed it correctly, never quite got through…
“If
someone’s smart, if someone’s got balls, listen to
me right now… This is the thing… K-1 kickboxing. K-1
kickboxing is some of the much exciting to watch in the world.
If you watch the highest level of kickboxers, God damn is that
exciting. It’s so fun to watch. They go at it, man, it’s
only three rounds, even title fights are like three rounds, they
go to WAR, man. And some of the fights are five rounds, I think,
but either way… they’re fun and it’s all striking,
which is what a lot of people like, a lot of people don’t
like the wrestling aspect of MMA. I love it because I think it’s
the most realistic sport in the world, I mean, it is real fighting,
it’s a sport of real fighting encompassing all the different
techniques. So, to me, it’s more complicated, it’s
more cerebral, there’s more strategy involved because there’s
more variables. I’m always going to be a huge fan of primarily
MMA. If I had one thing to watch it would be MMA, but I love
kickboxing, too. I love watching it. It’s so much more exciting
than regular boxing and we know how boxing is still doing well,
people still want to see a good boxing match, you know? If Manny
Pacquiao’s fighting, people are still going to pack in to
see that guy light people up. But, man, if you watch some high-level
kickboxing, boxing becomes boring because they can’t kick!
They’re not doing all this other crazy . You watch like,
I went to the Muay Thai Professional League, they had a show
in Long Beach and I went down to check that out… God damn
it was fun, dude, there was some of the best kickboxers in the
world and I was in the front row and watching these guys go at
it, man, it’s wiiiiiilllllllld, wild because they don’t
have to worry about being taken down, there’s no takedowns.
So, they’re just teeing off on each other, man. Wild head
kick knockouts and spinning backfist knockouts and cutting people
with elbows, it was nuts, man. It’s a crazy sport. I can’t
believe that it doesn’t get the press that it deserves because
maybe it’s not as good as MMA but, God damn, if it ain’t
a close second. And it’s not being promoted! Someone’s
completely dropped the ball, you know?
“The
people who own K-1, they owe a lot of money, man. They want to
start fights but they want to not half to pay all the fighters
that they owe money to and they owe just untold millions of dollars
to fighters that they haven’t paid. So, they’re in
a bad financial situation but it’s because they didn’t
promote it correctly. If someone in like the UFC came along,
if Zuffa came along and picked up K-1, they’re not interested
in it, I’ve talked to them about it, but if someone like
that did, if Mark Cuban did or someone with balls and a lot of
money who loves the sport, God damn that’s a gold mine.
It’s a God damn gold mine. Mark Cuban, go do it! You already
got Michael Schiavello working for you.”
Source:
Fight Opinion
|
UFC
on Fox 1: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos Fight Card Rumors
UFC
on Fox 1: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos
Date: November 12, 2011
Venue: Honda Center
Location: Anaheim, California
UFC
on Fox 1 Ticket Info
Main
Event (On Fox):
-Cain Velasquez (9-0; #1 Heavyweight)* vs. Junior dos Santos
(13-1; #3 Heavyweight)*†
Undercard
(On Facebook and FoxSports.com):
-Clay Guida (29-11; #6 Lightweight) vs. Benson Henderson (14-2;
#7 Lightweight)
-Dustin Poirier (10-1; #5 Featherweight) vs. Pablo Garza (11-1)
-Cub Swanson (15-4) vs. Ricardo Lamas (10-2)
-DaMarques Johnson (12-9) vs. Clary Harvison (9-3)
-Norifumi “Kid” Yomimoto (18-4) vs. Darren Uyenoyama
(6-3)
-Mackens Semerzier (6-3) vs. Robert Peralta (15-3)
-Alex Caceres (5-4) vs. Cole Escovedo (17-8)
-Mike Pierce (12-4) vs. Paul Bradley (18-3)
-Aaron Rosa (16-4) vs. Matt Lucas (14-2)
*Based
on the MMAWeekly.com World MMA Rankings
UFC
on Fox 1 Play-by-Play on MMAWeekly.com
UFC
on Fox 1 Weigh-ins on Friday, Nov. 11:
Fuel TV: 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT (Live)
Click here to see if you get/can get Fuel TV through your provider
UFC
on Fox 1 Start Times:
Facebook/FoxSports.com Prelims: 4:45 p.m. ET/1:45 p.m. PT (Live)
Main Event on Fox: 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT (Live)
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Dream
teams with Inoki for New Year's Eve
By Sergio
Non, USA TODAY
Dream
hopes its annual year-end extravaganza gets a boost from pro
wrestling icon Antonio Inoki.
The
Japanese promotion has teamed with the Inoki Genome Federation
brand to produce the next New Year's Eve show, officials announced
Thursday. Event planners expect to have 20 bouts divided between
mixed martial arts and kickboxing, all of them actual fights
despite the presence of Inoki, the elder statesman of Japan's
pro wrestling scene.
Specific
fights were not announced. Inoki's "Genki Desuka" catchphrase
will be used as the event's tagline, Dream said.
New
Year's Eve traditionally produces the biggest TV audiences of
the year in Japan. As a result, several Japanese MMA or kickboxing
bouts in the early-to-mid-2000s were seen by far more viewers
than any fight that has ever been put on by a U.S. organization,
although the fight scene in Japan has declined precipitously
since those glory days.
Inoki
has experience producing MMA on New Year's Eve. His "Bom-Ba-Ye"
events than ran on Dec. 31 from 2001 to 2003 included bouts featuring
notable fighters such as Fedor Emelianenko, Mirko Filipovic,
Jerome LeBanner and Bob Sapp.
He's
also a pioneer in mixed martial arts for his promotion of match-ups
with practitioners of other fighting disciplines in the 1970s.
The outcome was predetermined for most of those affairs, but
his infamous showdown with Muhammad Ali, was a real fight, albeit
a dreadful one that saw Inoki flop to his back and simply kick
Ali's legs for most of the bout.
Source:
USA Today
|
10
November Tussles Worth Watching
By Tim
Leidecker
The
stars will come out in November.
Dream
welterweight champion Marius Zaromskis, Bellator Fighting Championships
lightweight titleholder Eddie Alvarez, former flyweight king
Shinichi Kojima and the incomparable Fedor Emelianenko all will
return to action.
In
our monthly “10 Tussles” series, we take you around
the globe in an effort to broaden your MMA horizons, showcasing
the best fights that might not get much attention otherwise.
Fasten your seatbelts and hang on for a unique ride throughout
world MMA.
As
always, the list does not focus on the well-promoted main event
bouts from major organizations you already know to watch, but
rather on fights from all over the planet that are worth seeing.
The UFC, Strikeforce and Dream are excluded by design.
Ruan
Potts vs. Andrew van Zyl
Extreme Fighting Championship Africa 11, Nov. 10 -- Johannesburg,
South Africa
Two
undefeated heavyweights will collide in EFC Africa’s return
to South Africa’s largest city. Potts, the promotion’s
heavyweight champion, has compiled an impressive 13-0 record
on the regional circuit and captured the EFCA title from Norman
Wessels with a flurry of punches from back mount late in round
three of their June clash. The previous two champions did not
manage to defend the belt a single time. Will Potts become the
first to break that cycle? Robust challenger Van Zyl, a powerful
and durable puncher, has other plans.
Bobby
Lashley vs. Dave Huckaba
Shark Fights 21, Nov. 11 -- Lubbock, Texas
The
MMA career of former World Wrestling Entertainment superstar
Lashley hit a snag when retired on his stool against Chad Griggs
in August 2010. While it was apparent from the beginning that
he did not possess the fast learning curve of a Brock Lesnar,
there was still hope that he would be able to develop into a
legitimate threat in the heavyweight division. Lashley returned
in August with a decision win over journeyman John Ott and will
now face his most experienced opponent to date in former Gladiator
Challenge champion Huckaba. The 37-year-old knockout artist took
the fight on four weeks’ notice.
Tomasz
Drwal vs. Gary Padilla
MMA Attack, Nov. 5 -- Warsaw, Poland
A
lot of fans were shocked when Polish stars Drwal and Maciej Jewtuszko
were released from the UFC. “Irokez” has since resurfaced
for KSW, while the “Gorilla” has signed with new organization
-- MMA Attack. The promotion is challenging the longtime top
dog for domestic supremacy, booking its home venue, Warsaw’s
Torwar Hall, and even renting the official UFC cage for its first
event. Drwal will fight former Alliance MMA teammate Gary Padilla
in the main event of the card’s MMA lineup. Fellow UFC veteran
Peter Sobotta and former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez
are also fighting on this European mega card.
Rich
Clementi vs. Ronnie Rogers
Victory Promotions “Clementi vs. Rogers,” Nov. 12 --
Lowell, Mass.
Another
fledgling promotion will pop up, but this time in the Northeastern
United States. Victory Promotions has put together a 17-fight
card for its inaugural event at the 6,500-seat Tsongas Center,
usually the home of the NCAA Div. I University of Massachusetts-Lowell
River Hawks hockey team. The card’s main attraction is a
lightweight tilt between nine-time UFC veteran Clementi and the
versatile Rogers. “No Love” is battling through the
worst year of his career from a results standpoint, while “Bam
Bam” has already snatched two wins over UFC veteran Diego
Saraiva in 2011. Will we see another upset here?
Shamil
Abdurahimov vs. David Olivia
ProFC 37, Nov. 9 -- Ufa, Russia
Abdurahimov,
the king of the one million dirham Abu Dhabi Fighting Championship
tournament, returns after a long and complicated injury break.
The man from Makhachkala in the mountains of Dagestan rose to
prominence in 2010, when he beat Jeff Monson and former Pride
Fighting Championships standout Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou in back-to-back;
Abdurahimov clinched the ADFC tournament victory in March.
In
his comeback fight, the 30-year-old all-around fighter will take
on KSW heavyweight tournament champion Olivia. The unbeaten Chicagoan
last fought in July 2010 at a regional show in Milwaukee.
Matt
Horwich vs. Michal Materla
KSW 17, Nov. 26 -- Lodz, Poland
KSW,
the Polish flagship organization, looks to underscore its ambitions
of becoming the number one event in Europe with perhaps the strongest
card of its eight-year existence. Even though its three stars
-- Mamed Khalidov, Mariusz Pudzianowski and Jan Blachowicz --
are all fighting, the most intriguing bout on the card comes
in the form of the middleweight title eliminator between KSW
6 tournament champion Materla and former International Fight
League champion Horwich. “Cipao” has struggled with
injuries for a long time but is finally healthy and looking to
pass the biggest test of his career.
Marius
Zaromskis vs. Bruno Carvalho
Rumble of the Kings, Nov. 26 -- Stockholm, Sweden
The
eyebrows of the experts were raised when top European middleweight
Carvalho announced he would drop down to welterweight to take
on Dream champion Zaromskis. The 29-year-old Swedish Brazilian,
a regular training partner of Alistair Overeem, is known to walk
around in excess 220 pounds between bouts. “Whitemare”
Zaromskis has had a quiet 2011 so far, bouncing back from a decision
loss to Jordan Mein in Canada to beat Eiji Ishikawa in Dream
over the summer. The winner of this European super fight could
have a future under the Zuffa LLC umbrella.
Eddie
Alvarez vs. Michael Chandler
Bellator 58, Nov. 19 -- Hollywood, Fla.
Bellator
has done its homework and put together some compelling matchups
this month, including tournament finals between Douglas Lima
and Ben Saunders and middleweights Alexander Shlemenko and Vitor
Vianna. Their killer fight of the month, however, is the lightweight
title fight between defending champion and Top 5 lightweight
Alvarez and undefeated Season 4 tournament winner Michael Chandler.
Alvarez has dominated the Bellator lightweight division during
his time in the promotion, stopping five of his six opponents.
However, he has yet to face an opponent with the wrestling pedigree
of Chandler, an NCAA All-American.
Shinichi
Kojima vs. Kiyotaka Shimizu
Shooto “Shooto the Shoot 2011,” Nov. 5 -- Tokyo
How
long can one be away from the game and remain a force? Kojima
was once considered the premier flyweight fighter in MMA, but
he was sidelined for more than two years with a torn anterior-cruciate
knee ligament. The 32-year-old submission specialist returned
in August with a close decision win over Masaaki Sugawara. Looking
to stay busy, the Yokohama, Japan, native will now square off
against reigning King of Pancrase Shimizu. The next generation
star has defended his crown three times and now crosses over
to Shooto to challenge Kojima.
Fedor
Emelianenko vs. Jeff Monson
M-1 Global “Fedor vs. Monson,” Nov. 20 -- Moscow
Despite
37 career bouts, Russian hero Emelianenko has never fought in
the capital of his home country. That will finally happen under
the M-1 Global banner. Emelianenko will take on two-time Abu
Dhabi Combat Club Submission World Championships gold medalist
Monson, who, despite turning 40 in January, is still going strong,
with nine wins in his last 10 fights. The clash of heavyweights
will serve as a trend-setting fight for “The Last Emperor”
and will undoubtedly impact the future of Russia’s leading
promoter.
Source
Sherdog
|
Pitbull:
“Now I control my destiny”
Junior
Samurai
He
fought GSP for the UFC welterweight title but came up short,
at the 100th installment of the promotion, in July 2009. Since
then, Brazil’s Thiago Alves has seen highs and lows, losing
two of his last three appearances and winning one. This Saturday
in Birmingham, England, the Thai boxing ace will again be put
to the test, taking on UFC first-timer Papy Abedi. Another loss
could cost Pitbull his place in the octagon, but he knows what
to do.
“I’ve
made up my mind, I don’t want to lose a single fight. I
control my destiny, and I took the reins on my actions and everything
that happens in my life. That’s that. I’m going to
take care of my present and future, and I won’t lose any
more fights. I put the work in, and now I just want to get in
there and show my best. I know I’m at my best and no one
can stop me,” he is quoted as saying on the UFC website.
Still
sore about his loss to Rick Story at UFC 130 last May, Thiago
doesn’t want to give the judges any work to do in his fights.
“I really learned a lot there. I trained so much and thought
I’d have an easy fight. But when I finally got to fighting,
it was too late; I only showed my game in the final round, so
there was no turning things around. I lost the first round, but
I still feel I won the second round my a small margin, and I
won the third. So I couldn’t believe the result, but I learned
never to let anyone determine the result for me. I’m going
to take control. Now I’m aiming at becoming a more versatile
fighter,” asserted Pitbull.
“They
don’t want to stand and bang with me anymore, so I have
to improve in other areas. I’ve done that before, and it’s
just a question of time before I do so again. I’m going
to go out there and take what I want; it’s just a question
of time. I just need to be patient and take action when need
be,” he said in conclusion.
In
the lead-up to this decisive matchup, GRACIEMAG.com caught up
with Master Evilázio Feitoza, the man who discovered and
was first coach to Thiago Pitbull. The Thai boxing master, who
has trained MMA stars like Gabriel Napão in the past,
addressed his thoughts on his former student’s part performances
and what he expects from him at UFC 138.
Check
out the full interview with Master Evilázio in Portuguese
in the following video and the transcription in English further
down the page:
“He
was one of the first boys who came to train with me, and I soon
realized he was a diamond in the rough. So we started lapidating
him. By the time he was 14 or 15 we sent him to compete, and
at just 15 he made his professional debut, at a Thai boxing event
where he beat a seasoned fighter from Recife.
So
we kept working with him and he met with success at a lot of
events while still a minor – him even lying about his age
so they’d let him compete. We didn’t have a lot of
resources then, but I’d go over K-1 videos with him –
in those days it wasn’t so easy finding footage as it is
today, with the internet.
Then,
when he was 19, he took off to make a life for himself in the
United States, at American Top Team. There he made and is still
making a career for himself.
Now,
he’s 26, still young, still has lots of potential. He’s
slipped up a few times recently. Now he has different coaches,
has a different way of fighting that’s quite different from
what I was familiar with. He hasn’t been using the tools
he used to use, which came from muay Thai. The way I see it,
he only blocks, doesn’t defend, and that’s made things
difficult for him.
Now
I hope he can get back on his feet, since this next fight is
against a striker, so he’ll be able to show his muay Thai
and come out the victor.”
Source:
Gracie Magazine
|
UFC
on Fox Primetime TV Ratings: Did it Deliver?
by Ken
Pishna
The
UFC on Fox era has begun.
The
partnership, despite an official start date of January 2012,
kicked off with UFC on Fox Primetime: Velasquez vs. dos Santos
on Sunday. The one-hour behind-the-scenes special was sandwiched
in with Fox’s typical Sunday football coverage, hoping to
leverage the power of the NFL.
The
television ratings for UFC on Fox Primetime were higher than
any previous episode of UFC Primetime, but not as high as might
be expected considering the ratings the NFL draws. UFC on Fox
Primetime drew a 1.3 household rating, which translates into
2.0 million viewers, according to industry sources.
In
comparison, UFC Primetime: Lesnar vs. Velasquez peaked at 1.2
million viewers for the final episode in the series.
UFC
on Fox Primetime broke from the mold utilized on Spike TV, where
the Primetime series was typically shown in three 30-minute episodes
over a three-week period. UFC on Fox Primetime aired in a single
one-hour episode, serving as a build-up to UFC on Fox 1: Velasquez
vs. dos Santos on Nov. 12. UFC on Fox 1 will be a one-hour telecast
featuring a single fight, the UFC heavyweight championship between
titleholder Cain Velasquez and challenger Junior dos Santos.
Despite
a significant bump in viewership over the Primetime episodes
that aired on Spike, the UFC on Fox Primetime seems not to have
gained much steam from Fox’s NFL coverage. The episode aired
around Fox’s main NFL game, which drew 17 million viewers,
although that was considered an off-week for the NFL on Fox,
which often draws more than 20 million viewers when they air
a marquee match-up.
The
numbers were likely a bit of a disappointment to UFC and Fox
officials. Both parties are very high on this new partnership
and expect to do big business together.
“One
of my golden rules is never predict ratings because it’s
a zero sum game,” said Fox Sports chairman David Hill, when
asked if he expected they would outdraw Kimbo Slice on CBS, which
drew more than six million viewers. “If I was a betting
man, which I am, I’d probably put a couple of bucks on the
fact that we will.”
UFC
president Dana White wasn’t so tempered in his enthusiasm,
saying, “I’m not going to be too cocky here and trump
what David Hill said, but I’ll tell you right now, I’m
expecting to blow that number out of the water.”
While
UFC on Fox Primetime didn’t break the bank on numbers, it’s
also a promotional show, not the fight itself. The proof will
be in the pudding, as they say, when UFC on Fox 1 airs on Nov.
12 and we find out how many fans tune in.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Maldonado
wants to “hurt the Americans”, even Rampage or Henderson
By Guilherme
Cruz
Fabio
Maldonado doesn’t have anything scheduled in UFC, but it
doesn’t prevent him from training hard in Salvador, Bahia,
along with tough guys like Junior dos Santos and the Nogueira
brothers, all athletes will bouts schedules for the next weeks.
On
an interview given to TATAME, Maldonado analyzed the trainings
and the bouts, betting on knockouts of Junior and Rodrigo. “It
ain’t easy taking Frank Mir down, everybody knows that,
but, the way I see it, Rodrigo will knock him out”, bets
Fabio, talking about his return to the cage: “I want to
hurt, smash the Americans”.:
How
are the training in Salvador?
Rodrigo
and Rogerio are doing great, but they’re not training that
hard yet. They’re doing fine, but they can do better. They’re
not giving everything they’ve got because it’s too
soon and they can get overtrained.
What
are you focusing the trainings on? Are you trying to help Dos
Santos better now?
In
my case, yes. Rodrigo and Rogerio have bouts set, so they gotta
worry about them. They’re doing a great preparation. Rodrigo
is doing some work on the pool with Dr. Angela too... It’s
nice. Dos Santos is on the final sprint. Now he’s doing
his best, he’s on that period on which you get sick of training
so much (laughs).
How
is Junior doing?
He’s
doing great. For a sparring training with him you gotta have
three guys fighting at the same time against him (laughs). Dorea
brought Cleisson Mamute, who’s a guy I fought against once
in MMA and he was four-time Brazilian champion of amateus Boxing.
Mamute does like one or two rounds against Junior, then the American
(Josh Janousek, wrestler) does another one and I go and we train
for four rounds. Dos Santos is fantastic. Of course there’s
no perfect training. How would you compare me to Cain Velasquez?
Cain Velasquez is like ten times better on takedowns than me,
but Junior is doing amazing on the takedown defenses. We believe
that, even if Cain takes him down, Junior will be prepared to
stand-up again and bang. He plays it well against me on the stand-up,
and I’m much better than Cain Velasquez on the stand-up,
I know how to dodge better and how to punch better. He’s
more explosive and stronger than me, but my came on the stand-up
is much better, so we’re trying to adjust it.
What
is your bid for this bout?
Well,
I’m a Cain Velasquez fan, but I don’t see it going
to the judges’ score card. If it’s decided by points,
I believe Junior will win. If Cain insists on playing that card
and all… They’re both heavyweights, the bests in the
world. Junior is a little more experienced, so they’re going
for it. I bet Junior with knock him out, but we gotta know there’s
a great opponent there. I’d give like 60, 70% of advantage
to Dos Santos. And you gotta remember I’m a fan of Cain.
Do
you believe Dos Santos is more prepared than Velasquez?
Dos
Santos is ready to go. It was excellent his wins over Shane Carwin
and Roy Nelson by points, these 30 minutes of fight, 15 each.
Absolutely, if they fought for more rounds, it’d be worse
for them. These fights gave him the kind of experience he needed
to fight Cain Velasquez. Maybe he needed it before becoming a
champion.
In
December the Nogueira brothers will be fighting on the same night.
How are their preparation?
Both
of them will smash their opponents. It ain’t easy taking
Frank Mir down, everybody knows that, but, the way I see it,
Rodrigo will knock him out. It’s not that his game plan
is to strike, but and what if he can’t take him down? He
ought to fight him on his feet. He’ll knock him out, I’m
pretty sure of it.
And
about Rogerio? He’s under a lot of pressure entering this
fight against Tito Ortiz...
Everybody
knows how good Rogerio is, he has nothing to prove. It’s
just that he’s coming from two not so good bouts. Even that
fight on which he lost to Ryan Bader was a good one. Ryan Bader
lost to Tito Ortiz and then beat Rogerio… Since we all know
it’s not like that in MMA, I bet Rogerio will win. Rogerio
wasn’t focused for that fight, and now he is. Everybody
knows that, if they didn’t set a time for the guys to fight
in MMA, no one could defeat the Nogueira brothers. I believe
he’ll defeat Tito Ortiz. On the stand-up, he’s a better
fighter than Tito Ortiz.
And
what about you? When you’ll be back in UFC?
I
talk to my manager like three times a week. You know I rather
spank an American striker. Maybe Quinton Jackson. Despite coming
from a loss, he fought the champion. If I could, I’d fight
him or Dan Henderson. I can knock them out, I’m sure of
it. If I could pick someone... But I can’t. If you wanna
be a UFC champ, you can’t pick your opponents. You gotta
fight whoever crosses your way. I’ll work so I win. I want
to hurt, smash the Americans. In two weeks I believe Alex (Davis)
tells me my next opponent.
UFC’s
coming back to Brazil. Do you hope to be in this card?
Absolutely,
but nothing’s been said about it… If someone gets injured,
maybe. Maybe I can fight Rich Frankin, who knows? That guy (Stanislav
Nedkov) who defeated (Luis) Cane. I can fight anyone. I fight
with five, six weeks in advance. I’m ready. If I fight in
Brazil, it’s even better.
Source:
Tatame
|
Bellator
Adds UFC Vet Foster to Welterweight Roster
By Mike
Whitman
Bellator
Fighting Championships on Tuesday announced the signing of former
UFC welterweight Brian Foster.
Foster’s
debut date for the Chicago-based promotion is currently unknown,
but the 27-year-old Oklahoma native has already called out Bellator’s
best.
“I’m
getting that belt,” Foster stated in a release. “I
want to fight the best. I want to fight Ben Askren and take home
that belt. I ran through my last two opponents and I’m better
than I’ve ever been. I’m very happy to be a part of
Bellator and I’m coming for the top spot.”
Trained
by Marc Fiore and representing Finney’s H.I.T. Squad of
Granite City, Ill., Foster has won four straight bouts. After
earning back-to-back wins over Forrest Petz and Matt Brown in
2010, Foster suffered a pair of medical setbacks. Only weeks
after suffering a burst testicle in training due to an errant
kick, Foster was diagnosed with a brain hemorrhage in April.
Expected
to face Sean Pierson at UFC 129, Foster was forced to withdraw
from the contest and was released by the UFC. His medical issues
now in the past, Foster says he has made a full recovery. The
welterweight has gone a perfect 2-0 outside the Octagon, earning
a pair of wins in the last 30 days after sitting on the sideline
for over 10 months.
“I’ve
been seen by two of the best doctors in [Illinois],” said
Foster. “They’ve medically cleared me, and I feel great.
I’m looking forward to facing Bellator’s best and becoming
the next welterweight champion.”
Source
Sherdog
|
Anthony
Johnson Ready to Rumble with Vitor Belfort
by Damon
Martin
It
was a bit of a shock when the announcement was made that former
middleweight contender Vitor Belfort would be facing Anthony
“Rumble” Johnson at UFC 142 in January.
Not
because Johnson’s not a worthy opponent by any stretch,
but because he’s fought at welterweight for virtually his
entire career and looked to be only a fight or two away from
potentially earning a title shot at 170.
Johnson
dominated Dan Hardy back in March and just came off of a thunderous
knockout over Charlie Brenneman in October. So why move to middleweight
now and face a fighter like Vitor Belfort?
“It’s
a new challenge,” Johnson told MMAWeekly.com on Wednesday.
“I’m still a welterweight fighter, but why not step
up to the plate whenever you’re asked to do something from
the top organization in the world, and I really respect my bosses
so why not?”
There
had been rumors swirling prior to the fight announcement that
Johnson could be in consideration to face Carlos Condit during
the Super Bowl weekend show (likely to be dubbed UFC 143), with
a potential No. 1 contender’s tag attached to the match.
Johnson denies that he was ever even in discussions about facing
Condit, but when Belfort’s name came up he couldn’t
sign fast enough.
“It’s
just about the challenge. Nobody talked to me about facing Carlos
Condit or anybody else,” Johnson revealed.
“As
soon as I got the offer, I was excited. My blood just started
boiling because that’s a challenge and Vitor is such a great
fighter, so I’m all about challenges. Why not step up to
the plate and accept the challenge? I’m excited. I think
my agent is more excited than I am. He’s so happy for me
and he knows I can do well at any weight class. We’re both
excited.”
Johnson’s
agent, Glenn Robinson of Authentic Sports Management, helped
put together the team that will prepare “Rumble” for
the challenge ahead in facing Vitor Belfort. The team now known
as the Blackzilians consists of several top fighters including
former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans, coach Mike
Van Arsdale, and heavyweight Matt Mitrione recently joined the
roster at Authentic and trained with the camp for a week prior
to his fight at UFC 137.
If
Johnson is successful in defeating Belfort, he will have beaten
a top ten middleweight after back to back wins over very tough
competition at welterweight. Will Johnson be swayed to stick
around at 185 pounds if he wins or will he be just as committed
to 170 pounds at that point?
“I
don’t know, we’ll see what the end results are you
know what I mean? If it goes out as planned, I just might stay
at middleweight if not I might go back to welterweight. We’ll
just see at the end of the day,” said Johnson.
“As
of right now, it’s just a one-time thing.”
The
challenge of facing a fighter like Vitor Belfort isn’t an
easy one, but something Johnson looks forward to preparing himself
for. Johnson shows extreme admiration and respect towards Belfort,
and this fight is actually him coming full circle in his career.
Johnson
met Belfort for the first time back in 2006 and it was a moment
that he still remembers to this day.
“Vitor
was actually at my very first MMA fight,” said Johnson.
“He might not remember it, but I remember it. After the
fight, it was in L.A. at Pangea Fights and he was there, Shogun
(Rua) was there, and after the fight I shook Vitor’s hand
and he told me ‘good job.’ Now I’m like the guy
that watched my very first fight, I’m actually fighting
him now.
“It’s
pretty interesting. I’m just overwhelmed with how everything
turned out for me.”
Facing
Belfort in Brazil is also a new twist for Johnson, who says he’s
only been out of the United States a couple of times, but he’s
excited to meet the fans and hopefully give them a fight they
won’t soon forget. Even though there isn’t a title
on the line or even a guaranteed title shot opportunity in the
fight with Belfort, Johnson is just ready for the battle ahead.
Facing
Vitor Belfort in Brazil is just about as big of a fight as you
can imagine.
“Nobody
saw this coming,” Johnson said about the match-up. “The
UFC is just giving the fans what they want.”
Johnson
will head into training camp in Florida alongside his teammates
with the Blackzilians as he prepares for his showdown with Vitor
Belfort at UFC 142 on Jan. 14 in Brazil.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Hawaii
Toughman Tomorrow!
Saturday, November
5, 2011
Hilo Civic Center
Doors open at 5:00 pm, Fights starts at 6:00 pm
For a video link of the upcoming event, click here!
|
ETERNAL
SUBMISSIONS TOMORROW
Brazilian Gi & NoGi Tournament
November 5th & 6th, 2011
Kauai Beach Resort, Kauai
www.eternalsubmissions.com
Weigh-ins
are Friday, Nov 4th from 5-9pm at the event ballroom in the Kauai
Beach Resort (all Kauai residdents MUST weigh in on friday- outer
island competitors can weigh in day of division)
Gi
Divisions on Saturday, Nov 5th and start by 10am with the kids,
adults to follow.
Womens
Superfight on Saturday around 12 noon between Tracey Goodell
and Kanani Ragasa
NoGi
Divisions on Sunday, starting at 9am with Kids, Adults to follow
Divisions:
Kids
Women
Adults
Masters
and Adult Absolute for Belt in gi & nogi
We
are working on NoGi superfights and a mens gi super fight
(our previous match of Mike Fowler and Luke Hacker rematch was
cancelled due to the stabbing.)
Special
rates at the resort for competitors for $109/nt by calling the
resort at (808) 245-1955 and using code EFC
We
will have food booths, sponsor booths, giveaways, drawing and
more.
THANKS
:)
Shauna
Low rate offered to competitors and spectators $114/nt at the
Kauai Beach
Resort
also
a special rate for tighter budgets
for Eternal Submissions guests
at the Aloha Beach Hotel
for $81/nt (about 2-3 miles away)
Friday,
Nov. 4th
weigh-ins from 5-9pm
(ONLY outer island competitors can weigh in day of)
Saturday,
Nov. 5th
ALL GI DIVISIONS
Starting at 9am with kids. Teens, women & men to follow
Sunday,
Nov. 6th
ALL NOGI DIVISIONS
Starting at 9am with kids. Teens, womens & mens to follow
PRE-REGISTRATION
due by Monday Oct. 24th for FREE competitor tshirt
Registrations will be accepted until Friday night weigh ins (Sat
or Sun
morning for off-island competitors ONLY), however will not receive
the FREE
shirt, you will be able to purchase the event shirt there, first
come first
serve, limited availability.
More
info www.eternalsubmissions.com
or call Shauna (808) 652-6849
Source: Event Promoter
|
UFC
138 Tomorrow
National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England
November 5, 2011
TV: Spike TV
Hawaii
Air Time:
5:00PM SPIKE Channel 559
Dark matches
Welterweights: John Maguire vs. Justin Edwards
Featherweights: Chris Cariaso vs. Vaughan Lee
Welterweights: Chris Cope vs. Che Mills
Heavyweights: Phil De Fries vs. Rob Broughton
Featherweights: Michihiro Omigawa vs. Jason Young
Light Heavyweights: Cyrille Diabete vs. Anthony Perosh
Main card
Lightweights: Paul Taylor vs. Anthony Njokuani
Lightweights: Terry Etim vs. Edward Faaloloto
Welterweights: Thiago Alves vs. Papy Abedi
Featherweights: Brad Pickett vs. Renan Barao
Middleweights: Mark Munoz vs. Chris Leben
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Rising
Korean Featherweight Brian Choi Talks One FC Network
by James
Goyder
Fighters and fans are already starting to benefit from the formation
of the ‘ONE FC Network’ which was announced yesterday.
One December 3rd fight fans in Korea will see two fighters currently
contracted to ONE FC, Brian Choi and, Vuyisile Colossa, make
an appearance at Road FC 5
For Choi it will be a homecoming because he was born in Seoul
but has not lived there for the last three years. He lives and
trains at Evolve MMA in Singapore which is also home to Shinya
Aoki and Rafael Dos Anjos and is rapidly developing a reputation
as being the top fight team in Asia.
His record currently stands at 3-0 and he is up against another
top 145lber in 5-2 Bae Young Kwon. It will be a fight for featherweight
supremacy in Korea which should be witnessed by 7,000 fans at
the Jangchung Gymnasium.
Choi is already been tipped to follow in the footsteps of Chan
Sung Jung and make it into the UFC and he took time out from
his training to talk to MMAWeekly.com about returning to Korea
and being part of the ‘ONE FC Network’.
MMAWeekly.com: How excited are you to be fighting MMA in Korea?
Brian Choi: It’s every fighter’s dream to fight in
there hometown in front of a huge crowd. I am beyond excited
about this big event.
MMAWeekly.com: Do you still follow the MMA scene in Korea closely?
How much of an impact has Road FC had?
Yes, I do follow the MMA scene in Korea. Road FC is an upcoming
promotion but in a short while they’ve become the biggest
promotion in Korea. It’s great to have that type of event
to showcase the talent that is coming out of Korea.
BC: How long is it since you moved to Singapore, will it be strange
going back to fight?
I’ve been living and training in Singapore for 3 years now.
I do not think it will be weird to fight in my hometown, I am
excited to be there. Korean fans are great. I feel honored to
represent Korea by being part of the best fight team, Evolve
Fight Team.
MMAWeekly.com: Will you have a lot of friends and family there
or are you expecting your opponent to have a lot more support
because he trains in Korea?
BC: I’m lucky to have my coaches and some of my teammates
there to support me. My family and friends will definitely be
there. I am not concerned with my opponents fans. I think all
the Koreans will want to see a good fight and that’s what
I have been training for.
MMAWeekly.com: How grateful are you to One FC for allowing you
to fight in your homeland even though you are under contract
to them?
BC: I am very grateful for the opportunities One FC has given
me as a fighter. They are a professional organization and I have
full faith that my fight career will be well managed under them.
MMAWeekly.com: Have you looked at any footage of Bae Young Kwon
yet? Do you have a gameplan?
BC: I have not spent any time watching fight footage of my opponent.
I’m a little superstitious like that.
My coaches have a game plan for me. Chatri and my training partners
have been preparing me for this fight. I know what I have to
do when I get into the ring.
MMAWeekly.com: If you win this fight you will be very close to
the top of the Korean 145 lbs rankings, behind Chan Sung-Jung
(The Korean Zombie), is that something you are thinking about?
BC: The thought has crossed my mind but I am more focused on
my upcoming fight against Bae Young Kwon. I am training hard
each day so I will be ready for him.
MMAWeekly.com: Do you know when your first fight for One FC will
be?
BC: I don’t know yet. I am a ONE FC fighter, but I have
not been told about my first fight on ONE FC yet.
MMAWeekly.com: What did you think of the first One FC show?
BC: I was amazed by it. I’ve never seen an MMA event like
that in Asia. I was very proud of my team mates.
The Evolve Fighters put on some great fights. The support and
interest from the fans made the event a huge success. I am excited
to fight in the upcoming One FC events.
MMAWeekly.com: Can you tell us a bit about the training at Evolve
MMA? Who do you train with and how often do you train?
BC: I train 5-6 hours daily in all disciplines with the world
champion coaching staff at Evolve MMA. it doesn’t get better
than that. My training partners and coaches push me hard and
focus on improving my weakness and developing my strengths.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Cerrone-Diaz
Tapped for Lightweight Co-Main Event at UFC 141
By Chris
Nelson
Lightweight standouts Donald Cerrone and Nate Diaz have verbally
agreed to square off at UFC 141, promotion officials announced
Monday.
The
155-pound matchup will serve as co-main event on the Dec. 30
card headlined by a five-round heavyweight clash between former
UFC champ Brock Lesnar and ex-Strikeforce titleholder Alistair
Overeem. The UFC’s annual year-end event will air live on
pay-per-view, with two prelims on Spike TV, from the MGM Grand
Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
In
their Zuffa careers, Diaz (Pictured) and Cerrone have won a combined
15 UFC or WEC bonuses: 10 “Fights of the Night,” four
“Submissions of the Night,” and one “Knockout
of the Night” from Cerrone.
Fresh
off a submission win over dangerous German striker Dennis Siver
at Saturday’s UFC 137, Cerrone will look to finish his rookie
year in the Octagon at 5-0. The 28-year-old Greg Jackson student
has torn through four opponents in eight months, finishing Siver,
Charles Oliveira and Paul Kelly, and taking a lopsided decision
over Vagner Rocha.
Diaz,
26, seeks to build on the momentum from his September armbarring
of longtime Pride star Takanori Gomi at UFC 135. The first-round
victory snapped a two-fight losing streak for the Cesar Gracie
pupil and fifth-season winner of “The Ultimate Fighter,”
who was outpointed by Dong Hyun Kim and Rory MacDonald in consecutive
welterweight appearances.
Source:
Sherdog
|
Dana
White: UFC Getting Closer to Producing Ultimate Fighter 'World
Cup'
By Mike
Chiappetta
The
UFC continues its expansion at a blistering pace, recently signing
a major television deal with Brazil's Globo, and planning a February
show in Japan, an event that will mark the first show there under
Zuffa ownership. But according to UFC president Dana White, that's
just the tip of the iceberg.
On
a Wednesday teleconference to promote the UFC on FOX premiere,
White discussed some other worldwide plans, including an Ultimate
Fighter "World Cup" that would take the winners from
several international editions and match them against each other
to produce one champion.
The
idea has been a long-held one for White, and though its production
remains off in the future, steps towards making it a reality
are in the here and now.
A
deal to produce the UFC's first international edition has been
struck, and the show will soon begin taping in Brazil, likely
in the spring of 2012.
"It's
really spread like wildfire all over the world," White said
of MMA. "There literally isn't a country that you could
point your finger on the map that we couldn't get a fighter from.
I think we've done a great job finding and cultivating talent
from all these different countries."
White
said he expected a "phenomenal" amount of talent to
emerge from the new Brazil edition of the show, which will probably
air in the US on FUEL.
Of
course, to pull off a World Cup-type of event, the UFC will have
to produce several more versions of the show around the globe.
The next likely destinations include Canada, the Philippines
and the UK.
"We're
getting closer and closer to this dream I've had for the last
five years," he said.
As
an example of the promotion's growing appeal, White noted that
the upcoming UFC on FOX event would air live in 19 countries,
including some places not thought of as MMA hotbeds like Italy,
Korea, Croatia and Greece.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Anthony
Njokuani Still Wants Paul Taylor ASAP
by Damon
Martin
Despite
a disappointing trip to England that resulted in no fight, Anthony
Njokuani is keeping in good spirits and hopes to reschedule his
bout with Paul Taylor as soon as possible.
Njokuani and Taylor were set to square off as part of the main
card for UFC 138 this weekend in England, but Taylor was involved
in a car accident late Monday night that resulted in him suffering
a severe case of whiplash.
Taylor was forced off the card and because of the extreme late
nature of it happening, the UFC was unable to secure a replacement
and Njokuani was pulled as well.
“I was very excited for the opportunity to fight in the
UK. Unfortunately a situation outside of our control has caused
the bout to be scrapped. I am sure Paul was excited to fight
on his own soil so I feel for him as well,” Njokuani told
MMAWeekly.com on Tuesday.
Njokuani was entering the bout after an exciting performance
in which he showcased three rounds of domination against another
British fighter in Andre Winner.
The always exciting fighter who trains out of Las Vegas won’t
sit back and relax however. He plans on staying in training and
all signs are pointing towards his fight with Taylor getting
rescheduled as soon as the Brit is healthy again.
“Anthony is ready to get back in the Octagon and show off
some new tricks. He has been working on expanding his ground
game and adding to his already dynamic stand up. We look forward
to getting this bout re-scheduled ASAP,” said Njokuani’s
manager Oren Hodak from Knock Out Representation,
While several of the UFC cards are filled up through the end
of 2011, the UFC 141 show to close out the year still seems to
have room for another fight.
If Taylor can make it back in time and will be healthy, the addition
of that lightweight match-up would make a welcome entry to the
Dec 30 show.
Njokuani will remain in England through the weekend to enjoy
UFC 138 and then head back home to Las Vegas to get back in training
and wait for UFC matchmaker Joe Silva to make the call to get
him back in action.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Kakutogi
Context: Notes on the Waning Japanese Fight Scene
By Tony
Loiseleur
It is no secret that “kakutogi” (combat sports) in
Japan is at its lowest point since the salad days of the early
2000s. The industry has seen a gradual but steady decline, as
evidenced by Japanese MMA’s increasingly dour headlines
of the past few years. The problems are further exacerbated by
the behind-the-scenes scuttlebutt between local fighters, promoters,
and media -- information which international observers tend to
miss out on.
This
post is not only an attempt to share the information that I’ve
gleaned from my many conversations with those invested and involved
in the business but also an attempt to put into context some
of JMMA’s recent troubles. Consider this a supplementary
piece to the news that’s already out there; part errata,
part clarification, but wholly from the perspectives of those
who live and work within the Japanese fight community.
First
things first: it is true that numerous fighters have not been
paid for their services. So far, only a few have been remunerated
after going public. Initially, these fighters were non-Japanese:
Gary Goodridge, Bibiano Fernandes, Ray Sefo, Jerome LeBanner
and Alistair Overeem, among other K-1-based international fighters.
Only recently have Japanese fighters -- including Kazushi Sakuraba
and Kazuyuki Miyata -- begun publicly adding their names to this
list. While late and non-payments are nothing new, having been
a years-long problem in the post-boom kakutogi industry, what
comes as a surprise is a Japanese fighter deciding that silence
is not the better part of valor.
Often
overlooked is exactly which promotional entity these fighters
are contracted to. Most who have publicized their payment grievances
have been in the employ of Fighting and Entertainment Ground.
Fernandes and Miyata both competed in K-1 Hero’s before
fighting in Dream, while fighters like Sefo, Goodridge, LeBanner,
and Overeem were naturally signed to FEG as K-1 kickboxers. A
former Pride Fighting Championships icon, Sakuraba himself jumped
to FEG shortly before Pride’s purchase by Zuffa LLC in 2007.
Those
contracted directly with Dream production company Real Entertainment
have been compensated, although sometimes later than fighters
have expected or are used to. Such is not always the case, as
some do receive immediate payment, while others still receive
regular, salaried payments. As a former Pride and current Dream
employee, longtime ring announcer Lenne Hardt attested in a March
radio interview with Sherdog.com that being paid weeks or months
after an event is normal in JMMA. Though Japanese fighters are
not as willing to go on record the way that Hardt did, the general
consensus among Dream fighters appears to be that, while sometimes
late, payment does eventually come from Dream.
Despite
the fact that Dream was originally billed as the successor to
K-1 Hero’s, and despite FEG and Real Entertainment’s
long-standing working relationship since Dream’s founding
in 2008, the promotion has instead turned out to be the spiritual
successor of Pride. Anyone who has seen a Dream event will see
the production hallmarks of the former JMMA giant, given that
Dream has inherited veterans of Pride’s production staff
rather than K-1’s. This divergence goes beyond simply the
production side, as personnel from both promotions and fighter
representatives have repeatedly elaborated that both shows have
evolved independently over the years, so much so that even their
finances are largely separate from one another.
While
Real looked forward to incoming funds from a deal with Shanghai’s
Puji Capital, the company has not been simply waiting around
for the money to materialize. According to conversations with
fighters, managers and personnel from both promotions, Real has
independently courted investors of its own, raising enough money
to promote Dream events in 2011 -- no small feat given the ongoing
global economic malaise and the new national austerity brought
on by March’s Great Tohoku Earthquake and tsunami.
Though
Dream may not be promoting the kind of extravagant events which
fans were treated to in 2003, the company is ostensibly more
stable than K-1 at the moment. However, what further muddies
the picture for the international crowd is the question of whether
FEG can legally promote events under the K-1 banner. As initially
reported by multiple outlets in July, trademarks under the K-1
brand were supposedly transferred to a Japanese real estate company
by the name of Barbizon. This was a surprising revelation for
most international fans and media, but it failed to make headlines
in Japan. In the ensuing kerfuffle abroad, a telling detail was
overlooked in the online record of the trademark transfer. Specifically,
the record notes that the transfer was made in January 2006 and
was formally announced in February 2006. This, of course, was
during the tail end of K-1’s biggest years, well before
its current difficulties and even before the purchase of Pride
by Zuffa.
These
dates are significant because 2006 was the year before K-1 founder
Kazuyoshi Ishii was incarcerated for tax evasion. Originally
charged in 2002 and sentenced in 2003, Ishii was able to use
the appeals process to defer his sentence until 2007. To mitigate
the potential stigma of K-1’s association with a convicted
felon and because one cannot legally commandeer a company while
incarcerated, the K-1 name was entrusted to Barbizon, which has
retained it for the past five years. Insofar as preserving its
business in Japan, where K-1’s primary focus and audience
are concerned, the importance of this changing of hands cannot
be stressed enough. The stigma of criminal association is enough
to hobble certain businesses in Japan, especially in the ultra-public
and ultra-sensitive Japanese television world. Local tabloid
“Shukan Gendai’s” exposé on Pride’s
“yakuza” ties reportedly got it taken off of Fuji Television
in 2006 -- a major blow to the promotion’s ability to generate
revenue, which eventually lead to its purchase by Zuffa.
To
keep K-1 rolling, these potential consequences had to be mitigated.
Kicking off this hand-changing process was the 2003 creation
of FEG, the company which would act as the promotion’s operational
base, rather than Barbizon, in Ishii’s absence. Regardless
of who legally lays claim to the K-1 trademark and name, it is
clear that it has not stopped FEG from promoting the kickboxing
mega-event over the years, nor has it affected its promotional
cooperation with events like Dream or grassroots kickboxing promotions
like Krush. As explained to me by a promotional insider in an
amused, yet matter-of-fact tone: “In Japan, you don’t
have to technically own a company to operate it.”
Given
the above, the question now becomes: Why hasn’t FEG publicly
clarified the Barbizon issue? It is a question that I have also
asked representatives from both major promotions on several occasions,
and the general response has been simply that the matter is not
something they see as important to address since it does not
involve their primary audience in Japan. FEG staffers have essentially
declined to comment on the grounds that reports by international
media of K-1’s dissolution or sale are untrue, while Real
representatives claim the matter is outside of their affairs.
The same care taken by FEG in protecting the brand in Japan during
the boom years is thus clearly not taken for the markets beyond
it. This is not so much out of spite as due to FEG’s inability
to recognize the reach, influence and overall importance of international
media.
As
odd as this reaction is, it is essentially in line with what
has been described to me over the years as FEG’s kind of
corporate stoicism; so long as FEG staff concentrate on producing
K-1 shows, their hard work will eventually pay off and speak
for itself, silencing the naysayers. The refusal to comment publicly
has cost FEG opportunities with fighters who doubt its financial
solvency and has hindered efforts at recovery, particularly with
potential investors who were recently courted for a potential
event in China. October’s on again, off again K-1 World
Grand Prix in China is the latest casualty of this corporate
philosophy of mute “business as usual” perseverance.
As
such, these revelations should not only indicate how different
the Japanese fight industry is compared to America’s but
also how different business ideologies can be in Japan. While
these practices may work for a Japanese promotion focusing on
operating in Japan, the decision to stay silent in the face of
international criticism naturally hurts it once it begins venturing
into the international business sphere. Further, the absence
of transparency by not publicly clarifying one’s legal ownership
and corporate structure also repels potential business partners
who do their due diligence before deciding to invest.
Whether
or not FEG can learn from these experiences at this point is
unknown, though it is a question deeply tied in with its chances
of survival. However, the K-1 name itself is still a household
one amongst the Japanese populace and fans of Japanese popular
culture. It may not be popular now, but it is still so entrenched
-- taken for granted, even -- that mainstream Japan still associates
the brand with high-level combat sports the same way that many
Westerners now are familiar with “Ultimate Fighting”
rather than “MMA.” The continual presence of the brand
in Japanese minds speaks to FEG’s last and greatest strength
-- that of K-1 as a unique institution in entertainment and combat
sports. FEG itself may not be able to survive the rut it has
dug itself into, but the K-1 brand will survive because it is
too valuable of a commodity to disappear.
Whether
owned by Barbizon or Ishii, whether run by FEG or some new entity,
K-1’s show will go on, sooner or later. Fight fans can only
hope that whoever takes the reigns for the future has learned
the valuable lessons offered by its turbulent past.
Source
Sherdog
|
White
confirms Belfort vs. Johnson in Brazil
The
UFC website officially announced the fight between Brazil’s
Vitor Belfort and the USA’s Anthony “Rumble” Johnson
for the next UFC in Brazil, the promotion’s 142nd in all,
on January 14, 2012.
“Verbal agreement has been given for an explosive bout between
the powerful Anthony Johnson and ‘The Phenomenon’ Vitor
Belfort at UFC 142,” says UFC president Dana White.
At 27 years of age, Johnson holds a record of ten wins and three
losses, winning by knockout on seven occasions. Belfort, 34,
has a record of 20 wins and nine losses, with 14 knockout wins
to his name.
The main event for UFC Rio II/142 has featherweight champ José
Aldo defending his post against Chad Mendes.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
UFC
137 takeaways
BJ
Penn didn’t take his conditioning seriously enough against
Nick Diaz and paid the price. He finishes his career out with
a great battle but once again got tired. I didn’t expect
him to get tired the way he did… but it happened. By the
third round, Diaz was able to take the advantage and it was over
at that point. If the fight had been five rounds, I didn’t
think Penn stood much of a chance. Three rounds? I thought it
would be short enough for the conditioning issues not to pop
up. I was wrong.
Mirko
Cro Cop’s retirement hurts the UFC Japan show. Yes, UFC
got a sold show deal with Dentsu, the second-largest Japanese
ad agency. So, their risk in running the vanity show in Japan
is limited. With that said, Dentsu reportedly wanted to run a
PRIDE nostalgia show and that ain’t going to happen if you
can’t have Nogueira or Cro Cop on the card. Mirko said that
if he had beaten Roy Nelson that ‘back home’ his supporters
would have said he beat up a fat guy. Well, he lost to that fat
guy on Saturday night. I still felt that Roy as a 75% favorite
was too high, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t think
he was going to lose at any point.
Tyson
Griffin’s career is in crisis. Griffin started out as a
-280 favorite against Bart Palaszewski and it swelled up to -320
because Griffin became a parlay play. If you had paired him with
Donald Cerrone (-240) and BJ Penn (when he was -115), the parlay
was paying out +260 odds. I was very nervous about Tyson in this
fight because of what I saw in his showing against Takanori Gomi
last year. That Gomi fight, for one reason or another, altered
Tyson’s career path. He does not fight smart and he’s
getting into these stand-up firefights that take the one strength
of his opponents and magnify them. Of all the +300 guys on the
card, Bart was the one I had the most confidence in. Very excited
to see his hands fly like they did.
Donald
Cerrone is ripping through the UFC competition. I love it. Not
only does he win, he does it with style and takes no prisoners.
He’s gotten better each time he fights. He finished Dennis
Siver so fast, Spike TV had time to show Brandon Vera’s
three round fight. Speaking of…
What
the hell happened to Brandon Vera? He looks so damn average out
there as a fighter now. It’s unbelievable. Eliot Marshall
tagged him and had him in big trouble. I remember Vera when he
was touted as the next big thing and now… he looks like
just another fighter. What went wrong?
Hatsu
Hioki barely broke the Japanese curse. I said the -320 line on
him as favorite over George Roop was ridiculous and rightfully
so. Roop may be inconsistent but the guy’s got some talent
and Hioki’s going to find out that the level of competition
in Japan in 2011 is so much lower in strength than what the UFC
battlefield has in store for him. He escaped with a win here
but I wouldn’t be very comforted if I was him.
When
Cheick Kongo fights smart, he’s pretty damn good. That’s
the key to every Kongo fight. Are you going to get the stupid
crazy Kongo that you saw in the Pat Barry fight or are you going
to get the superior Kongo like we saw against Matt Mitrione?
I thought the odds were very low on the ‘books for Kongo.
He was an underdog! This is the same guy who gave Cain Velasquez
some trouble. At least Matt didn’t get knocked out but it
was not a good fight on paper for him and we saw why tonight.
Source:
Fight Opinion
|
Dana
White Dreams of Ultimate Fighter World Cup
by Damon
Martin
For
the past couple of years, UFC president Dana White has teased
about the worldwide expansion of not only the UFC, but their
flagship reality show The Ultimate Fighter.
White
recently revealed that the promotion is already working on the
Brazilian edition of the show that will debut in 2012, and over
the long run, they have much bigger plans on a global scale.
“I
just announced last week about The Ultimate Fighter Brazil, the
amount of talent that The Ultimate Fighter Brazil is going to
create is going to be phenomenal. As we continue to go into these
different markets and do The Ultimate Fighter, it’s just
going to get very interesting,” White said on Wednesday.
The
UFC president has talked numerous times about expanding and doing
a reality show in Canada, England, the Philippines, China, and
other markets where mixed martial arts is thriving.
The
end goal would be for The Ultimate Fighter to run several tournaments
in all of these different countries, and then crown one unanimous
winner across an international format similar to what soccer
does with the World Cup.
“Finally,
I feel like I’m on my way. My goal is to get The Ultimate
Fighter running in all these different countries at the same
time, and when you have a winner, you do like a World Cup. Where
each guy from each country fights each other and you end up with
one winner,” said White.
“We’re
getting closer and closer to this dream I’ve had for the
last five years.”
The
global market has become a huge source of revenue for the UFC
and gaining new viewers from a show like The Ultimate Fighter
might be the next breeding ground for success, as well as a hotbed
of new talent.
A
tournament format like the World Cup could finally re-introduce
the UFC to its roots, albeit in a much different nature than
the founders of the promotion started with.
It’s
doubtful, however, that Dana White will ever be okay with a stadium
full of vuvuzelas playing in unison, but for an Ultimate Fighter
World Cup, maybe he’d make an exception.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
The
Cut List: Who's in Desperate Need of a Win at UFC 138?
By Ben
Fowlkes
A
UFC event in the U.K. means two things: 1) lots of griping from
American fighters (and UFC executives) about the food, and 2)
a card full of local blokes, European imports, and some other
fighters just barely holding on to their UFC contracts.
That
mix of desperation and nationalism often makes for memorable
fights, but it also means that there are a few fighters on the
UFC 138 lineup who are facing must-win scenarios.
Who
are they, and what are their chances of staying on the UFC's
good side this Saturday night? For answers, we turn to the Cut
List.
Thiago
Alves (18-8, 10-5 UFC)
Who he's facing: Papy Abedi
Why he's in danger: Alves is another UFC welterweight who was
on a tear until getting beat by Georges St-Pierre, after which
he immediately fell on hard times. Including the loss to GSP
at UFC 100, he's lost three of his last four. His only recent
win came against John Howard, who's no longer with the organization.
Alves seems to have finally conquered his weight issues, thanks
to nutritionist Mike Dolce, but his last few performances in
the cage have been fairly mediocre. Now he faces Octagon newcomer
Abedi, who, while talented, seems like exactly the kind of fighter
Alves should throttle. He'll stand and trade, probably won't
shoot for a single takedown unless it's out of desperation, and
he's relatively inexperienced, particularly at this level of
MMA. So Alves should smash him, right? Probably, yeah. But if
he slips up and manages to lose this fight (don't act like it
can't happen), "The Pitbull" slides even further down
ladder -- maybe even all the way off of it.
Chances of getting cut: Very unlikely. You know how Dana White
is always saying that he likes guys who "bring it"?
That's Alves. And here the UFC has found him an opponent who
will stand and at least attempt to bring it right back. All Alves
has to do is not screw it up.
Eddie
Faaloloto (2-2, 0-1 UFC)
Who he's facing: Terry Etim
Why he's in danger: Faaloloto is winless under the Zuffa banner,
having dropped back-to-back fights to Anthony Njokuani in the
WEC and then Michael Johnson in the UFC. Now he has to fight
in a Brit in Britain, and if he doesn't see this as a fight for
his job then he hasn't been paying attention to the way the UFC
does things. On paper, it seems like the plan is to give Etim
a relatively easy opponent so he can impress his countrymen with
a dominant win after an injury layoff. If that is indeed what
happens, Faaloloto will almost certainly find himself off the
roster. With as many good lightweights as there are in the UFC
right now -- not to mention all the talented, experienced 155ers
who are still trying to get a look -- there'd be no reason to
keep a guy who's a 2-3 fighter with no wins in the Octagon.
Chances of getting cut: Very good. Etim's a heavy favorite to
win the fight, and with good reason. If Faaloloto can't pull
out a minor miracle, he's out of here.
Anthony
Perosh (11-6, 1-3 UFC)
Who he's facing: Cyrille Diabate
Why he's in danger: Perosh can't say that the UFC didn't give
him a chance. After an 0-2 bid back in 2006, the Aussie got back
on the books by stepping up to fight Mirko "Cro Cop"
Filipovic on short notice in Sydney. That didn't go well, but
he rebounded with his first UFC win thanks to a submission over
Tom Blackledge, and against Diabate he even gets to fight someone
his own age. But then, that's kind of the problem. If Perosh
can't win this one (and oddsmakers don't like his chances), what
use does the UFC have for a 39-year-old light heavyweight who's
1-4 in his career inside the Octagon? Perosh is a strong grappler,
but guys like that don't often fall under White's "bring
it" umbrella. You know who does? Lanky kickboxers like Diabate,
who will likely eat Perosh up if the fight stays standing. Perosh
has value for the UFC in Australia, but he's not much of a draw
elsewhere. In fact, this will only be his third pro fight away
from his home country. The other two were both in Las Vegas for
the UFC, and he lost them both.
Chances of getting cut: Very good. If Perosh can't get Diabate
down early and submit him, he's in a lot of trouble. And sure,
maybe Randy Couture could compete at the UFC level well into
his 40s, but Perosh is no Couture.
Michihiro
Omigawa (12-10-1, 0-4 UFC)
Who he's facing: Jason Young
Why he's in danger: Omigawa's winless streak in the Octagon is
comprised of two different stints with the UFC, but the current
stay isn't going much better than the previous one. The 35-year-old
featherweight has dropped back-to-back decisions against Chad
Mendes and Darren Elkins, though the latter seemed to be a case
of judging incompetence. Still, if he can't pick up a win soon
he'll start to look like yet another failed Japanese import who
got to the UFC too late in his career to make an impact. He could
still turn things around, of course, but it's got to start here.
Oddsmakers have him as a roughly 3-1 favorite over his British
opponent, who is himself on somewhat shaky ground with an 0-1
start in the UFC. If Omigawa is going to finally get a win in
the UFC, he might never get a better chance than this. He might
never get another chance, period, if he doesn't make the most
of this opportunity. It's now or never, and this is not a good
time for a Japanese fighter to try and make a living back home.
Chances of getting cut: Moderate. If he loses he's almost guaranteed
to find himself out of a job, but this is a very winnable fight
for Omigawa. The UFC would no doubt love to see him stick around
long enough to help out with its Japanese invasion in 2012.
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
Aldo
vs. Mendes, Belfort vs. Johnson set to UFC 142, in Brazil
It’s
official! President of UFC, Dana White announced today the return
of the biggest MMA event of the world to Brazil on January 14th
of 2012, and the main event will be a title fight.
Everything
points out for the edition number 142 of the event to happen
on Rio de Janeiro, but specific place, and even the city, haven’t
been defined yet. HSBC Arena, which hosted the show on August
27th, is the most likely option for UFC 142.
Jose
Aldo, featherweight champ, will have to face the so far undefeated
Chad Mendes. While Aldo is coming from title defenses against
Mark Hominick and Kenny Florian, the American is coming from
a triumph over the Brazilian Rani Yahya.
The
duel between Aldo and Chad was revealed firsthand by TATAME last
week.
One
of the stars of the first edition of UFC in Brazil, in 1998,
Vitor Belfort will be back to the country on the show as well.
His opponent will be Anthony Johnson, who’ll be fighting
for the first time among the middleweights.
The
bout had been denied by Vitor on an interview given to TATAME
on Monday, but the organization announced it today.
Source:
Tatame
|
Aldo-Mendes
Featherweight Title Bout Slated for UFC 142 in Rio
By Chris
Nelson
Unbeaten
wrestler Chad Mendes will get his chance to dethrone featherweight
ruler Jose Aldo in 2012, but he will have to do so on the champion’s
home turf.
In
a Monday interview with FoxSports.com, UFC President Dana White
revealed that Mendes will challenge for Aldo’s 145-pound
belt on Jan. 14 as part of UFC 142.
Though
not yet confirmed by the promotion, the event expected to take
place at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, the site of August’s
UFC 134. No other matchups have been announced for the card.
The
featherweights were rumored to meet at UFC 133 in August, but
injuries sidelined Aldo (Pictured) before the bout could be made
and Mendes instead took on Rani Yahya at the event. Once healed,
Aldo retained his belt in an Oct. 8 bout against Kenny Florian.
Widely
regarded as one of the MMA world’s pound-for-pound finest,
Aldo has not fought in his home country since May 2007. The 25-year-old
native of Manaus, Amazonas, has since reeled off 10 straight
wins (seven via knockout) and claimed the featherweight titles
of the UFC and WEC in the process. Aldo twice defended his UFC
strap in 2011, earning five-round unanimous decisions over top
contenders Florian and Mark Hominick.
A
former standout wrestler at California Polytechnic State University,
“Money” Mendes has been flawless through 11 fights
since turning to MMA in September 2008. Like Aldo, Mendes in
2-0 his Octagon career, having ground out wins against Yahya
and Michihiro Omigawa. The Team Alpha Male product has gone the
distance in five of his six fights under the Zuffa banner.
Source:
Sherdog
|
MMA
Top 10 Rankings: Cerrone and Askren Arrive
The
updated MMAWeekly.com World MMA Rankings were released on Wednesday,
Nov. 2. This system ranks the Top 10 MMA fighters from across
the world in each of the seven most widely accepted men’s
weight classes and the Top 10 pound-for-pound women fighters.
Taken into consideration are a fighter’s performance in
addition to win-loss record, head-to-head and common opponents,
difficulty of opponents, and numerous other factors in what is
the most comprehensive rankings system in the sport.
Fighters
who are currently serving drug-related suspensions are not eligible
for Top 10 consideration until they have fought one time after
the completion of their suspension.
Fighters
must also have competed within the past 12 months in order to
be eligible for Top 10 consideration unless they have a bout
scheduled within a reasonable time frame.
Below
are the current MMAWeekly.com World MMA Rankings:
WOMEN’S
POUND-FOR-POUND (all weight classes)
1. Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos
2. Megumi Fujii
3. Sarah Kaufman
4. Miesha Tate
5. Marloes Coenen
6. Zoila Gurgel
7. Tara LaRosa
8. Rosi Sexton
9. Alexis Davis
10. Hiroko Yamanaka
HEAVYWEIGHT
DIVISION (over 205 pounds)
1. Cain Velasquez
2. Junior Dos Santos
3. Alistair Overeem
4. Josh Barnett
5. Brock Lesnar
6. Fabricio Werdum
7. Shane Carwin
8. Frank Mir
9. Daniel Cormier
10. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
LIGHT
HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION (205-pound limit)
1. Jon Jones
2. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
3. Rashad Evans
4. Quinton Jackson
5. Lyoto Machida
6. Dan Henderson
7. Phil Davis
8. Gegard Mousasi
9. Alexander Gustafsson
10. Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal
MIDDLEWEIGHT
DIVISION (185-pound limit)
1. Anderson Silva
2. Chael Sonnen
3. Yushin Okami
4. Nathan Marquardt
5. Michael Bisping
6. Mark Munoz
7. Demian Maia
8. Vitor Belfort
9. Brian Stann
10. Alan Belcher
WELTERWEIGHT
DIVISION (170-pound limit)
1. Georges St-Pierre
2. Jon Fitch
3. Nick Diaz
4. Carlos Condit
5. Jake Ellenberger
6. Josh Koscheck
7. Jake Shields
8. Thiago Alves
9. Diego Sanchez
10. Ben Askren
LIGHTWEIGHT
DIVISION (155-pound limit)
1. Frankie Edgar
2. Gilbert Melendez
3. Gray Maynard
4. Shinya Aoki
5. Eddie Alvarez
6. Clay Guida
7. Ben Henderson
8. Jim Miller
9. Anthony Pettis
10. Donald Cerrone
FEATHERWEIGHT
DIVISION (145 pound-limit)
1. Jose Aldo
2. Chad Mendes
3. Hatsu Hioki
4. Mark Hominick
5. Dustin Poirier
6. Erik Koch
7. Kenny Florian
8. Pat Curran
9. Diego Nunes
10. Marlon Sandro
BANTAMWEIGHT
DIVISION (135 pounds or less)
1. Dominick Cruz
2. Brian Bowles
3. Joseph Benavidez
4. Scott Jorgensen
5. Urijah Faber
6. Demetrious Johnson
7. Brad Pickett
8. Masakatsu Ueda
9. Miguel Torres
10. Michael McDonald
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
UFC
137 Medical Suspensions: Nick Diaz, BJ Penn Included on Shelf
List
LAS VEGAS – Ten fighters from Saturday's UFC 137 card have
been given medical suspensions by the Nevada State Athletic Commission,
including one of up to six months for a winning fighter.
The
NSAC on Monday released the suspensions to MMA Fighting. Brandon
Vera, who beat Eliot Marshall on the preliminary card at the
Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, is on the shelf until
April 28 unless a likely torn ligament in his left elbow is cleared
by a doctor. A dominant third round by Marshall included a late
armbar attempt that apparently did the damage to Vera's elbow.
And
Bart Palaszewski must have his right hand x-rayed and cleared
for a possible break before he can return. Palaszewski told Joe
Rogan after his knockout upset win over Tyson Griffin that he
thought he broke both his hands.
Main
event fighters Nick Diaz and BJ Penn were also handed short suspensions.
Penn, who said after the fight he intends to retire, was shut
down for 60 days; Diaz, who dominated Penn in the second and
third rounds to win a unanimous decision, is out until Nov. 29.
He is expected to fight Georges St-Pierre for the welterweight
title on Feb. 4 in Las Vegas.
The
full list of medical suspensions is below.
Danny
Downes: Suspended until Nov. 29 with no contact until Nov. 20
due to lacerations.
Brandon
Vera: Suspended until Dec. 14 with no contact until Nov. 29.
In addition, must have torn ligament in left elbow cleared by
orthopedic doctor or no contest until April 28.
Bart
Palaszewski: Suspended until Dec. 14 with no contact until Nov.
29 for lacerations. In addition, must have right hand x-rayed
cleared by orthopedic doctor or no contest until April 28.
Tyson
Griffin: Suspended until Dec. 14 with no contact until Nov. 29.
Dennis
Siver: Suspended until Dec. 14 with no contact until Nov. 29.
George
Roop: Suspended until Dec. 14 with no contact until Nov. 29 for
lacerations.
Mirko
"Cro Cop" Filipovic: Suspended until Dec. 14 with no
contact until Nov. 29.
Matt
Mitrione: Suspended until Dec. 14 with no contact until Nov.
29.
BJ
Penn: Suspended until Dec. 29 with no contact until Nov. 14.
Nick
Diaz: Suspended until Nov. 29 with no contact until Nov. 20.
Source:
MMA Fighting |
Gamburyan-Nunes,
Assuncao-Pearson Added to UFC 141 in December
The UFC's year-end show in Las Vegas continues to take shape.
Not
long after announcing a lightweight battle between still-surging
contender Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone and Nate Diaz –
who combined have 15 fight night bonuses in their last 22 fights
– the promotion announced a pair of featherweight bouts
for UFC 141.
Former
WEC featherweight title challenger Manny Gamburyan will face
Diego Nunes, a bout rescheduled from UFC 135 in September. And
Junior Assuncao will take on "The Ultimate Fighter"
winner Ross Pearson. The UFC made the announcement of the fights
on its Twitter feed and official website.
Gamburyan
(11-6, 2-4 UFC) looks to break out of a two-fight skid that started
with his featherweight title knockout loss to champ Jose Aldo
at WEC 51 in September 2010. In June, returning to the UFC for
the first time since January 2009, Gamburyan lost a majority
decision to Tyson Griffin, who was making his featherweight debut.
Gamburyan was a Season 5 contestant on "The Ultimate Fighter,"
and reached the finals before losing to Diaz.
Nunes
(16-2, 1-1 UFC) will return for the first time since a close
decision loss to Kenny Florian at UFC 131 in June. The former
WEC standout has gone to a decision in his last seven bouts.
Assuncao
(13-4 MMA, 2-2 UFC) won his return to the UFC in September with
a unanimous decision over the debuting Eddie Yagin. It was Assuncao's
first fight at featherweight after competing at lightweight throughout
his career. Assuncao went 1-2 in his first stint in the UFC from
2006-07.
Pearson
(12-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC) suffered a split decision loss to Edson Barboza
at UFC 134 in June in Rio de Janeiro. Pearson won Season 9 of
"The Ultimate Fighter," taking a unanimous decision
against Team Bisping teammate Andre Winner. He won two more after
that, including a decision win over Dennis Siver. But with two
losses in his last three fights, a win may be crucial for him.
UFC
141 will take place Dec. 30 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in
Las Vegas. The pay-per-view will be headlined by a heavyweight
contenders fight between former champion Brock Lesnar and former
Strikeforce champ Alistair Overeem, who will make his UFC debut.
The co-main event will be the lightweight bout between Cerrone
and Diaz.
Source:
MMA Fighting |
B.J.
Penn Wisely Decides to 'Take Some Time Off' to Consider His Future
BJ PennNow that he's had a chance to think it over, maybe B.J.
Penn isn't "done" with MMA after all. In a short post
on his website entitled "UFC 137: BJ Penn's Message to the
Fans," the 32-year-old former UFC lightweight and welterweight
champ seemed to leave the door open for a possible return to
competition.
"I
want to thank all the fans for their love and support,"
Penn wrote. "I have decided to take some time off to enjoy
life, train and teach. I will keep you guys posted with what's
next."
It's
not exactly a vow to return to the cage, but it is a departure
from the dejected note Penn sounded in the Octagon immediately
following his unanimous decision loss to Nick Diaz at UFC 137.
It's also the right move for a fighter at a career crossroads,
who could certainly benefit from some time to relax and think
things over.
If
you've been following combat sports for a while, this slight
change of heart shouldn't come as a surprise. Even though Penn
told UFC commentator Joe Rogan that the loss to Diaz was "probably
the last time you're ever going to see me" in the cage,
that statement came at an emotional time for "The Prodigy."
If
he does decide to come back, Penn certainly wouldn't be the first
UFC star to declare himself officially retired after a loss,
only to return at a later date and in a different frame of mind.
Randy
Couture, following his second knockout loss to Chuck Liddell
at UFC 57 in February of 2006, told fans that it was the last
time they'd see him fighting in the Octagon. Thirteen months
later he was back to take on Tim Sylvia for the UFC heavyweight
championship, and he'd go on to compete for four more years before
calling it quits (again) this past April.
As
anybody who's ever come home after a horrible round and golf
and declared themselves done forever with the game already knows,
the agony of defeat and sound decision-making don't necessarily
go together. That's exactly why, even when things started heading
downhill for Liddell, he always said he'd decide on retirement
in the gym -- not the cage.
Whatever
he chooses in the end, Penn's decision not to decide just yet
is the right move. He can still compete at the UFC level if he
wants to, but if the fire isn't there and the upside doesn't
seem worth all the pain and suffering anymore, he'd be wise to
move on in life.
At
least now we know he'll take some well earned time away to settle
on a decision. Hopefully it will be one he can live comfortably
with, and without second-guessing himself years from now.
Source:
MMA Fighting |
Report:
Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort to Coach Brazilian Edition of
TUF
Just last week, UFC president Dana White confirmed that Brazil
would be the first country to produce an international edition
of The Ultimate Fighter.
According
to a new report, the show will bring with it a pair of top-level
coaches, including the man that many believe to the best fighter
in history.
Extra
Globo, a major news outlet in Brazil, is reporting that Anderson
Silva and Vitor Belfort will coach the two teams in the series,
which is set to begin in March 2012.
The
newspaper is part of the massive Globo Organization. Its television
arm recently struck a deal with the UFC to broadcast the promotion's
events and is also the future home of TUF in Brazil.
The
UFC on Monday though said that coaches have yet to be chosen.
The
upcoming edition of TUF: Brazil is likely to air in the US on
FUEL under the terms of the UFC's new deal with FOX-owned networks.
Meanwhile,
the UFC is trying to finalize a next opponent for Silva. He had
been expected to face Chael Sonnen on Super Bowl weekend, but
with a welterweight title fight between Georges St-Pierre and
Nick Diaz now penciled into that event, Silva-Sonnen may be moved
to a different date on the calendar.
In
US editions of TUF, opposing coaches have historically competed
against each other at the end of the season, but given Silva's
recent first-round KO over Belfort, it seems likely that if those
two are in fact coaches, the inaugural Brazilian edition of the
show will not follow that custom.
White
had been scheduled to meet with Silva's representatives over
the weekend, but he did not respond to a Monday morning MMA Fighting
inquiry about whether that meeting had actually occurred.
Source:
MMA Fighting |
Falling
Action: Best and Worst of UFC 137
With UFC 137 in the books and the spookiest day of the year now
upon us, let's all grab a mini-Snickers and sort through the
biggest winners, losers, and everything in between from Saturday
night's action in Las Vegas.
Biggest
Winner: Nick Diaz
I remember around this time last year, before Diaz fought KJ
Noons, watching him put on the boxing gloves and headgear in
his gym in Lodi, Calif., and walk down one sparring partner after
another. In the beginning, most of them did pretty well against
him. They landed some punches, circled away, and you could see
their confidence growing. But Diaz never slowed down, never stopped
coming, and eventually he'd end up backing every single one of
them against the fence and digging into their ribs with hooks
that you could hear over the constant stream of Tupac songs that
blared from the stereo. One by one, he wore them down with sheer
pace and pressure until they quit, both mentally and physically.
Diaz
performed the exact same act of will against Penn on Saturday
night, and it was just as effective. He started slowly and gradually
cranked up the volume, confident that his opponent would wilt
before he would. He took it and he dished it out, and by the
end of three rounds there was no doubt that he was the better
fighter. Of course, as soon as the fight was over, he went back
to being the bizarre, mercurial person we've gotten to know (and
yet not know) over the last several years. Even when things had
gone well for him, he remained unhappy. Even when he was offered
the title shot he'd recently squandered, he remained utterly
convinced of his own status as the permanent victim. What can
you do with a guy like that? Put him up against the champ, I
suppose. Let him do what he does best, which is fight, and hope
the rest of us can tolerate what he does worst, which is just
about everything else.
Biggest
Loser: B.J. Penn
The nicest thing you can say about Penn's performance is that
he didn't quit. Even though he didn't look thrilled about it,
he got up off the stool for round three and took his medicine
for five more minutes. Other than that, the bright spots were
few and they dimmed in a hurry. I can understand why Penn, a
nearly 33-year-old former champ, thinks it would be better to
hang it up than continue on as some novelty act or gatekeeper,
but beware of any retirement announcement that comes in the emotional
moments just after a bad beating. This is the same Penn who licked
blood off his gloves and promised death to future opponents while
jacked up on post-fight adrenaline. If those were the highs,
this could simply be the low. Calling it quits in the cage immediately
after a loss is a little like breaking up during an argument.
The chances of it sticking are inversely proportional to how
long you've been together. Six months? Sure, one bad argument
might do it. But Penn and MMA have had a lengthy, sometimes rocky
relationship. Seems unlikely that they won't try to patch things
up at least once or twice.
Hardest
Working Man in the Fight Biz: Donald Cerrone
His submission of Dennis Siver was his sixth straight win and
his fourth of 2011. Apparently he's not content with that, because
he immediately turned around and lobbied for another fight before
the end of the year, which it now looks like he'll get against
Nate Diaz at UFC 141 in December. I'm not sure if Cerrone is
putting title shots and other typical concerns out of his mind
because he's savvy enough to see the situation for what it is
in the crowded lightweight division, or if he's driven only by
the reckless pursuit of a paycheck. Either way, he's at his best
when he's busiest, and 2011 is turning out to be a banner year
for his career and his bank account. After all the paper he's
stacked via purses and bonuses, this is one year when you really
want to be on "Cowboy's" Christmas list.
Most
Impressive in Defeat: Eliot Marshall
Brandon Vera came into the fight with Marshall as a 5-1 favorite,
then nearly got his head knocked off and his arm snapped in half,
but still somehow emerged with the decision victory. It goes
down as a loss for Marshall at a time when he can't afford it,
but will the UFC brass see the process rather than the result?
It might not have been a spectacular fight, but for Marshall
it was clearly a step in the right direction. It would be a shame
for the UFC to cut him after a third round like that, which just
might have been the single best round of his UFC career. If he
sticks to his promise to retire after another UFC release, that's
the kind of finish that could keep a man up at night for years
to come. If only he'd had just a few more seconds. If only he'd
landed one or two more punches. You can play that game for a
long time, particularly if it cost you your career.
Least
Impressive in Victory: Hatsu Hioki
He did just enough to get the decision over George Roop, but
not much more. At least Hioki started off his stay in the UFC
with a win, which is more than you can say for a lot of his compatriots.
Though if that's the best you can do against a mid-level featherweight
like Roop, how far can you really go in this organization? Maybe
Hioki struggled with nerves, and maybe Roop's size and strength
gave him more problems than he expected. I don't know. What I
do know is that the Hioki we saw on Saturday looked like just
another fighter, not some big name acquisition. You hate to judge
a guy too harshly on the basis of one performance, so let's just
say that Hioki still has plenty of work to do to make a name
for himself on this side of the Pacific.
Let's
Hope We've Seen the Last Of: Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic
He acquitted himself well in what he'd have us believe was the
final fight of his career. He took some of Roy Nelson's best
shots and even fired off a few of his own (though with that beard
he probably had to guess at the location of Nelson's chin). Even
if he didn't have enough to pull out the win, he still did better
than most of us expected and ended on a classy, dignified note
in his post-fight remarks. Unlike Penn, his retirement declaration
didn't seem driven by emotion. It was clearly something he'd
given a lot of thought to before the fight, and he did what he
said he'd do if he came up short. The question is, will he disappear
from the fight game entirely, or just the UFC? Cro Cop wouldn't
be the first man to have a hard time turning down an easy buck
from some small-time promoter looking to sell what's left of
his name. You couldn't exactly blame him if he gave in to a tempting
offer from M-1 Global or ProElite somewhere down the line, and
he clearly still has at least a little bit of gas left in the
tank. Still, no matter how many times you see that particular
drama playing out with an aging fighter, it never gets any easier
to watch. For the sake of his legacy and his health, let's hope
Cro Cop really does know when it's time.
Most
Disappointing: Cheick Kongo vs. Matt Mitrione
In retrospect, it seems silly. This was the co-main event? The
UFC seemed to be banking on some heavyweight fireworks to help
out a flagging fight card after the injury to GSP, but what it
got instead resembled a staring match more than a slugfest. If
you could knock a man out just with crazy eyes and feints, Mitrione
would be the heavyweight champ by now. But once Kongo finally
realized that the "Meathead" blitz wasn't coming, he
settled down and managed to wrestle his way to a decision win.
It was a fight both men might rather forget, albeit for different
reasons. Kongo looked tentative and overly defensive in his first
fight since the comeback win over Pat Barry. Mitrione never got
started at all, and showed his inexperience on the mat in the
final frame. In the end, it was a bummer of a fight that likely
reminded the UFC why these two aren't quite ready for the top
of a pay-per-view card just yet. Meanwhile, Donald Cerrone will
just be over here, kicking people in the head on Spike TV for
free.
Begging
for His Walking Papers: Tyson Griffin
He missed weight (by a lot), looked flat and uninspired from
the opening bell, and got himself knocked out in a little under
three minutes for his fourth loss in five fights. I know he said
he was under the weather coming into this fight, but I don't
see how Griffin doesn't get cut after this terrible weekend.
After he missed weight, he was on Twitter basically shrugging
his virtual shoulders and explaining that he had "no excuses."
Okay, so he's taking responsibility for his mistakes. That's
a good sign, right? Then he gets knocked out and he's back on
there telling his followers about his after-party at the Luxor.
I'm not saying he needs to post pictures of himself crying into
an appletini at Cathouse, but if he's not feeling a sense of
desperation about his career now, what's it going to take?
Best
Quick Change: Roy Nelson
He showed up to fight looking like a roadie for Foghat, then
showed up to the post-fight press conference looking like a henchman
from a James Bond movie. That's versatility, right there. Okay,
so maybe that, plus his current one-fight win streak, isn't enough
to get him that title shot he asked for, but at least it keeps
him in the conversation at heavyweight. The guy's a character,
and he can fight a little bit. Now his physique is even moving
in the right direction, though there's still work to be done
in that department before he appears in an Under Armour ad alongside
GSP.
Source:
MMA Fighting |
|
Details
of St-Pierre’s knee injury emerge from Trainer
Details
of St Pierres knee injury emerge from Trainer. The reigning UFC
welterweight champion, Georges St-Pierre suffered a big setback
in training Tuesday in his home of Montreal, Quebec as he sparred
in preparation for his title defense at UFC 137, Oct. 29. Head
training instructor, Firas Zahabi had this to say on the details
of the injury sustained.
“He
was sparring today and he hurt his knee,” Zahabi confirmed
to Sherdog. “I had a feeling it was bad, but then, once
he cooled down, he started limping. There’s no way he would
be able to fight.”
It
was during a shoot box training session, consisting of standup
sparring and takedown attempts. The exact sequenced exercise
that caused the injury was too complex to explain in words said
Zahabi, it would have to be shown in person.
“It
was a weird thing. I can’t really explain it. I’d have
to show you,” said Zahabi.
The
training was not for nothing said Zahabi as the skills gained
will be retained for the expected upcoming battle against Condit,
following the healing of the injury.
“Of
course, everybody is disappointed,” said Zahabi. “We
made a lot of sacrifices. We had a lot of people come in to help
us train. We put a lot of man hours into getting ready for this
fight. But it’s not going to waste, it’s just being
put on hold.”
Source:
Cage Fighter |
Cesar
Gracie comments on claims that GSP was ‘jumping’ and
‘running’ at UFC 137
Let
the Nick Diaz vs. Georges St-Pierre games begin.
Ten
days ago, St-Pierre pulled out of his main event fight against
Carlos Condit because of a knee injury suffered during training.
Camp Diaz and several others in attendance at UFC 137 say they
witness something odd during the event, a very spry GSP.
One
media member claimed he saw St-Pierre, who was cornering Francis
Carmont, jump off the cage during the event.
Diaz's
manager Cesar Gracie didn't like what he saw on fight night.
"He
ran past me earilier. He literally ran past me. I don't know
the guy personally. [...] I'm gonna tell you guys something right
now ... Nick Diaz missed a press conference and he's here and
fought. The guy that went to the press conference didn't fight.
That's all I got to say about it."
Gracie
went on to say more.
"I'm
not going to say (GSP wasn't injured). I have no idea, but Nick
is injured and he still fought. Nick hurt his hamstring. He's
got a knee injury. [...] Despite his injuries he was here for
the fans. One guy jumping off the cage, running around ... it's
disheartening."
Diaz
lost his shot at St-Pierre after he no-showed two UFC 137 prefight
press conferences in Toronto and Las Vegas. Dana White said Diaz
missed a total of six flights, including Monday.
Source: Yahoo Sports |
‘Cro
Cop’ bows out; Penn likely to follow
LAS
VEGAS – After a knee injury forced Georges St. Pierre off
the card, Saturday night’s UFC 137 looked to be just another
night in the almost weekly run of UFC bouts. But instead, it
was a night of historical significance as two all-time greats
announced their retirements.
The
retirement of Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, the Croatian
star was the most popular foreign fighter during the heyday of
Japan’s PRIDE Fighting Championships, was not a surprise.
After
Filipovic had lost to Brendan Schaub last year, UFC president
Dana White said it would be his last fight in the UFC. But as
has been the case in the past when White has asked legends to
step down, they invariably ask for one chance to leave with their
head held high. Unfortunately, it also almost never happens that
way, and Filipovic was stopped at 1:30 of the third round by
Roy Nelson, his sixth loss in 10 UFC bouts.
The
announced retirement of B.J. Penn, one of only two men in UFC
history to have held titles in two different weight classes (lightweight
and welterweight), came after he took one of the worst beatings
of his career against Nick Diaz. This one was largely unexpected.
While
most accept that Filipovic’ career really is over, Penn
could be the typical fighter who announces his retirement after
a disappointing encounter, only to reconsider later.
“Hats
off to Nick Diaz, he’s the man,” said Penn (16-8-2)
in the Octagon, moments after losing a 29-28, 29-27 and 29-28
decision to Diaz, a loss that would seem to put an end to Penn’s
quest for a third match with longtime rival St. Pierre. “It’s
probably the last time you’ll ever see me in here. I want
to perform at the top level. This is the end. You know what,
I’ve got another daughter on the way, I don’t want
to go home looking like this.”
Penn’s
face was busted up, particularly his left eye, and he had to
be hospitalized after the fight.
Penn,
32, has been considered right at the top of the list of the most
complete and most talented fighters in the sport since even before
his first fight in 2001. Some would say, judging by his record,
that he underachieved considering his insider rep from day one,
even with two world titles.
Saturday’s
fight was unfortunately typical of many of Penn’s fights.
Once called the best one-round fighter in the world, both meant
as a credit to his all-around skill and a knock on his conditioning,
Penn once again tired in the second round after a solid first
round and was taken apart.
But
if this really is his last fight, Penn went out in style. Exhausted,
fighting an opponent who was connecting with pinpoint accuracy,
he fought back and landed several hard shots in the third round,
but he simply couldn’t match the volume of his opponent
nor move fast enough to get out of the way of the blows. In the
end, while he clearly lost the fight, he also was half of one
of the year’s best bouts.
“In
the 10 years that we’ve all seen B.J. Penn perform, we’ve
never seen B.J. busted up like this,” White said after the
fight. “Even when he was getting smashed by Matt Hughes
and Georges St. Pierre, he doesn’t bleed and he doesn’t
get busted up. Nick Diaz is the real deal. But what a warrior
B.J. was to stand in front of him. I honestly didn’t think
B.J. was going to answer the bell for the third round as exhausted
as he was. And there were moments in the third round he was firing
back.”
Filipovic
(27-10-2, 1 no contest) looked like the “Cro Cop” of
old only twice before the nearly packed house of 10,313 fans,
who paid a gate of $3.9 million. The first was during his trademark
ring entrance, to the sounds of Duran Duran’s “Wild
Boys,” where at 235 pounds, he looked as strong as in his
PRIDE days. But once the fight started, it also was clear that
while he could carry the size of his youth, he was much slower
at 37.
The
other time was his highlight on the night, an early second-round
barrage of rapid punches. The sequence actually started after
Roy Nelson had landed a right that put the former member of the
Croatian parliament down. Filipovic got up and threw everything
he had at Nelson, and while many of the blows were blocked, the
ferocious assault likely would have finished most heavyweights.
Nelson covered up and was left with a bloody nose, but he regained
his bearings and nearly finished Filipovic at the end of the
round, when Nelson was punching Filipovic’s defenseless
head on the ground while holding him in a crucifix position.
“When
I hit Mirko [and knocked him down early in the second round],
I was thinking, ‘This is my time,’ said Nelson (17-6),
who after the win half-jokingly challenged the winner of the
Nov. 12 Cain Velasquez-Junior Dos Santos heavyweight title match.
“I was trying to capitalize on him in the second round and
I wanted to make him pay, and I walked into a left hand. It put
me on the defensive, and he kept on coming until I got my head
straight. Then I got the takedown and got the crucifix and whatnot.”
Nelson,
who looked less rotund than usual having dropped about 20 pounds,
knocked Filipovic down early in the third round and landed punch
after punch from behind him on the ground until the fight was
stopped.
“Cro
Cop has been a good guy since the day we signed him,” said
White. “The guy’s a guy a warrior, a legend, has done
tons of good things in the sport. I know he’s disappointed
with his run in the UFC. I’m 42; at 38 [actually 37] to
still be fighter, fighting younger, faster, more explosive guys
… He came out and said, ‘I’m going to give you
guys a fight; it won’t be a boring fight like with Frank
Mir.’ He said he wants to retire. We’ll see how that
plays out.”
Filipovic’s
two careers, the one hugely successful in Japan, and the disappointing
one in the U.S., epitomized two different eras and styles of
the sport. Like Hatsu Hioki (25-4-2), Japan’s top featherweight
found out when he struggled earlier in the show against mid-level
featherweight George Roop (12-9-1), winning a decision that easily
could have gone the other way, they are two different worlds.
It’s not only a matter of tougher competition but different
rules and mentalities, between sport and spectacle.
Filipovic
came to the UFC in 2007, after winning the PRIDE World Grand
Prix tournament in 2006 with four straight one-round finishes
from his arsenal of hard punches and kicks.
But
when he was signed to a lucrative contract to leave Japan, it
was after surgery on his left ankle, which he shattered delivering
a knockout kick to Wanderlei Silva. His left high kick was his
go-to blow, and he never was the same as a fighter without it.
As Filipovic aged, his ability to withstand hard punches from
the bigger heavyweights on the U.S. scene failed him.
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
Donald
‘Cowboy’ Cerrone vs. Nate Diaz Agreed for UFC 141
Following
Saturday’s UFC 137, it didn’t take long for Donald
“Cowboy” Cerrone to find another fight because he’s
already accepted a bout with Nate Diaz at UFC 141 in December.
Sources
close to the match-up confirmed to MMAWeekly.com that verbal
agreements are in place for the bout which is expected to take
a main card slot on the year end show. MMAJunkie.com first reported
the bout on Sunday.
Cerrone
made short work of top ten lightweight Dennis Siver on Saturday
night at UFC 137, first beating the German with strikes before
finishing him off with a rear naked choke. The win upped Cerrone’s
record to 4-0 in the UFC since moving over from the WEC earlier
this year.
Facing
Cerrone will be former “Ultimate Fighter” winner Nate
Diaz, who just returned to the lightweight division after a brief
stint at welterweight.
Diaz
faced former Pride champion Takanori Gomi in his most recent
bout and put away the Japanese legend with an armbar at UFC 135.
Cerrone
and Diaz meet in what should be a very interesting and exciting
match-up to close out the UFC year.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
UFC
141 Lesnar vs. Overeem
Date: December 30, 2011
Venue: MGM Grand Garden Arena
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
-Brock
Lesnar (5-2; #4 Heavyweight) vs. Alistair Overeem (35-11; #3
Heavyweight)
-Donald Cerrone (17-3) vs. Nate Diaz (14-7)
-Jon Fitch (23-3-1; #2 Welterweight) vs. Johny Hendricks (11-1)
-Alexander Gustafsson (12-1; #9 Light Heavyweight) vs. Vladimir
Matyushenko (26-5)
-Dong Hyun Kim (14-1-1) vs. Sean Pierson (11-5)
-TJ Grant (17-5) vs. Jacob Volkmann (13-2)
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Anderson
postpones retirement to 2018, says Sonnen doesn't deserve the
rematch
Anderson
Silva’s manager Ed Soares said many times that the UFC middleweight
champion would retire when his current contract expires, four
bouts from now. On an interview on a Brazilian TV show called
“De frente com Gabi”, on SBT, Spider denied his manager’
statement.
According
to the fighter, he still has a lot of work to do.
“I’ll
fight for another six or seven years and then I’ll stop.
I stopped to think about it and I’ll postpone my retirement
for a little longer. Then I’ll think about TV. I guess it’s
interesting”, said Anderson, who recently had a documentary
launched and stared on a soap opera.
On
the interview, Anderson also commented on a possibility of fighting
Chael Sonnen again.
“He
doesn’t deserve to fight me. The most important thing he
didn’t do: defeating me. He was caught on the drug test,
which was the worse,” Anderson said, making hard critics
towards the American.
“I
believe he shouldn’t be on the sport, because he has no
emotional control. While trying to provoke me, he makes the sport
looks bad. He made bad comments, offended me and my wife”,
he said.
Source: Tatame
|
Manager:
Carlos Condit Mad at Georges St-Pierre, Not UFC, for Losing Title
Fight
Malki Kawa had a bad feeling when he heard his phone ring and
looked at the caller ID. It was then that he realized UFC president
Dana White was on the other line. UFC 137 had just ended 30 minutes
earlier, and it was already after midnight on the east coast.
It was not a time for mindless chit-chat. It was a time for serious
business.
As
is his style, White cut to the chase. Georges St-Pierre no longer
wanted to fight Kawa's client Carlos Condit next. Instead, the
UFC welterweight champ wanted to fight Nick Diaz, the winner
of UFC 137's main event. We all now know the outcome. St-Pierre
got the fight he wanted, and he'll be fighting Diaz in early
February. Condit? He wasn't too happy, and he didn't exactly
"step aside" as White told the media at the post-fight
press conference.
"I
could understand them coming to us like that," Kawa said
on Monday's edition of The MMA Hour. "The issue with the
whole 'he decided to step aside,' obviously, that wasn't the
case. There was no just stepping aside. There was a little bit
more than that. It's going to take more than that. I think we're
way more upset with Georges and the way Georges handled it than
we are with the way Dana presented it or anything like that."
Everything
changed in the moments after UFC 137. Diaz got the ball rolling
by saying St-Pierre was scared and by questioning his injury
just after his main event win. According to White, St-Pierre
then "flipped out" and demanded that he bypass Condit
and face Diaz next.
But
as Kawa pointed out, Diaz had previously called out St-Pierre
after he was originally replaced with Condit, and St-Pierre never
responded. In addition to that, St-Pierre had gone on record
saying that believed Condit presented the tougher challenge.
"I
don't know if the emotions of the moment got to him, and he just
decided to do that," Kawa said. "It's kind of un-Georges-like."
Kawa
said that he and Condit didn't step aside as graciously as it
sounded, describing the ordeal as "gut-wrenching."
"[Carlos']
words were, 'My heart hurts,'" he said.
But
ultimately, Kawa said that they are "company men" who
made the move that the promotion wanted. He also suggested that
there was some financial reward for bowing out.
"Dana
always does the right thing and in this case, he'll do the right
thing again," he said.
Kawa
said he tried to keep things in perspective by noting that he
originally got Condit moved into the title slot with some hustle
of his own, and that sometimes, that sort of thing works against
you. He even candidly admitted that if he was Diaz's manager,
he would have lobbied for the fight, too.
"Are
we pissed off about it? Absolutely," he said. "But
it's not like I've never been on other end of stick where I put
one of my fighters ahead of someone else and another guy got
shafted or screwed over. It's just business, it's not personal.
It's nothing personal with Georges. Are we upset with him? Absolutely."
Meanwhile,
Condit has every intention of fighting again instead of waiting
to take on the St-Pierre vs. Diaz winner. Kawa said the UFC has
thrown out some possibilities, but that nothing has been decided
upon. The biggest factor is that it has to be someone that Condit
can gain something from in fighting, mentioning Josh Koscheck
and Jake Ellenberger as possibilities.
"It's
more about whoever brings the most to the table," he said.
"We want to make it a big-money fight. Whoever that is.
Make it a big-money fight. A No. 1 contender, possibly make it
a five-rounder if we could. And somebody who win, lose, or draw,
we can take something from it."
Source: MMA Fighting |
Hawaii
Toughman is Back!
Saturday, November
5, 2011
Hilo Civic Center
Doors open at 5:00 pm, Fights starts at 6:00 pm
For a video link of the upcoming event, click here!
|
ETERNAL
SUBMISSIONS
Brazilian Gi & NoGi Tournament
November 5th & 6th, 2011
Kauai Beach Resort, Kauai
www.eternalsubmissions.com
Weigh-ins
are Friday, Nov 4th from 5-9pm at the event ballroom in the Kauai
Beach Resort (all Kauai residdents MUST weigh in on friday- outer
island competitors can weigh in day of division)
Gi
Divisions on Saturday, Nov 5th and start by 10am with the kids,
adults to follow.
Womens
Superfight on Saturday around 12 noon between Tracey Goodell
and Kanani Ragasa
NoGi
Divisions on Sunday, starting at 9am with Kids, Adults to follow
Divisions:
Kids
Women
Adults
Masters
and Adult Absolute for Belt in gi & nogi
We
are working on NoGi superfights and a mens gi super fight
(our previous match of Mike Fowler and Luke Hacker rematch was
cancelled due to the stabbing.)
Special
rates at the resort for competitors for $109/nt by calling the
resort at (808) 245-1955 and using code EFC
We
will have food booths, sponsor booths, giveaways, drawing and
more.
THANKS
:)
Shauna
Low rate offered to competitors and spectators $114/nt at the
Kauai Beach
Resort
also
a special rate for tighter budgets
for Eternal Submissions guests
at the Aloha Beach Hotel
for $81/nt (about 2-3 miles away)
Friday,
Nov. 4th
weigh-ins from 5-9pm
(ONLY outer island competitors can weigh in day of)
Saturday,
Nov. 5th
ALL GI DIVISIONS
Starting at 9am with kids. Teens, women & men to follow
Sunday,
Nov. 6th
ALL NOGI DIVISIONS
Starting at 9am with kids. Teens, womens & mens to follow
PRE-REGISTRATION
due by Monday Oct. 24th for FREE competitor tshirt
Registrations will be accepted until Friday night weigh ins (Sat
or Sun
morning for off-island competitors ONLY), however will not receive
the FREE
shirt, you will be able to purchase the event shirt there, first
come first
serve, limited availability.
More
info www.eternalsubmissions.com
or call Shauna (808) 652-6849
Source: Event Promoter
|
Island
Heat 3: Tha Comeback
Waipahu Filcom,Waipahu, Hawaii
November 18, 2011
|
UFC
137 Fighter Salaries: Diaz, Penn & Kongo Top Payouts
The Nevada State Athletic Commission on Monday released the UFC
137 fighter salaries.
Former
Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz pummeled his way
to a unanimous decision victory over B.J. Penn in the main event.
UFC
137: Penn vs. Diaz took place Saturday, Oct. 29, at Mandalay
Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
Tyson
Griffin initially failed to make weight for a featherweight contest
with Bart Palaszewski, but the two agreed to an amended contract
to fight at a catchweight of 148 pounds with Griffin forking
over 25 percent of his salary to Palaszewski. The contractual
change is reflected in the UFC 137 fighter salary information
below. Because the contract was changed, Griffin was not fined,
according to athletic commission officials.
The
following figures are based on the fighter salary information
that promoters are required by law to submit to the state athletic
commissions, including the winners’ bonuses.
Although
mixed martial arts fighters do not have collective bargaining
or a union, the fighters’ salaries are still public record,
just as with every other major sport in the United States. Any
undisclosed bonuses that a promoter also pays its fighters, but
does not disclose to the athletic commissions (specifically,
pay-per-view bonuses, fight of the night bonuses, etc.), are
not included in the figures below.
UFC
137 MAIN CARD FIGHTER SALRIES
Nick
Diaz: $200,000 (no win bonus)
def. B.J. Penn: $150,000
Cheick
Kongo: $140,000 (includes $70,000 win bonus)
def. Matt Mitrione: $10,000
Roy
Nelson: $40,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus)
def. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic: $75,000
Scott
Jorgensen: $33,000 (includes $16,500 win bonus)
def. Jeff Curran: $8,000
Hatsu
Hioki: $30,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus)
def. George Roop: $8,000
UFC
137 PRELIMINARY CARD FIGHTER SALARIES
Donald
Cerrone: $54,000 (includes $27,000 win bonus)
def. Dennis Siver: $27,000
Bart
Palaszewski: $28,500 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
def. Tyson Griffin: $25,500
Brandon
Vera: $120,000 (includes $60,000 win bonus)
def. Eliot Marshall: $15,000
Ramsey
Nijem: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
def. Danny Downes: $4,000
Francis
Carmont: $12,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus)
def. Chris Camozzi: $8,000
Dustin
Jacoby: $12,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus)
def. Clifford Starks: $6,000
UFC
137 DISCLOSED FIGHTER PAYROLL: $1,026,000
Source: MMA Weekly
|
BJ
Penn Backs Off UFC 137 Retirement Talk
Less than 48 hours after proclaiming that he was about hang up
his gloves, BJ Penn has cracked the door to retirement open,
if only a sliver.
The
Hawaiian came out strong against Nick Diaz at UFC 137 on Saturday
night in Las Vegas, but faded fast in the second round and got
bloodied like never before in losing a unanimous decision to
the former Strikeforce champion.
“Hats
off to Nick Diaz, he’s the man,” a battered Penn said
after the fight, before proclaiming, “Joe (Rogan), this
is probably the last time you’re ever going to see me in
here. I want to perform at the top level. That’s it.
“I’ve
got a daughter, another daughter on the way, I don’t want
to go home looking like this. I’m done.”
Penn’s
retirement talk came out of left field, following up the more
expected retirement comments from Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic
after his loss to Roy Nelson earlier in the night.
Having
had some time to let the heat of the moment fade, Penn may have
reconsidered.
From
the day he set foot in the Octagon, Penn has always wanted to
compete at the highest levels of the sport. So when he doesn’t
win, as happened with Frankie Edgar at lightweight, and now Diaz
at welterweight, the weight of whether or not to continue on
in the sport weighs heavily on Penn’s shoulders.
Penn
on Monday seemed to have reconsidered his post-fight statements,
leaving his fans hope that, given time, he might set foot in
the Octagon once again.
“I
want to thank all the fans for their love and support,”
he wrote at BJPenn.com. “I have decided to take some time
off to enjoy life, train, and teach. I will keep you guys posted
with what’s next.”
While
he hasn’t made a definitive statement, Penn’s fans
have. In a UFC 137 post-fight poll on the MMAWeekly.com home
page, as of Monday afternoon, 62-percent of voters said they
felt that Penn shouldn’t retire.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Belfort
not aware of TUF coaching or fighting Anthony Johnson
The
news of a ‘TUF’ coaching “job”, opposite
to Anderson Silva, and a UFC Rio bout against Anthony Johnson
caught Vitor Belfort by surprise. At least it’s what the
‘Phenom’ claimed to TATAME.
The
possibility though, would be welcomed.
“You
know more than me (laughs). But I hope so. My name is one of
the possibilities (for TUF), but nobody confirmed me anything,”
Belfort told TATAME. “If they choose me, I’ll be more
than ready to help the young talents. I’m sure this country
has a lot of great talents to be found, some better than Vitor
Belfort. I’ll do my best to help this country”.
"My
focus is on Chael Sonnen. I'm not interested on fighting Anderson
Silva now", he added.
The
rumors of a possible contest against Anthony Johnson was not
confirmed by Belfort, again.
“Nobody
confirmed me anything, they just said I’ll fight in January.
I’m super excited to fight in this card (UFC Rio, on January
14). I’ll fight for my people,” Vitor said. “It’ll
be one of the biggest nights of my career. I’ll focus on
my training, no matter who I fight”.
Source: Tatame
|
Rematch
against Chael Sonnen “is up to” Anderson Silva, says
manager
The
return of Anderson Silva to UFC’s cage is still undefined.
President of the organization, Dana White said last week he hoped
to define it on the backstage of UFC 137, but it never happened.
“Anderson
is coming to the United States and we’ll talk with him when
he gets here”, reveals Jorge Guimaraes, Anderson Silva’s
manager, to TATAME.
The
middleweight champ’s flight to the United States is scheduled
for November 9th, to follow UFC on FOX, Cain Velasquez vs. Junior
dos Santos. And although all roads leads to a rematch with Sonnen,
the manager doesn’t confirm it yet.
“We
still haven’t talked about it (the fight). I guess Chael
Sonnen was out of line a little, right? But it’s up to Anderson.
We’ll sit down and figure it out,” Joinha said. “There’re
other options... Anderson has a full schedule, he’s doing
physiotherapy... It depends on him. Only and exclusively of him”.
On
a recent interview on “De frente com Gabi”, Anderson
made it clear his opinion towards Sonnen.
“He
doesn’t deserve to fight me. He didn’t do the most
important thing: defeating me. And he was caught by the doping
test, which is even worst”, stated. “He made bad comments,
offended me and my wife”.
Stay
tuned for more news on Anderson’s future.
Source: Tatame
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Find
out who’ll be at No-Gi Worlds 2011
Sign-ups
ended this past weekend, and No-Gi Worlds 2011, on the coming
5th, looks good to be one of the most technical of the season
(Haven’t seen it yet? Rush to the bookstore and get your
copy of GRACIEMAG).
On
the roster of the IBJJF event in California, big names like Pablo
Popovitch, Roberto Tussa, Lucas Lepri, Marcus Bochecha, Caio
Terra, Roberto Cyborg, Rafael Lovato, Gustavo Sirizinho, Carlos
Esquisito, Antonio Peinado, James Puopolo, Otavio Sousa, Clark
Gracie, Davi Ramos and Murilo Santana, among other aces.
The
master division too boasts some wicked submission wizards, like
teachers Jorge Britto, Rodrigo Teixeira, Marcello Salazar, Fabiano
“Pega Leve”, Renato Tavares, Léo Dalla, Mauricio
Zingano; then in the senior division there’s Egan Inoue,
a veteran of a number of World Championships.
The
standouts of the female division are Michelle Nicolini, Bia Mesquita,
Sophia McDermott, Ana Maria “India,” Katrina, Emilys
Kwok and Wetzel, Fernanda Mazzelli, Nyjah Easton, Carolyn Stephenson,
and purple belts Mackenzie Dern and Tracey Goodell.
Source: Gracie Magazine
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St.
Pierre, Diaz can’t wait for February
Two
months ago, a welterweight title match between Georges St. Pierre
and Nick Diaz would have been just another of the many big fights
that the UFC promotes each year.
But
after a dramatic and turbulent 60-day period, St. Pierre and
Diaz are set to meet on Feb. 4 in Las Vegas in what could become
the biggest fight in UFC history.
Diaz
has become the mixed martial arts version of Mike Tyson. He’s
a highly entertaining fighter and fierce warrior whose unpredictable
behavior and willingness to challenge the establishment has captivated
the UFC’s fan base.
Georges
St. Pierre (above) will face Nick Diaz in a blockbuster fight
during Super Bowl weekend.
(AP)
Moments
after Diaz battered B.J. Penn in the main event of Saturday’s
UFC 137 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Diaz
shouted at St. Pierre, the UFC welterweight champion, who was
seated ringside.
And
not long after that, St. Pierre marched over to UFC president
Dana White to demand he face Diaz next. White said Saturday that
St. Pierre “flipped out” and added that “I’ve
never seen him like he was tonight.”
St.
Pierre didn’t have the edge in his voice on Sunday after
a long day of flying that he did when he spoke to White late
Saturday, but he told Yahoo! Sports he is highly motivated to
fight after listening to Diaz and manager Cesar Gracie repeatedly
insult him.
[Related:
Nick Diaz awarded title shot after post-fight rant]
“You
know, I’m the champion and the way that works is, I don’t
pick my fights,” St. Pierre said. “They pick the opponents,
and it’s my job to be ready to face whoever it is. But this
guy, he said so many things, things that aren’t true. He
said these personal things and the way he acted, I don’t
like that. I don’t agree with that.
“I
wanted this fight. It is the best thing for me to fight Nick
Diaz. He wanted his opportunity, but you know, I wanted my opportunity
to fight him, too.”
Diaz
and St. Pierre were signed to be the main event at UFC 137 before
a bizarre sequence of events scuttled the fight. The UFC scheduled
promotional news conferences in Toronto on Sept. 6 and in Las
Vegas on Sept. 7.
Diaz
missed both news conferences. At the Las Vegas news conference,
White announced that Diaz was being pulled from the card and
being replaced by Carlos Condit, who had been slated to fight
Penn in the co-main event.
That
left Penn without an opponent. Late on Sept. 8, White decided
to put Diaz back on the card, against Penn, in the co-main event.
That bout then became the main event when St. Pierre injured
a knee and later aggravated a hamstring while training on Oct.
18.
Diaz
openly questioned whether St. Pierre was hurt. Gracie wouldn’t
go that far, but he noted the irony in the fact that Diaz skipped
the news conferences but made the fight, and that St. Pierre
made the news conferences but missed the fight.
“The
guy who went to the press conference didn’t fight,”
Gracie said. “That’s all I’ve got to say about
it. Nick, yeah, he got kicked out, ‘Oh, he’s the bad
guy.’ Look, he didn’t go to what Nick called the beauty
pageant, but come fight night, you guys saw what he’s made
of. He showed up. He did everything asked of him. And the guys
who made the press conference, they weren’t here tonight.”
St.
Pierre said he strained the medial collateral ligament in his
knee. He said he is feeling better and expects to be 100 percent
in two to three weeks. He said the fact that the injury came
so close to the fight is what prevented it from happening.
He
said he was impressed by Diaz on Saturday and said he always
has considered Diaz a formidable opponent.
Many thought Nick Diaz (right) looked great in defeating B.J.
Penn in Saturday's UFC 137.
(Getty Images)
“My
view hasn’t changed,” St. Pierre said. “He did
a great job, but I’m not surprised. I knew he was very good.
He did very well. He fought very well and did great. He proved
he’s on top of the game right now.”
Diaz
wasn’t happy with his performance, though, and said he can
be far better. He attributed his problems to a lack of quality
sparring, which led to a rant about compensation for his sparring
partners.
Most
observers thought he looked sensational against Penn, whom many
believed had the best boxing skills in the sport. Penn boxed
superbly in the first round, but Diaz picked up the pace in the
second and Penn couldn’t withstand Diaz’s withering
assault.
[Related:
Penn, ‘Cro Cop’ retire after UFC 137 losses]
But
Diaz didn’t think it was his performance that got him the
fight with St. Pierre. He said he had to play the role of villain
in order to get it, and that clearly displeased him.
“The
only reason I’m getting this fight is because people want
to see me take an ass-whipping,” he said. “So, all
right, great. I worked for it. I’ll take my ass-whipping,
I’ll take my money, and I’ll go home.”
St.
Pierre said he respects Diaz’s talent and won’t underestimate
him. White said at Saturday’s post-fight news conference
that St. Pierre told him Diaz “is the most disrespectful
human being I’ve ever met, and I’m going to put the
worst beating you’ve ever seen on him in the UFC.”
St.
Pierre wouldn’t go nearly so far while speaking to Yahoo!
Sports, but he sounded as if he were counting the days until
Feb. 4.
“This
is a fight I am looking forward to very much, and it’s a
fight that I wanted very badly,” he said. “This is
a very important fight to me personally. I am glad that the UFC
did it for us.”
Source: Yahoo Sports
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