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(All events on Oahu, unless noted)
2012
12/1/12
Maui Jiu-Jitsu Tournament
(BJJ)
(Lahaina Civic Center tentatively)
11/26/12?
Aloha
State BJJ Championship
(BJJ
& Sub Grappling)
(Kaiser H.S. Gym)
10/20-21/12
NAGA
Hawaii
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Radford H. S. Gym)
9/8/12
Destiny: Na Koa
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
9/1/12
Toughman Hawaii
(Boxing)
(Hilo Civic Ctr)
8/18/12
Warpath to Mayhem:
Rumble at the Resort
(MMA)
(Kauai Beach Resort, Lihue, Kauai)
August
King of the Mat
(Submission Grappling)
8/4/12
Maui Open
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Lahaina Civic Center, Lahaina)
7/21/12
Sera's Kajukenbo Martial Arts Tournament
(Continuous Sparring, MMA (Controlled), and Sub. Grappling)
(War Memorial Gym, Wailuku, Maui)
**CANCELLED**
7/14/12
King of the Cage
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
6/29/12
Vendetta 5
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
6/16-17/12
State
of Hawaii BJJ Championship
(BJJ
& Sub Grappling)
(Blaisdell Exhibition Hall)
6/16/12
Destiny
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Exhibition Hall)
6/15/12
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Blaisdell Exhibition Hall)
5/26/12
Toughman Hawaii Presents; King Of The Ring
(Boxing)
(Edith Kanakaole Tennis Stadium, Hilo)
5/19/12
Scrappler's Fest
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Island School, Lihue, Kauai)
The Quest For Champions
Martial Arts Tournament 2012
(Sport-Pankration, Submission Grappling, Continuous Sparring)
(St. Louis High School Gym)
5/18/12
Vendetta 4
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center)
5/4/12
King of the Ring
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom)
Just Scrap XVI
(MMA)
(Maui War Memorial Gym, Wailuku)
4/28/12
Destiny
(Kickboxing & MMA)
(The Waterfront, Aloha Tower)
4/21/12
Amateur Boxing Event
Smoker Fundraiser
(Boxing)
(Palolo District Park Gym)
4/14/12
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom, Waipahu)
Hawaiian
Open Championship of BJJ
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Kaiser H.S. Gym)
3/29/12 - 4/1/12
Pan
Jiu-Jitsu Championship
(BJJ)
(Irvine, CA)
3/3/12
Warpath to Mayhem:
Rumble at the Resort
(MMA)
(Kauai Beach Resort, Lihue, Kauai)
Vendetta 3
(Kickboxing, Triple Threat)
(Waipahu Filcom, Waipahu)
Toughman Hawaii: Challengers
(Kickboxing)
(Hilo Civic, Hilo)
2/11/12
Amateur Boxing Event
(Boxing)
(Palolo District Park Gym)
2/4/12
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center, Waipahu)
1/21/12
ProElite
MMA
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
1/15/12
Polynesia
International BJJ Tournament
(BJJ)
(King Intermediate, Kaneohe)
1/7/12
Toughman Hawaii
(Kickboxing)
(Hilo Civic Center, Hilo)
|
|
August
2012 News Part 3
|
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Kickboxing Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with PJ Dean &
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O2 Martial Arts features Relson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu taught by Relson
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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
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To top it off, Ian Beltran & Erwin Legaspi heads our Kali-Escrima
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Georges
St-Pierre Receives Medical Clearance and Green Light to Compete
at UFC 154
by Damon
Martin
The final hurdles have been cleared for Georges St-Pierre to
return to action later this year.
The UFC’s reigning welterweight champion says he has now
been medically cleared to compete and aims for his return at
UFC 154 in Montreal this November.
“Yesterday was the final chapter of my road to recovery,
I’m now medically cleared to compete in professional mixed
martial arts,” St-Pierre wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
St-Pierre has been rehabbing his surgically repaired knee for
the past several months after tearing his ACL (anterior cruciate
ligament) last year.
The UFC has held off officially announcing St-Pierre’s next
fight until he was medically cleared to return to action, but
it seems like any day now GSP’s return bout against UFC
interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit can be made official.
In closing, St-Pierre said, “Rendez-vous le 17 November,
UFC 154 Montreal,” which, when translated, means he has
an appointment on Nov. 17 at UFC 154.
St-Pierre has been out of action since April 2011 when he defeated
Jake Shields in the main event of UFC 129 in Toronto. He was
twice been scheduled for bouts after that date, but knee injuries
sidelined him both times.
Now with his ACL surgery behind him and receiving his medical
clearance, St-Pierre can return to try and cement his claim to
the welterweight title he’s held and defended for the past
four years.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Greg
Nelson: Staring Down Death
Stage
Four
By
Joseph Santoliquito
He
found out running up a hill in Thailand. That is where it started.
That is where Greg Nelson discovered he was not invincible, that
he was not Superman. The clue was not particularly noticeable.
Just a little shortness of breath, Nelson kept telling himself.
Back down and up again. He would run through it. However, what
was unfolding would eventually change his life forever, though
he did not know it then.
If
only he could catch his breath.
Nelson
was only 37 at the time. His mindset had only one directive when
dealing with pain and fatigue, and that was to push back, not
to question it. How could he know what was coursing through him?
How could he know one day he would tire by just chewing cereal?
Or struggle lifting a spoon to his mouth? Or need a year to relearn
how to walk again? Or be reminded to breathe? How could he fathom
those lonely nights when it was too painful to move a finger,
staring at white hospital walls wondering whether or not he would
live to see his children become adults?
Nelson
was once one of those subjects lying in a bed surrounded by white
coats and clipboards, scribbling notes and pondering why he was
still living after all he had endured. He defied something that
had its way with the human body, a rare form of nerve cancer
called neurolymphomatosis. He had also already beaten non-Hodgkin’s
lymphoma.
Today,
the world-class trainer of former UFC champions Brock Lesnar,
Dave Menne and Sean Sherk is a two-time cancer survivor celebrating
10 years of remission. Nelson, now 47, is actually a walking,
living, breathing miracle. His Academy in Brooklyn Center, Minn.,
once dwindled to about 80 students and around 3,000 square feet
when he was battling cancer. It has since grown to a robust 300
students and more than 10,000 square feet.
Nelson
is an inspiration to virtually everyone he meets and to those
with whom he speaks. He has moved forward in his life feeling
truly blessed, often falling asleep in hotel rooms on trips with
his fighters with an open Bible lying across his chest and certain
passages highlighted. Nelson comes armed with inspiration for
anyone willing to listen to his message: anything is possible.
He should know. He is living proof. No one thought he would survive
his first encounter with cancer, let alone defeat the second
-- and more treacherous -- neurolymphomatosis.
“It
is sobering to beat cancer twice,” Nelson said. “You
come back and you think that you’re not the guy who was
as tough as you thought you were before. In my respect, prior
to my cancer, coming from a really athletic mindset, you think
of yourself as this badass that can do anything. I definitely
did. Then this microscopic organism gets inside you and wipes
you out, rips away everything you have and takes everything from
you.
“It’s
why a lot of things don’t bother me. It’s not that
big of a deal,” he added. “Things that seemed traumatic
at one time are kind of trivial now. When you really think about
it, a lot of things in life ... unless it’s life-threatening,
it really isn’t that big of a deal. What happened to me
is a blessing, definitely. It strengthened my faith and my will
to endure things. It changed the way I teach and how I see life.
I look at it as showing people you can battle through anything.”
Nelson
fought the fight, starting with that trot up a hillside in Thailand
and a remarkable odyssey that perhaps only someone of his fortitude
was equipped to combat.
In
the fall of 2001, Nelson began to feel drained. He was not paying
too much attention. At his academy, then the Minnesota Martial
Arts Academy, Nelson demonstrated a move to his students before
being forced to sit because of exhaustion. As happens frequently
with fatigue and fighters, he thought he had a virus, something
treatable with over-the-counter medicine. He would soldier through
it. However, his energy level was so depleted that his assistants
were running classes.
“I
think I really found out something was wrong when I was running
on a hill in Thailand,” Nelson said. “I traveled to
Thailand to train, and I was suddenly struck with fatigue. I
started to get a little more tired doing things. I think that
was the first sign I began thinking something wasn’t right.”
Still,
he competed in Brazilian jiu-jitsu at the International Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu Federation Pan-American Championships in 2001. He was
checked by doctors, but he was never given specific answers.
It was a maddening process. Finally, Vee Nelson, his wife, a
5-foot-4 bulldog and champion throughout his ordeal, spoke up.
On May 25, 2001, the Friday before Memorial Day, Vee told doctors
that if Nelson did not undergo a CAT scan, she was afraid she
would find her husband dead by the end of the weekend.
“I
underwent the CAT scan at 5:30, and 15 minutes went by and then
another 15 minutes before they told us immediately to get to
the hospital,” Nelson recalled. “I remember walking
through the department and looking up and it said, ‘Oncology
Department’ -- that’s where we’re going. The doctors
told us they found out I had cancer, and how odd it may sound,
it was almost like a relief because they found out. All I wanted
was an answer. They told me about the tumors on my liver, and
I had tumors on my spleen. They told us I was in my fourth stage
of cancer. It was that fast.”
Vee
asked doctors if she could do anything to help him. They pulled
her aside and suggested she get their personal affairs in order.
However, neither of them was ready to let go. Nelson was to undergo
aggressive treatment. Knowing how much fight was in her husband,
Vee brought pictures to him from his competitive days.
“My
son, Gunnar, was 2 at the time, and my daughter, Nina, was 5;
they were two more special things to fight for,” Nelson
said. “I remember the first three months I felt pretty good.
I was still active with some things, and I began thinking I could
do this. This wasn’t that bad. Then I went through that
fourth chemotherapy, and that was like someone ripped the carpet
right out from under me.”
He
had trouble swallowing and began eating smoothies and ice chips
with orange concentrate. He lost his sense of taste. Water tasted
like metal. It zapped Nelson of everything, and that was just
the beginning.
Sherk
remembers how all of Nelson’s fighters congregated together
at the Academy one night when they were first informed. Nelson
was absent from his gym, and he rarely missed anything.
“To
this day, Greg has always been the first one there and last one
to leave the Academy, working, training 15 hours a day,”
Sherk said. “We heard Greg was at Stage 4 at the time, but
every time Greg was sick or hurt, he’d worked through it.
This was hard to hear.”
For
some, loyalty only ran so deep.
“I
was among the first fighters Greg had,” Sherk said. “I
was one of the only ones who stuck with him through the thick
and thin of his cancer. A lot of people left Greg. That bothered
me. I wouldn’t be where I am right now without Greg, but
all of us had to figure out what our next move was because he
went from a trainer and coach to being a father and husband first.
We wanted to be there and support him as much as we could. Greg’s
students had to start running the gym and teaching classes.
“I
was still fighting then,” he added. “Unfortunately,
people get selfish sometimes and they left. Some of Greg’s
top students thought the grass was greener on the other side.
They didn’t take into consideration what Greg was going
through. That hit us all. Some of these guys were friends of
mine we trained with. I think we were all a little bothered by
it.”
Nelson
had other concerns. He began making progress towards recovery,
but as one form of cancer was gradually diminishing, a new ominous
threat surfaced. Nelson seemed clear of the non-Hodgkin’s
lymphoma in November 2001. However, six months later, a new pain
surfaced in his sciatic nerve, a sort of soreness that comes
with riding a bicycle. It drifted down his left leg and then
began working down his right leg. His left foot started to droop
when he walked, forcing him at times to crawl around his home.
Doctors again had no answers.
Nelson
turned to the prestigious Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. He
felt like he was back where he was the previous year, “like
a car being passed from one mechanic to another trying to find
the problem.” Frustration returned.
“I
was at the Mayo Clinic, and they had no clue,” Nelson said.
“I admitted that the pain was so bad, and, sitting in this
room with doctors all around, they didn’t know what was
going on. Vee wasn’t sure what to do. I spent Christmas
of 2002 at the Mayo Clinic. Doctors used a high-powered MRI,
and it showed my left sciatic nerve was much larger than the
right. That told doctors the lymphoma had drifted down into my
nervous system. The cancer was staying alive by feeding off my
body.”
The
alien burrowing deeper into him was neurolymphomatosis, which
is an infiltration of the peripheral nervous system by lymphoma
and non-tumor lymphocytes. It affects cranial and peripheral
nerves and roots. There were 33 documented cases of neurolymphomatosis
around the world at the time, and 32 of them were post-mortem.
Then, a 33rd person died of the disease. Zero survivors. No hope.
That was the prognosis. Nelson was filled with drugs to make
him comfortable.
“They
wanted me to stay comfortable through all of the pain; I remember
seeing my wife on her tip-toes yelling at the doctors demanding
they go after this thing,” Nelson said with a laugh. “She’s
tough; they needed a kick in the butt. She provided it. We were
going to undergo a stem cell transplant, but it had gotten so
bad that I would stop breathing. The nurses used to nudge me
to remind me to breathe. The pain was so great they gave me Ketamine,
which, I think, is a horse tranquilizer.”
Nelson’s
body was bombarded with chemo every day. It was like emptying
a glass, pouring out every cancerous blood cell in his body and
replenishing them with clean cells. He had five million stem
cells transplanted. Then he was given Prednisone after the stem
cell transplant. Nevertheless, Nelson’s body was breaking
down. By December 2002 and into January 2003, Nelson was enervated,
down to about 130 pounds.
“It’s
like literally rebooting a computer, but the stem cell transplant
was the last draw and it worked,” Nelson said. “It
was literally within weeks I began feeling better. The whole
time I was in Mayo I lost control of my legs. I was a 100-percent
invalid. Everything had to be done for me, and I’m the kind
of guy who doesn’t like people doing things for [him]. I
remember I had them put a bar over my bed so I could get up.
I was like a baby lying there. I lost control of my bodily functions.”
He
grew tired chewing even the most basic things, like Cheerios.
He needed aids to walk, using a cane and a walker. By the spring
of 2003, he had lost total control of his legs. At the Mayo Clinic,
his children would sleep overnight with him. He remembers them
bouncing on the bed.
“I
had to kind of fake it,” Nelson recalled. “The kids
knew I was sick, but they didn’t know how sick I was. There
are pictures of them with me on the bed, and that lifted me more
than you can believe.”
One
could see Nelson’s bones through his skin. Any movement
was painful. Menne remembers visiting his trainer frequently.
Nelson was sedated at the time, and Menne helplessly watched
as his friend withered right before his eyes.
“Having
something you take for granted taken away -- like walking --
it’s pretty humbling. I learned so much from this.”
-- Greg Nelson, The Acade
“It’s horrible what people have to endure; I was scared
for him, and we all knew how grave this was, but I never had
any doubts Greg would pass,” Menne said. “For whatever
reason, I didn’t think it was imminent, even though the
doctors said it was. Maybe it was an aspect of knowing Greg as
a martial artist and a competitor that there was an underlying
feeling when I was there. Though it was horrible, it never sunk
in that it was the end for him. I always felt he would bounce
back. Greg’s spirit and willingness to fight gave me the
idea he would eventually beat it.”
Erik
Paulson, a rugged, square-jawed trainer, goes way back with Nelson.
The two act more like brothers than close friends. Paulson sensed
something was not right with his pal before the first cancer
was diagnosed. Paulson may have known before anyone, even Nelson
himself. One night in 2001, the two worked out together, and
Nelson was not feeling well. They retreated to Nelson’s
home, where Paulson gave him a massage and an adjustment. Later,
when Paulson drove home, tears flowed from his eyes.
“I
knew he had cancer,” he said. “I don’t know how
I knew. I just knew.”
During
Nelson’s battle against neurolymphomatosis, Paulson ran
numerous benefits to help offset the $250,000 in medical costs
he incurred. Like Menne, Paulson had no doubts Nelson would triumph.
“Guys
really stepped up in support of Greg,” said Paulson, who
offers international seminars through his Combat Submission Wrestling
camp. “I had no doubts about Greg. There was no fear that
he would get through this. Greg has too many wonderful things
going on in his life: his wife, his children and his faith. Greg
has tons of strength, and it’s his attrition I knew would
win out.
“In
the late 1980s, when Greg was divorced from his first wife, people
wondered where Greg was,” he added. “He was back in
the gym hitting the pads, working out and training. He had moved
on, whereas some people that go through what he did wouldn’t.
That’s Greg. He stayed strong to his faith and gave himself
to God. Miracles happen that way. He is a kind of walking miracle.”
Nelson’s
first steps looked like stumbles of a newborn dear. Two nurses
were needed to wrap a belt around him and pull him to his feet.
He would wobble and fall back onto the bed. So began yet another
lengthy, arduous process: learning how to walk again.
“I
remember my walker one morning was next to the hospital door
and I remember being so mad because it was five steps from the
bed,” Nelson said. “I remember taking those first steps
on my own to get to the walker. I was basically moving forward,
and I did not want to hit that nurse’s button for help.
I told everyone from then on to leave the walker by the door
before they left.
“It
was like a personal rehab,” he added. “There was this
Russian physical therapist. I called her a Russian torture specialist.
Instead of using my hands on the walking bar, she made me use
the tips of my fingers. She would yell at me in her Russian accent.
I loved her. She had no sympathy for me whatsoever, and, yeah,
I bonded with her. I told her not to let me get away with anything.
I didn’t want any breaks.”
It
took Nelson a year to walk again. Then, he had to relearn how
to kick, to teach his legs and feet all the nuances of the martial
arts he once mastered. Nelson was a natural athlete, a wrestling
champion in Minnesota. Everything once came easy to him.
“I
became the person I used to make fun of, and that changed the
way I teach. I became a far better teacher because I understood
other students; it also made me push my students even more,”
Nelson said. “Having something you take for granted taken
away -- like walking -- it’s pretty humbling. I learned
so much from this.”
His
mind sometimes wanders back to those nights alone in the hospital
when the doubts crept close. One night, the morphine drip ran
out, and Nelson said nothing. He did not tap the nurse’s
button; he sat up looking at the hands of the clock. One minute
to tolerate the pain and another and another.
Nelson
plans on writing a book about his experience. He has no problem
sharing his story, always forwarding his phone number to cancer
advocacy groups. Many do not know what to do or where to go when
the affliction strikes. Nelson receives calls from cancer patients
all over the country. His is a rare successful case study proving
it is possible to beat the deadly disease.
“When
I was going through it, I’d get the feelings of what if
I wasn’t able to see Gunnar and Nina grow up,” Nelson
said. “Then I would recollect positive acclimations, and
I memorized a ton of verses from the Bible to beat negative thoughts
down. I wasn’t supposed to live through this. My wife is
my hero, and I have many, many friends to thank who were by my
side, but I don’t think of myself as amazing. I’m just
another person who beat cancer.
“It’s
almost surreal now when I look back at it, because it’s
like it happened to another person,” he added. “You
once thought you were Superman, but you discover it will take
a lot to bring you down.”
Source:
Sherdog
|
Five
questions coming out of the cancellation of UFC 151
By Zach
Arnold
I’ll
throw out some questions here and I want to hear your responses
in return.
1.
How much of Dana White’s conference call talk was a real
reflection of UFC management disgust and how much of it was an
act to appease other angry business suitors?
I
don’t doubt that the anger was very real with UFC management
about what happened with the September 1st event in Las Vegas.
The problem is that UFC put themselves in a position where they
are running so many shows, the fight sheets are like a house
of cards ready to topple over when the main event collapses.
However,
I suspect that some of the outrage from Dana White towards Jon
Jones was more about trying to show angered business partners
of Zuffa that they care. Even if MMA attracts don’t attract
the kind of whales that boxing crowds do, I’m sure the casinos
are less than pleased with the way things have gone down. After
all, UFC lost Alistair Overeem for their May card in Vegas and
now they have to cancel a Vegas show. Given how the casinos scratch
each others backs, I can only imagine that Zuffa is feeling the
heat from many quarters.
Even
if you take in account the rumors that business for UFC 151 was
not great, it’s still a Las Vegas card and it’s supposed
to be the home turf for UFC. They’re drawing weaker and
weaker advances for most Vegas shows now but many people in the
state still rely on UFC events to bring the state cash. Is it
absurd that Dana White thinks a testosterone poster boy who lost
a 185 pound title fight should immediately get a Light Heavyweight
title shot? Yes. But it’s equally as absurd that Jon Jones
got into a Twitter battle with Chael Sonnen in the first place
knowing that he didn’t have interest in fighting the guy.
2.
How much longer are Dana White & Lorenzo Fertitta willing
to stick around as UFC owners?
You
remember an article we posted last October from an industry source
that said that they didn’t think Dana White would be the
right man to lead the UFC during their stint with Fox? It’s
been a pretty crazy start to the UFC/Fox relationship so far
and more chaos is coming.
From
the article:
Dana
White no longer understands the fan base he is supposed to be
catering to. This is a two part issue. The first is the number
of PPV’s being run by the UFC. The second is the promoting
of the smaller weight classes.
If
it wasn’t for UFC booking Jon Jones vs. Vitor Belfort as
the main event of the 9/22 Toronto event, you’re talking
about Joe Benavidez vs. Demetrious Johnson as your main event
for the new 125-pound Flyweight title. So far, the smaller weight
class fights (men) have not drawn well on PPV. You can continue
to say ‘exposure, more exposure’ as a mantra but at
some point you also have to come to the realization that fans
have a certain expectation of size and strength that they have
for fighters they see on television. It’s different with
boxing fans. With MMA fans, I do believe that for PPV fights
you are talking about Lightweights (155 pounds) as the smallest
weight class you can go in terms of convincing your casual fight
fan to take the competitors seriously. Sure, the Bantamweights
and Featherweights have a niche core amongst MMA fans (especially
on cable) but it’s not the size that I think a lot of industry
leaders thought it could be.
As
for how long Dana White sticks around, I could definitely see
him out of the sport in a couple of years if health problems
continue to mount. Burnout is real.
3.
Have we seen the maximum growth potential already for UFC under
current management?
Split
this into three parts – a) the TV sector, b) the PPV sector,
c) live houses. For a) I’ll say there’s plenty of room
to grow. For b) I’ll say that you’ll always have the
occasional fight that pops a big buyrate but that the floor number
for UFC PPV buys is decreasing significantly. As for c)…
it feels like eons ago that UFC drew the massive house at the
Sky Dome when it fact it wasn’t that long ago…
4.
Are fighters gaining political power because of increased exposure
or because of thinner cards?
I
can’t make an argument for increased exposure. If the sports
media took MMA seriously, they would be hyperventilating over
guys like Chael Sonnen, Dan Henderson, Forrest Griffin, and Frank
Mir using testosterone just like they are hyperventilating over
Melky Cabrera & Bartolo Colon getting caught for using the
magic T.
It’s
all about UFC sabotaging their own bottom line by running too
many shows that seem to blur together for the casual fan. But,
at some point, even rich people hate losing money and they return
a point of negative returns. How much further does UFC need to
go on the over-saturation route to reach their pain threshold?
5.
Will UFC cut back on the number of PPVs in future years? If so,
is it already too late to recover from the damage of watering
down their PPV brand?
They
would do themselves a world of good by going to 8 PPVs and 4
Fox network shows, mixed in with the occasional FX & Fuel
shows. But they won’t cut back on the number of shows. They
should, but they won’t.
Source:
Fight Opinion
|
World
Series of Fighting to Debut in November; Possible NBC Sports
Network Deal in Works
By Ariel
Helwani - Video Reporter and Writer
The World Series of Fighting is open for business in Nevada.
The
organization was recently granted a promoter's license by the
Nevada State Athletic Commission, paving the way for its first
event later this year. Nevada State Athletic Commission executive
director Keith Kizer confirmed the news with MMAFighting.com
on Tuesday. MMAWeekly.com first reported the news.
According
to Kizer, the promotion has requested to hold its first event
on Nov. 3 at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
Kizer forwarded the official request written by WSOF official
Keith Evans to MMAFighting.com and in it he states that the card
will air on NBC Sports Network, formerly known as Versus. MMAFighting.com
has confirmed with another WSOF official that the event will
air on NBC Sports Network, however, attempts to confirm the news
with the cable channel have thus far been unsuccessful.
No
fights have been officially announced for the debut card just
yet. According to the organization's Web site, familiar names
such as Roger Huerta, Rolles Gracie and Thales Leites are on
its roster.
K-1
and MMA fighter Ray Sefo, who also works as a coach at Xtreme
Couture in Las Vegas, will serve as the president of the organization.
Al Abdel-Aziz, the head of Dominance MMA Management, which represents
the likes of Frankie Edgar, Renzo Gracie, Keith Jardine and Chad
Griggs, will serve as the promotion's matchmaker.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Dan
Henderson Injured, Hopes to Return from UFC 151 Cancellation
by Year’s End
by Ken
Pishna
One of the more overlooked aspects of the UFC 151 cancellation
is the fact that Dan Henderson, the original opponent for UFC
light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, has been sidelined.
It was his injury, in fact, that eventually culminated in Jones
being offered Chael Sonnen as a replacement at UFC 151, turning
down the fight with Sonnen, and UFC president Dana White cancelling
the entire event.
Henderson’s injury isn’t severe, but it’s bad
enough that it hampered his ability to perform at a respectable
level, and enough to put him out of commission for the next couple
months.
“I had a slight tear in my MCL and it was real unstable.
No surgery is needed, luckily, but just got to immobilize it
and ice it a lot for the next three or four weeks and then rehab
it a little bit,” Henderson told AXS TV’s Inside MMA
on Monday night. “Hopefully, I’d be 100-percent they
said in three to four months.
“I’m just bummed out that it had to come to withdrawing
from the fight.”
Henderson tried to tough it out, training with the MCL tear for
a couple of weeks before coming to the realization that he wasn’t
going to improve enough to stay in the fight and perform at an
acceptable level.
What happens from here, Henderson doesn’t really know.
He’s hoping to stay at the top of the list for a shot at
the winner of the UFC 152 headliner between Jones and his new
opponent, Vitor Belfort, but hasn’t even broached the subject
with UFC officials yet.
“I don’t know (if I’ll still get the title shot).
I didn’t ask what was gonna happen if I didn’t take
the fight,” relayed Henderson. “It wasn’t going
to be a part of my decision making process. I wanted to make
sure I made the right decision for the right reasons. I still
don’t know what’s gonna happen. I can only hope that
I’m still in line for that title shot.”
Whether a title shot is in his immediate future or not upon returning
from the knee injury, Henderson thinks that he should be ready
to get back in the Octagon by year’s end.
“I’d like to shoot for that Dec. 29 show.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
In
Brazil, Jiu-Jitsu against bullying joins school curriculum
Marcelo
Dunlop
Ronaldo
Aoqui, a Jiu-Jitsu black belt who teaches at Gracie Humaitá
academy in the Northeastern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do
Norte, wrote in to GRACIEMAG.com to share the news from his neck
of the woods.
Good news, at that. Now, one of the most respected schools in
the state capital, Natal, is offering Jiu-Jitsu class to its
students. To start there will be two groups, one for the youngest
students and another for the elder kids. According to the teacher,
it’s a milestone for Jiu-Jitsu in the state and a “hurdle
leapt” for the sport in the rest of the country.
Aoqui explains in the following GRACIEMAG.com interview:
GRACIEMAG.com: What will Jiu-Jitsu class be like at Facex, the
school with which you have joined forces?
RONALDO AOQUI: Class will be held on the Facex-RN facilities.
It won’t be taught off in the corner of some classroom (laughs).
It will be a part of regular school activities, integrated into
the rest of the curriculum. It will be overseen exclusively by
Gracie Humaitá RN and will focus on our “Antibullying”
program. In class we’ll be dealing with bullying specifically.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of teaching to youths
studying at the same school, with similar backgrounds?
By teaching to students from the same school we get to be around
and close to everyone involved. Our aim is to make it so the
program becomes a real solution to bullying situations. Imagine
if we get to see the verbally or physically bullied kid and the
aggressor training together in the same group—it would be
fantastic. Through our program, with specific training for each
situation, they will become friends. This type of approach may
only be possible within a school.
What were the talks with the school board like?
They went great. Attending the meetings, besides the school board,
there were pedagogical coordinators, sports coordinators and
psychologists. All of them were impressed by Jiu-Jitsu, by the
quality of our program and how it can handle several of the situations
they’re constantly dealing with. We weren’t met with
any negativity whatsoever. They even said they’d received
other proposals to install Jiu-Jitsu classes there, but none
with the approach to teaching that we have. Other schools are
interested in implementing the class too. That makes us really
happy, since we managed to leap a major hurdle. I’ll take
this opportunity to thank the Facex-RN school board for their
sensational support and compliment them on the commitment and
affection they have shown for their students.
What do you recommend for Jiu-Jitsu professors who would like
to strike up a partnership with a school?
First off they have to put together an effective class program.
Then they’ll need to implement the program in their own
academy to make sure it works. Once they’ve come up with
results then they can present them to the school. They’ll
need to have arguments for everything, since they’re proposing
to teach children, and their parents will want to know the who,
why and how of what’s to be done. Take good care of the
kids and treat them as if they were your own; after all, they’re
our most precious asset. That’s the gist of what I recommend.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Arlovski:
‘I am ready to punish Tim Sylvia for three whole rounds’
By Guilherme
Cruz
Andrei
Arlovski won in February of 2005 the UFC title as submitted Tim
Sylvia. A year later, when facing the same opponent, had that
belt stolen on a first-round knockout. They met again three months
later and Andrei was defeated once again. This Friday he will
have the chance to revenge those losses.
Arlovski
and Sylvia fight on the main card of One FC, in the Philippines,
and TATAME talked exclusively with the heavy hands Byelorussian,
who did not dodge when asked about the game plan for the match.
“I
am in very good shape and I am ready to punish Tim Sylvia for
three whole rounds if I have to. If I can knock him out in round
one even better but most of all I want to hurt him”, the
veteran shoot right before the weight-in. “I am not looking
for a submission I want to knock him out”.
Check
below the interview with the heavyweight, who evaluated the rough
path he went through between 2009 and 2001, when suffered four
consecutive losses and yet is one of the top fighters in the
world.
How
was your preparation for this fight?
My
preparation has been very good because I have been training with
Greg Jackson in Albequeque and I have a great coach and great
sparring partners. In the past I have been partying too much
and not taking my training seriously but that has all changed,
I am in very good shape and I am ready to punish Tim Sylvia for
three whole rounds if I have to. If I can knock him out in round
one even better but most of all I want to hurt him.
You
fought Tim three times. What do you plan to do now to settle
the score?
Knock
his ass out! I am not looking for a submission I want to knock
him out.
What
went wrong on the fights he defeated you?
I
don't want to make excuses, he beat me two times and there is
nothing I can do to change that except knock him out on Friday.
When they told me I was fighting him it was one of the best days
of my life because I would beat Tim Sylvia up for fun but now
I am getting paid to do it.
If
you win now, it’ll be your third win in a row. What do you
want next?
For
now I am only thinking about this next fight, after that we will
see.
You’ve
been thru a complicated time between 2009 and early 2011. Which
lessons did you take from those losses?
That
I need to train properly and prepare right for fights, I completely
changed my life and my lifestyle and my attitude to training.
You do not see me in nightclubs two weeks before I am fighting
anymore.
Have
you ever thought about retirement?
No.
I am only 33 years old which is very young for a heavyweight
so why should I think about retirement? I feel good and I feel
fit and healthy and I will carry on fighting for maybe another
seven years.
Your
fight against Fedor was impressive, because you started so well
then made a mistake. Would you like to get another shot against
him? What would you do different now?
Yes
but I think he is retired now. I will fight anyone, it all depends
on the money, if someone wants me to fight Fedor again and they
are going to pay me right then we can do it.
Do you believe a win over Tim proves you still can be one of
the best?
I
don't think I need to beat Tim Sylvia to prove that but MMA is
about winning fights and I have won my last two by KO or TKO
and I plan to win my next fight by KO as well. It is not up to
me to decide if I am the best but I want to win three fights
in a row and then people can decide for themselves about that.
Source:
Tatame
|
Morning
Report: Alistair Overeem Won't Wait for Title Shot; Silva Wants
St-Pierre, Win or Lose
By Shaun
Al-Shatti - Staff Writer
Alistair Overeem has tried his best to stay relevant during his
nine-month exile from the UFC, and thus far, he's been relatively
successful.
Overeem made headlines in June when he proclaimed his intentions
to return before the end of 2012 and fight for the title. Since
then, the Dutchman has expertly slipped his way into Junior dos
Santos' sights, forging a rivalry with the Brazilian by goading
him at every opportunity.
But now, with dos Santos tentatively booked to defend his belt
against Cain Velasquez at the UFC's year-end show, Overeem is
starting to change his tune.
Speaking with MMA Weekly Radio, Overeem's manager Glenn Robinson
revealed that the fighter would still prefer to come back to
a title shot, but if that's not a feasible option, he'd be more
than willing to fight anyone the UFC slots against him, as soon
as possible. No training camp required.
"He would have loved to have had the opportunity to fight
for the title, but Alistair is a fighter, and as a fighter he
will fight whoever they put in front of him," explained
Robinson.
"He's going to be ready to fight the second that there's
a fight. He's not going to need a camp, because he's never left
camp. The day that he's allowed to be licensed, if they want
him to fight the next day, he'll be ready."
6 MUST-READ STORIES
Overeem won't wait for UFC title shot. Glenn Robinson, manager
of sidelined heavyweight Alistair Overeem, told MMA Weekly Radio
that his client would "love" to return to a title shot,
but would still be willing to fight whomever the UFC asked him
to, if need be.
St-Pierre medically cleared. The surgically repaired right knee
of UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre was cleared by
a physician, moving "GSP" one step closer to a UFC
154 clash against interim champ Carlos Condit in Montreal. St-Pierre
has been relegated to the sidelines since tearing his ACL and
meniscus last December.
The fight to save Jens Pulver. Burdened by struggles with depression
and anxiety, Jens Pulver no longer cares about championship belts.
He fights to learn about himself.
Silva wants St-Pierre, win or lose. In an interview with Brazil's
Sport TV, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva reiterated
that he wants his next fight to be against Georges St-Pierre,
regardless if St-Pierre wins or loses against Carlos Condit at
UFC 154.
Jackson: three days notice is unreasonable. Jon Jones' polarizing
trainer, Greg Jackson, defended his decision to advise Jones
to turn down a short-notice fight with Chael Sonnen, saying,
"Fighting somebody on three days' notice is not reasonable
to me."
The UG erupts after White asks for Fedor-Lesnar input. Popular
MMA forum The Underground exploded on Monday afternoon when UFC
President Dana White replied to a question about a Brock Lesnar
vs. Fedor Emelianenko superfight with, "Is this the fight
u guys want to see? Post a thread asking if people want to see
this fight." Whether or not White was joking, the thread
amassed over 250 replies in less than three hours.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Strikeforce
‘Melendez vs. Healy’ Gets Welterweight Scrap Between
Nah-Shon Burrell, Yuri Villefort
By Mike
Whitman
Welterweights
Nah-Shon Burrell and Yuri Villefort are the latest additions
to Strikeforce “Melendez vs. Healy”
Promotion
officials announced the pairing on Thursday, making nine fights
now official for the Sept. 29 event, which takes place at the
Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento, Calif. The evening’s
main draw airs on premium cable network Showtime and is headlined
by a titular lightweight title confrontation between Gilbert
Melendez and Pat Healy. The preliminary draw immediately precedes
the main card broadcast and airs on sister network Showtime Extreme.
Burrell,
22, recently saw a six-fight winning streak snapped when he suffered
a first-round technical knockout at the hands of lanky foe Chris
Spang. That May 19 setback served as Burrell’s first Strikeforce
defeat, as “The Rock-N-Rolla” previously earned victories
over Joe Ray, Lukasz Les and James Terry in his first three promotional
outings.
Like
his opponent, Villefort, 21, was also bested on May 19 in his
most recent in-cage appearance, dropping a split decision to
Quinn Mulhern at “Barnett vs. Cormier.” The bout was
the first in nearly two years for Villefort, who underwent knee
surgery last summer. Widely regarded as one of the welterweight
division’s top prospects, the Floridian earned five finishes
in his first six fights as a professional.
Source
Sherdog
|
Bellator
78 Lands in Dayton, Ohio Including Return of Zoila Gurgel
Bellator Fighting Championships is set to return to the Buckeye
state of Ohio on Oct 26 at the Nutter Center in Dayton.
According to Bellator officials, the newest card will serve as
Bellator 78 and will feature the semifinals of the latest welterweight
tournament.
The semifinal bouts will be determined on Sept 28 from Caesars
Atlantic City, and the four winners from that night will then
square off at Bellator 78 in Ohio.
In addition to the welterweight tournament, the card will also
feature the return of Bellator women’s champion Zoila Gurgel.
Gurgel has been sidelined for over a year after suffering a major
knee injury that required surgery that put her on the shelf for
an extended period of time. Gurgel is currently riding a six-fight
win streak including a victory over former top pound-for-pound
women’s fighter Megumi Fujii.
While no opponent has been finalized, one name that has been
tossed into the mix to face Gurgel has been Ohio born fighter
Jessica Eye, who has won her last five fights in a row. Eye most
recently competed at a NAAFS card where she defeated Angela Magana
by unanimous decision.
Also on the Ohio card will be Brian Rogers, who returns to fight
in his home state once again. Rogers is looking for a spot in
the next Bellator middleweight tournament, and hopes to secure
his place with a win in his home state.
Tickets for the event go on sale Wednesday, August 29.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
UFC
151 Cancelled: Fighters Speak Out on Twitter
by Jeff
Cain
When
the news broke on Thursday that UFC 151: Jones vs. Henderson
was cancelled, many of the fighters scheduled to compete on the
card reacted through social media, particularly the popular website
Twitter.
Most
of the fighters’ initial reactions – similar to UFC
president Dana White – took aim at UFC light heavyweight
titleholder Jon Jones for not accepting the fight with Chael
Sonnen, who offered to step in and replace the injured Dan Henderson.
UFC
veteran Dennis Hallman, who was scheduled to face Thiago Tavares
on the main card of UFC 151, took to Twitter to voice his disapproval
of Jones’ decision.
“Hey
@JonnyBones thanks for being so considerate to your fellow fighters,
what a model champion. I guess we can stop the Ali comparisons,”
tweeted Hallman to his 11,000-plus followers.
“I
must b delusional 2 think that a champ shouldn’t turn down
fights. His biz is now f-ing my biz, makes me cross,” Hallman
later added.
Not
every fighter drives a Bentley, or has a mansion, or lucrative
endorsement deals. Some fighters, most fighters, compete to make
ends meet. It’s what they do to provide food and shelter
for their families.
Jeff
Hougland was scheduled to take on Takeya Mizugaki on the UFC
151 prelims that were supposed to air on FX. UFC 151 would have
been his third fight in the organization.
“@jonnybones
Can I at least get one of your new Nike T-shirts? I’ll give
it to my kid since I won’t have any money for her school
clothes,” tweeted Hougland.
Charlie
Brenneman was scheduled to face Kyle Noke on the UFC 151 preliminary
card. He voiced concerned about the financial loss of fighters
who were expecting to be receiving a paycheck next weekend, and
he also took aim at Jones for the UFC 151 cancellation.
“@jonnybones
u can send my check to PO box 198. EH NJ. Rent is due the first,
so preferably by then. Thanks,” tweeted Brenneman. He later
tweeted, “Me n @rick_story took a fight on 24 hrs notice!!
Champ what?!?!”
Danny
Castillo was scheduled to take on Michael Johnson on the UFC
151 prelims on FX. He too voiced financial concerns with the
event cancellation.
“Who
got $50 I can borrow till my next fight?” Castillo continued
via Twitter, “Sallie mae just called, she said she don’t
give a (expletive) #UFC151 or not my payment better not be late!”
Daron
Cruickshank, who was scheduled to face Henry Martinez took a
more lighthearted approach at expressing his disappointment at
the UFC 151 cancellation.
“Sorry
kitty only food that’s on sale for you now. That’s
ok you needed a diet anyway. RIP ufc151,” tweeted Cruickshank.
Kyle
Noke expressed his sympathy for the fans who planned to attend
the UFC 151 event next weekend in Las Vegas that are now out
money.
“I’m
no longer fighting. the whole @ufc 151 card is cancelled. Sorry
to all fans who bought flight, hotel, and fight tickets. #heartbroken,”
tweeted Noke
As
Thursday came to a close, maybe no other fighter scheduled to
fight on the UFC 151 card summed up the day better than Eddie
Yagin. He was expecting to face Dennis Siver on the main card.
“Sucks
for everyone else scheduled to fight,” tweeted Yagin. “Damn
damn damn…”
As
bad as it seemed as the sun set on Thursday, by daylight Friday
many scheduled UFC 151 fighters had new dates in hand.
UFC
152 picked up Jon Jones vs. Vitor Belfort as the headliner, as
well as the cancelled UFC 151 match-up between Charlie Brenneman
and Kyle Noke.
Four
of the UFC 151 scheduled match-ups were moved to UFC on FX 5.
Jake Ellenberger vs. Jay Heiron, Michael Johnson vs. Danny Castillo,
Shane Roller vs. Jacob Volkmann and Dennis Hallman vs. Thiago
Tavares have been moved to the Oct. 5 event in Minneapolis.
UFC
on Fuel TV 6 picked up the UFC 151 canceled match-up between
Takeya Mizugaki and Jeff Hougland.
Several
other fighters, such as former UFC champion Frankie Edgar and
current Strikeforce champion Ronda Rousey commented on the UFC
151 cancellation in various interviews.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
UFC
Vet Jacoby Wins MW Title, 135 Champ Sterling Remains Unbeaten
at CFFC 16
By Lutfi
Sariahmed
The
16th edition of Cage Fury Fighting Championships at the Borgata
in Atlantic City, N.J., was highlighted by not one but four title
defenses. Of the eight fighters involved, Team Bombsquad was
represented by two of them -- highlighted by the CFFC bantamweight
champion “The Funk Master” Aljamain Sterling.
Taking
on Sidemar Honorio, Sterling was more reluctant to engage in
the opening moments than in previous bouts. By avoiding the big
firefight, Sterling also dropped the opening round on Sherdog.com’s
scorecard.
“I
know he throws a lot of haymakers,” Sterling told Sherdog.com.
“I watched a couple of his videos, and he definitely goes
for the kill, so I wanted to be smart about entering in. I wanted
to make sure I picked my shots the right way, and I wanted to
make sure I gauged his speed to see how I could attack him.”
Attack
he did in the second round after a takedown attempt from Honorio.
Sterling countered the attempt by turning the corner and taking
Honorio’s back. With a triangle latched onto the body, Sterling
secured the rear-naked choke, earning the submission at 4:05
of the second round.
“That’s
my style man. Funk Master. That’s what I do,” Sterling
said. “Watch all my wrestling highlights in college and
if anyone shoots on me -- high crotch, single leg -- I sprawl
and take that corner and take people’s backs all the time.
I guess I have B.J. Penn legs, kind of like Renan Barao did against
Brad Pickett.”
Since
moving down to flyweight “Shorty Rock” Sean Santella
has won three straight bouts. His latest win came with another
title defense over Team Bombsquad’s Evan Velez. It was far
from easy though, as Santella walked away with a split decision
(48-47, 49-46, 47-48).
“I
know that I finish strong,” Santella told Sherdog.com in
the locker room following the bout. “I was trying to push
the pace. I had his back. I definitely left a good impression.
I know it was a tough fight. Some of the rounds were close. But
I landed more shots. He did land some power shots but a lot of
it was the crowd going, ‘Ohh.’ I controlled the position
and pushed the pace. I feel like I was trying to finish the fight.”
After
an injury forced David Branch out of his middleweight title bout
against champion Tim Williams, Dustin Jacoby stepped in on short
notice. In front of a hostile crowd, Jacoby took advantage of
the opportunity against “The South Jersey Strangler.”
After stacking Williams up against the cage early in the first
frame, Jacoby came down with a vicious left elbow from the top,
opening up a cut. The cut was right above the eye of Williams,
forcing the ringside physician to stop the bout. It gave Jacoby
the win at 4:04 in the first, making him the new CFFC middleweight
champion.
“No
disrespect to Tim Williams,” Jacoby said. “I know that
would suck to lose that way and for that to happen. At the same
time I caused that cut. I did what I had to do to win and I got
out of there.”
Originally
set to face Frank Lester, CFFC welterweight champion George Sullivan
had prepared for a UFC veteran who stands less than 6 feet tall.
After an injury forced Lester off the card, Sullivan was matched
with the 6-foot-4 Tenyeh Dixon. It turned the bout into a scrap
that Sullivan pulled out via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47,
49-46) to retain his title. After the fight he wasn’t that
happy about it.
“Fighting
Tenyeh at the last minute, how do you go from a 5-9 guy to a
6-4 guy?” Sullivan asked. “It f----d all my training
camp up, all my ranges and everything. I think that had a lot
to do with why I couldn’t find my range today. Hitting a
guy that’s that long just kind of threw me off. I just couldn’t
find it within my body to do what I wanted it to do.”
With
Kasheem Peterson forced off the card for undisclosed reasons,
Brandon Becker took on late replacement Dave Spadell Jr. Becker
made short work of his new opponent, running him over in a catch-weight
bout that ended at 4:17 of the opening round via TKO.
After
scoring an impressive submission victory in his debut back in
April, Jonavin Webb was back in the CFFC cage taking on Jason
Lee. Thanks in large part to his jiu-jitsu game, Webb outworked
and overwhelmed Lee over three rounds to earn the unanimous decision
(30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
A
stalwart on the local MMA scene, Chris Liguori garnered some
of the loudest cheers of the night as he took on Gert Kocani.
Liguori was never threatened over the course of three rounds,
earning a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
Following
a tough loss to “Chocolate Thunder” Shedrick Goodridge,
Michael Wilcox returned to the cage to take on Zed Mitchell.
Wilcox took Mitchell down immediately and parlayed his positioning
into a quick TKO victory at 1:48 of the opening round.
In
flyweight action, Travis Wynn overwhelmed Dwayne Holman Jr. to
earn a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
Bryan
Lashomb rebounded nicely following his first professional loss
to the CFFC flyweight champ Sean Santella. Lashomb exploited
his significant striking advantage against Evan Chmielski, eventually
forcing a doctor stoppage at 1:51 in the third round.
In
the first women’s bout in CFFC history, Andria Caplan and
Gabrielle Holloway also provided one of the more entertaining
bouts on the card. A back-and-forth bout through three rounds
saw Holloway get the better of Caplan with her striking. An inadvertent
eye poke in the third by Holloway forced the doctor to call an
early end to the bout, which Holloway won via technical decision
(30-27, 30-27, 30-27].
Heavyweight
prospect Chris Birchler took a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27,
29-28) over local vet J.A. Dudley, while Team Bombsquad’s
Desmond Green earned the split nod over Ryan Peterson (29-28,
27-30, 30-27) at lightweight. Jonathan Helwig started off the
night with a triangle-choke submission victory over Jeremy Shifflett
in the second round.
Source:
Sherdog
|
Joe
Rogan: BJ Penn has 10 more years of fighting experience than
Rory MacDonald, OK?
By Zach
Arnold
I
guess this counts for insight now?
It’s
basically a three minute video of Joe Rogan trying to sell the
argument that having more experience is better than being younger
& less injured… except he does a 180 half way through
the video to make the other case.
Consider
this an attempt to try to push to the fans that Dan Henderson
has better than a 15% chance of winning the September 1st fight
against Jon Jones… or the fact that Rory MacDonald shouldn’t
be a 3-to-1 favorite over BJ Penn for their December 8th Seattle
fight on Fox broadcast TV.
Speaking
of curious, Jon Jones has been squawking about how he doesn’t
want to fight Lyoto Machida because there’s not enough financial
upside for him to do so. This statement comes from a man who
just signed a sponsorship deal with Nike. Jon does seem to have
a little bit of LeBron James-style PR cluelessness in him when
it comes to the things that come out of his mouth…
On
the bright side, at least he hasn’t been getting sued at
the rate that Mark Burnett has been lately in regards to money
issues. That’s a quick way to go broke.
It
is kind of sad to see Jones & UFC embrace the concept of
building a fight with Chael Sonnen right after Anderson Silva
took care of business in Las Vegas a couple of months ago. Jones
is ripping into Dan Henderson’s testosterone usage and he
would also rip into Sonnen’s use of the magical T.
What
a great image for Mixed Martial Arts in 2012 to be dealing with
a bunch of big name fighters who use testosterone and to have
such usage be used to market fights. Wonderful.
Source:
Fight Opinion
|
Bellator's
Season 7 Lightweight Tournament Kicks Off on Oct. 19
By Mike Chiappetta - Senior Writer
The
countdown to Spike TV is on for Bellator, which has recently
moved its offices to Los Angeles and been aggressive in pursuing
free agents in anticipation of the shift. But between now and
then, the promotion still has its seventh season and new title
challengers to produce.
The
lightweights will begin their pursuit of the belt on Oct. 19,
when the tournament begins at the Sovereign Center in Reading,
Pa. The eight-man field's best-known name is UFC veteran Rich
Clementi, while its most intriguing talent might be unbeaten,
20-0 Alexander Sarnavskiy.
Sarnavskiy
has compiled the impressive record despite being just 23 years
old. To date, he's competed almost exclusively in Russia, with
only two of his fights taking place in the U.S. His most notable
win came against former UFC fighter Doug Evans. Sarnavskiy won
by triangle choke in just 2:40. He also defeated former TUF welterweight
Les Bentley by first-round chokeout.
Overall,
Sarnavskiy has 17 of his 20 wins by finish.
The
35-year-old Clementi holds a career record of 44-21-1 and comes
into the tournament having won three of his last four matches.
He had a 2 1/2-year run in the UFC in the mid-to-late 2000s,
going 5-4 in nine fights. In his most notable wins, he defeated
Anthony Johnson and Melvin Guillard, both by submissions.
Bellator's
other first-round lightweight tourney matchups include former
WEC fighter Dave Jansen (17-2) vs. Magomed Saadulaev (14-1),
Marcin Held (13-2) vs. Murad Machaev (9-0) and Ricardo Tirloni
(14-2) vs. Rene Nazare (10-2).
Michael
Chandler currently holds Bellator's lightweight championship,
but he'll have to face season 6 tourney winner Rick Hawn before
the season 7 victor can cash in his chance to fight for the belt.
Bellator's
season 7 begins on Sept. 28 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
Alan
Belcher Wants a Fight with Chris Weidman When He Returns Later
This Year
by Damon
Martin
When
the UFC came calling to ask Vitor Belfort to step in and face
Jon Jones in the main event of UFC 152, it actually ended as
a blessing in disguise for his original opponent Alan Belcher.
Belcher
and Belfort were set to square off in Brazil as part of the UFC
153 show, but an injury had slowed down the Mississippi native’s
training recently.
“About
3 or 4 weeks back I had a real bad back problem. I went to the
doctor, found out that I had a spinal fracture, and that put
me out for like three weeks,” Belfort said in a video blog
posted on Sunday.
Belcher
was ready to push forward and continue on with the fight against
Belfort, bad back or not, but when his opponent was yanked to
compete at UFC 152, he knew that he had to take some time off
to recover.
The
delay forces Belcher off the UFC 153 card in Brazil, but he says
he hopes to return as early as November and he has his sights
set on a No. 1 contender’s match with the other top 185lb
fighter without an opponent currently.
“Chris
Weidman, I think that fight makes sense,” Belcher stated.
“Do I think that he’s the No. 1 contender? I don’t
know about that, but I think that he’s definitely up there.”
Belcher
understands that right now UFC middleweight champion Anderson
Silva is looking for the biggest fights possible and those names
include fighters like UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre,
so he’s not the business of calling out the champ.
What
he does want is a top fight to push forward with later this year,
and he believes that person is Chris Weidman.
Whether
the bout actually happens or not remains to be seen, but Belcher
is confident that his back will be healed up shortly and he can
field calls from UFC matchmaker Joe Silva to help facilitate
his return to action.
“I
just need a couple extra weeks and I’ll be back in action,”
said Belcher.
Now
it’s just the matter of finding the opponent and the date
for his return.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Invicta
Announces Sarah Kaufman vs. Kaitlin Young for Oct. 6th Event
By Luke
Thomas - Senior Editor
Sarah
Kaufman is getting right back on the horse after her loss this
month to Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey.
Invicta announced Monday Kaufman will face Kaitlin Young in a
bantamweight bout at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas on
Saturday, Oct. 6. Strikeforce allows for select female fighters
on their roster to compete for Invicta when scheduling permits.
The
event, formally called Invicta FC 3, is headlined by an atomweight
(105 pounds) bout between Jessica Penne (9-1) and Naho Sugiyama.
Kaufman,
26, holds a professional MMA record of 15-2. She most recently
fought Rousey at Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman on August 18th
where she lost to Rousey by first-round armbar. She is also the
former Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion, a title she
held in 2010. Her impending bout with Young marks her promotional
debut for Invicta.
Young,
26, is 7-6-1 in MMA and has competed on both of Invicta's previous
shows. She fought to a draw at Invicta FC 1 with Leslie Smith,
earning Fight of the Night honors. She most recently lost to
Liz Carmouche by second-round rearn naked choke at Invicta FC
2 in July of this past year.
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
Court
McGee Puts Controversial UFC 149 Loss to Nick Ring in Rearview
Mirror
By Brian
Knapp
Court
McGee has no time to wallow in self-pity, even though he feels
he won his UFC 149 bout with fellow “The Ultimate Fighter”
Season 11 alum Nick Ring. The judges saw it differently, awarding
Ring a unanimous decision and handing McGee his second consecutive
defeat.
The
loss still stings for the 27-year-old father of two.
“I
felt I won the fight,” McGee told Sherdog.com. “I felt
like I had cage control, was more aggressive, out-struck him
and attempted a submission in the third round. I should not have
left it in the hands of the judges and finished the fight.”
McGee
admits he learned a valuable lesson or two.
“Do
not let outside issues influence the fight,” he said, “and
it’s imperative that I stay focused on improving no matter
what.”
McGee
rose to prominence in 2010 when he won Season 11 of “The
Ultimate Fighter” reality series. He won his first three
fights inside the Octagon, submitting Kris McCray and Ryan Jensen
before outpointing South Korean import Dongi Yang. Back-to-back
losses to Constantinos Philippou and Ring have followed, leaving
McGee in a somewhat precarious position in the 185-pound division.
“There’s
always pressure to win,” he said. “Nobody competes
in this sport to lose. Yes, there’s added pressure [now
that I have lost my last two fights], but extreme pressure can
turn coal into a diamond.”
As
an “Ultimate Fighter” winner, McGee finds himself under
heightened scrutiny.
“The
spotlight is definitely on you, but it’s the UFC,”
he said. “There’s pressure whether you come from the
show or just sign a deal from elsewhere.”
A
recovering drug addict who was once pronounced clinically dead
following an overdose, McGee was profiled on a recent edition
of ESPN’s “Outside the Lines.” Despite recent
setbacks in the cage, McGee plans to move forward under the direction
of longtime Chuck Liddell mentor John Hackleman and Brazilian
jiu-jitsu black belt Jason Mertlich.
“I’m
improving,” McGee said. “I’ve had the opportunity
to be trained by some of the best coaches in the world and train
with some of the best training partners in the world. My motto
is progress, not perfection.”
Source
Sherdog
|
Bellator
Champ Eduardo Dantas Knocked Out in Brazil by Tyson Nam at Shooto
33
There’s
always been an inherent danger any time a fighter signed to a
major MMA organization takes a fight in a regional promotion
when opportunities present themselves.
Strikeforce
middleweight Derek Brunson found that out earlier this summer
when he stepped in with an undefeated record literally on just
a few days notice and suffered a decision loss to former Ultimate
Fighter winner Kendall Grove.
Now
the misfortune of a similar situation has fallen directly on
the head of Bellator bantamweight champion Eduardo Dantas, who
took a fight in his native Brazil over the weekend and suffered
a knockout loss to Oregon based fighter Tyson Nam.
Stepping
into the fight, Dantas had won seven fights in a row including
his dominant submission victory over former Bellator champ Zach
Makovsky in April to secure the belt.
During
his down time, awaiting his next fight scheduling from Bellator,
Dantas was allowed to go fight in his native Brazil at Shooto
33 in Rio de Janeiro.
Both
fighters looked for a stand-up battle when the fight began, but
Dantas believed he found an opening because he rushed forward
at just over a minute into the first round. Dantas unloaded a
big combination and flying knee as he looked to trap Nam in the
corner.
Unfortunately
for him, Nam defended the strikes well and fired back with a
lone counter strike that absolutely blasted Dantas and laid him
out on the ground.
The
referee swooped in for the save as Nam knocked out Dantas early
in the first round to win his fourth fight in a row.
Dantas
will look to get back in the win column when he next defends
his Bellator bantamweight title against new challenger Marcos
Galvao, who earned a shot at the belt with his tournament win
just last Friday.
Also
on the card, former UFC lightweight Ronys Torres also got back
in action and picked up a decision win over Alejandro Solano
Rodriguez.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
What’s
missing on the job application for Executive Officer slot at
CSAC
By Zach
Arnold
This
was posted online yesterday and the Department of Consumer Affairs
is using a 10-day application process time frame.
At
the end of the application notice, I’ll note something of
importance.
CALIFORNIA
STATE ATHLETIC COMMISSION (CSAC) INVITES APPLICATIONS FOR THE
POSITION OF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
617-100-8875-002
$6,922-$7,485 (per month)
The
Executive Officer is hired by the Board and serves at its pleasure.
The Executive Officer is responsible for carrying out the policies
of the 7-member CSAC and for planning, organization and directing
the activities of the CSAC in the areas of Administration, Examinations,
enforcement, and Education. The Executive Officer maintains and
enforces the overall policies established by the CSAC relating
to CSAC programs, under the authority of Business and Professions
Code Sections 18600-18618. The position is exempt from civil
service and is located in Sacramento, California.
All
applicants should possess the following desirable qualifications:
Administrative
experience; e.g., ability to prepare, understand and work with
a government budget, development of regulations, policy development
and implementation, etc.
Demonstrated supervisory experience, including the ability to
organize and control the flow of work and manage professional
and clerical staff within an office.
Regulatory and/or enforcement experience such as processing complaints,
monitoring investigations, keeping abreast of hearings on disciplinary
matters, etc.
Legislative or lobbying experience/coordination, including appearing
before legislative committees.
Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing.
Knowledge of current issues facing the CSAC.
Knowledge of current consumer issues in the licensed profession.
Working knowledge of athletic events regulated by the CSAC.
Experience working with and/or in taking direction from a board
or committee.
A baccalaureate degree from a WASC comparable accredited school
and preferably an advanced or professional degree.
Interested persons should submit a resume/CV by 5 PM, August
24, 2012 to:
Department
of Consumer Affairs
Office of Human Resources
1625 North Market Street, Suite N-321
Sacramento, CA 95834
Attn: Sheila Braverman
Or via email: sbraverman@dca.ca.gov
All
applications will be screened and only the most qualified candidates
will be scheduled for a preliminary interview. It is anticipated
that interviews will be held during September and October, 2012.
Travel expenses for these interviews are the responsibility of
each candidate. For further information, please contact Jeffrey
Sears, DCA Personnel Officer, at (916) 574-8300.
The
Department of Consumer Affairs provides equal employment opportunities
to all regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, ancestry,
sex, marital status, disability, religious or political affiliation,
age or sexual orientation.
A
couple of points that should be focused on regarding this application:
DCA
claims that the Executive Officer is ‘hired by the Board
and serves at its pleasure.’ And, yet, what they don’t
say in the application is that when the CSAC board does pick
a candidate, there’s recent history indicating that DCA
officials will come in and either tell the Board to accept or
reject a candidate. See: E.O. candidate Pat Russell, who then-DCA
boss Brian Stiger told the CSAC Board was not an acceptable candidate
for the job.
DCA wants an E.O. with a degree from a WASC comparable accredited
school and an advanced or professional degree. Really? That didn’t
stop them from promoting Che Guevara to the slot of Chief Athletic
Inspector, which is the top job for CSAC in terms of duties out
in the field running regulation for events.
DCA claims that they will screen the applicants and that ‘only
the most qualified candidates will be scheduled for a preliminary
interview.’ Does that sound like the CSAC Board is able
to pick who they want to be a finalist or does that sound like
the Department of Consumer Affairs is making sure that they ensure
that only people they think they can control are allowed to be
hired for CSAC?
One other interesting factor to keep in mind — the two CSAC
members who are now part of the Board’s ‘hiring committee’
are not John Frierson and Eugene Hernandez, the CSAC Chair &
Vice Chair. Instead, it’s now Dr. Van Buren Ross Lemons
and … Governor Jerry Brown’s latest appointee, Dean
Grafilo, the former SEIU representative. The new guy is now in
charge of the ‘hiring committee’ on CSAC after DCA
filters out who they want to get hired for the job?
Powerful
political leaders in both the state Senate and the Assembly are
preparing to delve into what is going on with CSAC and how DCA
has messed things up. Can’t wait to see Denise Brown, Awet
Kidane, and members of DCA’s legal department face the music
at the Capitol about what has been going on — especially
with the neurological fund.
Source:
Fight Opinion
|
Bellator
73 Results: Atilla Vegh and Marcos Galvao Earn Title Shots
Bellator
73 took place Friday night at Harra’s Tunica Hotel and Casino
in Tunica, Miss., where Attila Vegh and Marcos Galvao each won
their respective tournaments to earn title shots.
Attila
Vegh made very short work of Travis Wiuff in the Summer Series
light heavyweight tournament final, dropping him to the mat and
finishing him off with a series of punches just 25 seconds into
the fight.
Vegh,
with the victory, moves on to challenge Bellator light heavyweight
champion Christian M’Pumbu.
It
took Marcos Galvao quite a bit longer than Vegh, but he ended
up victorious as well.
Galvao
and Luis Nogueira battled back and forth for the majority of
their 9:20-fight, neither man gaining a distinct advantage, until
Galvao rocked Nogueira, leaving him wobbly late in round two.
Galvao
quickly took advantage of Nogueira’s weakened state, putting
him on the mat and finishing him with a TKO stoppage due to strikes
at the 4:20 mark of the second round.
The
victory puts Galvao in a title fight against Bellator bantamweight
champion Eduardo Dantas.
Bellator
73 Results:
Main
Card:
-Atilla Vegh def. Travis Wiuff via KO (Strikes) at 0:25, R1
-Marcos Galvao def. Luis Nogueira via TKO (Strikes) at 4:20,
R2
-Mike Mucitelli def. Matt Van Buren via Submission (Triangle
Choke) at 3:01, R1
-Mike Wessel def. Ryan Martinez via Split Decision, R3
Preliminary
Card:
-Zach Underwood def. Chris Coggins via Unanimous Decision, R3
-Brian Hall def. Jay Black via TKO (Strikes), R1
-Andy Uhrich def. Joe Williams via Unanimous Decision, R3
-Kelvin Tiller def. Amaechi Oselukwue via TKO (Strikes) at 4:21,
R2
-Jacob Noe def. Brian Albin via TKO (Doctor Stoppage) at 5:00,
R1
-Cosmo Alexandre def. Harry Johnson via KO (Knee) at 0:39, R2
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Viewpoint:
Lonely Road
By Tristen
Critchfield
It
was at the conclusion of UFC 140 that Greg Jackson famously told
Jon Jones to check on fallen opponent Lyoto Machida and “get
yourself some fans.”
Though
not necessarily meant for public consumption, it was sound advice.
At the time, Jones’ approval rating was not especially high,
even though the light heavyweight champion had completed one
of the most dominant years in MMA history by running roughshod
over Ryan Bader, Mauricio Rua, Quinton Jackson and Machida. Fair
or not, something about Jones has always seemed to rub more than
a few fans the wrong way.
Now,
some 10 months removed from that scene in Toronto in December,
Jones needs fans more than ever. When Jones faces Vitor Belfort
on Sept. 22 -- Belfort moved in in after Machida declined a rematch
with Jones -- he could very well be stepping into the Octagon
as MMA’s greatest villain.
Jones
had a chance to play the hero. By taking a fight with Chael Sonnen
on eight days’ notice, he could have saved the entire UFC
151 event and altered his image, perhaps permanently. Instead,
Jones said no thanks.
You
know what? It was the right call. As much as there are teams
and camps and families in the tightly knit MMA community, fighting
is an individual sport. Jones got to where he is today because
of an intense devotion to self. Anyone who tries to tell you
that any top-shelf professional athlete in any other sport thinks
differently is lying.
Would
I have liked to see Jones square off with Sonnen next weekend?
Absolutely; but do I think, given time to marinate, that pairing
could do much better business down the road? There is no question.-risk.
Fighting
Sonnen at UFC 151 was a high-risk, low-reward proposition for
Jones. If he won, it would be a victory over a converted middleweight
who had not been training for a fight. Lose, and all the work
Jones had done over the past year-and-a-half would go down the
drain. None of that sounds too appealing with a freshly inked
Nike contract in your back pocket.
If
this were yet another twist in the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao
saga, people would simply shrug their shoulders and say, “Well,
that’s boxing.” We hold our mixed martial artists to
a different standard, however. These guys are fighters and, no
matter the circumstance, they should never turn down a fight.
What’s great about the sport is that many of these athletes
hold themselves to this ideal. Jones does not have to because
he has put himself in a position where he can call his shots.
The
good news is that Zuffa will continue to scramble in an attempt
to make sure that most of the fighters who lost bouts as a result
of the UFC 151 cancellation wind up on cards in the very near
future. Some of those fighters might not forgive Jones, though.
“Jonny
Bones, can you send my check to P.O. Box 198. EH NJ. Rent is
due the first, so preferably by then. Thanks,” tweeted Charlie
Brenneman, who was one of many to express anger at the champ.
Jones’
decision also affected his Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts
teammates, as Henry Martinez and Kyle Noke were scheduled to
compete on the undercard. Noke said Jones called him on Thursday
to apologize. Like everyone else affected, the Australian was
disappointed by the news. A few hours later, it was announced
that his bout with Brenneman would take place at UFC 152. Noke
can also see why his teammate did what he did.
“I
understand his point of view. You’ve got nothing to gain
by taking an eight-day-notice fight with Chael Sonnen. Chael’s
got everything to gain, win or lose. I think Jon’s just
trying to look at bigger and better things. It just sucks for
all of us,” he said.
Is
it Jones’ duty to look out for his fellow fighters? Those
thinking with a level head say no.
“I
don’t think he has any obligations to any of the other fighters,”
Noke said. “I think he has an obligation to himself. He
made the decision he made, and it’s his decision.”
In
the end, Jones did what he thought was best for his career. The
light heavyweight champion has been doing that for some time
now, and the results speak for themselves. It might just be a
little harder to get fans from now on.
Source:
Sherdog
|
Andre
Berto re-licensing by CSAC is another stain for the Department
of Consumer Affairs
By Zach
Arnold
On
Tuesday, the Department of Consumer Affairs which oversees the
California State Athletic Commission decided to re-license boxer
Andre Berto approximately three months after he failed a VADA
(Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency) drug test for nandrolone.
Since
the drug test Berto failed was not a CSAC official drug test,
the regulatory body has the discretion to license him. Legally,
they can do so. In terms of public relations, however, it is
yet another stink bomb in California thanks to Denise Brown,
Awet Kidane, and Kathi Burns. You can thank the Department of
Consumer Affairs for this taking place.
CSAC
is re-licensing Berto three months after a failed VADA drug test.
If Berto had failed a standard CSAC urine drug test for nandrolone,
he would have been suspended by California for a year. The difference
is that the VADA drug test failure cost him money, whereas a
California suspension would have cost him time — but only
after the fight with Victor Ortiz had (theoretically) taken place.
For
those wondering why there was no public CSAC hearing to have
the commission vote on whether or not Berto should be re-licensed…
consider it a preview of coming attractions if/when the Department
of Consumer Affairs attempts to sunset CSAC and make the decision
making process entirely private with no level of transparency
for the taxpayers.
Whenever
politicians say or do stupid things, it’s best to get out
of the way and let them continue to screw up. That’s exactly
the case right now in California, which has become a punch line
in all of combat sports. This is the same commission that is
months behind in reporting event results & fighter suspensions
to agencies such as Fight Fax & the ABC (Association of Boxing
Commissions).
Through
the incompetence & corruption of both DCA & CSAC, Scott
Christ breaks through with the correct headline to take away
from Tuesday’s events:
Do
failed non-commission drug tests really matter?
The
answer: they would matter if the commissions cared about cleaning
up doping in combat sports. The truth is that they aren’t
100% committed to doing so. Unfortunately, as I’ve pointed
out in the past thanks to Keith Kizer’s feud with Dr. Margaret
Goodman, that commissions like Nevada & California have no
incentive to cooperate with VADA. Failed drug tests cost states
money. And, if drug test failures are going to happen, politicians
like Kizer want to be able to take the political credit for coming
across as tough on doping if it’s the state’s drug
testing that catches the fighters. If someone like VADA comes
in and busts fighters right under the nose of Nevada and exposes
Nevada’s drug testing for what it is, it makes the bureaucrats
look bad and they will be out for revenge.
Bureaucrats
like Keith Kizer & Denise Brown are always bound to screw
up and they count on the media giving them a pass. No more. They
want all the political benefits of going to big fights and getting
the financial perks of hosting events but never want any of the
blame when their incompetence is exposed.
CSAC
lost out on Berto headlining Staples Center against Victor Ortiz,
which means they saw some dollar signs get flushed down the toilet.
I’m not surprised they would try to re-license him —
as long as he fights in California soon.
The
timing of Berto getting re-licensed by CSAC is actually a blessing
in disguise if you want to see more scrutiny get heaped upon
DCA by California politicians. There are many state Assemblymembers
and Senators right now paying close attention to what is going
at Consumer Affairs and they are not happy. If Denise Brown and
company want to sunset CSAC and try to take business matters
private, they’ll be opening themselves up to scrutiny from
the Senate Business & Professions Committee. As fans and
media go, we would lose transparency. However, if the Department
of Consumer Affairs wants to create a political civil war at
the capitol, then they should continue to act the way they are
by stepping on the wrong toes.
More
incompetence & shady behavior at CSAC exposed
We
have plenty of evidence to display publicly about the troubles
at the California State Athletic Commission and how interference
from the Department of Consumer Affairs has made conditions on
the ground worse, not better, at live events.
We’ll
have new content soon about box office/manifest incompetence
and how it’s cost the state of California hundreds of thousands
of dollars. We’ll also have plenty to say about how the
new “3 inspector policy” is working out at shows so
far. Hint: there’s been some near misses at events and fighters
are already finding new ways to cheat.
One
of the incredibly dumb moves that the Department of Consumer
Affairs has used to try to make the CSAC budget look better is
the implementation of coercive contracts of adhesion called Volunteer
Service Agreements. If you work for CSAC as an inspector, by
law you are considered an intermittent state employee. Many people
who work as inspectors at CSAC work for the state of California
full-time during the day, which means that their efforts at CSAC
get them time-and-a-half for salary plus in-state travel benefits.
So,
rather than addressing the core budget issues at CSAC, the Department
of Consumer Affairs came up with a ridiculous band-aid approach
to stop the bleeding. The Volunteer Service Agreements are contracts
being given to inspectors to sign. We have called these deals
coercive contracts of adhesion because that’s exactly what
they are. You have the state of California, which has been paying
inspectors to do their jobs, suddenly coming to inspectors and
having them sign these contracts. In a court of law, the disparity
of bargaining power between the two sides is so large that a
judge would immediately void such a contract and award damages
to the inspector(s) in question.
Furthermore,
as we’ve stated in past articles, if you are a full-time
state employee during the day and you sign one of these deals,
all you have to do is keep tabs on the shows you’ve worked
and file a claim with the state’s Labor board and more than
likely your claim would be processed for back pay.
An
example of this in action is California Labor Code 1720.4, which
applies to volunteers for state public works projects:
1720.4.
(a) This chapter shall not apply to any of the following work:
(1)
Any work performed by a volunteer. For purposes of this section,
“volunteer” means an individual who performs work for
civic, charitable, or humanitarian reasons for a public agency
or corporation qualified under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal
Revenue Code as a tax-exempt organization, without promise, expectation,
or receipt of any compensation for work performed.
(A)
An individual shall be considered a volunteer only when his or
her services are offered freely and without pressure and coercion,
direct or implied, from an employer.
(B)
An individual may receive reasonable meals, lodging, transportation,
and incidental expenses or nominal nonmonetary awards without
losing volunteer status if, in the entire context of the situation,
those benefits and payments are not a substitute form of compensation
for work performed.
(C)
An individual shall not be considered a volunteer if the person
is otherwise employed for compensation at any time (i) in the
construction, alteration, demolition, installation, repair, or
maintenance work on the same project, or (ii) by a contractor,
other than a corporation qualified under Section 501(c)(3) of
the Internal Revenue Code as a tax-exempt organization, that
receives payment to perform construction, alteration, demolition,
installation, repair, or maintenance work on the same project.
The
Volunteer Service Agreement deals that DCA is handing out to
inspectors are one-page contracts that were created by their
Human Resources department in September of 2007 and revised in
February of 2008. In other words, deals used for other state
agencies and not specifically tailored for CSAC.
Department
of Consumer Affairs
VOLUNTEER SERVICE AGREEMENT
I
agree to perform the volunteer services described below. By entering
into this agreement, I understand that I am an agent of the Department
of Consumer Affairs and will conduct myself in accordance with
those standards set forth for regular department employees. I
will comply with all policies, procedures, rules, regulations,
directives and instructions provided by the Volunteer Coordinator.
I understand and agree to the following:
1.
I will earn no salaries or wages and will not be entitled to
unemployment benefits upon termination of this agreement.
2.
As a volunteer, I will not be replacing a regular department
employee. I do not have civil service status and am not eligible
for promotional state examinations.
3.
I will be provided with necessary orientation and on-the-job
training to prepare for the performance of my duties.
4.
I will be covered under State Workers’ Compensation benefits.
5.
I will be reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses, which are authorized
by the office Volunteer Coordinator.
6.
I will be reimbursed for authorized travel at the rates prescribed
by the Board of Control for regular state employees.
7.
I may use a state vehicle, when directed, provided that I have
a valid California Driver’s License and a good driving record.
8.
I may be reimbursed for use of my private vehicle at the current
authorized rate, provided it is specifically directed and I have
filed an approved certification of insurance (STD. 261) with
the Department.
9.
I understand that my employment as a volunteer is not effective
until I have signed the Oath of Allegiance Form (STD. 689)
10.
Either party upon written notification may terminate this agreement.
You
can tell that wherever this VSA was originally used, it was meant
for people who aren’t full-time state employees. So, in
this case, you’re talking about having non-full-time state
employee inspectors signing these days and being discriminated
against. But… the crazy part is if DCA (via CSAC) had actual
full-time state employees sign this kind of agreement because
that would open up a whole new can of worms in regards to labor
code violations given that full-time state employees are considered
civil servants by law.
What
happens if a volunteer files a Workman’s comp claim due
to an injury on the job? How much would they get paid in terms
of salary for job duties and wouldn’t this open up other
inspectors under such agreements to file a claim with the state
Labor board or in a lawsuit for back pay?
Second,
if you’re a state employee in California, you are required
to take defensive driver courses frequently in order to operate
state vehicles, rental vehicles, or even your own vehicle due
to the state’s concerns over issues of liability. Having
a ‘good driving record’ doesn’t cut it as a singular
requirement.
Third,
the VSA asks inspectors who sign the deal to sign an Oath of
Allegiance Form. If you work for the state of California, you’ve
already signed one. So, what this provision in the VSA is aimed
towards are non-full-time state employees who work as inspectors.
But, wait, aren’t the full-time state employees the ones
who are getting the bigger paychecks as inspectors over the non-full-timers?
Correct.
Now,
a moment of armchair lawyerly quarterbacking…
If
one wanted to consider the Equal Protection Clause in the 14th
Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, there may be a reasonable
case to make here for inspectors who feel that CSAC is targeting
them with the VSAs.
As
our tax records report on inspectors revealed, DCA favored certain
individuals based on employment status. With the VSAs now being
dished out, you have a unique situation where inspectors could
demonstrate a case of discrimination when it comes to who gets
what event assignments. It would be an unusual case in the sense
that we’re not talking about gender or racial or sexual
preference discrimination, but the discrimination of non-full-time
state employees vs. full-time state employees and who gets work
versus who doesn’t is a very real issue with CSAC &
the Department of Consumer Affairs.
Don’t
confuse this as a Right to Work issue. California is a strong
state for labor rights and inspectors who work for the state
full-time during the day are union employees. So, asking union
employees who work as intermittent state employees (CSAC inspectors)
to waive union-negotiated rights is a legitimate point to highlight.
We’ve
seen several internal CSAC memos explicitly claiming that non-state
employees will get preference for event bookings over full-time
state employees. No one in the CSAC front office can deny this,
especially if called upon to produce the memos in the deposition
process of a lawsuit.
Like
parts of this memo, dated June 7th (2012), by Che Guevara:
First
off I would like to thank each and every one of you for your
understanding and cooperation in these difficult times. We have
all been through budgetary cuts in the past, but this one is
truly an eye opener. The harsh reality of it is we may never
get back to the days of eight to ten inspectors at events. I
can honestly tell you it will get worse before it gets better.
As
we all experience even more severe cutbacks and reductions we
will need to come together more than ever to maintain a respectable
level of regulation in the field. It is very important we do
not fall into the old ways by being complacent
Effective
immediately, we are again cutting down the number of inspectors
at all future events. Pro events will go down to three inspectors,
including the lead. Amateur events will be staffed with only
two inspectors, including the lead. Management will select inspectors
who we consider capable of working with minimal support and supervision.
Also, non-state workers will be utilized prior to state workers
since their rate of pay is significantly higher than that of
a non-state worker.
(later
on…)
Athletic
Inspectors that are not assigned to work may and are encouraged
to work events and weigh-ins on a volunteer basis. We have received
approval from DCA to allow inspectors to volunteer their time.
If you would like to do this please send contact one of our office
staff, Teryn Fleming at Teryn.Fleming@dca.ca.gov so she can provide
you with the required paperwork..
Please
note that volunteering will not be on a per show basis, you will
be placed on a volunteer sheet, George or I will call to see
if you are able to work that weekend. There will be no CHERRY
PICKING of events. This of course does not mean that you are
required to say yes every time you are called to volunteer. If
you are selected to work as a volunteer you will be reimbursed
for your travel expenses only. But of course please remember
the budgetary crisis we are in and to carpool whenever possible.
We will be maintaining a list of hours and locations of those
who volunteer for special recognition in the future.
Why
would CSAC & DCA be keeping a list of hours & locations
for inspectors who work as volunteers? Perhaps because the record-keeping
might prove useful for a Labor claim or for a lawsuit filed by
an inspector for back pay…
You
can easily make the case that the Volunteer Service Agreements
are coercive contracts of adhesion. The next question, under
the Equal Protection Clause, is if certain inspectors working
for CSAC are being denied equal treatment based on their day
time employment status (state vs. non-state workers).
Here
you have a single memo from Che Guevara, the Chief Athletic Inspector,
in which he openly says the commission will discriminate against
certain inspectors based on their employment status with the
state. A few paragraphs later, he’s touting contact information
for inspectors to get a Volunteer Service Agreement — an
agreement that is a contract of adhesion. How dumb do you have
to be to issue a memo like this with such loaded terms &
conditions? Furthermore, Che says in the memo that anyone who
signs a VSA can’t “cherry pick” which shows they
get to work and that they can’t participate on a per show
basis. That doesn’t sound like very friendly terms to anyone
who ‘volunteers’ now, does it? Juxtapose that with
DCA making it clear that they will work and pay non-state employees,
no matter their job skills & experience level, over state
employees and you have a pretty clear sense of what message is
being sent here.
In
order for the state to justify the type of discrimination we
are talking about here (full-time state workers vs. non-full-time
state workers), there is a low legal hurdle called a Rational
basis review for the state to jump over in order to try to justify
why their actions are legitimate. The claim, as seen in the internal
CSAC memo, is that there is a budget crisis and that inspector
costs are the reason for CSAC’s financial problems. Of course,
what isn’t said is that the mismanagement of budgetary issues
in Sacramento and the booking assignments is on DCA. They’re
the ones who rubber-stamped the budgetary process. It’s
the power brokers from Sacramento who fly all over the state
to go to shows.
With
all of that said… it should be pointed out that CSAC is
not broke. They weren’t broke without a DCA loan to start
the 2012-2013 Fiscal Year and they’re certainly not broke
now given that DCA got CSAC a loan from the Department of Finance.
Plus, Kathi Burns (the current Executive Officer from DCA for
CSAC) herself said that revenues were starting to pick up for
CSAC. So, the idea that you can start treating intermittent state
employees (inspectors) differently now because of budget issues
and not pay them what you were in the past without changes to
state law and/or State Personnel Board regulations is really
asking for legal trouble.
What
makes this spectacle such a mess is that California is a very
strong, pro-union state where many of the state contracts are
negotiated between Sacramento and the SEIU (Service Employees
International Union). Now you have Sacramento going to inspectors
and asking them to sign Volunteer Service Agreements. And what
if the inspectors don’t sign the deals? It’s creating
an atmosphere ripe for retaliation by the Department of Consumer
Affairs. All one needs to do is take a look at Dwayne Woodard’s
lawsuit against DCA to know that DCA has been accused in the
past of creating a hostile & discriminatory work environment.
Source:
Fight Opinion
|
Coach
Mike Winkeljohn Suggests Chael Sonnen Might Have Been Training
for Jon Jones Bout
By Luke
Thomas - Senior Editor
In
the fallout of UFC 151's cancellation, it isn't just fans or
media who've engaged in speculation about what really happened
or who is truly to blame.
UFC
light heavyweight champion Jon Jones' striking coach, Mike Winkeljohn,
told Bloody Elbow Sunday he believes UFC middleweight turned
light heavyweight Chael Sonnen could have been training all along
to fill in for an injured Dan Henderson.
"Enough's
enough, he said. "I can't sit back on the sidelines any
longer. All I can say to everybody, don't put this on Jon. There
are others to blame. This UFC 151 problem should have been resolved
weeks ago. Chael Sonnen is a smart guy with cardio for days.
He has relentless takedowns and is a much different fighter than
Dan Henderson."
According
to Winkeljohn, there appears to be something suspicious about
the timing of Sonnen's attacks on Jones in the media or through
Twitter, although he never fully explains the mechanics of his
theory.
"How
long has Chael been attacking Jon in the media? Hmm. He's a man
known for moneymaking schemes and cheating by bending the rules.
And he's done this in various arenas. I think Chael played almost
everyone like a fiddle. But I believe like a coward he tried
to train and strike Jon when Jon wasn't looking. But hey, Jon
is a warrior, and he, actually we, saw it coming. All I can say
to Chael is nice try."
Chael
Sonnen declined comment to MMA Fighting when reached by text
message.
The
manner of the UFC 151's cancellation appears to have significantly
increased interest in a potential Jones vs. Sonnen bout. Whether
it will ever materialize is uncertain, but according to Winkeljohn
he and the team behind Jones would take a fight with the former
top middleweight contender given a full training camp.
"Jon
vs Sonnen. With no surprise attacks like Pearl Harbor. That's
a fight I want to see. Jon will win the war, and I think the
UFC should capitalize on it," he said.
"There's
nothing more that we want than that."
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
UFC
151 Cancelled: Jon Jones Apologizes, Takes the Blame
Everyone
was stunned on Thursday when company president Dana White cancelled
UFC 151 after light heavyweight champion Jon Jones declined to
fight Chael Sonnen on just eight days notice. Jones’ original
opponent, Dan Henderson, dropped out due to a knee injury.
Of
course, UFC officials were the ones that made the ultimate determination
to pull the plug on the pay-per-view event just a week out, but
Jones is the one that has been the target of everyone’s
venom. Fans, fighters, media, and White have all put the bullseye
squarely on the back of the 25-year-old 205-pound champion.
Chael
Sonnen, in particular, has rather harshly criticized Jones’
decision, doing numerous media appearances, talking about the
situation and how it was handled.
Jones
on Saturday took to Twitter to accept the burden, apologizing
to fighters and fans alike.
“Carrying
the cross for my company’s decision. If someone has to take
the blame, I will accept full responsibility for the way UFC
151 was canceled,” Jones tweeted. “I want to sincerely
apologize to all the other athletes/fans who’s time and
money was waisted (sic).
“I
feel terrible about the way that was handled.”
Many
of the undercard fights have been moved to other upcoming events.
Jones will now square off with Vitor Belfort in the UFC 152 main
event on Sept. 22 in Toronto.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Morning
Report: Jon Jones Apologizes; Winkeljohn Wary of Chael Sonnen
'Moneymaking Schemes'
By Shaun
Al-Shatti - Staff Writer
Last
time we were all together in this space, the MMA world had been
thrown into shambles and Dana White had been last seen teetering
back and forth in a corner of the Zuffa offices, clutching a
signed photo of Chuck Liddell and muttering incoherently about
‘(expletive) kids these days.'
Easy
to say, much has happened since then. Jon Jones apologized, sort
of, even though he didn't actually owe anyone an apology. We
learned that Dan Henderson had apparently been limping around
for three weeks on his "last-second" injury. Chael
Sonnen continued to do what is expected of him, and Jones' striking
coach, Mike Winkeljohn, defended his pupil's actions with a poorly-conceived
allusion to Pearl Harbor.
Aside
from the timing of Henderson's injury, Winkeljohn's mini-rant
was probably the most surprising of the weekend's UFC 151 developments.
Although, in retrospect, the timetables do lend some credence
to his conspiracy theory. Sonnen's sudden twitter beef with Jones
kicked up right around the time the severity of Henderson's knee
would've been diagnosed, and for a media savvy guy like Sonnen,
this type of plan seems right up his wheelhouse. Though, in the
case of Winkeljohn, I'm not sure evoking one of the more traumatic
events in American history really ever helped anyone's case.
Nonetheless,
it's clear the topic remains a firestorm of conversation for
the community and probably will for some time. Just one thing,
fight fans: if you really, really feel the need to tweet Jones
and let him know what you think of him, just make sure you aren't
accidently hassling a poor outsourcing manager from Austin, Texas.
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
The
Doggy Bag: ‘They Said What?!’ Edition
Octagone
Crazy
Everyone
answers to somebody, so we, the staff at Sherdog.com, have decided
to defer to our readers.
“The
Doggy Bag” gives you the opportunity to speak about what
is on your mind from time to time. Our reporters, columnists,
radio hosts and editors will chime in with their answers and
thoughts, so keep the emails coming.
This
week, readers cannot believe what is being said in MMA. Can you
blame ’em?
The
date Aug. 23, 2012 will likely long stand as one of the craziest
days -- if not the definitive wackiest -- in MMA history, as
the Jon Jones-Dan Henderson title fight at UFC 151 was nixed,
the entire event canceled and a rematch with Lyoto Machida at
UFC 152 designed for the champion. UFC President Dana White lashed
out at his champion’s unwillingness to fight former UFC
middleweight title contender Chael Sonnen on short notice, citing
the advice of Jones’ coach, Greg Jackson, not to accept
the Sonnen date as proof that Jackson was a “sport killer.”
Tempers
flared. Twitter went crazy. Sonnen talked trash on Sportscenter.
The drama thickened further later in the day when it turned out
that Machida balked at the Sept. 22 pairing with Jones. Now,
Jones will face former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort,
who exited his UFC 153 bout with Alan Belcher at 185 pounds for
the opportunity. It was pure lunacy, and, frankly, we need to
talk about it.
The
wild proclamations of Jones, White and Sonnen are not the only
ones that have people revved up. People still have not entirely
cast away their gaze from Ronda Rousey and how her war-at-a-distance
with Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos has accelerated. While
some cannot believe Santos’ audacity to call for a bout
at 145 pounds, some folks seem just about ready to tune out after
Rousey’s rampage over 135.
Bellator
has not escaped your wrath, either. The promotion announced the
lineup for its Season 7 welterweight tournament. Absent are names
like Paul Daley, Ben Saunders and Douglas Lima. What gives? We
let you know, with comments from “Mr. Magical” himself,
Bellator founder Bjorn Rebney.
What
the hell is going on? This is like something from the script
of “Passions.” Jones won't fight Sonnen, Machida won't
fight Jones and now Belfort gets to fight Jones? Does this mean
Belcher gets to fight Machida? Or are they chucking Sonnen in
with Belfort and Jones for a triple-threat match? One also has
to wonder what the UFC thinks about the quality of its own cards
when it scraps an entire show based on the main event falling
out. -- Jay from Warrington
Jordan
Breen, administrative editor: First of all, this day was pretty
jam-packed with happenings and brouhaha. Let’s look at it
in stages, with some Cliff’s-type notes to help us keep
our sanity.
”Hendo”
Gets Hurt: Henderson partially tears his MCL. He’ll be out
two to three months. Find it interesting that during this period
Sonnen suddenly starts chirping at Jones through the media, with
Sonnen being an on-again, off-again Henderson training partner.
Jones is presented with fighting Sonnen -- the only man who accepts
the bout as a potential replacement -- on eight days' notice.
He declines after discussion with coach Jackson, opting instead
to face Machida on Sept. 22. I consider this a prudent, rational
decision. It would be heroic if he opted to “save the day”
and face Sonnen, but that fight represents more money for him
down the line, and he can fight in four weeks. With decisions
like that, he’s not going for “Man of the Year,”
but he won’t blow a Nike deal, either.
The
Teleconference: This is a foregone conclusion. Everyone on the
inside in MMA knew Henderson was out but simply could not get
any confirmation from anyone on anything. Seeing how the aftermath
has unfolded, you now understand why people don’t want to
put their byline on something without someone else’s ass
in the sling with them.
White
goes insane on the phone. UFC 151 has been canceled. This move
costs the UFC millions, and many fans, even those who get refunds,
are out hundreds if not thousands on flights, hotels, what-have-you.
It sucks for everyone. White blames Jackson, whom he terms a
“sport killer,” and Jones. He would later accuse them
in a press release of “robbing” some half a million
dollars from undercard fighters.
This
behavior is irrational for me. While I have no doubt both White
and UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta were furious, this is pathological,
borderline insane, behavior. Jones is probably the most important
single entity in MMA right now, and the UFC is suddenly dedicated
to pillorying him in public? It’s notable, albeit still
insane, that White spends the entire time lionizing Sonnen for
wanting to fight on eight days' notice, despite the fact that
he has everything to gain and nothing to lose. It is more important
because it again shows the extent to which Zuffa values fighters
who will jump instantaneously at the UFC’s behest, although
Sonnen’s motives are obviously individualistic.
Somehow
during the call and immediately after it people forget that Jones
is actually fighting in a month.
The
Aftermath: While the UFC followed up with a press release to
further spew venom at Jones and Jackson, Sonnen appeared on Sportscenter.
ESPN noted in the interview that Jones declined the interview
opportunity. Though Jones' public relations man, John Fuller,
quit earlier in the week, this is the latest in a long-line of
PR disasters. How on earth does arguably the best fighter on
the planet sit on the couch quietly and let every Tom, Dick and
Harry besmirch him in public?
Then,
just hours later, MMA fireside chatter and Nike Air Max enthusiast
Ariel Helwani breaks the news that Machida and Co. have balked
at the Sept. 22 date with Jones. You might recall that White
acted as if no fighter in Jones’ position ever turns down
a fight. Machida makes his already-obviously-stupid statement
look a million times worse.
Somehow,
Belfort becomes Jones’ new dance partner. He offered to
fight Fedor Emelianenko when Josh Barnett failed a third drug
test; he can smell an opportunity. Jones is now a -1300 favorite
in some places, while White has said the UFC chose not to do
Jones-Sonnen on Sept. 22 -- a date both men agreed to -- because
the company felt it would be disrespectful to a strong partner
in Mandalay Bay. OK then.
It
is too much of a hassle to fix all the posters, change all the
billboards and re-record all the imaging. UFC 151 will simply
never exist. The card on Sept. 22 in Toronto remains UFC 152.
Remember that for Trivial Pursuit games in the future.
The
Takeaway (or “Who the hell do I blame for this?!”):
The fundamental truth is that this is a situation where Jones,
as a multi-million-dollar world-class athlete, had divergent
interests from the UFC, from MMA fans and from his fellow fighters.
It made rational sense for him to opt out against Sonnen on eight
days' notice knowing that there was a Sept. 22 date for him regardless
and that Sonnen would be more lucrative down the line.
Plain
and simple, the UFC is a mutating animal. It has thrived on pay-per-view
for years, but now it owes oodles of programming to Fox and its
platforms. It has a swollen roster and too many cards. This means
a decision like the one Jones made can have a catastrophic impact
for an entire card. The UFC could not even go ahead with something
like Jay Hieron-Jake Ellenberger as a headliner if it tried,
as state law would likely require refunds. It’s an unenviable
position, but it is one the UFC has put itself in, and it needs
to address it.
For
years people pined for fighters to have leverage; well, here
you go. Here is how it manifests. It is terribly unfortunate
that so many undercard fighters were exposed to such volatile
risk. However, how did two dozen other people get exposed to
such a circumstance because of one athlete’s decision? These
are questions the UFC needs to answer forthwith.
As
for Jonny Bones, you’re an athletic superstar. It’s
time to get a real PR agency. This is a sporting climate in which
your entire life could be over if you so much as leave your DNA
in the wrong place at the wrong time. You cannot afford screw-ups
when everyone is looking to tear the flesh from you. Protect
yourself, and don’t let Sonnen’s Catskills routine
beat you to Sportscenter again
No
matter what you think of Jon Jones’ decision not to fight
Chael Sonnen on late notice, how crazy is it that Dana White
went off like he did? The UFC publicly saying that Jones and
Greg Jackson “robbed” fighters is hard to grasp when
Jones is arguably the most important fighter in MMA now. And
you have White pumping up Chael Sonnen, who appears on Sportscenter
to destroy the champion. Why is the UFC trying to kill its own
cash cow? -- Russ from El Paso
Brian
Knapp, features editor: Count me among those who believe Jones
should have accepted a short-notice fight with Sonnen. There
was very little risk involved, Sonnen’s mouth would have
pushed pay-per-view buys and Jones would have come out on the
other side looking far better than he does at the moment. His
decision has only served to enhance the perception, true or untrue,
that success has gone to his head.
As
champion, however, he deserves the right to approve or shoot
down potential opponents when a short-notice situation arises.
There is too much at stake, financially and professionally, with
the way the sport has developed.
Every
fighter is different and, as such, every fighter will handle
a given situation differently. That does not make Jones any more
or less of a man. He had trained to fight Dan Henderson, not
Sonnen. In the end, he made the decision to bypass a potential
opponent who has not fought at 205 pounds in years, a potential
opponent who finds himself at the forefront of the testosterone
replacement therapy debate and a potential opponent who has done
nothing, outside of running his mouth, to warrant a title shot.
Was
anyone surprised by how White lashed out? When things do not
proceed according to his desires, he flies off the handle. We
have seen it over and over and over again. Roger Goodell, David
Stern and Bud Selig he is not. White deals with his business
in his own unique way. Sometimes it is good for the UFC and MMA;
other times it is not. I imagine Lorenzo Fertitta and the others
who fly the Zuffa flag have made peace with it.
By
not having a suitable co-main event to move into the spot vacated
by the original headliner, the UFC left itself open to this kind
of scenario. Worse yet, in the aftermath of the cancellation,
the promotion did not conduct itself with the kind of professionalism
we have come to expect from those who run our professional sports
leagues. That only feeds into the caricature those in the mainstream
have created for MMA. Some feelings and words are better left
kept behind closed doors and pursed lips.
Still,
it all boils down to this: the fault for the UFC 151 fiasco ultimately
lies not with Jones and Jackson but with the promotion, which
has not adjusted well since the landmark deal with Fox created
an unprecedented demand for its product. Perhaps UFC 151 will
spur the promotion to take a much harder look at the direction
it is taking and the adjustments that obviously need to be made.
What
awaits Chael Sonnen at 205 pounds? I think he'll run through
Forrest Griffin, and, after that, there's easy matchups with
guys like Vladimir Matyushenko, Ryan Bader and old Rogerio Nogueira.
I think he can make waves at light heavyweight up until Jon Jones
dominates him, but they'd be able to promote a hell of a fight.
-- Mason from Nebraska
Tristen
Critchfield, associate editor: Considering the events of the
past few days, I can’t imagine a Jones-Sonnen fight not
happening at some point. Interest for this bout was high as soon
as Sonnen began his Twitter assault on the light heavyweight
champion, but now that Jones refused to fight him at UFC 151,
the clamor has only grown.
Sonnen’s
stock has never been higher than it is right now. By stepping
up when Dan Henderson was forced to withdraw from the bout against
Jones, the Oregonian enhanced his standing in the eyes of UFC
brass and fans alike. Before all of the UFC 151 cancellation
craziness went down, I thought that a win over Griffin, who looked
completely underwhelming against Tito Ortiz earlier this summer,
would do little to make Sonnen a title contender. Now I’m
not so certain that fight even has to happen.
It
doesn’t matter if Jones beats Belfort; Sonnen is his next
logical destination, whether you believe the self-proclaimed
“Gangster from West Linn” has earned the shot or not.
He doesn’t need a warm-up fight against Griffin, either.
The UFC is in the business of selling and promoting fights. With
a month or two of promotion behind it, Jones-Sonnen could potentially
rival Anderson Silva-Sonnen 2 in terms of pay-per-view buys.
Sonnen
is a smart man. While it’s unclear if he knew something
about Henderson’s knee the rest of us didn’t know when
he initially began to needle Jones, he didn’t change weight
classes to face gatekeepers. He wants to make money, sell big
fights and stay in the spotlight. If cutting to 170 pounds were
possible, I believe Sonnen would have called out Georges St.
Pierre by now. Instead, he has his sights set on Jones. It’s
a matchup that would have seemed farfetched a couple months ago.
Now, it’s pretty damn close to mandatory.
Tired
of hearing Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos talk about Ronda
Rousey coming to 145 pounds, and the talk has just started. Maybe
if she got off the juice, she could get down to 135 and actually
get a fight. How can she not want this fight to happen, considering
how her career has fallen off since testing positive for steroids?
-- Chris from Chicago
Chris
Nelson, associate editor: First off, cool name. Second, you’re
coming in a little hot, friend. Allow me to play devil’s
advocate.
I
wouldn’t say Cyborg’s career has so much “fallen
off” since testing positive as it has been put on hold due
to the suspension handed down by the California State Athletic
Commission. This is what happens when fighters are busted for
steroids: they have their titles stripped and they fall out of
the public eye. Then, the suspension ends -- Cyborg’s expires
Dec. 16, by the way -- and voila, they’re back like nothing
happened, sometimes even in a main event.
Whether
or not Cyborg comes back to Strikeforce in a headlining slot
almost certainly depends on the Rousey fight materializing, so
I think it’s presumptuous to say Cyborg doesn’t want
the fight to happen. The “maybe if she got off the juice”
argument -- one I’ve seen repeated quite a bit since last
weekend -- doesn’t really hold water, either, since "Cyborg"
was using Winstrol to help shed weight, not pack it on.
There’s
a reason Cyborg is saying she won’t come down to bantamweight,
and that reason may be that she simply can’t shed the weight
without highly deleterious effects. Women have a harder time
cutting weight than men due to more lean muscle and less body
fat, and this is a woman who has struggled to make the 145-pound
limit in the past. Winstrol or not, 135 would be a brutal cut
for Cyborg and one that could lose her the fight before it even
begins.
With
all that said, Rousey is the champion at 135 pounds, so the onus
is on any potential challenger to make that weight. If Cyborg
can’t, then she can’t. Considering the dearth of name
opponents for Rousey at the moment -- and since it’s too
soon for a Miesha Tate rematch, in my opinion -- maybe Strikeforce
would go for a one-off catchweight fight. I hate myself for suggesting
that since, like most, I’m no fan of catchweights. However,
I’d take Rousey vs. Cyborg at 140 pounds over no Rousey
vs. Cyborg at all.
Is
Ronda Rousey dominating all of the women she faces a bad thing
for the sport? I think so. Hell, I am about ready to cancel Showtime
because Strikeforce has nothing to offer me. I am curious about
Luke Rockhold and Gilbert Melendez. That's it. I can just stream
those events or go to the bar. No reason to keep the show in
my lineup. Time for Zuffa and Showtime to kill Strikeforce. I’m
over it. -- Wade from North Dakota
TJ
De Santis, Sherdog Radio Network program director: This is a
question that I have been pondering since Rousey framed up the
armbar on Sarah Kaufman 15 seconds into their bout. I will always
watch Rousey fight live. Maybe it's because I am paid to do so,
but, I am also personally obsessed with perfect. I watched Fedor
Emelianenko rise to prominence and hold that mantle for years
until he lost to Fabricio Werdum. I currently sit back and soak
up everything and anything Jon Jones, Anderson Silva and Georges
St. Pierre do. Rousey deserves that same respect.
I
asked Pat Miletich the same question on "Beatdown"
this week, and he said he didn't think that Rousey's perfection
was a detriment to the sport. He likened her performances to
that of Mike Tyson. I agree with Pat that people should sit back
and watch Rousey do what she does with awe. She smashes the opposition
put in front of her. I am inclined to believe her skills, not
necessarily the competition around her, have helped her make
it look easy. I think Rousey defeats most everyone at 135 pounds,
but there are fighters like Sara McMann and Cristiane "Cyborg"
Santos that one cannot simply mark off as wins for her. McMann
has some growing to do as a mixed martial artist and "Cyborg"
has some issues of her own that she has to address before we
can hypothesize about either fight, though.
I
fear that casual fans and even some hardcore fans aren't going
to make it a point to watch Rousey compete. Who really is next
inside of Strikeforce? Liz Carmouche? A rematch with Miesha Tate?
Neither excites me, nor will anyone currently under contract
that is able to compete. The silver lining is that Rousey is
a growing star and fun to watch. She has skills that, at this
moment, are unmatched.
I
love women's MMA. I drove hundreds of miles to watch Roxanne
Modafferi fight Jennifer Howe, and Kelly Kobold nearly put my
lights out during a boxing session. That said, Rousey is, in
my opinion, making other women in the sport look mediocre, just
like Jones and Silva on the men's side. However, if Rousey wants
to get the "Cyborg" fight that could truly put her
on top of the sport, she might have to compromise her beliefs
and agree upon a catchweight contest, since Santos seems adamant
about not moving to 135.
What's
up with these Bellator welterweight tournament fights? Jordan
Smith is going to get smashed by Andrey Koreshkov. Tim Welch
versus Michail Tsarev? What? Where's Paul Daley or Ryan Ford
or Douglas Lima? Are they saving all these guys for Spike TV?
-- Tim from Connecticut.
Mike
Whitman, news editor: At the behest of a mind much larger and
hairier than mine, I grabbed you a response from the horse’s
mouth. Here’s Bellator boss Bjorn Rebney on the Season 7
welterweight tournament field:
“Michael
Chandler, Pat Curran and Eduardo Dantas all followed this path.
When they started with Bellator, they were virtual unknowns.
Now, in some instances just a year later, they are all among
the very best in MMA at their respective weights. There are some
very talented fighters who will use this 90-day run to establish
themselves among the best of the best.”
Oh,
did you want my take, as well? I thought you would never ask.
First
of all, Rebney is correct. Three of his sturdiest world champs
managed to pull themselves up by their bootstraps with little
fanfare surrounding them prior to their Bellator careers. Yes,
Dantas was Shooto’s reigning South American 132-pound champ
and Chandler had fought on a pair of Strikeforce undercards,
but I think we can generally agree that the vast majority of
North American fans had little clue that these guys were going
to perform in the spectacular fashion in which they have.
I
agree that it would be foolish to disrespect the talent pool
in this upcoming tournament. It might sound cliched, but judging
a book by its cover is oftentimes an embarrassing practice, especially
when it comes to MMA. That said, Rebney is also speaking as a
promoter. As an impartial observer, I can draw my own conclusions,
one of which is that Bellator is absolutely saving its heavy
ammunition for its Spike debut in January.
Look
at that upcoming Season 8 welterweight tournament. You could
potentially see Daley, Lima, Ben Saunders, Marius Zaromskis,
Bryan Baker, David Rickels and Ford (depending on the constraints
of his legal situation). Hell, War Machine might even join that
party if he can break out of jail.
Bottom
line: it’s not going to make any real difference ratings-wise
if Saunders or Daley fight in the Season 7 tournament on MTV
2. Those shows are probably all going to pull fewer than 200,000
viewers, because only the people who have already been made officers
in Her Majesty’s Royal Nerd Navy -- like you, me and anyone
else who has decided to read this mailbag entry -- are going
to make a point of flipping on MTV2 on a Friday night to catch
a card that doesn’t have the letters UFC attached to it.
Spike
TV, however, is a different ballgame. Spike already has dedicated,
built-in audience of faux-hawked, Ed Hardy-loving “Manswers”
viewers who remember guys like Saunders and Daley from their
UFC stints; not to mention that Spike is available in almost
20 million more homes and in high definition, no less. Considering
the promotion is now mostly owned by Viacom, I think it is safe
to say that the suits upstairs are also aware of this.
In
short, Bellator has every right to save its biggest guns for
the Spike debut. Anything less would be about as foolish as talking
smack about a tournament we haven’t even seen yet.
Source
Sherdog
|
Chad
Mendes Charged with Simple Misdemeanor Battery Following Incident
in Early August
by Damon
Martin
Following
a bar fight that broke out in early August, UFC featherweight
Chad Mendes has been charged with one count of misdemeanor battery.
According
to Mendes’ managers at MMA Inc, he has not been arrested
or asked to appear in Hanford, the site of the incident. The
UFC featherweight has fully cooperated with the authorities throughout
the process.
An
arraignment for Mendes has been set for Sept 19.
Following
the initial report of the incident on Aug 3, Mendes vehemently
denied the charges, and continues to do so as he faces this misdemeanor
charge.
In
the statement received from his management sent to MMAWeekly.com
on Saturday evening, Mendes asks the media and fans to remember
that he has the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
What’s
next for the California State Athletic Commission?
By Zach
Arnold
This
question is one that Mauro Ranallo and I tried to answer last
Friday on his radio show. My segment is around 15 minutes long,
so it’s concise but easy for anyone to understand if you’re
an outsider to the whole topic of CSAC’s political &
financial troubles.
(If
you’re looking for an audio source to give you the origins
of what exactly has been going on, listen to my interview a few
weeks ago with Jordan Breen on Sherdog radio.)
In
the short-run, don’t expect many changes as far as the process
of MMA & boxing shows happening in the state. Things should
run OK, although the issue about the Department of Consumer Affairs
having athletic inspectors sign “Volunteer Service Agreements”
is going to turn out to be a real poisonous move. If DCA doesn’t
think that they are going to face legal ramifications for this
stunt, they should reconsider their position. If an inspector
won’t sue them over it, an SEIU union representative or
a labor attorney will. There are plenty of pro-union power brokers
who think that DCA making inspectors signing VSAs is a form of
extortion by using coercive contacts of adhesion in order to
play favorites. Remember, athletic inspectors while doing their
job for CSAC are considered intermittent state employees. That
means they have union rights while working in official capacity
for the state. For Denise Brown, Awet Kidane, and members of
DCA’s legal department to think that they can get with the
VSAs shows how arrogant and ignorant they really are.
In
the intermediate picture, there’s too many factors right
now building up against DCA to not cause heartburn in Sacramento.
You have the impending audit of the California State Athletic
Commission in regards to the boxer’s pension & neurological
funds, along with the issues of in-state travel & inspector
costs exploding. You have the retaliation & age discrimination
lawsuit by athletic inspector Dwayne Woodard, which promises
to pierce through a lot of walls in Sacramento and get DCA involved
in a protracted court battle where key political players in Sacramento
are at risk for deposition. You have politicians at the state
Capitol who are turning on each other and picking sides over
the way California’s 500+ special funds are being managed.
The fact that there may be up to 2.3 billion dollars in hiding
as Governor Jerry Brown is heating up his November ballot initiative
to raise taxes in California means that tempers are hot and patience
is thin.
Dan
Walters (Sac Bee): Censorship rears its ugly head in California
senate
The
situation at the athletic commission is embarrassing. However,
it’s not an embarrassment because of George Dodd. It’s
an embarrassment because of bureaucrats like Denise Brown who
have been at the Department of Consumer Affairs since 1977. When
you have people like Anita Scuri running around in DCA’s
legal department for decades, what do you expect to have happen
when the amount of employees under their umbrella multiplies
in conjunction with a heavier flow of taxpayer cash? You get
the kind of debacle that you are witnessing at CSAC. You have
millions of dollars in a boxer’s pension fund and few boxers
are getting paid back the money they put into it. You have promoters
paying out cash from their show gates to finance a neurological
fund that has produced absolutely nothing in terms of new concussion
testing for fighters.
With
the audit of CSAC coming, I fully expect people at the Department
of Consumer Affairs to start turning on each other. And not only
will they turn on each other, they’ll play the blame game
and try to shift the responsibility of who did what onto people
like George Dodd. I would not be surprised to see DCA try to
make a claim against Dodd that he should be financially liable
for some of the troubles at CSAC. Of course, the Department of
Consumer Affairs is the same institution that claimed less than
three months ago that CSAC would be $35,000 in the red to start
the 2012-2013 Fiscal Year, only to end up claiming that they
were $23,000 in the black once DCA lifer & bean counter Kathi
Burns took over from Dodd as Executive Officer at CSAC.
Lost
in all of this debauchery is the fact that the California State
Athletic Commission has become a national punchline in the combat
sports community. The commission is reportedly months behind
in getting bout results & suspensions to the Association
of Boxing Commissions (ABC), which CSAC is legally required to
do. You have CSAC employing certain individuals and sending them
to fight shows in which they don’t know how to run a box
office and produce the proper ledger/manifest because they can’t
do math or have trouble with their reading & writing skills.
You have events taking place in the state, like the Antonio Tarver
fight recently promoted by Golden Boy Promotions in Carson, California
at the Home Depot Center where you have 1,200 paid tickets and
over 4,000 comps being distributed with the approval of CSAC
management. Not only does Denise Brown at the Department of Consumer
Affairs acknowledge that fraud is taking place, she hasn’t
fired or arrested anyone over it!
The
prospects of sunsetting CSAC
Part
of the intermediate picture for CSAC’s future is the impending
sunset hearing in front of the Senate Business & Professions
committee. DCA is supposed to meet with the committee in October
to go over matters.
There
are many ways this situation could play out. The commission could
remain with the status quo and keep going. The commission could
get sunset by the SBP committee. If it does, it means one of
three possibilities:
a)
DCA could convert CSAC from a commission to an agency under their
umbrella, meaning 100% of the business dealings would be hidden
from public transparency. This is the worst-case scenario for
anyone who wants to clean up the mess at CSAC.
b) DCA could delegate authority of regulating combat sports in
California to an entity, similar to how they have USA Boxing
managing amateur boxing & CAMO managing amateur MMA right
now.
c) CSAC is shut down and there’s no combat sports activity
in the state for at least a year.
The last scenario is unlikely given that there’s lots of
revenue to be made from hosting fight shows and everything that
comes along with it. However, if the stench from what’s
happened at CSAC is so bad and people like Denise Brown are trying
to keep their cushy government jobs, anything they need to throw
overboard to save their careers is on the table.
There
is a fourth scenario which could wrap around to scenario a),
which is that DCA themselves sunset CSAC without SBP’s help
and take things private. It would make the regulation of combat
sports in California about as transparent as a fiduciary board
for conservatorship.
The
long-term picture for the athletic commission
During
my interview on Friday with Mauro, I stated that we have at least
a year, if not two years worth of painstaking scrutiny coming
for the California State Athletic Commission. It may come sooner,
but I think the time frame of about two years is accurate.
The
audit of CSAC by Sacramento will take a couple of months, at
minimum. The media coverage of what’s going at DCA, as long
as we are alive, is not going to stop. We will continue to press
the issue. The legal angle is the real hammer being swung here,
however, and I fully expect the following:
a)
the current lawsuit(s) against DCA & CSAC to produce deposition
requests that will cause people to turn on each other when they
can’t get their stories straight
b) future lawsuits and/or legal challenges against DCA for issues
such as their bogus Volunteer Service Agreements and their retaliatory
practices towards individuals who don’t play the Sacramento
game by covering up scandals
c) labor claims and/or lawsuits for mistreatment of individuals
working for CSAC as intermittent state employees
d) arrests and/or firings for malfeasance of taxpayer money that
was allocated to the boxer’s pension & neurological
funds and individuals at DCA who committed fraud with taxpayer
money by jacking up in-state travel claims, billable hours worked,
and/or other expenses
On top of that, don’t forget the criminal charges filed
by the Sacramento DA’s office against current Pest Control
Executive Officer and former CSAC Executive Officer Bill Douglas
for allegedly trying to sabotage CSAC power brokers like George
Dodd & Che Guevara!
The
analogy I used on Mauro’s radio show is that the deal in
Sacramento is like a house of cards ready to fold. Perhaps a
better analogy to use is that the foundation of the DCA house
is starting to crack and that, slowly but surely, the cracks
will expand and eventually the foundation will crumble. Count
on it.
A
message to potential whistle-blowers
One
of the humbling aspects of our reporting on what’s been
happening at the Department of Consumer Affairs and the California
State Athletic Commission is that we’ve been contacted by
individuals who have proved to be incredibly valuable sources
of information and have led us in the right direction to do our
own research. If our research was faulty, we would have never
been able to produce the results that we have so far from our
investigation. Plus, as you have seen from the reaction by the
politicians in question, we’ve hit a real nerve.
However,
we understand that there are potential sources who have key &
critical information that could provide us with some real clues
of what is going on in Sacramento. However, some of these sources
have day jobs with the state of California and are afraid to
risk their livelihood because of threats from Consumer Affairs
about what is happening with CSAC.
So,
we want to extend an olive branch to anyone who wants to come
forward and talk to us on background. If you are interested in
communicating with me, just send me a message and give me contact
information in which you can be reached offline to further discuss
matters. I will not burn any potential sources nor disclose names.
Your potential communication with me, as a source on background,
is protected by the California Shield Law.
The
reason I am publicly writing this invitation is because I have
a pretty good understanding of the political climate right now
at the Department of Consumer Affairs. If you have information
that can help out our investigation, please reach me. There is
a good reason for you, as a potential source, to cooperate with
us. If you are someone who is in a vulnerable political position
and you don’t stand up for yourself in terms of defining
what your situation is, others will attempt to use you and blame
you for their actions. With the impending audit of CSAC and the
upcoming legal battles against DCA over what has happened at
CSAC, now is a chance for you to reach out to me and put the
spotlight on where the bad apples are and why. The more you help
us with our investigation, the more you can help your situation
out and bolster your credibility.
We
know that everyone who is involved in the California combat sports
scene (and those who have sporadic involvement in California
affairs) is paying close attention to our investigation. Help
us put the media spotlight on where it needs to go.
Source:
Fight Opinion
|
Titan
Fighting 24 Results: Anthony Johnson a Success at 205; Braulio
Estima Reps BJJ Well
Titan
Fight Championships 24 took place Friday night in Kansas City,
Kan., featuring the light heavyweight debut of UFC veteran Anthony
Johnson and the mixed martial arts debut of Braulio Estima, one
of the most decorated grapplers in the world.
Anthony
Johnson vs. Esteves Jones
Having
bounced around weight classes over the past few years, moving
back and forth between welterweight and middleweight, Anthony
“Rumble” Johnson may have found his new home at 205
pounds.
He
stepped into the cage on Friday night as a light heavyweight
to face Esteves Jones.
Rumble
went immediately to his striking game, but opened with several
kicks before throttling Jones with some punches and then putting
him on the mat. Johnson spent the remainder of the round unloading
with a barrage of punches and elbows to soften Jones up for an
explosion in round two.
Jones
came out swinging and kicking in the second, but that only served
to play into Johnson’s game. He shot and put Jones on the
mat, unloading a jackhammer left hand until the referee stopped
the fight just 51 seconds after the start of the round.
“I
felt great. I was walking around 225 (for this fight) and day
of weigh-ins I only had 2 pounds to go,” said Johnson of
the difference in moving up to 205 pounds. “So I felt awesome.”
Rumble
intends to stay at light heavyweight for the foreseeable future
and already has another fight lined up. He’ll next face
Jake Rosholt in at XFN 8 on Sept. 21 in Tulsa, Okla.
Braulio
Estima vs. Chris Holland
Braulio
Estima made his mixed martial arts debut on Saturday night against
journeyman fighter Chris Holland.
Holland
went to his bread and butter early, wobbling Estima with a straight
right hand, but Estima has a little bread and butter of his own
and that’s his jiu-jitsu. After shaking out the cobwebs,
Estima persisted until he got Holland down into his world on
the mat.
Estima
quickly gained mount and shifted to an arm-triangle choke. Holland
escaped the initial choke, but it didn’t take long for the
multiple time BJJ world champion to regain mount, set up another
arm-triangle choke, and this time sink it deep enough to put
Holland to sleep.
“I’m
here representing a big huge flag, which is jiu-jitsu; so I wanted
to get a submission,” Estima explained after the fight.
“I
want to keep on going. I want to fight (again) as soon as possible,”
he added, leaving no doubts that this fight wasn’t a one-off
special attraction.
Titan
Fighting Championships 24 Full Results:
-Anthony
Johnson def. Esteves Jones by TKO (Strikes) at 0:51, R2
-Braulio Estima def. Chris Holland by Technical Submission (Arm-Triangle
Choke) at 3:21, R1
-Brian Davidson def. John Devall by Submission (Strikes) at 3:27,
R1
-Cody Gibson def. Andrew Whitney by Unanimous Decision, R3
-Matthew Foster def. Matt Uhde by Unanimous Decision, R3
-Adam Stickley def. Jose Vega by Submission (Triangle Choke)
at 3:20, R1
-Jeremy Smith def. T.J. Brittin by Unanimous Decision, R3
-Josh Pfeifer def. Josh Ford by Unanimous Decision, R3
-Antonio Martinez def. DeAllen Hicks by Unanimous Decision, R3
-Steven Graham def. Ben Louchious by Split Decision, R3
-Shawn Maynard def. Keith Curtis by Unanimous Decision, R3
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Sherdog.com’s
Pound-for-Pound Top 10
It’s been a while since our last pound-for-pound update,
and that span has been busy for some on this list, but frustrating
for others.
While
UFC champs Georges St. Pierre, Jose Aldo and Dominick Cruz remained
sidelined with injuries, middleweight ace Anderson Silva continued
to pull away from the pack with a win over Chael Sonnen that
furthered the argument for “The Spider” as the world’s
best. Jon Jones notched another “W” as well in his
long-awaited date with Rashad Evans, but an even greater opportunity
looms in the form of ex-Pride champ Dan Henderson.
Further
down the scale, it was a mixture of elation and frustration for
Gilbert Melendez, who retained his Strikeforce lightweight title
in May, but remains the big fish in Zuffa’s small pond.
Over in the Octagon, Benson Henderson kept his UFC lightweight
belt with a split nod in his rematch with Frankie Edgar, who,
despite two straight losses to “Bendo,” put on a showing
strong enough to keep him in these rankings.
Finally,
No. 1 heavyweight Junior dos Santos enters the list on the strength
of his May knockout of former champ Frank Mir. The win added
another to the hard-hitting Brazilian’s growing list of
knockout victims, which also includes Fabricio Werdum, Gabriel
Gonzaga and the man he’ll rematch in December, Cain Velasquez.
1.
Anderson Silva (32-4)
The
world’s top middleweight silenced Chael Sonnen once and
for all in July, producing another violent and dramatic finish
with a second-round TKO of his trash-talking challenger. With
his 10th consecutive defense of the UFC 185-pound title and 15th
straight Octagon win overall, the question has resurfaced: What
does “The Spider” have left to accomplish? Unbeaten
up-and-comer Chris Weidman has been vocal about getting the next
dance with Silva, while many observers are clamoring for a super-fight
against Jon Jones. Meanwhile, Silva’s manager, Ed Soares,
recently stated that the fight Silva really wants is a long-discussed
bout with welterweight ruler -- and, not coincidentally, the
man right below him on this list -- Georges St. Pierre.
2.
Georges St. Pierre (22-2)
After
a knee injury took St. Pierre out of UFC title defenses against
Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz in the second half of 2011, the 30-year-old
French Canadian was forced to undergo surgery to repair a torn
ACL. But while King Georges sits mending on the sidelines, his
subjects are planning a revolt. When GSP returns in November,
he’ll have interim champ Condit to deal with, not to mention
emerging contenders like Johny Hendricks and Martin Kampmann.
However, the circumstance of having to face a long line of well-accomplished,
outstanding challengers is precisely what got St. Pierre to this
lofty perch in the first place.
3.
Jon Jones (16-1)
As
UFC light heavyweight champion, Jones has been sterling, taking
apart the likes of Mauricio Rua, Quinton Jackson, Lyoto Machida
and training partner-turned-nemesis Rashad Evans. Outside the
Octagon, things haven’t been quite so smooth: in late July,
Jones had his driving license suspended in connection with a
May arrest for driving while intoxicated. Now looking to put
that bad spot behind him -- and armed with a newly inked Nike
sponsorship -- Jones has a date with another legend, former two-division
Pride champ Dan Henderson, at UFC 151.
4.
Jose Aldo (21-1)
If
there’s one complaint to be leveled against Jose Aldo, it’s
that he’s looked almost too good during his Zuffa stint
thus far. The young Brazilian has wiped out all contenders to
his UFC and WEC titles -- including Urijah Faber, Kenny Florian
and, most recently, the previously unbeaten Chad Mendes -- leaving
few viable challengers. Injuries have also been a concern for
“Scarface,” but with his knee healing up, Aldo is expected
to defend on home soil in October against 23-year-old prospect
Erik Koch.
5.
Dan Henderson (29-8)
Henderson
has been stacking plaques for most of his 15-year MMA career.
One-night vale tudo tournaments, a one-night UFC tournament win,
the Rings King of Kings tournament title, and two Pride championships
are all in tow for “Hendo,” in a career that boasts
major wins from middleweight to heavyweight. However, the one
major credential that has escaped the all-time great is a UFC
title. Henderson will have a chance to change that come Sept.
1, when he’ll meet young gun Jon Jones in a light heavyweight
championship bout at UFC 151.
6.
Dominick Cruz (19-1)
A
funny thing happened on the way to Cruz’s third encounter
with Urijah Faber... well, not that funny. During training for
the July bout, Cruz suffered a torn ACL and was forced to undergo
knee surgery, one from which he is still rehabbing. With their
top 135-pounder sitting on the shelf, the UFC opted to crown
an interim champion on July 21, and Faber fell to Renan Barao.
When Cruz returns in 2013, it will likely be against Brazilian
phenom Barao, with the winner emerging as the world’s true
No. 1 bantamweight.
7.
Benson Henderson (17-2)
Though
even closer than their first encounter, Henderson’s Aug.
11 rematch with Frankie Edgar yielded the same result: Henderson
exiting the cage with the UFC lightweight title around his waist.
While still recognized as one of MMA’s most exciting talents,
the 28-year-old’s reputation may have lost a little luster
due to the controversial nature of the split win. Henderson will
have a chance to repair any damage in no time, as he’s already
scheduled to take on another all-action 155er, Nate Diaz, in
a December title tilt.
8.
Frankie Edgar (14-3-1)
Since
snatching the UFC lightweight title from B.J. Penn in April 2010,
Edgar has proven to be an even tougher opponent in rematches
than in the first go-round. The undersized New Jerseyan once
again showed improvement Aug. 11 in his second consecutive bout
against Ben Henderson, and while the majority of media and fans
felt Edgar did enough to win back the belt, two of three judges
did not concur. Since the loss, Edgar has said that a move to
145 pounds is a possibility, though he’s still hungry for
another chance at the 155-pound throne.
9.
Gilbert Melendez (21-2)
Melendez
scratched out another five-round win over Josh Thomson in their
May rubber match, further cementing the Cesar Gracie pupil’s
status as Strikeforce’s premier 155-pounder. While “El
Nino” seems primed for big fights against the UFC elite,
Zuffa’s deal with Showtime will keep him confined to Strikeforce’s
hexagon for the foreseeable future. Melendez’s next title
defense will come Sept. 29 against dogged vet Pat Healy, who
rides a five-fight winning streak after a narrow July win over
Mizuto Hirota.
10.
Junior dos Santos (15-1)
The
Brazilian big man currently seated at the head of the heavyweight
table tacked another major win onto his résumé
with his 10th straight win, a May dismantling of Frank Mir. Dos
Santos also became the first man to successfully defend the UFC
heavyweight title since Brock Lesnar in 2010. While “Cigano”
is itching for a fight with suspended contender Alistair Overeem,
dos Santos will first have to rematch the man from whom he snatched
the belt, Cain Velasquez, on Dec. 29.
With
the entry of Junior dos Santos, previously 10th-ranked Carlos
Condit falls outside the pound-for-pound top 10.
Source:
Sherdog
|
Dana
White: It doesn’t matter who I think won the Henderson/Edgar
fight
By Zach
Arnold
ARIEL HELWANI: “So, why don’t you tell us how you scored
the main event?”
DANA WHITE: “Because I feel like… Ben Henderson has
won twice. The judges have given him the decision both times.
You know, I’m just… I’m not going to go out there
and give my decision that doesn’t matter any way. The kid
won the fight. Don’t leave it in the hands of the judges,
you know. If you let it go to the judges, I’ll tell you
this — I had even going into the last round, you know? And
if you leave in the hands of the judges, one of you is going
to be bummed out at the press conference. Period.”
ARIEL HELWANI: “It seems like and I’m maybe just seeing
the other side of the coin here that you don’t want to open
that can of worms by saying if you do think Frankie Edgar won
because it seems like unanimously the entire MMA media thought
he won. To start the whole thing about a rematch again…”
DANA WHITE: “Guess what? Doesn’t matter what you guys
think, either. It doesn’t matter what any of us think. The
judges made their decision tonight and it was for Ben Henderson,
you know? The kid… the kid won, what are you going to do?”
Kevin Iole: Henderson-Edgar II decision was debatable but not
egregious, and shouldn’t detract from card
ARIEL HELWANI: “I know a lot of people always say Frankie
should go down to 145, he doesn’t have to cut weight. But
he just lost two fights to arguably the best Lightweight in the
world, very close, controversial. He could have won both of them.
How could you really make the guy go down?”
DANA WHITE: “I can’t. I can’t make him go down
at all. I agree with you 100%. I think that not only has he,
you know, these two fights but all the fights that he’s
won in the past including BJ Penn and Maynard and all the other
fights that he’s won. I love this kid, I respect him, and
I just think he would do at 145. But, again, it’s much like
my ‘who do I think won?’ It doesn’t matter, it’s
not my decision. If Frankie Edgar wants to stay at 155, he’s
earned that right. He deserves that right and he can do whatever
the hell he wants.”
ARIEL HELWANI: “Before this fight, did he tell you that
if he loses, ‘OK, fine, I’ll go down to 145?”
DANA WHITE: “Ummm… I don’t remember exactly what
he said. It wasn’t as much the issue of him going to 145
as it was… you know, how bad he wanted the rematch, you
know? Whatever he wants to do, I’m cool with.”
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Lyoto
Machida, Jon Jones And the Politics of Turning Down Fights
By Mike
Chiappetta - Senior Writer
Three
weeks ago, Lyoto Machida was granted a title shot by Dana White,
largely because, as White told it, he just wanted it more than
anybody else. According to the UFC president, Machida and his
camp had "terrorized" him for a rematch with Jon Jones
while Mauricio "Shogun" Rua seemed unconcerned by the
No. 1 contender designation that was up for grabs at the recent
UFC on FOX 4 event.
On
Thursday, with the prospect of facing Jones in four weeks looming,
Machida backed away slowly from his demand and gave way to Vitor
Belfort.
The
funny thing is, no one seems to care.
One
day after Jones became MMA's public enemy No. 1 for turning down
a fight, Machida's decision was received with a collective shrug.
Is
that fair?
To
be sure, the two were in very different situations. Jones was
basically entrusted with propping up a pay-per-view event as
its bankable headliner, and was reportedly told by the UFC brass
that if he didn't accept a fight with Chael Sonnen, UFC 151 would
be canceled, costing the company a huge financial loss. He still
chose not to fight. That's his right. And it's the public's right
to disagree with his decision, which they have overwhelmingly
elected to do.
Machida
was simply asked to step into a fight four weeks from now, which
is not a long time to prepare, but longer than many short-notice
replacements get. His acceptance or refusal was not going to
make or break an event, as UFC 152 had already been set with
a headliner, and was only being improved upon. He said no. And
the public doesn't care. His decision was met with a collective
yawn.
It
could be a function of the fact that they never really felt he
deserved a title rematch to begin with, after only a single win
between his first crack at Jones and now. Or it could be something
else entirely. Either way, it doesn't quite make sense that while
Jones has become the sport's new villain, Machida walks away
unscathed.
Remember,
this is the second time Machida has turned down a high-profile
short-notice fight. Just one year ago, Machida made a stand that
could have cost the UFC an event cancellation. With an injury
to Phil Davis necessitating a late replacement for UFC 133, the
UFC turned to Machida to step in and face Rashad Evans. Machida
asked for a massive pay bump in the incident that launched the
infamous "Anderson Silva-money" catch phrase. Instead,
it was Tito Ortiz who stepped into the void.
This
time, Machida turned down a fight that we know he wanted. The
reason for his decision was simply time. In a statement his camp
released to the media, he said he would have preferred six weeks
to train. But most people don't care about his reasoning, the
same way they don't care about Jones' reasoning. Reaction, after
all, never waits for an explanation. It's all based on gut feeling.
And for Machida, there's been no backlash. None. While Jones
was bombarded with so many negative tweets that others with the
same name were casualties of the crossfire, a search of social
media related to Machida shows little venom. This despite the
fact that he faced Jones less than a year ago, and so is intimately
familiar with his style.
I'm
not suggesting that Machida is deserving of any rage. Like Jones,
he has the right to captain his own ship as he sees fit. But
there is a certain hypocrisy to the disparate reactions.
The
interesting part of this is that Jones has no history of turning
down fights. In fact, just the opposite, he has until now fought
whenever asked. He made his UFC debut on 12 days' notice. He
fought tough veteran Stephan Bonnar in his second UFC fight,
with less than one year of professional experience. He fought
Rua on short notice for the world title. He also stepped up for
the UFC in a big way last year, agreeing to fight in the UFC
140 main event when the promotion had few other options. In that
way, Jones has been up until this week, a model employee.
All
of that goodwill has apparently been smashed to bits. Turning
down Sonnen seems to be considered a cardinal sin in the eyes
of many. It doesn't matter that there's no real case for Sonnen
as a title contender. It doesn't matter that Jones had said he
had no interest in the bout even before it was offered to him.
For
Machida, it's the opposite. For him, it doesn't matter that he
had publicly said he wanted to face Jones, and then changed his
mind.
When
you strip away the extraneous details, they are simply two fighters
who decided a short-notice bout wasn't to their liking. For that,
one of them is now MMA's bad guy while the other faces no repercussions.
In
retrospect, Jones didn't have a decision to make; he was facing
an ultimatum. He said no to a fight he never wanted. Machida
said no to a fight he was begging for. The politics of MMA suggest
it's never OK to turn down a fight, yet the public reaction to
Jones and Machida show that's not really true. It's only OK to
turn down a fight when no one cares about it.
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
UFC
151 Cancelled: In Jon Jones’ Shoes, Frankie Edgar Says,
‘I Think I Would Take the Fight’
by Damon
Martin
Nobody can step inside the mind of UFC light heavyweight champion
Jon Jones to say what exactly his deepest thoughts were when
he got the call that Dan Henderson was injured and had to pull
out of UFC 151 and the offer came in for him to fight Chael Sonnen
instead.
In
the end, Jones declined the fight with Sonnen. He will instead
fight Vitor Belfort at UFC 152 on the Sept. 22 in Toronto.
According
to UFC president Dana White, Jones knew his decision could potentially
cause the cancellation of the entire show. And when the UFC’s
top 205-pound fighter opted not to fight Sonnen, UFC 151 was
scrapped.
Since
the card was canceled, fighters from the undercard, as well as
a slew of other UFC competitors, have taken to Twitter and Facebook
while absolutely unloading on Jones for choosing to forgo the
fight with Sonnen and wait to fight at a later date.
Former
UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar can’t tell you what
Jon Jones was thinking about on Thursday any more than anybody
else could.
“You
don’t know the whole story and everybody’s side of
it. It’s kind of crazy,” Edgar told MMAWeekly Radio
on Thursday.
What
Edgar can do, however, is provide prospective if it were he who
was in Jones’ place. For almost two years, Edgar reigned
as UFC lightweight champion and stepped up for the UFC on a couple
of occasions when they asked something special of him.
Edgar
can’t tell Jones what he did is right or wrong, but in the
same situation, it’s likely the New Jersey native would
have taken the fight.
“I
think I would take the fight,” said Edgar. “If I had
a full camp to prepare, and this guy only had eight days, I think
I would, but you don’t know. I think it all depends on match-ups
and everything.”
One
key element that played a factor in Jones’ decision was
the advice of his coach, Greg Jackson, who was not a big fan
of accepting a bout with Sonnen on such short notice.
Edgar
admits that his team would always play a role in his choice for
when, who and where to fight, but the decision still lands on
his shoulders no matter what.
“I’d
like to say I would (take the fight). I don’t know what
my team would say, but ultimately I’m the one to make that
decision,” Edgar stated.
The
downside for Jon Jones is no matter how things are painted now,
he’s coming away looking like the bad guy, the villain,
the man that helped cancel one of the biggest shows of the year.
It’s clearly not all on Jones’ shoulders why UFC 151
was cancelled, but in the court of public opinion, he’s
already been tried and convicted.
“It’s
a tough spot for him, too,” Edgar said about Jones. “I
was looking forward to that fight, kind of sucked Dan (Henderson)
got hurt.”
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Tim
Sylvia Shakes Off Zuffa Disappointment, Preps for Andrei Arlovski
By Dave
Doyle - Staff Writer
Former
UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia wants to fight his way back
in to the big time.
But
he faces a paradox as he tries to get another look from Zuffa.
On one hand, he needs to score wins over top-notch 265 pounders
in order to make an impression. But on the other, most of MMA's
elite heavyweights are already under Zuffa contract.
It's
an equation which has Sylvia baffled as he prepares to meet nemesis
Andrei Arlovski for the fourth time at OneFC's event in Manila
on Aug. 31.
"It's
hard to fight all the guys who are considered tough enough because
they have all the guys considered the toughest," Sylvia
told MMAFighting.com's Ariel Helwani on a recent edition of The
MMA Hour. "And if they don't have them, they're in Strikeforce.
Where else can you fight? We're trying to do this, and I think
this OneFC will be the platform for myself to showcase my skills
again and put some good wins together."
Of
course, the fighter known as "The Maine-iac" was close
to returning for Zuffa, at least for one night. Strikeforce was
searching for an opponent to meet Daniel Cormier in the Strikeforce
Grand Prix tournament champion's final bout with the company
before moving on to the UFC.
According
to Sylvia's side of the story, an agreement was agreed upon in
principle, before the plan was changed to Cormier vs. Frank Mir
instead.
"I
think the UFC might have gotten ahead of themselves, and they
couldn't find anyone to fight Cormier, so they had asked us and
we agreed to it," said Sylvia. "And I think after we
agreed to it, they were able to talk Frank into it and they probably
thought Frank was a better fit for it than myself. They'd like
to see Daniel win and I think he beats Frank, but he'd lose to
me.
Sylvia
says that in some ways, he would have been a more difficult fight
for Cormier than Mir.
"I
don't know if [Mir]'s an easier fight," he said. "I
think, he's in the limelight, he's in the UFC, Frank is definitely
better on the ground than I am, but I think my takedown defense
and my striking ability would make a hard fight for DC definitely.
But, he's definitely a rising star right now and he'd be difficult
for anybody."
With
the proposed Cormier fight falling out, Sylvia signed a three-fight
deal with OneFC, and finding himself facing his most familiar
foe. In their first bout, at UFC 51, Arlovski submitted Sylvia
with an Achilles' lock. Sylvia knocked out Arlovski to claim
the UFC heavyweight title in the first round of their UFC 59
fight; then in their UFC 61 rematch, Sylvia won a lackluster
decision.
The
way Sylvia sees it, fight No. 4 should go the way of their second
battle.
"[I'm]
going out there looking for a knockout, try to push the pace
and get in his face and make him fight me," said Sylvia
(31-7). Referring to OneFC's PRIDE-type rules, he added "If
he gets dropped, it's not going to be jump on him and pummel
him, it's going to be stomp him on the head and kick him in the
face."
Of
course, it's no secret Arlovski isn't the fighter he was in his
heyday, as he's been on the receiving end of a string of brutal
knockouts. But Sylvia believes he's going to see an extra-motivated
former champion come Aug. 31.
"I
don't know if his skills have diminished, and I think his chin
has gotten weaker and his drive isn't what it used to be,"
said Sylvia. "But make no mistake, Arlovski is going to
be one of the better ones we've seen in a long time, because
there's no love lost between us."
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
Ronday
Rousey Would Have Taken the Fight to Save UFC 151 from Being
Cancelled
Strikeforce
women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is one of the
hottest properties in mixed martial arts right now. She definitely
sits atop the women’s side of the sport, her star power
growing almost exponentially by the minute.
Rousey
on Friday was a guest on ESPN’s SportsCenter, weighing in
on several topics, but there were two that are at the fore of
everyone’s mind right now: her feud with former Strikeforce
featherweight champion Cris “Cyborg” Santos and the
criticism swirling around UFC light heavyweight champion Jon
Jones and his role in UFC 151 being cancelled.
As
always, Rousey met both topics head on.
“(Cyborg)
was caught doing steroids and everybody knew she was doing steroids
for a long time. And I really don’t think it’s unreasonable
for me to expect that when she’s not doing steroids she
would lose some weight. I don’t really think that’s
unreasonable to say,” Rousey commented in regards to her
demands that Cyborg come down to the 135-pound bantamweight division
if the two are to fight, instead Rousey moving up to featherweight,
which is the primary bone of contention between the two.
“She
really disgraced herself and her sport and her country by cheating
all those years, and I really don’t think the way to deal
with it is to reward her with a title shot with all the considerations
she wants.”
Cyborg
is sitting on the sidelines until at least December, due to a
California-imposed suspension after she tested positive for steroids
following her last fight.
If
Cyborg still insists that a bout between the two must take place
at 145 pounds, it’s of no consequence to Rousey.
“I
think that (the fight) should happen and I think it’s her
only option,” stated Rousey. “I have plenty of other
options. So if she doesn’t want to do it, I’ll just
move on.”
Moving
on from Cyborg, Rousey was queried about a much more sensitive
subject: how Jon Jones handled the situation regarding the cancellation
of UFC 151 and turning down the fight to face Chael Sonnen on
just eight days notice.
“If
it was me. If Dana called me right now and said we need you to
go in the back and fight Cris Cyborg with a 40-pound weight deficit
and all you guys get is duct tape on your hands. I’d be
like, ‘Can I be there in 10 minutes to stretch first?’”
Rousey responded, but she did qualify that statement.
“I
don’t have the kind of responsibilities he has, but I have
been struggling for money and had a main event fall through on
a card and then suddenly not have the money for rent. I mostly
feel sorry for everybody on the undercard that has to find another
way to pay their bills this month.
“I
feel bad condemning him because I haven’t really talked
to him about it and I don’t know his real reasons, but if
it was me, I would have done it.”
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Failed
power plays has DCA interested in sunsetting the California State
Athletic Commission
By Zach
Arnold
August
9th, 2012 video news report by ABC News 10 in Sacramento
Behind
the scenes in Sacramento, there has been a whirlwind of activity
that can only add to the legend of incompetence that the Department
of Consumer Affairs has been highlighted for in regards to their
mismanagement and interference in the business affairs of the
California State Athletic Commission.
First,
the TV stations in Sacramento are starting to pick up interest
in what a mess the California State Athletic Commission has gotten
themselves into. This News 10 report by John Myers highlights
the station’s efforts to use Freedom of Information Act
requests to get more information about where the money is going.
Unfortunately, the report also relies upon already-debunked DCA
propaganda touted in their infamous insolvency letter —
including the claim that CSAC was $35,000 in the red to start
the 2012-2013 Fiscal Year and that spending levels wouldn’t
change, therefore CSAC would be in the red by $700,000. It’s
completely false data and DCA had to admit that there was cash
in the bank for the start of the 2012-2013 Fiscal Year and made
this admission while still going for a loan from the state’s
Department of Finance.
If
you compare our articles to the other news reports on CSAC business
affairs, you will spot some differences.
Second,
there have been some major political maneuverings in Sacramento
that should be highlighted.
The
Department of Consumer Affairs, in their panicked efforts, are
re-arranging the deck chairs on the proverbial titanic by shifting
many workers out of departments under their bureaucratic umbrella
to new departments. Their hope in pulling this off is to try
to flush out who they suspect are media moles that are feeding
information out of their complex. It’s an ill-fated attempt
by DCA bosses Denise Brown & Awet Kidane because they are
under intense pressure from California state Senator Darrell
Steinberg in regards to the finances of special funds and other
operations that DCA has connections to. CSAC remains very high
on their list of things that spook them in a big way. They do
not like the negative attention they are receiving.
Speaking
of debacles, multiple sources (on background) confirm that there
was an attempted power play this past week at the Department
of Consumer Affairs that backfired. Kathi Burns, the DCA bean-counting
lifer who has been around for many years in Sacramento, was positioned
as Interim Executive Officer at CSAC. This job is a make-or-break
situation for her career positioning at DCA. One of the major
issues facing the commission is that many people who work for
CSAC also happen to work for the state of California full-time
during the day. This means that when they work as inspectors
or officials representing CSAC at shows as intermittent state
employees, they are not only getting paid time-and-a-half for
salaries but they are also getting in-state travel benefits.
The end result is skyrocketing budget costs and political wounds
as raw as canker sores because of certain people being chosen
over others to work shows based on their employment with the
state.
According
to multiple sources this week, DCA attempted to end the status
of CSAC front office workers Sarah Waklee and Brandon Saucedo
as lead inspectors. The attempt to stop both of them from working
in both the front office and as lead inspectors was based on
a claim that doing both duties represented a ‘conflict of
interest’ and that it needed to be stopped. Mind you, both
individuals have been working both in the front office and as
lead inspectors at shows for years.
Within
a day of this attempted power play, the Department of Consumer
Affairs immediately backed down when they were challenged on
the matter. DCA stood down and both Waklee & Saucedo are
continuing to work in the CSAC front office and as lead inspectors
at shows.
Let
me frame it to you this way. DCA wasn’t trying to fire these
individuals from their office jobs. They weren’t trying
to fire them on a ‘with cause’ basis. They, instead,
came up with a cheesy & convoluted way to try to get two
front office workers to stop working at shows as lead inspectors.
No notice of adverse action filing with the State Personnel Board,
no 11126(a)(1) public hearing in front of the CSAC board was
required. DCA was pulling what looked to be, on paper, a simple
power play… and they messed it up.
Both
Waklee & Saucedo are considred civil servants by the state,
whereas the Executive Officer of CSAC is considered an at-will/Exempt
employee that DCA can try to fire at any time. This is what happened
when DCA tried to get George Dodd fired as Executive Officer
at the June 26th El Monte, California hearing. In the case of
DCA trying to get Waklee & Saucedo out as lead inspectors
due to their supposed conflict of interest, the fact that they
couldn’t remove them is indicative of what a mess DCA has
on their hands in the Sacramento office. The legal department
at Consumer Affairs is an absolute joke. The decision making
process by DCA is horrific. They are the ones who are driving
CSAC into the ground and, yet, they still have heavy portions
of the media believing that CSAC is a self-sufficient, independent
commission when it’s simply not the case.
The
level of disconnect between the Sacramento office and the inspectors
out in the field is extraordinarily depressing.
One
of the things George Dodd was accused of doing was flying to
many Southern California fighting events in order to go visit
family. Well, if DCA was so interested in roasting George over
that, what will they have to say about Kathi Burns flying to
events? I guess that’s part of the process of getting someone
up to speed who isn’t a fan of the fight business?
So,
given all of this… including Sarah Waklee fighting back
against DCA and exposing what kind of limited stature Kathi Burns
has as the current CSAC Interim Executive Officer, the question
then becomes: who in their right mind, from the outside-looking-in,
would ever want to become the Executive Officer of the California
State Athletic Commission?
When
the State Personnel Board posted the job application for CSAC
E.O. on August 13th, we immediately pointed out what was missing
on the application.
Within
days of the application being posted online, the posting was
canceled. Strangely, it was replaced by this job bulletin on
Friday. It’s the exact same bulletin as the previous one,
with the same deadline of August 24th (this coming Friday).
Don’t
ask me why.
There
is a meeting in Sacramento scheduled for October between DCA
& the Senate Business & Professions committee over the
fate of commission. Should CSAC get sunset, it would mean that
the current board of commissioners would be wiped out and that
DCA would take all commission duties private with no immediate
transparency. It would end the current process of information
disclosure and essentially leave disclosure of information in
the hands of SBP at their Sacramento meetings.
It
would also mean the end of formal CSAC public meetings. If you’re
a promoter or fighter and you’ve been going to CSAC meetings
to voice concern about rule changes or business procedures, the
prospects of CSAC getting sunset should be alarming to you.
For
those who think that sunsetting CSAC would be a good idea, keep
this in mind… the last time CSAC was sunset, Armando Garcia
ended up getting chased out of Sacramento due to a sexual harassment
lawsuit (settled for $75,000). Armando then got replaced by Bill
Douglas & Dave Thornton. Thornton worked for decades at the
state Medical Board and cost DCA over $750,000 in a legal settlement
to end a high-profile racial & sexual harassment case. That’s
right, DCA replaced one accused sexual harasser with another
one who cost them 10 times as much in cash to settle the legal
trouble. Once Thornton took over, the budgets that were rubber-stamped
by DCA for CSAC started exploding in terms of costs. It’s
a myth that everything started going haywire under George Dodd.
Things started getting real messy during the final days of Armando
Garcia’s tenure and during Dave Thornton’s stint at
the commission. We even laid out the budget numbers to prove
this.
And
in between the Armando Garcia & Dave Thornton eras, they
appointed a man (in 2009) in Bill Douglas who just got charged
on seven misdemeanor counts by the Sacramento District Attorney’s
office for allegedly trying to get members of CSAC’s front
office like George Dodd, Che Guevara, and Nichole Bowles fired
by supposedly using the identities of other individuals and sending
communications under different names.
It
should be noted that the investigation into the matter was lead
by the California Highway Patrol, not the Department of Consumer
Affairs.
As
for what Bill Douglas’ job status is currently as the Executive
Officer at the Pest Control Board, it depends who you talk to.
Multiple sources all back the assertion that he’s on indefinite
administrative leave, while there’s a split as to whether
or not he’s actually been fired. There’s a Pest Control
meeting scheduled for this Wednesday in Anaheim at 9 AM. Either
way, he’s going to have a difficult challenge getting back
into the state’s good graces based on what happens in court
(August 30th at 8:35 AM) and if they use the issue of moral turpitude
against him if he pleads no contest, is found guilty, or enters
into a plea agreement.
So,
yeah, sunsetting CSAC might not exactly be the best development
for fight promoters in California. However, as the turmoil continues
to churn in Sacramento, the chances of the commission getting
sunset increase. There is another reason why the Department of
Consumer Affairs may be very interested in sunsetting the commission:
missing cash.
(Historically,
what event ended up really revealing the cracks in the CSAC foundation?
The sale of Strikeforce to Zuffa. Once the money stopped flowing
from the local events, suddenly the DCA spending game got exposed
as revenues declined in a hurry. When you go from revenues of
$1.7-1.8M USD to $1.2-1.3M USD, people notice.)
Source:
Fight Opinion
|
Source: Wally Carvalho
|
Johny
Hendricks vs. Martin Kampmann Officially Set as Co-Main Event
for UFC 154
The
UFC is still awaiting the official word from Georges St-Pierre
that he will be ready to go for UFC 154 in Montreal, but the
card now officially has its co-main event.
As
expected, welterweights Johny Hendricks and Martin Kampmann will
square off in the co-featured bout on the upcoming card headed
to Montreal on Nov. 17.
UFC
officials made the announcement via UFC Tonight on Tuesday.
Both
competitors will look to make a statement as the co-main event
with the expected feature bout pitting welterweight champion
Georges St-Pierre against Carlos Condit.
Johny
Hendricks has been on a tear as of late, picking up wins over
Jon Fitch and Josh Koscheck, while Kampmann has looked impressive
as well with finishes over Thiago Alves and Jake Ellenberger.
Now
the two welterweight contenders will fight with a potential title
shot awaiting the winner.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Vitor
Belfort Talks UFC 153 Opponent Alan Belcher, Training with Blackzilians
By Gleidson
Venga
Having
healed the hand injury which kept him from a rematch with Wanderlei
Silva at UFC 147, Vitor Belfort will be back in action Oct. 13
in his hometown of Rio de Janeiro.
Now
two fights removed from a failed title bid against Anderson Silva,
Belfort will look to climb back into contention when he takes
on middleweight finisher Alan Belcher in the co-main event of
UFC 153. Despite more than 15 years of fighting experience, Belfort
knows it will be no easy task.
“He’s
a complete fighter,” Belfort said of Belcher in an interview
with Sherdog.com this week. “He kicks well and he’s
really improved his ground skills with [Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach]
Daniel Moraes. He’s a tough fighter, young and dedicated,
and an excellent opponent in this weight class. That’s why
I’m training with the lions.”
The
“lions” Belfort refers to are the Blackzilians, a team
based out of the Jaco Hybrid Training Center in Delray Beach,
Fla., featuring the likes of Rashad Evans, Gesias Cavalcante,
Danillo Villefort, Cosmo Alexandre, Carlos Augusto Filho, and
coached by Mario Sperry, among others. It’s a new phase
in training which has “The Phenom” excited.
“I
needed tough training, so I went to the Blackzilians. They have
excellent, high-level fighters. I’m very happy with this
training because I needed to be pushed. I needed sparring partners,”
Belfort explained. “I’m happy. I feel like new. I’m
coming home very happy and joyful.”
A
win over Belcher could put Belfort close to another shot at the
UFC middleweight belt, but the 35-year-old isn’t thinking
about that at the moment.
“I’m
just thinking of one fight at a time, and now I’m thinking
only about Alan Belcher. What happens after that, the results
will decide. Such results will happen, and I’m preparing
for them to be positive.”
Source:
Sherdog
|
PAUL
DALEY RETURNS TO BELLATOR IN NOVEMBER
By Ariel
Helwani - Video Reporter and Writer
Paul
Daley will make his next Bellator appearance in November.
The
promotion announced on Tuesday that "Semtex" will be
a part of Bellator 79 on Nov. 2, however, it didn't announce
who the former Strikeforce and UFC fighter would face next. Daley
defeated Rudy Bears last month via first-round TKO in his Bellator
debut.
Bellator
79 is scheduled to take place at Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario,
Canada. The main card will air live on MTV2, while the undercard
will air live on Spike.com.
Also
scheduled to compete on the main card are Bellator bantamweight
champion Eduardo Dantas and Canadian favorite Ryan Ford.
Dantas (14-2) hasn't competed since he defeated Zach Makovsky
to win the title in April. Ford (18-4) won his Bellator debut
in May.
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
Ronda
Rousey Continues to Upgrade Strikeforce TV Ratings
As
Strikeforce champion Ronda Rousey continues to gain star power,
the carryover to her fights on Showtime continues to boost the
network’s TV ratings.
The
Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman event, which took place on Saturday
night in San Diego, aired on Showtime, drawing an average of
529,000 viewers for the broadcast.
While
529,000 viewers isn’t in any sort of record territory, it’s
a solid number for Strikeforce on Showtime, and represents an
increase over the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Final in
May, which did 463,000 viewers, and the recent Strikeforce: Rockhold
vs. Kennedy, which dipped down to 420,000.
Perhaps
a more important indicator is a Rousey vs. Rousey comparison.
Strikeforce:
Tate vs. Rousey, where Rousey captured the title from then-champion
Miesha Tate, pulled in TV ratings of 472,000 viewers. The bump
up to 529,000 for the fight with Sarah Kaufman represents a moderate
increase, likely indicative of Rousey’s increasing popularity.
The
question now will be if Strikeforce and Showtime can sustain
the growth without having Rousey on every fight card.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Ronaldo
Jacaré’s brother is newest Jiu-Jitsu black belt in
Manaus
Contributor:
Junior Samurai
Renato
Souza receiving black belt diploma from Henrique Machado / Photo:
Winnetou Almeida/”A Crítica” newspaper/publicity
Henrique
Machado, the leader of Gracie Barra Manaus/Asle, issued the first
promotion of his recently renovated team at their Manaus City
headquarters. At the ceremony, over 130 athletes from all the
team’s branches were promoted.
Among
them was Renato Souza, the brother of Strikeforce star Ronaldo
Jacaré and one of the happiest on the occasion.
The
fighter had taken a break from competition to dedicate time to
his studies, but now he finally received his black belt from
the hands of Henrique Machado. “I can tell you, this is
personally satisfying. Now I’m getting a new start in my
journey and will really get started in fighting, in Jiu-Jitsu,”
said Renato.
Congratulations
to Renato and Sensei Machado’s burly brood.
Source:
Gracie Magazine
|
Rampage:
‘I heard he’s really tough’
Story by
Guilherme Cruz
Quinton
“Rampage” Jackson arrived in Rio de Janeiro this Tuesday
and went to Lapa for an orchestrated marketing action of Ultimate,
along with other UFC Rio 3 stars, including Glover Teixeira,
his opponent on October 13th.
The
former Pride champion, on an interview with TATAME, revealed
why he chose Recife as the place to hold his training camp for
the event.
“There’re
lots of different reasons. One of my teammates coaches Jiu-Jitsu
in my team, Mario Sukata, he has a good camp set up there. And
I said: ‘why not? I’m fighting in Brazil, why not train
there?”.
Rampage
is coming from two consecutive losses and does not seem to know
a lot about Glover, who’s a newcomer in the UFC.
“I
haven’t seen Glover’s fights but I heard he’s
really tough. I heard he got good stand-up and good Jiu-Jitsu.
I’m looking forward to fight my opponents and it’s
a good fight. This is my very last fight in UFC of my contract,
so I’m start seeing what’s out there, what other company
wants me to fight for it. They offered me Glover and I never
turned down one of the opponents the UFC has even given me. The
only opponent I tried to turn down was Matt Hamill because I
didn’t want to fight a wrestler again, but Glover looks
like a tough opponent and most the times he comes to fight and
I’m hoping he stays that way. It looks like an exciting
fight and I like fighting people who put on a great show”.
Not
minding the Brazilian fans that will fill HSBC Arena, Rampage
revealed he is motivated to fight in Brazil.
“I’m
very excited about fighting in Brazil. I know UFC and MMA pretty
much started in Brazil. I think the Brazilian fans understand
the fight and they seem like very exciting fans. I wanna come
and feel the energy. I’m fighting a Brazilian guy, but still
it’s a fight. I was hoping to fight somebody else if I ever
fought in Brazil, but it’s ok. It’s my job to fight.
I don’t care who it is”.
Source:
Tatame
|
UFC
ON FOX 5 TO BE HELD IN SEATTLE
By Ariel
Helwani - Video Reporter and Writer
UFC
on FOX 5 finally has a home.
The
event, which will be headlined by Benson Henderson vs. Nathan
Diaz for the UFC lightweight title, will take place at KeyArena
in Seattle on Dec. 8. The news was first reported on Tuesday's
episode of "UFC Tonight" on FUEL TV.
This
will mark just the second UFC card hosted by "The Emerald
City." The first, UFN 24: Nogueira vs. Davis, took place
in March 2011.
This
card will serve as another homecoming of sorts for Henderson,
who grew up in Federal Way, WA, located just 25 miles away from
KeyArena. Henderson's last fight against Frankie Edgar at UFC
150 took place in the state of Colorado, which is where he was
born before moving to Federal Way.
Also
scheduled for the main card is B.J. Penn vs. Rory MacDonald and
Shogun Rua vs. Alexander Gustafsson. More UFC on FOX 5 bouts
are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
UFC
on Fox 5 Gets Lightweight Scrap Between ‘Ultimate Fighter’
Alums Ramsey Nijem, Joe Proctor
By Mike
Whitman
Two
“Ultimate Fighter” veterans will square off at UFC
on Fox 5, promotion officials revealed Wednesday, as lightweights
Ramsey Nijem and Joe Proctor will battle at the Dec. 8 event.
UFC
on Fox 5 takes place at Seattle’s KeyArena and features
a headlining lightweight title tilt between Benson Henderson
and Nate Diaz. The evening’s main card airs live on Fox’s
flagship network, while Fuel TV carries the preliminary proceedings.
Nijem
fought his way to the finals of “TUF” Season 13 before
he was knocked out by Tony Ferguson at the live finale. Back-to-back
victories would follow for the Utah resident, as Nijem dominated
Daniel Downes to close out last year before kicking off 2012
with a June 22 technical knockout victory over C.J. Keith at
UFC on FX 4.
Proctor
was eliminated by James Vick in the quarterfinal round of “TUF
15” but rebounded from the exhibition loss to stop cast
mate Jeremy Larsen at the June 1 season finale. The Massachusetts
native owns half of his career victories by submission and has
been bested just once as a professional, suffering a technical
knockout defeat to Luis Felix in 2010.
Source
Sherdog
|
Former
WEC Champion Miguel Torres Released from the UFC; Signs with
Titan Fighting
Former
WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres has been released from
the UFC.
According
to a post on his personal website, Torres revealed that he was
released following his last fight in May, a knockout defeat to
Michael McDonald at UFC 145.
Torres’
UFC career lasted for only four fights in total. He went 2-2
in the Octagon.
The
former WEC champion was initially released in late 2011 after
he made an ill-advised joke about rape on his personal Twitter
account. A few weeks later, UFC president Dana White decided
to give Torres another chance in. That chance happened at UFC
145, but unfortunately things did not go his way and now he moves
on to a new promotion.
Beyond
his release, Torres also announced that he has signed on with
Titan Fighting Championships and will make his debut for his
new promotion on Nov. 2 in Hammond, Ind.
“I
am excited to continue fighting, to regain my focus, and to get
back to what made me a champion,” Torres wrote.
No
opponent has been named for his Titan Fighting debut.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Jon
Jones Speaks Out Against TRT Use
by Damon
Martin
When
Jon Jones meets Dan Henderson next weekend at UFC 151, for the
first time in his career he’ll compete against an athlete
that is currently undergoing treatments for testosterone replacement
therapy.
Henderson
has been at the forefront for usage of the controversial drug
therapy program that treats people with low testosterone and
brings them back to the levels they had at a younger age. He
was first approved for the treatment by an athletic commission
all the way back in 2007, and has stated in past interviews that
it became necessary as his body got older and his natural testosterone
levels dropped.
The
subject of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) and its usage
in MMA has been a hot button topic of the sport over the past
few years as more and more names pop up as users of the program.
Frank Mir, Forrest Griffin, and Chael Sonnen have all used TRT
and been approved for the usage by differing athletic commissions.
Twenty-five-year-old
UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will face Henderson
on Sept 1, and, admittedly, he’s not a big fan of TRT usage
because he believes it all boils down to one fighter having an
unfair advantage over the other.
“Basically,
I believe if you’re healthy enough to play a sport, you
shouldn’t take any performance enhancement drugs or testosterone.
Fighters make a lot of money in their 20's, make a lot of money
in their 30's, and when they get in their 40's, unfortunately,
you’re in your 40's,” Jones said during a media conference
call on Tuesday.
“You
should fight the way you fight when you’re in your 40's,
switch your style up to stay in the game. I don’t think
you should be able to take a drug to pretty much give you the
strength of a 30-year-old again.”
Jones
continued by saying that as everyone ages their body changes,
but in a high level competition like mixed martial arts these
treatments should not be allowed.
“That’s
like me saying I’m not as fast as I was when I was 20, let
me just take something to be 20 again. I think things like TRT
and steroids and things should be for the sick or for the normal
people that really need the drugs, but athletes; if you’re
an athlete, be an athlete,” Jones stated.
Whether
it’s steroids, TRT or any other performance enhancing drug,
Jones is not a fan and doesn’t believe fighters should be
allowed to use them.
“I
don’t think anyone should have anything that enhances them.”
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Former
UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar Headed to Featherweight
Division
By Mike
Whitman
Frankie
Edgar has decided to join the UFC featherweight ranks.
The
news was announced during Tuesday’s episode of “UFC
Tonight” on Fuel TV. Additionally, the promotion confirmed
the report via the official UFC Twitter feed following the broadcast.
It is currently unknown when Edgar will make his debut at 145
pounds; the fighter’s management could not be immediately
reached for comment.
Edgar,
30, captured the UFC lightweight title in 2010 by outpointing
B.J. Penn in a controversial decision at UFC 112. “The Answer”
emerged the clear cut victor in the rematch, however, once again
earning a unanimous nod over Penn four months later.
Back-to-back
confrontations with Gray Maynard would come next, the first of
which earned “Fight of the Year” honors from Sherdog.com
in 2011. Edgar was battered from pillar to post in the first
round of that UFC 125 contest but survived the onslaught and
battled back to hear the final horn. Following the split draw
verdict delivered by the judges, Edgar and Maynard squared off
again last October at UFC 136, with Maynard once again punishing
the New Jersey native in the first frame. Edgar engineered another
comeback and this time left the judges out of the equation, knocking
out “The Bully” in the fourth round to retain his title.
Most
recently, Edgar was bested twice by Benson Henderson, relinquishing
the lightweight belt to “Smooth” at February’s
UFC 144 before dropping a controversial unanimous decision in
the rematch just 10 days ago at UFC 150.
Source:
Sherdog
|
ROUSEY
VS. KAUFMAN DRAWS 529,000 VIEWERS; MOST-WATCHED STRIKEFORCE CARD
THIS YEAR
By Ariel
Helwani - Video Reporter and Writer
Ronda
Rousey's first title defense was a hit on Showtime.
Saturday
night's Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman event drew an average
of 529,000 viewers for the live and delayed broadcast, according
to Annie Van Tornhout, a Showtime Sports publicist. As a result,
the event became the most-watched Strikeforce card on Showtime
this year and the sixth most-watched of all-time. That number
doesn't include the replays that have since aired on the premium
cable network.
The
broadcast peaked at 676,000 viewers for the Rousey vs. Kaufman
Strikeforce bantamweight title, which is also the highest number
this year for Strikeforce. In total, the Rousey vs. Kaufman bout
drew 908,000 viewers, if you include Sunday's replay of the fight,
which Rousey won via armbar in just 54 seconds.
The average viewers presents a 23 percent increase in viewers
since Rousey's last fight against Miesha Tate in March, which
reportedly drew an average of 431,000 viewers.
Rousey
vs. Kaufman drew the largest male 18-49 audience for an individual
fight since Fedor Emelianenko vs. Antonio Silva in Feb. 2011.
That event, which reportedly drew 741,000 viewers, remains the
most-watched Strikeforce card on Showtime.
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
Anderson
Silva vs. Georges St-Pierre? ‘Probably’… if GSP
Beats Carlos Condit
by Ken
Pishna
The
term super fight is often times thrown around way too liberally
in the mixed martial arts game, and we in the media are as guilty
as anyone of its propagation.
But
when it comes to Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre, largely
considered the top two or at least among the top three pound-for-pound
fighters in the world, a fight between the two UFC champions
could not be argued as anything less than deserving of the super
fight moniker.
A
couple of years ago, all the talk about a showdown between the
UFC middleweight and welterweight titleholders remained out on
the fringe somewhere. It was but a pipe dream.
Now,
heading into the second half of 2012, Silva has yet to show any
cracks in his armor, still riding an unbeaten streak through
his entire UFC tenure. St-Pierre, having grown up in the Octagon,
has only two blemishes on his resume. He lost early in his career
to Matt Hughes and then suffered a surprising TKO loss to Matt
Serra several years later. He has since avenged both of those
losses and currently rides a nine-fight winning streak.
The
pickings in each fighter’s respective weight class are somewhat
slim and Silva is 37 years of age, nearing the end of his career.
A
super fight between the two makes more and more sense as the
fights go by, and now, it looks as if it is becoming less of
a dream and more of a reality, even to the boss.
UFC
president Dana White has often been vague about a fight between
the two, saying that there is a lot for each to accomplish in
his division. As time passes, however, he’s talking more
and more specifics.
“I
think if we do the fight with (Anderson Silva) and Georges St-Pierre,
it would be at a catchweight; probably like 178 (pounds), something
like that,” White said on Tuesday’s edition of the
Dave & Mahoney show on X107.5 radio in Las Vegas.
“Georges
St-Pierre says he does (want the fight),” he added. “He
wants to do it, yeah.”
GSP’s
desire is definitely a key to making this fight happen. The welterweight
champion has often said that he would have to put on permanent
weight to move up and challenge Silva at middleweight; that he
didn’t want to be one of the guys that bounces back and
forth between weight classes.
A
catchweight fight, however, could solve that issue, and leave
both belts intact.
Silva’s
camp has also been quite vocal lately, saying that there isn’t
much left for him at middleweight. They have specifically targeted
a super fight with St-Pierre.
So
it seems the stars are aligning for this fight to possibly happen;
at least, more so than ever before.
When
asked if this could be St-Pierre’s next fight if he gets
past Carlos Condit at UFC 154 in November, White even went so
far to answer, “Probably.”
That’s
far from definitive, but it’s the closest the UFC kingpin
has ever come to saying the fight was going to actually take
place.
“He
has got to beat Condit first though,” White added, leaving
an out. “That’s a tough fight. Georges has been off
for over a year, so we’ll see.”
Are
the odds good that Anderson Silva vs. Georges St-Pierre will
take place?
As
good as ever.
Now
it just remains to be seen if St-Pierre can get past Condit,
and if Silva will continue to avoid a fight with No. 1 contender
Chris Weidman and wait for something a little more super.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
The
most impactful Jiu-Jitsu and MMA statements of the week
“Never leave it in the hands of the three stooges”!
~
Dana White, president of the UFC, refereeing to the referees
after Ben Henderson vs. Frankie Edgar 2.
“There’s
no point in just being strong; you have to be technical. Who
do you think is more dangerous: a gorilla with a machine gun
or a sniper with a 22?”
~
Marcos Schubert, Jiu-Jitsu professor with successful instructional
videos on the internet and avid GRACIEMAG reader.
“I
see a lot of people calling for Jiu-Jitsu at the Olympics, but
there aren’t many remarking about how year after year judo
and wrestling lose participants. What I’m interested in
is spreading Jiu-Jitsu as a martial art, as the most important
tool for human self-development there is. To me that’s a
lot better than seeing Jiu-Jitsu become a decorative Olympic
sport like judo, taekwondo, badminton or canoeing.”
~
Ricardo Cachorrão, Jiu-Jitsu professor and our GMA in
New Jersey
Source:
Gracie Magazine
|
JON
JONES ON MMA AND MONEY: 'I REFUSE TO BE A BROKE ATHLETE WHEN
I RETIRE'
By Dave
Doyle - Staff Writer
UFC
light heavyweight champion Jon Jones fights to fuel his competitive
fire and be the best athlete he possibly can be.
But he also wants to get paid, telling reporters on Tuesday,
"I refuse to be a broke athlete when I retire."
On
a UFC 151 media teleconference on Tuesday promoting his fight
with Dan Henderson, Jones was asked about recent comments he
made about Lyoto Machida.
Machida
has been mandated by UFC Dana White as the next light heavyweight
challenger, but Jones balked at the potential rematch stating
Machida was his poorest-selling pay-per-view draw of 2011.
On
Tuesday, Jones went in depth about his motivations for the comment.
"I
want to focus on Dan Henderson at this point, and not worry about
Lyoto Machida, but when it comes to a pay-per-view conversation
in general, I fight for honor and integrity and I fight to be
the best. I try to keep martial arts experience in mind as much
as possible."
"At
same time, I'm a 2012 warrior and I fight to provide for my family.
This is a sport where we don't have a retirement plan and we
don't have insurance for the rest of our lives, so the money
that I make today is the money that's around for when I'm 80
years old and if I ever get sick, or, I have to pay for several
colleges already because I have a lot of kids."
The
NIKE-endorsed Jones understands that a portion of MMA's hardcore
fan base has a mentality that the sport should be entirely about
the honor of fighting, and that making big money is akin to selling
out. But he said the fans just simply need to understand that
fighters need to consider their future, as well.
"Right
now, I'm on this call with you reporters because you want to
write the best story so you can make money. Well you know, I
fight to make money, quite frankly. So, if I was to not be involved
with my time, and be completely ignorant to my finances, and
pay-per-view sales, and taxes, and investing, you know, it would
be a shame. I refuse to be a broke athlete when I retire. So,
I don't apologize for being aware of pay-per-view sales, and
being business savvy."
Jones
has two brothers in the National Football League: Art, a standout
lineman with the Baltimore Ravens, and Chandler, a rookie defensive
back with the New England Patriots. Jones compared love for MMA
with love for football.
"My
whole reason for picking up MMA gloves in the first place was
because I had a kid on the way," Jones said. "My original
goal was to be successful in my parents' eyes. I was the college
dropout between me and my brothers. ...
"Say
the NFL, I'm sure they're really passionate about football, but
they don't go out there because they love it that much, they
do it because they want to be the best, and they want to provide
for their families, so it's so much more than if you love it.
If I didn't love it, I wouldn't want to be champion."
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
Belfort:
“I’ll be ready for Belcher”
Story by
Guilherme Cruz
It
took a while for Vitor Belfor to come back to Brazil, but the
waiting has finally paid off. After 13 years missing his hometown,
the Brazilian fans will saw Belfor triumph over Anthony Johnson,
on the second edition of UFC Rio, earlier this year.
Now
the “Phenom” has a new appointment on the Wonderful
City against Alan Belcher, on October 13th, again at HSBC Arena.
The winner of the bout will continue his journey to the top of
the division, where Anderson Silva is holding the title for six
years.
This
Tuesday, during the meeting to promote the show, Belfort did
not face Belcher because the American had some issues to get
done on the United States, but he talked to TATAME’s crew
about their fight, which is the co-main event of UFC Rio 3.
Check
below the complete interview with the fighter:
How
does it feel to be back in Rio?
Wonderful,
it’s contagious and I can feel it already.
Last
time you fought at HSBC Arena you got moved. How are the nerves
knowing you will go through that experience once again?
I’ve
been there, I know what it’s like. I’ve been dedicating
a lot so the fans can witness a great show I’m preparing
for them and I gotta be focused in order to bring them what they
crave for. I’ve been scarifying a lot and training and dedicating
myself a lot too.
Did
the excitement of the second show in Rio get in the way of your
concentration?
I
don’t think so, you gotta be focused. I gotta be focused
exactly because of the adrenaline. And it works on both me and
my opponent. Each one has to use it in his favor. I’ll be
on my territory, so I’m dedicating so I can be in my territory
and that the alpha male in there is me.
Alan
Belcher is a pretty tough guy, one of the bests in the division.
What are your thoughts about his game?
Tough,
strong, good kicks, fast, good ground game. I guess it’s
a very interesting fight. He’s mature and talented.
He
has shown intelligence against Rousimar Palhares, blocking his
game wisely. Do you think he might use that smart aspect on you?
He
did a good job, so sure. It’s a sport and being smart is
a part of it.
What
are your thoughts about his excellent performances after that
eye incident, when he almost quit fighting?
I
guess he did pretty great, proved he is a complete fighter and
has been improving more and more. I’ll be prepared for him.
What I can tell you is that I’m going to prepare so much,
so much, so much.
Despite
being focused on Belcher, you said this fight might be the way
to get another chance at the title. Do you believe he is the
right opponent to put you on that road again?
Now
my concern is Alan Belcher. What will happen after this fight
is in the future and only results can tell us that. So I gotta
make sure I get a positive result our of it.
Dana
White had said the division has gotten a little cool, but now
there are great names on it. How do you see the division currently?
Knowing there are tough guys out there cheer you up?
Absolutely
and it won’t stop. Now the division also has Cezar “Mutante”
(Ferreira), we have Daniel Sarafian… There’re lots
of talented guys and maybe people you don’t even realize
and there are coming more and more talents, it doesn’t stop.
That’s our sport and that’s how great MMA is.
Source:
Tatame
|
Pat
Miletich: If Cris ‘Cyborg’ Wants to Fight Ronda Rousey,
She’d Better Start Cutting Weight
In
the war of words between Ronda Rousey and Cristiane “Cyborg”
Santos, it’s Rousey who has the leverage, according to Strikeforce
color commentator Pat Miletich.
Rousey
defended her 135-pound Strikeforce title Saturday with a first-round
submission win over Sarah Kaufman. After the victory, she challenged
Cyborg, the promotion’s former 145-pound champion, to meet
her at 135. In response, Cyborg invited Rousey to move up to
145.
“With
Cyborg saying she’s not going to drop down to 135 [pounds]
to fight Rousey, she’s not in the driver’s seat anymore,”
Miletich told the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Beatdown”
show. “Ronda Rousey is in the driver’s seat. She’s
the star of women’s MMA and she can kind of call the shots.
If Cyborg wants the fight, well, she’d better start cutting
some weight.”
Cyborg
is one of the most dominant women in MMA, but she’s also
serving a one-year suspension for a positive steroid test. During
her time on the sidelines, Rousey has stepped into the spotlight.
“She’s
wrecking girls that are pretty much the best they can find, the
best girls out there, and she’s toying with all of them,”
Miletich said. “She’s unique. She stands above, just
like an Anderson Silva who’s toying with people and wrecking
them. Watching the artistry of it all, she’s a unique individual
and people will pay to see it.”
Rousey
made short work of a quality opponent on Saturday, armbarring
Kaufman in just 54 seconds.
“I
think, frankly, her opponents are shocked and really surprised
and kind of just honestly shell-shocked at how she just instantly
attacks the arm,” Miletich said. “She just goes for
it from wherever she’s at, then modifies whatever she’s
doing to deal with the defense that they’re using. She’s
got great follow-ups to finish. Whatever defense you’re
using -- there’s numerous ways to defend an armbar -- but
she knows all of them and she knows how to counter all of them.
She just keeps going after it.”
Even
though Rousey entered the bout with five armbar submissions in
five professional fights, her performance was still somewhat
surprising. In particular, Miletich noted Rousey’s aggressiveness
on the feet, which helped her close the distance.
“I
think Sarah was just shocked that Rousey came out swinging, throwing
bombs at her and backed her up against the cage and boom -- next
thing you know, they’re tied up,” Miletich said. “Rousey
does a great job of going one direction and then the other with
her takedowns. She’s looking for a hip toss, then trying
to sweep one foot, then a hip toss again, then an inside trip
that finally got her. She’s a technical girl and she’s
very athletic and persistent as hell. Somebody’s going to
have to go on the attack with her. There’s just no doubt.
You’ve got to get her on the defensive because if you sit
back at all, you’re going to end up on your ass and in trouble.”
Cyborg
may have a game that can give Rousey problems. She’s big,
strong and dangerous on the feet. Of course she’d need to
stay standing because on the ground, Rousey has been unstoppable.
“You
know what Ronda Rousey’s going to do,” Miletich said.
“You know what her goal is and you’ve got to be good
enough to stop it. That’s just as plain as it gets.”
Source
Sherdog
|
Dana
White Says Win, Lose or Draw Dan Henderson is UFC Hall of Famer
and All-Time Great
by Damon
Martin
For
nearly 15 years, Dan Henderson has been champion or contender
in MMA.
Starting
in 1998 with a UFC tournament capped off with a victory over
Carlos Newton, Henderson has remained a relevant name longer
than almost any champion in the sport’s history but rarely
does he get mentioned along with the ‘all-time greats’.
Routinely,
names like Anderson Silva, Fedor Emelianenko and Georges St-Pierre
are tossed around in terms of the greatest fighters to ever compete
in the sport, but somehow Henderson’s name isn’t mentioned
and that’s a shame according to UFC President Dana White.
“There’s
no doubt about it Dan Henderson is probably one of the most overlooked
fighters and underrated fighters in the sport today,” White
told MMAWeekly.com on Tuesday.
Henderson
has captured titles in multiple weight classes, has wins over
some of the biggest names in the history of the UFC, Pride and
Strikeforce, and has quietly amassed one of the most impressive
resumes for any fighter to ever put on gloves and step in the
ring.
White
is quick to point out just how good Dan Henderson really is as
a fighter, and believes he should be mentioned alongside those
previously mentioned names as one of the greatest pound-for-pound
competitors in MMA history.
“I
do think that’s crazy. Dan Henderson has been around forever,
he’s fought the who’s who, I mean this guy fought Carlos
Newton. He’s been around forever and he’s fought everybody,
at every weight class, and he’s one of these guys that will
always step up and take a fight no matter who it is. If you look
at his skill sets, he’s got an iron chin, never been knocked
out, he’s a great wrestler and he’s got knockout power
in both hands. I just don’t know how you discount this guy,”
said White.
“He
continues to impress no matter how old he gets.”
Beyond
capturing a UFC title early in his career, Henderson has also
managed to claim the Pride welterweight and middleweight titles,
the Strikeforce light heavyweight belt and also holds wins at
heavyweight over two legends in Fedor Emelianenko and Antonio
Rodrigo Nogueira.
Couple
that with multiple wins over former UFC, Pride and Strikeforce
champions to his credit and Dan Henderson might just have an
argument to be considered as one of the greatest fighters to
ever grace the sport of MMA.
It’s
not something that concerns Henderson however because the way
he looks at it, he’s still got some time left in fighting
and it’s up to the critics and fans to decide where he fits
in the ‘all-time’ category.
“It’s
never a bad thing to hear. It’s not something I think about
a whole lot. That’s not up to me to decide I guess. I know
in my own mind I’m happy with my career, I feel that I’ve
accomplished a lot, and I still have things that I want to do
in the sport. I kind of look forwards right now instead of backwards,”
Henderson said when speaking to MMAWeekly Radio.
“I
don’t really care too much about it at this point. I’m
sure at some point I will, but right now I have a goal that I
want to accomplish, and it’s sitting right in front of me.
That’s what I’m focused on, that’s what I care
about.”
One
thing that is guaranteed however is when Henderson finally does
near the end of his career, he will have a place in the UFC Hall
of Fame.
“Whether
Dan Henderson wins or loses, he’s a Hall of Famer,”
UFC President Dana White commented.
Henderson
may have his UFC Hall of Fame slot already secured, but just
to make sure he’ll try add another title to his resume on
Sept 1 when he faces Jon Jones at UFC 151.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
DESTINY: Na Koa will be held on Saturday, September 8, 2012 at
the Neal Blaisdell Arena. Tickets are available at the Blaisdell
Box Office, any ticket master outlet (walmart locations), ticketmaster.com
or charge by phone. Tickets on sale now starting at just $35.
Prelim amateur fights will begin at 3pm. Main card will begin
at 6pm. A full card of action that will surely give you your
money’s worth.
This will be the most action packed DESTINY MMA event to date,
as we have a little bit of everything for you MMA fans. We have
Hawaii vs Mainland/Brazil matchups, Pro Title Fights, women MMA
matches, top local talent, upcoming amateurs, matchups that will
have you on your fight the whole fight, especially the main event
showdown that will be an all out war when Charles “Kid Khaos”
Bennett aka “Krazy Horse” of Florida, battles Waianae’s
“Immortal Warrior” Johnavan Vistante. The war of words
between these 2 have been intense on the social networks, so
don’t expect these 2 to touch gloves at the start of round
1.
Also, that night UFC Middleweight champion Anderson Silva will
be in attendance, as 3 of his students from Brazil takes on our
local fighters. Stay tuned for our Silva meet and greet time
and location.
And a fight that has a lot of the fans of women mma excited is
the battle of “Rocky’s” as Hawaii’s Raquel
Pa’aluhi takes on Raquel Pennington of Colorado in our 1st
Pro Women Title Match. Both go by the nickname “Rocky,”
so we shall see who will have the Rocky bragging rights that
night and walk away with our Pro Bantamweight Title.
Below is just our main card and title matches. The full prelim
amateur matches will be posted after weigh-in, since we all know
that many changes, dropouts or fighters with no paperwork always
happens in the last 2 weeks heading into event. Instead of updating
daily, I’ll just post the final card after weigh-ins is
official. For more info visit our website at www.destinymma.net.
***MAIN CARD***
-155lbs
Pro World Lightweight Title Match
Johnavan “Immortal Warrior” Vistante Jr (Team SYD,
Hawaii) vs Charles “Kid Khaos” Bennett (Florida)
-145lbs
Pro World Featherweight Title Match
Dustin Kimura (Gracie Technics, Hawaii) vs Damaso Pereira (Black
House Gym, Brazil)
-135lbs
Pro Women’s Title Match
Raquel Pa’aluhi (Gracie Technics, Hawaii) vs Raquel Pennington
(Altitude MMA, Colorado)
-185lbs
Pro Middleweight Title
Sale Sproat (Molokai) vs Douglas Moura Silva (Black House Gym,
Brazil)
-170lbs Pro Welterweight Match
Ray "Bradah Boy" Cooper III vs TBA
-170lbs Pro Welterweight Match
Bruski Louis (Bulls Pen) vs Maki Pitolo (WOMMA)
-135lbs
Pro Bantamweight Match
Jireh Umi-Torres (Molokai) vs Ian Delacuesta (808 Fight Factory)
-155lbs
Pro Lightweight Match
Ben “Da King” Santiago (UKA, Hawaii) vs Paulo Silva
(Black House Gym, Brazil)
-125lbs
Angie Pereira (HMC) vs Haley Pasion (UKA)
***PRELIMS***
-205lbs
Amateur Light Heavyweight Title Match
Alex Pulotu-Steverson (Team Xtreme) vs Kevin Aguigui (Animal
House Gym)
-170lbs
Amateur Title Match
Sebastian Mariconda (HMC) vs Cody Andrade (SOMMA)
-145lbs
Amateur Women’s Title Match
Chantelle Berengue (Animal House Gym) vs Bryanna Fissori (SOMMA)
-155lbs
Amateur Title Match
Dan Ige (Gracie Technics) vs Robby Ostovich (Jesus Is Lord)
-185lbs
Amateur Title Match
Neale Johnson (SOMMA) vs Tillis Sionesini (Up N Up)
-135lbs
Amateur Title Match
Kevin Natividad (EightSixx BJJ) vs Brandon Mina (808 Top Team)
-Heavyweight
Interim Title Match
Kevin Herzog (Team Mixed Plate) vs Okala Makaiau
Bouts subject to change
Source: Event Promoter
|
UFC
151 Cancelled: Henderson Injured, Sonnen Denied, but Anderson
Silva Tried to Save the Day
As
UFC 151: Jones vs. Henderson came crumbling to the ground on
Thursday, an unlikely figure threw his name in the ring –
or the Octagon as it were – to try and help stave off the
unprecedented move.
UFC
middleweight champion Anderson Silva, when he heard that the
event would have to be scrapped after light heavyweight champion
Jon Jones declined to face Chael Sonnen on just eight days notice,
offered up his services.
A
month and a half removed from his latest fight against Chael
Sonnen, Silva hadn’t been in preparation for a fight and
thus would be unlikely to safely make middleweight. He reportedly
offered, via manager Ed Soares, to take a light heavyweight bout
at UFC 151 if it would mean saving the event.
Unfortunately,
the offer came in a little too late, as the Ultimate Fighting
Championship had already pulled the plug on UFC 151.
With
Dan Henderson injured and a deal for a new fight for Jones at
UFC 151 unable to be struck, White announced that Jones would
be moved to UFC 152 on Sept. 22 in Toronto, where he would rematch
Lyoto Machida.
Unfortunately,
Machida later declined that bout; leading White and UFC CEO Lorenzo
Fertitta to give a call to former 205-pound champion Vitor Belfort,
who immediately agreed to fight Jones.
Belfort
had been fighting at middleweight and was scheduled to face Alan
Belcher at UFC 153 in Rio in October, but didn’t hesitate
in returning to 205 pounds and a shot at the UFC light heavyweight
belt he used to own.
Anderson
Silva’s offer to fight at UFC 151 was first reported by
MMAFighting.com.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Dan
Henderson Wants to See What Jon Jones is Really Made Of
by Damon
Martin
In
the world of competition there’s always going to be a favorite
and an underdog.
Heading
into UFC 151, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is the
favorite in his bout against former Strikeforce and Pride champion
Dan Henderson, and deservedly so. Rarely does a champion not
go into a title defense as the favorite, but lately it seems
like Dan Henderson has become almost an afterthought.
Questions
continue to fly at Jones about a move to heavyweight or his thoughts
on facing Lyoto Machida next. While the champion constantly tries
to move the conversation back to Henderson, it seems just about
everybody else is convinced he’s going to win and then it’s
on to the next one.
The
chatter and talk doesn’t bother Henderson. It’s not
the first time he hasn’t been expected to win. The great
thing about every situation in MMA, however, is that it gets
settled in the cage, not by the pre-fight interviews.
“I’m
sure I’ve been overlooked and it doesn’t bother me,
and I don’t mind at all. I know that I have a date to fight
him and I’m going to make the best of it,” Henderson
said in an interview with MMAWeekly Radio.
Since
coming to the UFC in 2008, Jones has looked virtually unstoppable.
The UFC’s reigning champion has barely been touched by any
opponent, and since capturing the title in 2011, he’s looked
like the best fighter MMA has seen since Anderson Silva.
The
fact is, however, every fighter is capable of losing. Every fighter
has a weakness; the key is finding the right opening to exploit
it. Henderson believes he’s seen enough footage by now to
know just how to beat Jones in the Octagon.
“There’s
a number of things that I think I can capitalize on, but again
it’s a matter of me making sure I stick to my game plan
and fighting my fight,” said Henderson.
As
far as game plans for his opponent, Henderson has heard Jones
talk a lot about being the aggressive fighter on the feet and
looking for the knockout. While Henderson invites that kind of
strategy, there’s not much belief that Jones will actually
go out and try to strike with him when they actually meet in
the cage.
“I
would definitely like for him to come out and try to knock me
out, because I wouldn’t have to chase him around that way,
but I’m pretty sure he’s going to come out and try
to take me down. He’s going to want to try and put me on
my back, try to get me tired doing that,” Henderson stated.
As
invincible as Jones has looked, the one part of his game that
hardly anyone has seen is his ability to get out of bad situations,
and how he reacts to being hurt or in serious trouble during
a fight.
Henderson
plans on testing out all of those things at UFC 151.
“Maybe
he can take a pretty good punch, maybe he bounces back after
getting beat up for a little while, who knows,” said Henderson.
“I’m definitely planning on seeing what he really is
made of.”
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Viewpoint:
Time to Compromise
By Tristen
Critchfield
A
valuable commodity in all sports, momentum is almost always fleeting.
In women’s mixed martial arts, which is still diligently
working to establish a secure foothold in the national conscience,
it is especially crucial to strike while the iron is hot.
On
Saturday, the Strikeforce female brand picked up where it left
off in March, when the bantamweight championship clash between
Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate generated the type of buzz not seen
since Gina Carano’s heyday. Rousey was her usual dominant
self at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, submitting
former 135-pound titleholder Sarah Kaufman in a mere 54 seconds.
Better yet, she was not alone: Tate and Julie Kedzie put on a
memorable show in another bantamweight bout that was inexplicably
relegated to preliminary status on Showtime Extreme.
It
seems like a solid formula to build upon. Book Rousey as a headliner,
add at least one other compelling female fight and watch as growth
and progression ensue. Five months ago, Kaufman and Alexis Davis
did a solid job opening for Rousey’s Traveling Armbar Tour,
setting the stage for Kaufman’s shot at the Olympic judoka
in the process. Tate and Kedzie did the same on Saturday, and
both women should continue to benefit from the added exposure
that sharing a card with Rousey provides. Tate, one of the few
women in MMA that UFC President Dana White can name off the top
of his head -- according to his Twitter account, he is now aware
of Kedzie, too -- is probably the second biggest draw among female
competitors in the sport today. However, even Tate acknowledged
she is not yet worthy of a return date with the champion.
In
the long run, that is Strikeforce’s most pressing issue.
Can it continue to book interesting opponents for Rousey? A rematch
with Tate is not imperative at the moment. As tough as she is,
Tate still lost to Rousey in the same manner that everyone else
has; she just lasted a little longer. Considering their history,
Rousey-Tate 2 is a bout Zuffa can stash in its back pocket for
a rainy day.
In
the meantime, only one matchup makes sense for the ESPN the Magazine
cover girl, and she knows it. Like Rousey, Cristiane “Cyborg”
Santos has run roughshod over the competition. Her vaunted knockout
power instills fear in her opponents, and there is an overwhelming
sense of inevitability each time she steps into the cage. Of
course, a dark cloud of doubt was cast over her accomplishments
after Santos failed a post-fight drug test in December. Her subsequent
year-long suspension prompted White to basically dissolve the
women’s 145-pound division.
Now,
with Rousey ripping through opponents like a State Fair novelty
act, anticipation for Santos’ return has heightened.
“People
want to see you in the first fair fight of your life,” Rousey
said in addressing Santos following her first title defense.
“I’m the champ now. The champ doesn’t go to you.
You come to the champ. Come down to 135 [pounds], and let’s
settle this.”
It
might be an unreasonable request. While Rousey made the move
from 145 to 135 pounds without issue, Santos is big for a featherweight.
Fighting at a 140-pound catchweight would be difficult enough;
moving to bantamweight is downright impossible.
Santos
conceded as much not long after Rousey called her out, tweeting
that she will not fight for Strikeforce if the promotion does
not have a 145-pound weight class. She went on to say that we
are more likely to see her competing for Invicta Fighting Championships
than battling Rousey on Showtime in the near future.
“Guys,
I have not changed my weight. I started where I am,” Santos
wrote.
Rousey
has changed her weight. While it seems unfair to ask someone
who has done so much in a male-dominated sport in so little time
to make a compromise for an opponent coming off a suspension
for alleged steroid use, it falls on “Rowdy” to do
what it takes to make this fight happen.
When
UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva scoffs at moving up
to light heavyweight for a super fight with Jon Jones or flirts
with the prospect of locking horns with welterweight king Georges
St. Pierre, it is frustrating, but it does not threaten to stunt
the growth of the UFC, men’s MMA or his legacy. Rousey,
in the infancy of what appears to be a promising career, cannot
afford to let this opportunity pass. Instead of taunting and
baiting “Cyborg” to fight her at 135 pounds, Rousey
could cement her status as a pioneer for women’s MMA by
moving up to fight the Brazilian on her terms.
Given
their testy relationship and propensity for violence in the cage,
Rousey-Santos would undoubtedly be the biggest fight in the history
of women’s MMA -- a fight worthy of placement on a UFC pay-per-view
or Fox card if contractual stipulations allowed it.
“I
don’t owe her anything, and she needs to fight me more than
I need to fight her. There’s a line; they all want to beat
me up now. So, really, she needs to come to me,” Rousey
said.
It
is unclear just who is going to emerge from the “they”
at 135 pounds, at least until fellow Olympian Sara McMann further
develops. Rousey might not want to admit it, but the biggest
star in female MMA needs “Cyborg,” too. By consistently
eviscerating the Brazilian in the media, Rousey has left herself
no other options. The champion risks losing credibility by attempting
to force “Cyborg” to a weight she knows is unreasonable.
Again, this might seem unfair because Rousey herself has never
failed a drug test, but a greater good is at stake here.
The
future of women’s MMA has never been brighter than it is
now, but there is still plenty of work to be done. Eventually,
Rousey will have to drop her pride to help keep the momentum
going.
Source:
Sherdog
|
MORNING
REPORT: NEVADA SECRETARY OF STATE WINS DEBUT MMA MATCH, PROMPTLY
RETIRES
By Shaun
Al-Shatti - Staff Writer
Last
April, in this very column, we brought you a video of Canadian
politicians punching each other in the face for a charity boxing
match. So, in a way, politician fights are nothing new.
Except
Ross Miller decided to take it to a completely different level.
Apparently
Miller, the current Nevada Secretary of State, grew up a huge
fan of the fight game. Despite his rigid political aspirations,
he always held onto a dream of strapping on the gloves and competing
in a sanctioned MMA match. And as you may have guessed, at age
36, Miller did just that this weekend.
Standing
6-foot-4, at a trim 205 pounds, the Secretary of State entered
the cage to Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son,"
and left with a lifted ego and pristine 1-0 record after smashing
Jamal Williams via second-round TKO at a World Fighting Championship
event held in South Lake Tahoe. Miller, of course, promptly retired
following the victory, keeping with the failsafe Costanza method
of exiting on a high note.
Miller's
story may be minor in the grand scheme of things, but it's just
another example of MMA slowly pervading pockets of society where
it would've once been shunned. Besides, according to Norm Clarke
of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, "Miller's cornermen and
fan section were all wearing T-shirts that read: ‘My secretary
of state can armbar your secretary of state,'" which could
already be one of the greatest political slogans ever.
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
Chael
Sonnen Says Jon Jones Is a Talented Kid, but He’s Facing
a Man in Dan Henderson
by Damon
Martin
For
years, Chael Sonnen and Dan Henderson shared the same mat space,
coaches and training areas as part of Team Quest, and even though
they don’t train full time together any longer, they will
always be close friends and teammates.
But
Sonnen’s dedication to his friend doesn’t necessarily
stop him from analyzing and breaking down a fight, and that’s
why he’s picking Henderson to defeat UFC light heavyweight
champion Jon Jones in the main event for UFC 151.
While
Sonnen’s recent tirades have been aimed directly at Jones
because the ‘American Gangster’ from West Linn, Oregon
is moving into the same weight class, he looks at this fight
as a match-up between the two best fighters at 205lbs.
Sonnen
just happens to favor Henderson in the fight.
“I
believe in Hendo and so should you,” Sonnen said. “If
you look at Jon Jones and think of a man who can beat him, you
would think of someone with great KO power, the best chin in
the sport because, with his reach, Jones is going to hit you,
great wrestling and a relentlessly aggressive style. That man
already exists – and his name is Dan Henderson.”
For
all the grief that Sonnen has been giving Jones lately via Twitter,
the former middleweight title contender can still admit when
a fighter is simply great. Sonnen pays Jones his dues for being
one of the most dominant fighters he’s ever seen, but that
doesn’t mean he can’t get beat and that doesn’t
mean he won’t lose the UFC light heavyweight title on Sept
1.
“This
fight on September 1 is a fight to determine who is the greatest
ever light heavyweight. I give Jon Jones his due as a great fighter.
He’s beaten some outstanding fighters already and looked
impressive each time. He’s already accomplished so much
in the sport. Just not as much as Dan Henderson,” Sonnen
stated.
Henderson’s
record and accolades speak for themselves, but Sonnen backs up
his teammate with a lot of facts that point to him being one
of the greatest fighters of this or any era.
“Everyone
talks about pound-for-pound champions and pound-for-pound achievements.
But if you look at what pound-for-pound should mean – who
has the ability to beat small fast guys, the ability to knockout
big, strong guys, to move through the divisions with your skill-set
and win – the only conclusion a rational person would make
is Dan Henderson is the pound-for-pound greatest of all time,”
Sonnen said.
“Dan
beat the 170lbs champion in Carlos Newton, he’s won the
PRIDE 183lbs title, the PRIDE 205lbs title, the Strikeforce 205lbs
title, and he’s won the two great tournaments in our sport,
the UFC tournament back in the day and the PRIDE Grand Prix.
All in all he’s beaten 11 world champions in his career.
The man is the best of all time. That is who Jon Jones is facing.
“Jones
is a talented kid but he’s taking on a man, and I’d
bet on the man any day of the week.”
Henderson
will get the chance to back up Sonnen’s predication at UFC
151 in Las Vegas when he faces Jon Jones with the UFC light heavyweight
title on the line.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
10
Gracie Diet foods for combating migraines
Walnuts,
tough-guy food
As
Jiu-Jitsu grandmasters Carlos and Helio Gracie would always say,
“What ails you enters through your mouth.”
That’s
why the MMA pioneers always insisted that, besides the standard
30-minute-minimum daily exercise (essential for eliminating toxins
from the body), eating smart is of the utmost importance. That—diet—is
the ideal medicine for warding off migraines and numerous forms
of cancer.
According
to the neutrologist Tamara Mazaracki, a contributor on the Busca
Saúde blog, chronic headaches can be dealt with through
an intelligent diet.
She
put together a list of foods that help combat migraines, for
their magnesium content or the beneficial effect they have on
the arteries.
*
Leafy vegetables
*
Nuts
*
Oats
*
Whole grain rice
*
Whole wheat bread
*
Fish
*
Eggs
*
Flax seed
*
Chamomile and mint teas
*
Ginger
Revamp
your menu, have a good rest, and enjoy your training!
Source:
Gracie Magazine
|
Shogun:
‘Gustafsson’s gonna have to prove it in front of the
whole world’
By Luca
Gomes
Considered
by many as the best light heavyweight in the history of the sport,
Shogun Rua had to overcome Brandon Vera and then received critics
after his last time in the octagon. On August 4th, the former
champion who fought at the main event of UFC on FOX 4 sent Vera
to the floor. On December 8th, he will have a next challenge:
Alexander Gustafsson, coming from a 5-win streak, on the fifth
edition of UFC on FOX. What went well and where he went wrong
against Vera, the expectations for Gustafsson, TUF Brazil 2,
Shogun’s own language and a lot more you can check on the
interview below.
On your last fight you had an amazing time against Brandon Vera.
You gassed a little but got the knockout anyway. What are your
thoughts about the fight?
I did my job, which was to win. And via knockout it’s even
better. So the goal was achieved. Vera is a pretty tough guy
and he tired me out… I know I could’ve been more prepared,
but I’ll come back better absolutely.
Against Vera you took actions to the ground on the first round.
Is that a result of the trainings with Sergio Moraes?
I was confident both on the stand-up and on the ground. I like
training Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai. These are the things I train
the most. Sergio joined the team and added a lot not just to
my game for everyone’s. He actually changed out identity.
Now I trust more my ground game and it helps my striking, which
is my style. I always go for the knockout. I can make a mistake,
but that’s my style and that’s what the fans like to
see.
You have been fighting MMA for 10 years now. Will you ever change
your style?
I don’t think about doing that. I fought like that for ten
years and I won’t change now. That’s what I know to
do. A fight is a fight, but sometimes I can’t throw myself
at it. I gotta adapt my style to my opponent’s, but I won’t
change my game.
American fans who watched you on national television against
Brandon Vera seemed to like what they saw and you will fight
again on a FOX card. Does that give you extra stamina to fight
Gustafsson?
I was really glad with this invitation to fight in December for
FOX again. This fight will have a lot of visibility since the
entire United States will be watching. I’m very happy I’m
fighting a big guy, a boxer… I’ll do my best to get
the win.
Talking about Alexander Gustafsson, he’s pretty tall and
Vera was also taller than you. Will it help you on your training
camp, since you are already “used” to train for taller
guys?
Yeah. Most guys I fight are taller than me. I’m not a short
guy (Shogun’s height is 6’1’’), but I’m
the one of the shortest guys in the division, so I’m used
to fight taller guys. My goal is to go for it, work on a medium
distance and punch him. He has good boxing skills and I know
his game pretty well. I’m going back to Curitiba this week
and that’s all I’m focusing in.
Do you believe it will be a stand-up fight?
It may be. I fight MMA, so I train everything and I’m always
ready for all areas. If I have the chance to take actions down,
I will. His strong point is his stand-up, so I’m guessing
he has the ground game as his weakness. I’m prepared to
fight all rounds on my feet. My goal is to be ready to fight
anywhere.
Will you change something on your preparation for next fight?
I respect Brandon Vera a lot but I know I could’ve done
a lot better against him. I got a little tired, so I’m sitting
down with my team and try to find the mistake, work on it and
return 100 percent.
Gustafsson promised to knock you out on round two. What happens
now?
He’s gonna have to prove that. He’s getting in the
octagon with an agenda. I rather not say anything and show my
potential in there. If he wants to knock me out at round two
he will have to prove it in front of the whole world.
After he said that, in case you knock him out at round two, will
it have a special taste?
Absolutely (laughs).
You always said you wanted to coach a team at TUF Brazil. This
might be your first challenge in 2013?
Of course. TUF is a dream of mine. I would really like to train
those guys, I told Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta that, but
now I’m 100 percent focused on Gustafsson. After that I
might focus on TUF, but until December 8th I’m only concerned
about Gustafsson. I have the wish and the dream to be a coach
at TUF.
Lyoto Machida has always been a candidate to coach a team at
TUF Brazil 2 against you, but now his title shot might get in
the way. Minotouro Nogueira said he would like to do it against
you. Which one do you prefer?
It may be Minotouro, Lyoto or anyone. I’m thrilled!
Will the show need subtitles show people understand what you’re
saying?
It’s going to be TUF’s first edition with an audiologist.
Source:
Tatame
|
JON
JONES ANSWERS HENDO'S TRASH TALK: 'HE'S AN OLDER, SLOWER VERSION
OF RASHAD EVANS'
By Mike Chiappetta - Senior Writer
For
Jon Jones, the backlash began early. He was only a few fights
into his UFC career when it became obvious that he was going
to be … something. We didn't know quite what, but we knew
that he was doing things we had never seen before. He was dominating
despite little experience, he was manhandling maulers, and he
was undoubtedly going places.
It
all culminated in Jones becoming the youngest UFC champion in
history. While the achievement silenced a few critics, it wasn't
enough to shut down all of them. To them, there was always something
else to harp on, whether personal or professional.
That's
a common fate for public figures, and Jones has learned to grudgingly
accept it, even when it comes from opponents like Quinton "Rampage"
Jackson, who is a noted trash-talker, and Rashad Evans, with
whom he had an ongoing, personal rivalry. But when Dan Henderson
questioned whether Jones' personality was "genuine"
and later called him "goofy" and "young and sloppy,"
well, the comments came as a bit of a surprise.
Henderson, he figured, had carried himself with class throughout
his long career. With the exception of a brief, verbal battle
with Michael Bisping which was born of their adversarial relationship
on The Ultimate Fighter, Henderson has always chosen to let his
performances speak for themselves.
Not
this time. While he hasn't exactly been Chael Sonnen, the approach
taken by Henderson has still been uncharacteristic of him.
"I
just expected so much more out of him," Jones told MMA Fighting.
"He’s an older, more respectable guy. He's a guy's
guy. I was a fan of his. But he doesn't respect me, so now, I
have no respect for him, and I'm going to show that the night
of the fight."
Because,
in his opinion, Henderson let out the first trickles of trash
talk, Jones feels it's OK to open the floodgates. That became
readily apparent when the talk turns to Henderson's fight skills.
Yes,
Jones can appreciate Hendo's resume and longevity. Yes, he has
respect for his crushing power. But Jones also feels like the
murderer's row of opponents he's faced in his last four fights
-- former UFC champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Lyoto
Machida, Jackson and Evans -- has prepared him for everything
he will see from Henderson at UFC 151.
In
fact, ask him if Henderson offers anything he's yet to experience,
Jones doesn't require even a moment of thought.
"No,"
he said. "I feel as if he’s an older, slower version
of Rashad Evans."
Adding
Henderson's name to his resume would only lengthen the historic
run he's made. It's an achievement that might well be peerless
in the short history of the sport. To Jones, though, it is only
a beginning.
His
focus may be on Sept. 1, but he occasionally allows himself to
peer far off into the future, at long-range goals.
"I
haven't set any records," he said. "I'm not the biggest
defending champ of all-time. That's Anderson Silva. I don't have
the most takedowns in history. I think the only thing I'm doing
that hasn't been done is that I haven't been taken down in any
fight. But outside of that, I haven't set any records. There
are people who have done so much more than me. I happen to have
beaten some big names, but time could have been a factor. Some
of these guys are coming down from glory while I'm really coming
into my own. So, I really can't flatter myself and think I’m
so amazing. I really haven't done anything."
Yet,
Jones actually has set records. He was the youngest UFC champ
-- after less than three years of being a pro, no less -- and
he was the first man ever to beat four former UFC champions consecutively.
Even his harshest critics have to begrudgingly admit those are
two spectacular achievements.
More
recently, he became the first mixed martial artist to sign a
global sponsorship deal with sports apparel giant Nike. For Jones,
the moment was as significant as anything he's done in the cage,
because it was a goal he set for himself back in 2005, when he
was 18 years old and uninvolved with MMA.
Jones
said that for his first meeting with Nike executives, he was
"way more nervous" than he's been before any match.
He said little, made his words meaningful, and offered his genuine
feelings for the brand. That impression stuck, because even after
Jones was arrested for a DUI in May, Nike still signed him. ("They
know the type of man I want to be," he said.) His excitement
about the new relationship comes through in spades, particularly
when he talks about the gear he will wear to the Henderson fight.
His line, which was overseen by the same designer who launched
basketball superstar LeBron James' Nike line, is deep in the
planning stages.
"It
isn't going to be anything like any MMA clothes you've ever seen,"
he said. "There will be people who don't know who 'Bones'
is, but they'll still be buying the clothes. That's how first-class
it is."
The
landmark deal came as a jolt of energy as his camp ramped up.
With company eyes watching in their newest investment, Jones
acknowledges a desire to impress. But, he said, that's only one
of many pieces of motivation pushing him forward. Among the others
is one that is a bit surprising. Namely, Henderson's testosterone
replacement therapy usage, which he says, actually benefits him.
How?
"It
feels funny fighting a guy his age," he said. "To know
that he has some advantages helps me train harder and not to
think anything about having mercy on him."
Henderson may have been the first to cross the line of trash
talk, but Jones hasn't shied from countering. It's different
where it counts most. In the cage, the champion has made a habit
of firing first and firing loudest, and those actions have proven
to be far more memorable than anything that's been said. The
thing about words is that they can backfire, and Jones aims to
ensure that this is one H-Bomb that blows up in Henderson's face.
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
Bellator
75 Update: Ron Sparks-Mark Godbeer Heavyweight Tournament Quarterfinal
Set for Oct. 5
By Mike
Whitman
Bellator’s
seventh-season heavyweight tournament field is now nearly complete,
as Ron Sparks will meet Mark Godbeer on Oct. 5 at Bellator 75.
Sherdog.com
confirmed the booking Tuesday with a source close to the fighters.
Three of four heavyweight tournament quarterfinal pairings are
now known, as bouts pitting Eric Prindle against Thiago Santos
and Brett Rogers against Ruslan Magomedov were previously announced.
Bellator 75 takes place at The Venue at Horseshoe Casino in Hammond,
Ind.
Sparks,
37, suffered the first loss of his career in his most recent
outing, falling by knockout to Eric Prindle in the Season 5 tournament
semifinals last October. Prior to that setback, “The Monster”
had won eight consecutive bouts, culminating with a first-round
knockout of Mark Holata in the fifth-season quarterfinals at
Bellator 52.
Like
his opponent, 28-year-old Godbeer (Pictured) has tasted defeat
just once as a professional, stumbling last November against
countryman Anthony Taylor. The Brit rebounded from the loss on
March 24 by stopping Catalin Zmarandescu at BAMMA 9. Godbeer
has finished all eight of his career victims by either knockout
or submission and has yet to see a third round in his three years
as a pro.
Source
Sherdog
|
Ronda
Rousey and Cris Cyborg Continue Their War of Words
It
may be the biggest fight in women’s MMA history that might
not happen.
Following
her win over Sarah Kaufman on Saturday night, Strikeforce bantamweight
champion Ronda Rousey immediately called out former featherweight
champion Cris “Cyborg” Santos.
In
response, Santos ranted via Twitter with the conclusion pointing
towards her possible exit from Strikeforce altogether.
Now
48 hours later and the two ladies are still going at it in the
press with Rousey making her demands very clear about how the
fight with Cyborg would happen.
Speaking
to AXS TV’s Inside MMA on Monday, Rousey once again reiterated
that she will only face Cyborg at 135 pounds, the weight class
in which she is currently fighting and holds the title in. She
also pointed out that if Cyborg returns to 145 pounds, there
is simply no relevant opponents for her to face.
“Who
else is she going to fight besides me anyways? I’ve got
a whole line of girls waiting to fight me. She needs to fight
me or else she’s pretty much done,” said Rousey.
Cyborg
didn’t sit back and accept the comments and fired back,
pointing out the fact that Rousey has fought at much higher weights
before, but now won’t go back there because she doesn’t
truly want to face her in the cage.
“She
claims she is the ‘champion’ and openly challenges
me to fight at 135 pounds. (She competed in the Beijing Olympics
at 70kg/154lbs, and fought at 145 pounds in MMA till she learned
she would have to fight me, and then dropped to 135 pounds.)
Which I find laughable,” Cyborg said through a translator
via a release to Inside MMA.
“I
have never fought below 145 pounds, and I am considered the pound
for pound top women’s fighter in the world! I have yet to
lose a fight while holding the Strikeforce 145-pound title. My
last fight was considered a no contest, but that has not changed
the fact that I AM the women’s 145-pound champion.”
Cyborg
goes on to state that she cannot safely cut down to 135 pounds
due to health concerns, but “if Ronda is the future of WMMA,
and is the ‘champion’ that she envisions… you
know where I am, and I am more than willing to give you an opportunity
to test me. I will fight you at 145 pounds, you know… the
weight that you started at, and then you can have two belts,
and prove to everyone that you are indeed a ‘champion’.”
Is
this a test of wills to see which fighter will bend first to
make this fight happen or will it ever happen?
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Former
UFC Fighter James McSweeney Stops Knife Wielding Thief in Las
Vegas
James
Mcweeney - Cage Rage 28 It was a crowded night on Fremont Street
in Las Vegas on Wednesday as locals and tourists packed the streets
and stores.
Former
Ultimate Fighter and UFC alum James McSweeney happened to be
one of those patrons because he was showing his family around
Las Vegas while they visited him from England.
What
McSweeney didn’t know when the night started however is
that he would eventually have to turn hero when a thief decided
to put a stop to their family fun.
“My
family’s in town right now in Las Vegas, and they wanted
to go down to old town Las Vegas last night, down on Fremont
street, just check out the big TV screens and stuff down there.
So they wanted to get some souvenirs so they went into one of
the stores there, and as they walked I saw these two guys that
looked like they were drunk, but they wasn’t really, they
were just arguing. So the cashier went over to stop them from
arguing cause the store was packed full of women and children,
people there shopping,” McSweeney explained when speaking
to MMAWeekly.com on Thursday.
“As
they started to break it up one of the guys made a dash for the
cash, the box behind the counter, and grabbed a handful of cash
out and then pulled a knife out on the lady in front of everybody.”
According
to McSweeney, the thief pulled a knife with a 3 or 4 inch blade
and pointed it directly at the cashier who was trying to stop
the robbery.
Unfortunately
for this thief, McSweeney, who worked in security in his home
town of London, England for nearly a decade, was standing close
by and decided to intervene.
“I
didn’t want anyone to get hurt, so I just went over and
grabbed from the side by his shoulder and his lapel and took
the knife from him and swept him to the floor and pinned him
to the ground until security came and handcuffed him and took
him off,” said McSweeney.
“No
one got hurt, that was the main thing.”
There
was no honor among thieves as the assailant’s partner, who
was in on the scam, ran as soon as the knife wielding thief was
tossed by the British born fighter.
McSweeney
held the thief down on the ground after taking the knife away
until his wife ran and got security to help him.
The
former UFC competitor admits that there wasn’t much time
for him to think about what he was doing when the robber pulled
the knife, but he did react and he may have saved someone from
serious harm.
“I
knew I had the capabilities to stop it, so I tried to stop it.
I mean if they pull a knife, you have to assume they have intentions
to use it so that was my reaction, I didn’t want anyone
to get hurt,” said McSweeney.
“We
train everyday so we can stop these sort of things and I’m
always happy to help if I can.”
Source: MMA Weekly |
Gray
Maynard Thinks Nate Diaz Will Win Belt; Gunning for Trilogy &
TUF 17 Slot
Gray
Maynard at UFC 125The UFC lightweight division has been in a
bottleneck in terms of the contenders race due to several rematches
and one draw that forced a lot of top fighters to wait for their
chance to compete for the gold.
Gray
Maynard was right in the thick of it because he was involved
in a draw with Frankie Edgar last January, which led to a rematch
between the two lightweights last October.
Unfortunately,
Maynard came out on the wrong end of his last fight with Edgar,
forcing the former Michigan State wrestler to rethink a few things
in his life.
He
moved from Las Vegas to California, leaving behind his former
team and coaches, and began training full time with American
Kickboxing Academy. He also took some serious time off to recover
an ailing body that hampered him leading into the rematch with
Edgar in October of last year.
Now
healthy in both mind and body, Maynard is coming off of a win
over Clay Guida in June and he’s once again gunning for
that top spot. Maynard was just an onlooker when the lightweight
title was last defended on Saturday at UFC 150, and while it
wasn’t advantageous to his own career for Frankie Edgar
to recapture the belt, he still believed that Edgar should have
gotten the nod.
“I
thought Edgar pulled it out, but whenever, it’s a close
one; the judges, it’s all up to them I guess,” Maynard
told MMAWeekly Radio. “He pulled out a couple close ones
against B.J. (Penn) and me and then he had this one; it was close,
so it could go either way I guess.”
Maynard
lost his last fight with Edgar in 2011 and he knew as long as
the New Jersey native held onto the belt, he probably wouldn’t
get another shot at the gold for quite some time, if ever. Now
with the belt in Benson Henderson’s hands, the doors are
once again open to a title run for Gray Maynard.
Maynard
has never faced Henderson, but he does have history with the
champ’s next opponent, Nate Diaz. During season 5 of The
Ultimate Fighter, Diaz submitted Maynard to advance to the finals
of the reality show. Maynard got his revenge at a UFC Fight Night
in 2010 when he beat Diaz by split decision.
“It
opens up things for me. It opens up things for (Anthony) Pettis
because he beat Benson. If Nate beats him, that opens it up for
me more because there’s a trilogy. He beat me once and I
beat him, so we could do the third fight. There’s a lot
of options,” Maynard stated.
Maynard
makes no bones about wanting the winner in the fight between
Benson Henderson and Nate Diaz, but he believes that a trilogy
could be in his future after UFC on Fox 5 finishes on Dec. 8.
“Nate’s
on a roll; I think he’ll pull it out,” Maynard said
about the fight between Henderson and Diaz. “If he does,
I know he was begging for me for a long time, but for me I was
looking at the title and that’s a fight that would be a
great fight for the title. I’d like to do the TV show against
him if that’s the case.”
The
TV show is The Ultimate Fighter, which kicks off season 16 in
September with coaches Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin. If Diaz is
successful in defeating Henderson, Maynard hopes to land the
season 17 slot and settle the rubber match with the man who originally
eliminated him from the show more than five years ago.
If
The Ultimate Fighter happens for Maynard, it would likely mean
him sitting out for the better part of eight to 10 months with
filming and waiting to fight, but right now, he’s only interested
in the biggest fights possible against the best opponents.
It
doesn’t get much bigger or better than fighting for the
UFC lightweight title.
“For
me as of now, it’s about going up against the top guys.
Like I don’t care about paydays, and stuff like that. Right
now it’s about beating the top guys and getting the belt,”
said Maynard.
“I
did a lot of work all the way till now and I’m at the top.
I need that belt, and I switched up a lot of stuff to do that.
I changed gyms, did everything I could, so when the opportunity
happens I’ll be prepared for it.”
If
Maynard doesn’t land the shot against the winner of Henderson
vs. Diaz, there is still one long-standing grudge he would love
to settle. He believes there is still unfinished business with
Frankie Edgar, and that would be another opportunity to coach
on the reality show and then put their rivalry to bed.
“I
would love that fight still. He’s a tough kid; there’s
a TV show in that. That’s No. 4 and that doesn’t happen
very often, and it’s been back and forth. He pulled out
the last bout that we had, it happens, but that’s a good
story as well,” Maynard said.
“That
fight interests me; I want that to be done. The belt of course
is my goal. It’s a good spot to be in. That’s all I
care about: top guys, good fights.”
Source: MMA Weekly |
Should
absolute champ Bochecha go to UFC? To Vitor Belfort and Renzo
Gracie, yes
It
was a beach day in Rio de Janeiro, the first week of June this
year, and Vitor Belfort made the most of the sun and an injured
hand to meet up with some buddies of his in the Leblon neighborhood.
There, he heard from friend and journalist Carlos Ozório
that Marcus Vinicius “Bochecha“, a partner of his at
a Las Vegas training camp, had overcome the unbeatable Rodolfo
Vieira in an electrifying match at the Jiu-Jitsu World Championship.
Pleased
with the news, Belfort remarked: “Bochecha’s good people
and a great talent. And he knows his boxing too,” the UFC
star said in praise. “I want to get Bochecha into MMA right
away. At the camp he told us that MMA wasn’t a goal of his
yet, and that first he wanted to beat Rodolfo and become absolute
world champion. Well he’s done that now.”
The
seductive offer from Vitor Belfort raises the classic debate:
After winning a World Championship (or several), should a Jiu-Jitsu
superstar stick his neck out in the painful new playing field
of MMA and the UFC?
In
the opinion of Jiu-Jitsu professor and fighter Renzo Gracie,
no path is more natural to take than that one.
“We
need more Jiu-Jitsu athletes crossing over to MMA,” opines
Renzo Gracie in a recent interview on the SextoRound.com.br website.
“Anyone who has dedicated their whole life to becoming a
Jiu-Jitsu champion has just what it takes to become an MMA champion,
because there’s no tougher sport than ours. The day I made
the move to MMA I felt like I’d gone to the beach.”
“You
have to do like Ronaldo Jacaré [two-time absolute world
champion] did. The moment you’ve accomplished everything
there is to accomplish in the gi, it’s time to leave the
comfort of the Jiu-Jitsu academy and go throw down, because you
have to show the world that our athletes are the best. And we’ve
got 20 Jacarés out there,” adds the Gracie.
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Absolute
winner Samir Chantre comments on Vegas Open final with Zak Maxwell
This
August 11 the Las Vegas Sport Center was treated to the IBJJF’s
Las Vegas International Open, a competition featuring over 600
athletes. The big standout of the event was the featherweight
Samir Chantre, who won his weight class and the absolute for
the second year in a row.
“Once
again the championship was really organized and featured high-level
athletes—there was no surprise there,” remarked Samir.
“I was really pleased with my performance because of how
high a level my opponents were. The path to victory was to get
to use my positions and take the action where I wanted it to
be,” he summarized.
All
the way to the final against Zak Maxwell, Samir had his work
cut out for him, as he recalled:
“I
had three matches, all really tough and against heavier opponents.
In my first match I played on top and managed two guard passes.
In the second, against a much heavier opponent, I managed to
sink an omoplata that earned me the win by decision.
“And
the final was really good. Right in the beginning I sunk a triangle
and attacked an arm but couldn’t get the finish. After that
I launched a bunch of foot attacks and one sweep to each side.
With 30 seconds left in the match, I was three advantages ahead
and my opponent ended up getting disqualified for crossing his
foot inwards,” explained Samir, who was overjoyed that he
was able to keep the title at his academy, since his teammate
Caio Terra won it in 2010 and the two closed out in 2011.
“That
was special motivation, not letting the title get away from us.
But what really motivated us in the absolute was proving that
technique can overcome weight and strength advantages. That’s
why I came up with the result even though I was the lightest
one signed up in the absolute,” he said.
Samir
described how he trained to beat the big guys, and looked ahead
at his plans for the rest of the season.
“I
train with guys of all weights. I do a lot of positional repetitions
and specific training, because the positions you execute perfectly
will work against any opponent no matter what they weigh or how
strong they are,” taught the absolute champ. “Now I’m
going to keep up my training and focus on getting a third title
at the American Nationals. Training’s going great here in
San Jose; we’ll be entering with a really strong team.”
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Miesha
Tate takes solace in Ronda Rousey's stardom but wants another
shot at the champ
Ronda
Rousey is far from Miesha Tate's favorite person. Rousey took
the Strikeforce bantamweight title from Tate in March and has
gone on to become one of mixed martial arts' brightest stars.
But
though there is much about Rousey that galls Tate, she does get
some sense of fulfillment every time Rousey's name appears in
a headline or her star shines brighter.
Miesha
Tate is still toiling on undercards as she tries to work back
into the spotlight. (Getty Images) Tate figures that without
her, Rousey would be nowhere near the kind of household name
she's become in the last six months.
"Before
she took that fight [with me], Ronda was fighting on Showtime
Challengers, on undercards, barely noticed," Tate said.
"The fight between her and I is really what put her on the
map globally and she's carried that momentum to where she's at
now.
"Who
would she have fought? Who else would have made such a big fight?
[Cris] Cyborg [Santos] was out on suspension. Ronda was dropping
a weight class. Who would have put her on the map like that?
Who else would have made that main event sell? Who could have
put on the women's fight of the year with her? It was her and
I."
And,
as Tate said, it was one of the best bouts of the year, male
or female. Rousey, a bronze medalist in judo in the 2008 Olympics,
caught Tate in an arm bar early in the fight, but Tate escaped.
Later, Rousey got her in it again and, eventually, forced Tate
to tap.
The
fight proved that Rousey was more than just a pretty face; she
could fight at the highest level.
Rousey
has gone one to become one of the sport's biggest stars and was
the feature of a two-part preview series on Showtime to promote
her title defense Saturday in San Diego against Sarah Kaufman.
Despite
her impressive record and role in putting on an exceptional match,
Tate is fighting in obscurity. She meets Julie Kedzie on Saturday's
preliminary card, a decision that doesn't sit particularly well
with her.
"People
are kind of sleeping on this fight, including Showtime and Strikeforce,"
Tate said. "Personally, I feel it's a little bit insulting.
Basically, they've taken a former world champion and stick her
on the undercard just because I've lost one fight. I was on a
six-fight winning streak and I have a huge fan base of my own.
"I
think I do a great job promoting myself and my fights. For them
to put me on the undercard, and have some of the guys they have
on the main card, who I know they don't have quite as much of
a following as I do, it kind of makes me wonder why they would
do that. The only thing I can come up with is that they were
scared to have two female fights featured on the main card. That's
something they've never done before and I think it boils versus
female."
Tate
is one of the sport's most exciting fighters, as she proved not
only against Rousey but in numerous other bouts, including her
title-winning effort against Marloes Coenen.
She
is convinced women's fighting still hasn't been fully embraced,
by the television executives, the promoters or the fan base,
and that's why she's been, in essence, shunted aside.
"Fighting
in general, society looks at it as something men do, not women,"
Tate said. "Women aren't given nearly as much credit and
have to do way more to prove themselves."
She's
right about that. That was proven by the way her fight with Rousey
was promoted. It clearly was about looks, essentially saying
to the young male fan base that dominates MMA, "Hey look,
here are a couple of hot chicks who are going to be all sweaty
and rolling around on the ground."
It
was effective – it outdrew several male-headlined Strikeforce
shows on Showtime – but it wasn't the way that men's fights
are promoted.
When
has the UFC ever promoted by Georges St. Pierre, for instance,
by focusing so much on his looks? Never.
Tate,
though, willingly took part and for that, she has to accept some
of the blame.
She's
a very insightful, thoughtful person and pondered the decision
long and hard before agreeing.
"When
you market that there are two pretty women fighting, sometimes
you gain viewers you wouldn't have originally gotten," Tate
said. "We know, in that case, they're tuning in for the
wrong reason, but we hope they leave with the right reason in
their heads. That was the overall goal of my fight with Ronda.
"The
idea was, 'Hey, there are these two beautiful women, but they're
serious athletes and serious fighters and they can really throw
down.' Strikeforce tried to play off that and we got a lot of
views and a lot of fans who may have originally tuned in, like
I said, for the wrong reasons, because there were two hot chicks
fighting. But they left saying, 'Damn, those girls could probably
kick my ass,' and that they would make a point to watch women's
MMA regardless because of the show we put on."
Tate
says she's "proud to be an empowered woman" and that
"fighting is a big part of who I am." It's clear she's
a serious athlete who understands her job and its significance
in her life and in the overall picture.
She
loves to fight and says, "I'm a powerful woman," but
concedes she has what she calls "my domestic side."
She doesn't see pushing her femininity as being in conflict with
her professional side.
Despite
all she did, though, she didn't get the kind of bump from the
Rousey fight that Rousey did. Tate's fighting in a low-profile
fight off TV, which makes her realize how much farther the sport
has to go.
Like
much of the MMA fan base, she'll keep a close eye on the main
event. She's friends with Kaufman and notes she has "some
unfinished business with Sarah" after losing to Kaufman
in 2009.
But
Tate wouldn't be upset if Rousey beat her friend, because Tate
wants to be the one to knock Rousey off first. Though Rousey
defeated her, Tate believes Rousey is vulnerable.
When
it was suggested to her that sounded like sour grapes, and Brock
Lesnar won his UFC heavyweight title in his fourth fight, Tate
was ready with a response.
She
quickly shifted to hyping a rematch even though each have other
fights to worry about first.
"Look
at what happened to Brock Lesnar," she said. "He had
great wrestling, but he wasn't a well-rounded fighter. They put
so much into him, but that was dangerous because he wasn't very
one-dimensional. He became a laughingstock because he didn't
have that overall MMA game. Guys figured him out and they were
all beating him.
"I
think Ronda is similar and personally, I don't think a champion
should be so one-dimensional. She has almost non-existent striking.
Her judo is obviously excellent and her submissions are good,
but a champion needs to have the total package and she doesn't.
I hope she wins her fight Saturday, not because of anything against
Sarah, but selfishly, I want to be the first one to beat her,
to humble her. Sooner or later, everyone is going to figure her
out, and I want to be the one to show how."
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
Five
Observations About Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman
Aug
19, 2012 - Last week, I asked Sarah Kaufman what has made Ronda
Rousey's armbar so unstoppable so far. Kaufman didn't hesitate
with her answer, which was not an explanation but a declaration.
In her opinion, it wasn't unstoppable. Moreover, she wasn't particularly
nervous to face it.
Kaufman
had fought professionally 16 times, losing only once, so her
word carried some weight with me. She had 10 knockouts on her
ledger and boasted a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Her takedown
defense had been fairly stellar. I ultimately picked Rousey to
win but I thought it would be her first real challenge.
Instead,
Kaufman couldn't last a single minute with Rousey. That's how
good the bantamweight champion is right now. Filled with confidence
and boasting the best combination of strength and grappling technique
in women's MMA, Rousey and her armbar remain for now, unstoppable.
More
Coverage: Rousey vs. Kaufman Results | Strikeforce News
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1.
Rousey has the best killer instinct in MMA, period
There isn't a fighter alive who goes for the finish at every
turn the way Rousey does. Every fight, she immediately closes
the distance and initiates the clinch, and from there, the takedown
is just a matter of time. Rousey doesn't worry much about positioning
in her submissions, which makes her somewhat unique. When she
feels the sub there, she goes for it, consequences be damned.
Against
Kaufman, she quickly earned full mount and threw a few strikes.
As soon as Kaufman put up her hands to defend the strikes, Rousey
quickly secured Kaufman's right arm and with a lightning transition,
rolled for the armbar. If Kaufman pulls out, she's on top and
ready to rain blows. That's a risk most fighters aren't willing
to take. But Rousey doesn't care. She goes for it every time,
and that's why she's become MMA's consummate finisher.
2.
Miesha Tate won and lost on the same night
Tate rode the emotional rollercoaster on Saturday night. Her
performance against an inspired Julie Kedzie wasn't her best,
but she still found a way to win. In sports, sometimes you don't
have your A-game for whatever reason. You still have to find
a way to dig deep and find the resolve to will out a win. That's
exactly what Tate did. Not long after taking a hellacious headkick
that would have knocked out many others, Tate turned the tide
and check-mated Kedzie with a fight-ending armbar. It was a victory
for which she should be proud.
But
then Tate did something curious. In the post-fight press conference,
when asked if she wanted a rematch with Ronda Rousey, she punted.
"I’m
happy it was an entertaining bout," she said, "but
I personally am not happy with my performance and I don't think
it was contention-worthy performance. So I'm not going to ask
for that at this point because I don't think I deserve it. I
think that I need to take a couple fights and I need a better
performance than that. I think the fans deserve something better
and I know I can deliver something better, so I'm going to take
it one step at a time and see where it goes from there.
While
I can appreciate a nice moment of honesty, here's the thing:
We don't know if Cris Cyborg is coming back or not, whether she'll
want to move down to 135, if Ronda Rousey will want to move up
to 145 or if they'll agree to a catchweight. A Tate rematch might
offer Strikeforce it's best option. For God's sake, she lasted
almost an entire round with Rousey, or nearly five times as long
as the next closest foe. Don't give away potential main events.
It's just not good business.
3.
"Jacare's" hands are the key to his future
Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza finally added a knockout to
his fight ledger, scoring his first fistic finish with a 41-second
starching of Derek Brunson. The win should be enough to vault
him into a rematch with Luke Rockhold. His improved hands are
probably going to determine his future fate as a middleweight.
Each time out, he seems to add some new wrinkle or increase his
power.
Given
his noted grappling game, his striking is going to be what keeps
opponents honest. If he starts showing off meaningful combos
with regularity, there is no safe harbor against him. And that's
a scary proposition.
4.
We need to "unify" the Unified Rules
If you saw the undercard, it featured a fight where Adlan Amagov
kicked Keith Berry to the knee, knocking him down and leading
to a bizarre finish. While some people think push kicks to the
knee should be illegal because of the danger involved to the
joint, I don't think they're any more dangerous than something
like an armbar or heel hook. But regardless of that, the state
of California's rules list as a foul in chapter 2, article 3,
section 522, "linear kicks to the front or side of the knees."
This
rule does not exist in Nevada, and it differs from place to place.
Getting the rules standardized everywhere will go a long way
in helping referees and judges properly officiate action. This
is particularly important because many referees are licensed
in multiple states, and it's really not fair to ask them to remember
multiple rule sets. There should only be one.
Which
brings us to this…
5.
Referees need to know the basic rules
You almost can't blame a referee when there are different variations
of rules from place to place, but when they are truly standardized,
there is no excuse for getting them wrong.
During
the second round of the Ovince St. Preux vs. T.J. Cook fight,
St. Preux landed a low blow. Ref Mike Beltran called timeout,
which was fine. But after checking on Cook, he seemed hellbent
on restarting the action immediately. He told Cook that he needed
to fight, even though the rules offer up to five minutes of recovery
time for an unintentional foul. Anyone who's ever suffered that
particular -- ahem -- issue knows that time is the only healer.
Why Beltran rushed him -- giving him just over a minute -- I'll
never know. In that situation, start the clock, let him know
he has five minutes, and wait.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Jon
Jones Has No Desire to Face Lyoto Machida a Second Time
UFC
light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will next defend his title
against Dan Henderson at UFC 151, but should he be victorious,
he's not too interested in the next opponent chosen for him by
the UFC.
Jones
on Friday made it clear that he has no desire to face former
champion Lyoto Machida for a second time.
Machida
was given another title shot after he knocked out Ryan Bader
at UFC on Fox 4 earlier this month, but it came with a few head
scratches from fans because the Brazilian has only competed once
since being choked out by Jones last December.
“I
don't want to fight Lyoto Machida. He was my lowest pay-per-view
draw of last year,” Jones said an interview with ESPN.com.
“No one wants to see me fight Lyoto Machida. I don't want
to fight Lyoto again. Lyoto is high risk and low reward.
“He's
a tough fighter, but no one wants to buy that fight.”
Obviously
this whole plan could be thrown into disarray should Jones lose
to top contender Dan Henderson on Sept. 1, but if he's victorious
the fight staring him down next doesn't make sense to him.
When
UFC president Dana White first announced that the most impressive
winner from the UFC on Fox 4 show would get a title shot, which
featured two light heavyweight main card bouts, it perplexed
Jones even then.
“Scratching
my head,” Jones wrote on Twitter when the news about the
title contender scenario was first revealed.
The
four fighters involved – Mauricio “Shogun” Rua,
Brandon Vera, Ryan Bader and Lyoto Machida – were all competitors
that Jones has fought and finished within the last two years.
It
appears now the UFC light heavyweight champion is making a stand
to face new challengers instead of a fighter he defeated just
nine months ago.
Source: Yahoo Sports |
Strikeforce
Results: Miesha Tate Caps a Tough Battle with a Stunning Armbar
Finish
Miesha
Tate StrikeforceAll the pre-fight hype on Saturday night surrounded
the Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman main event between bantamweight
champ Ronda Rousey and challenger Sarah Kaufman, but there was
a strong contingent of athletes on the preliminary card in San
Diego, as well.
The
prelims were capped by a tremendous battle between two of the
top fighters in the Strikeforce women’s 135-pound division.
Miesha
Tate vs. Julie Kedzie
Strikeforce
doesn’t award post-fight honors as does the UFC, but if
they did Miesha Tate and Julie Kedzie would run away with the
Fight of the Night award.
Kedzie
opened strong, fending off most of Tate’s takedown attempts
and gaining steam with a more accurate and powerful striking
attack. Tate answered strong late in the second round, however,
nearly locking on a fight-ending choke.
Kedzie
turned the tide back in her favor in round three, landing a low
kick then following with another kick that landed flush to Tate’s
face, dropping her. Kedzie followed her to the mat, but Tate
defended the initial ground and pound before locking on an armbar
that, try as she might, Kedzie couldn’t escape.
Tate
eventually turned and extended her hips on the armbar, leaving
Kedzie with no choice but to tap.
The
victory put Tate back on the winning track after losing her Strikeforce
bantamweight belt to Ronda Rousey earlier this year.
Adlan
Amagov vs. Keith Berry
In
a fight that was over almost as fast as it started, Adlan Amagov
opened with his patented spinning back kick to the midsection
then sent Keith Berry to the mat with a kick to the knee. As
soon as Berry hit the mat, Amagov followed with a succession
of punches, causing referee Herb Dean to stop the fight.
Berry
immediately jumped up, apparently unhurt, protesting the stoppage,
but the fight was stopped and called a TKO for Amagov just 48
seconds into the opening round.
Germaine
de Randamie vs. Hiroko Yamanaka
Germaine
de Randamie stumbled her last time out for Strikeforce, but made
no mistakes against Hiroko Yamanaka on Saturday night, outgunning
her Japanese foe all night long.
It
went the three-round distance, but de Randamie’s superior
kickboxing shone through as she rocked a very tough Yamanaka
over and over again throughout the fight, en route to a unanimous
decision from the judges.
Bobby
Green vs. Matt Ricehouse
Bobby
Green ran his Strikeforce record to 4-1, winning the night’s
opener over Matt Ricehouse by unanimous decision. Green dominated
the fight on the feet, showing superior hands and driving home
numerous knees in racking up his fourth consecutive victory.
Source: MMA Weekly |
Strikeforce
Rousey vs. Kaufman Quick Results
Main
Bouts (on Showtime):
Ronda Rousey def. Sarah Kaufman by Submission (Armbar) at 0:54,
R1
Ronaldo Jacare Souza def. Derek Brunson by KO (Punches) at 0:41,
R1
Tarec Saffiedine def. Roger Bowling by Unanimous Decision (30-27,
30-27, 30-27), R3
Anthony Smith def. Lumumba Sayers by Submission (Triangle Choke)
at 3:52, R1
Ovince St. Preux def. TJ Cook by KO (Punch) at 0:20, R3
Preliminary
Bouts (on Showtime Extreme):
Miesha Tate def. Julie Kedzie by Submission (Armbar) at 3:28,
R3
Adlan Amagov def. Keith Berry by TKO (Strikes) at 0:48, R1
Germaine de Randamie def. Hiroko Yamanaka by Unanimous Decision
(30-27, 30-27, 30-27), R3
Bobby Green def. Matt Ricehouse by Unanimous Decision (30-27,
30-27, 30-27), R3
Source: MMA Weekly |
Ian
McCall Reps Reveal Arrest Details
UFC
flyweight Ian “Uncle Creepy” McCall was arrested in
Irvine, Calif., earlier this week, but the details surrounding
that arrest have been confusing at best.
McCall’s
criminal attorney, George Vargas, on Saturday clarified the facts
surrounding his client’s arrest, as well as the details
of his past that lead to him being picked up for two outstanding
warrants, to MMAWeekly.com.
According
to Vargas:
In
2008, Ian was arrested for possession of prescription drugs without
a prescription and paraphernalia. The paraphernalia was needles
that he used to take the fluid out of his ears. Part of Ian’s
punishment for that case was that he was to do 20 days of Cal
Trans (physical labor).
The
following year, Ian was having more troubles and he entered and
completed a six-month residential drug treatment program at Nancy
Clark’s The Recovery Center in Orange County. Ian completely
turned his life around, began training hard and became the man
he is today.
On
June 14 of this year, Ian was pulled over for a traffic stop.
He was given a ticket for PC14601 (driving on a suspended license).
Ian’s license had been suspended for unpaid traffic and
parking tickets.
The
very next day, on June 15, Ian went to the Harbor Justice Center
with his agent, and paid over $2,600 in fines. He mistakenly
thought that the ticket from the previous day had been handled.
A few weeks later, when the court date for that case came, Ian
did not show and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
On
Aug. 14, once again, Ian was stopped while driving home from
the gym. At that time he was arrested for the two warrants: one
for not completing the 20 days of Cal Trans work for the 2008
case, and the other for not showing up to court on the driving
on a suspended license ticket that he had thought that he had
handled.
Because
McCall was on parole from previous charges and a warrant was
issued in his name, the UFC flyweight must spend a mandatory
time of 30 days in jail for his current arrest, according to
his manager, Jason House of Iridium Sports.
McCall
is scheduled for a Sept. 13 release date.
Source: MMA Weekly |
Miesha
Tate Loves the Idea of Coaching Opposite Ronda Rousey on The
Ultimate Fighter
Miesha
Tate StrikeforceThrough 15 seasons of The Ultimate Fighter reality
show, the UFC and its television partners have seen and produced
just about every angle possible in terms of coaches and fighters.
They’ve
brought on heated rivals like Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage”
Jackson as coaches. They’ve had YouTube street fighters
like Kimbo Slice look to earn their way into the UFC through
the reality show. There’s even been a live season of The
Ultimate Fighter, although one is all anybody will be seeing
of that format.
But
if there is one element that The Ultimate Fighter has omitted
through 15 seasons, heading into their 16th which debuts on FX
in September, it’s a competition fueled by women’s
mixed martial artists.
With
this weekend’s Strikeforce card headlined by women’s
bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, it’s hard not to think
that at some point down the road she and her biggest rival to
date would make for great reality TV.
“I
love it,” said Miesha Tate on MMAWeekly Radio when asked
about her thoughts on coaching opposite Rousey on TUF. “I
think that would be the fight to put on if they were going to
do that. It doesn’t get any better than Ronda and I; two
ladies who honestly have a rival between each other.”
Rousey
and Tate had the most heated rivalry in women’s MMA history
earlier this year, which led to their showdown in March in Columbus,
Ohio. Ultimately, Rousey once again pulled off an armbar submission,
and Tate is quick to point out her mistakes in the fight.
Still,
if given the chance she’d love to do it all over again.
“I
feel like there’s unfinished business. I have to hold myself
accountable. I think I allowed myself to be mentally beat before
I came through the cage,” Tate revealed.
“I
was confident that I was going to win the fight, maybe too confident,
but I wasn’t in the right mindset. I should have been more
conscious of what was going on and not paid as much attention
to promotion and things like that. I realize that now.”
All
Strikeforce fighters currently under contract are bound there
for the foreseeable future, but it doesn’t hurt to look
ahead at the possibility of an all women’s edition of The
Ultimate Fighter if the opportunity ever came to pass.
Tate
would jump at the chance if the higher ups at Zuffa decided to
choose her as coach on the reality show, and there’s no
doubt the fires would once again rage when she faced off with
Rousey as an opponent.
“I
think it would be a huge selling point and a huge hit. Ronda
knows how to talk trash, and hype things and whatnot, and I’d
just be keeping it cool and have fun. I think we play well off
of each other,” said Tate.
“Out
of any women’s mixed martial arts fight that’s happened
before, we set the bar higher. I think there wouldn’t be
two better females to host an Ultimate Fighting reality show.”
Source: MMA Weekly |
Daniel
Sarafian plans comeback in December
There
were only few steps left for Daniel Sarafian to take to reach
the top of the middleweight division at TUF Brazil, but a complicated
biceps injury lead him to the surgery table, forcing the athlete
to leave the finale, where he would confront Cezar “Mutante”
Ferreira.
Sarafian
has been assured to fight at least once in the UFC, but for now
his “opponent” is the recovery from the injury. A couple
of months after the surgery, he has started training again. Dedicated,
he can’t wait to come back to active.
“Daniel
Sarafian is a very determined kid. He hates to be off practice
and we started training some Jiu-Jitsu and even Boxing positions
but we’re avoiding hitting him hard with the left hand.
He can’t wait”, reveals Sarafian’s Boxing coach
Ivan de Oliveira, on an exclusive interview with TATAME.
At
TUF Brazil’s house, Daniel Sarafian submitted Renee Forte
and knocked Sergio Moraes out on the semifinals. Away from the
octagons since February, when the show was shoot, Sarafian plans
to return in December, according to his coach.
“Our
plan is for him to come back in December, he will be ready to
fight again then. It’s our expectation, but there’s
nothing set with the UFC, so we’re just waiting. Early in
September he will be released to train, then we just have to
find him a fight and let him do what he loves mostly doing, which
is fighting”, concludes Ivan.
On the middleweight finale, Sergio Moraes replaced Sarafian and
was defeated by Cezar Ferreira by points. Belfort’s pupil,
Cezar is also getting recovered from an injury.
Source: Tatame
|
Ronda
Rousey Doesn’t Care If It’s Showtime, UFC or Fox –
‘It’s Just a Fight to Me’
While
just about everybody in the world wants UFC President Dana White
to commit to having women’s fighting in the Octagon, he’s
only ever gone as far as saying that ‘super fights’
might be a possibility down the road.
He
also recently stated ‘if there was a girl that I had to
say right now that would probably be in the UFC in the next 10
years it would probably be Ronda (Rousey).”
For
Rousey’s part, she’s still soaking it all in –
the whirlwind from working two jobs with one on the graveyard
shift less than two years ago – to headlining Showtime card,
appearing on Conan O’Brien and becoming the new face of
women’s MMA.
At
her core however, Rousey is a fighter and that’s what she’s
most concerned about, not where they fights take place.
“No,
we really haven’t talked specifically about what promotion
I’m going to fight in, I just know the people that I want
to fight, and where they show it is not my business so much.
As long as I still get the fights I want, and I still get paid,
I’m pretty much happy,” Rousey stated when speaking
about her conversations with White in the past.
“Whether
it’s on Showtime, or pay-per-view, or Fox, it’s just
a fight to me. The only difference is how other people are watching
it. It doesn’t change my fight.”
Obviously
when it comes to the promotional side of things, Rousey is a
Strikeforce fighter and for the foreseeable future when she fights
it will be on Showtime as confirmed by Strikeforce CEO Scott
Coker at the post fight press conference.
“It’s
definitely going to be a Showtime fight,” Coker interjected
when asked about where Rousey might be competing next.
As
far as when Rousey will fight next, that remains a mystery. With
two title fights down already in 2012 and no viable opponents
peaking around the corner, it would probably be a safe bet to
say Rousey won’t return until 2013.
The
reigning and defending Strikeforce bantamweight women’s
world champion is more concerned with slipping away from the
spotlight for a few days and then she’ll map out her next
course.
“After
every fight I like to just take a week to kind of fall off the
map and just kind of disappear. It gets tiring sometimes doing
all this stuff,” Rousey stated.
“We’ve
got a couple really cool plans. I want to train at home for a
little while, probably go to Stockton for a little bit, we’re
thinking of going to Thailand or something cool like that. We’ve
got some time so we’ll do something fun.”
Source: MMA Weekly |
Strikeforce
Results: Jacare Knocks Out Brunson, Likely Claims Top Contender
Spot
Jacare
Souza StrikeforceRonaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza may be the
most dangerous man in the MMA world on the ground, but he let
his hands do all the work in his fight against Derek Brunson.
With
a potential middleweight title shot on the line, both Jacare
and Brunson had to know an impressive victory could get them
the next crack at champion Luke Rockhold.
A
former two-time All-American Division II wrestler, Brunson decided
to stand and trade with the multi-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world
champion, but it all backfired after an aggressive attack was
countered.
Brunson
rushed forward with strikes and Jacare threw a perfectly timed
right hook that clipped his opponent’s chin and sent him
face first to the canvas. Brunson rolled over and tried to regain
his balance, but Jacare pounced on him like a lion on a gazelle.
Jacare
fired a couple of more punches on the ground and Brunson’s
arms went limp as the referee rushed in for the save.
The
win now moves Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza to 2-0 since losing
the Strikeforce middleweight title to Luke Rockhold in 2011.
“I’m
very prepared for everyone, any time,” said Souza.
Now
it looks like Souza will get his chance at redemption with his
next fight likely coming against Rockhold with the middleweight
belt on the line.
Source: MMA Weekly |
Strikeforce
Results: Saffiedine Decisions Bowling, Smith and St-Preux Impress
with Finishes
Tarec
SaffiedineThe early fights at Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman
had a little bit of everything including a new welterweight title
contender crowned, a thunderous one-punch knockout and a quick
submission on the ground.
Tarec
Saffiedine vs. Roger Bowling
It
was a title eliminator when Tarec Saffiedine met Roger Bowling,
with both men hoping to take one more step towards a shot at
champion Nate Marquardt.
While
it wasn’t the flashiest fight of the night, Saffiedine controlled
the action for all 15-minutes with a very technical striking
attack. The Belgian born fighter cracked Bowling with kicks to
the legs throughout the fight, while mixing in some fast punches
and even landed some jaw-rattling shots with his knees in the
first round.
Bowling
fired back with power and did manage to hammer Saffiedine to
the body a few times, but he struggled to deal with the technical
prowess of his opponent who trains out of Team Quest. The judges
all saw the fight the same way with 30-27 scores giving Saffiedine
the shut out, unanimous decision victory.
Now
Saffiedine likely stands near the top of the list of potential
contenders along with former Pride stand-out Kazuo Misaki as
the fighter to possibly challenge welterweight champion Nate
Marquardt later this year.
“Who
is with me for (the) title?” shouted Saffiedine voicing
his desire to battle for the Strikeforce welterweight belt.
Lumumba
Sayers vs. Anthony Smith
Anthony
Smith made quick work of Lumumba Sayers with a textbook triangle
choke finish in the first round of their middleweight match-up.
The
two fighters scrambled on the mat when the fight began, but eventually
they made their way back to the feet. It was then that Sayers
burst forward with a punch, and initially it appeared that he
caught and dropped Smith, but in reality his opponent just slipped
and immediately pulled guard as Sayers rushed into the ground
game.
A
moment later, Smith’s leg was up and around Sayer’s
head and locked in for a triangle choke. It only took a few seconds
and Sayers was tapping Smith’s thigh to signal the end of
the bout.
Ovince
St. Preux vs. T.J. Cook
It
took until the start of the third round, but only one punch for
Ovince St-Preux to close the book on T.J. Cook.
The
former Tennessee Volunteer football player was coming back from
a loss to Gegard Mousasi and started out very strong, nailing
Cook with punches in the first round and even dropping him during
an exchange. Cook appeared to be out, but referee Mark Beltran
let the action continue and he was able to recover and even fired
back tagging St-Preux with some shots.
A
slow second round gave way to a quick and devastating finish
to start the third after St-Preux connected with a huge left
hook that dropped Cook to the mat. The fight was stopped immediately
as a stunned Cook could only stare up at the lights.
Source: MMA Weekly |
Jacare
warns: “I can either knockout or get the submission”
This
Saturday, Ronaldo Jacare will be taking his second step towards
the Strikeforce middleweight title. In order to regain the belt
at some point, he needs to defeat Derek Brunson on the co-main
event of Strikeforce’s show in California.
Aware
of his opponent’s best weapon – Wrestling -, Jacaré
is confident to keep on evolving on the stand-up, like he proved
to be doing when triumphed on the bout against Bristol Marunde,
combined with an amazing Jiu-Jitsu power.
“I
did a very good training camp for this fight. I’m ready
to go until the end. I believe I can either knock him out or
get the submission and I guess I can block his game”, assures
Jacare, on an exclusive interview with TATAME.
Next
one to finish his contract with Strikeforce, the former champion
might go to the UFC soon, but before that he needs to set the
score against his last tormentor Luke Rockhold.
“Now
everyone wants to be in the UFC and so do I. But I got a contract
with Strikeforce and I intend to keep fighting for the title.
I want to get on that cage with him (Rockhold) and get my belt
back”, concludes.
Source: Tatame
|
10
Gracie Diet foods for combating migraines
Walnuts,
tough-guy food
As
Jiu-Jitsu grandmasters Carlos and Helio Gracie would always say,
“What ails you enters through your mouth.”
That’s
why the MMA pioneers always insisted that, besides the standard
30-minute-minimum daily exercise (essential for eliminating toxins
from the body), eating smart is of the utmost importance. That—diet—is
the ideal medicine for warding off migraines and numerous forms
of cancer.
According
to the neutrologist Tamara Mazaracki, a contributor on the Busca
Saúde blog, chronic headaches can be dealt with through
an intelligent diet.
She
put together a list of foods that help combat migraines, for
their magnesium content or the beneficial effect they have on
the arteries.
*
Leafy vegetables
*
Nuts
*
Oats
*
Whole grain rice
*
Whole wheat bread
*
Fish
*
Eggs
*
Flax seed
*
Chamomile and mint teas
*
Ginger
Revamp
your menu, have a good rest, and enjoy your training!
Source: Gracie Magazine
|
Ronda
Rousey’s meteoric rise, seeming invincibility reminiscent
of a young Mike Tyson
There
hasn't been a fighter who has captured the public's imagination
the way Ronda Rousey has since Mike Tyson was in his early 20s.
The
former undisputed heavyweight boxing champion scored first-round
knockout after first-round knockout on his rise to the top, awing
fans not only with his legendary punching power but also with
the ferocity of his attack.
The
Strikeforce bantamweight champion has the same ferocity, the
same showmanship and the same ruthless finishing ability that
made Tyson one of sports' biggest stars.Ronda Rousey's dominance
harkens back to Mike Tyson in his prime. (Tracy Lee for Y! Sports)
The
25-year-old Rousey is on the path Tyson rode toward superstardom
after, once again, easily dismantling a top-level opponent. This
time, it was former champion Sarah Kaufman who submitted to an
armbar in just 54 seconds in what was Rousey's first defense
of the bantamweight title she won in March.
She
called out former featherweight champion Cristiane "Cyborg"
Santos after the bout in what would be an epic match. Santos
is fortunate because Rousey clearly has no need for her.
There
are a few special athletes who don't need that career-defining
opponent. Joe Louis became an American hero and regarded as one
of boxing's greatest fighters by destroying a group of men who,
collectively, became known as "The Bum of the Month Club."
As the wins piled up, so did the Louis legend.
And
now, a lifetime later, the same thing is happening with Rousey.
She has had nine fights, three amateur and six pro, and all have
ended with her victorious via first-round arm bar.
It's
hard to know if there is anyone currently active who will be
able to deal with Rousey's brutal efficiency with the armbar.
Miesha Tate, who showed great courage and guts in defeating Julie
Kedzie earlier Saturday in an entertaining battle, couldn't do
it. Kaufman couldn't even come close.
Shannon
Knapp's Invicta Fights is putting on regular women's cards and
may be able to develop a fighter, or two, who can legitimately
test Rousey.
It
won't matter, though, because people will buy tickets to see
Rousey regardless of who she fights.
Team Rousey was all smiles after another first-round win. (Tracy
Lee for Y! Sports)
Santos
makes the most sense from a competitive standpoint. She was dominating
the featherweight division almost as brutally as Rousey before
she was caught cheating after a fight in December against Hiroko
Yamanaka.
Santos
tested positive for stanozolol, an anabolic steroid that helps
build muscle, after the Yamanaka fight on Dec. 11. She was suspended
for a year by the California State Athletic Commission. Stanozolol
is an easy-to-catch steroid that elite athletes rarely use because
there are no masking agents to hide it and it remains in the
body a long time.
It's
almost as if Santos was thumbing her nose at the establishment
when she used it. She was delivering frightening beatings to
overmatched women and was drawing her own comparisons to Tyson.
After
summarily disposing of Kaufman, Rousey called out Santos.
"First
of all, I need to put out a challenge to Ms. Cyborg out there,"
Rousey said. "People want to see you have the first fair
fight of your life. I'm the champ now. The champ doesn't go to
you, you go to the champ. Come down to 135 [pounds] and let's
settle this."
Santos
doesn't deserve a title shot in her first fight after her suspension
is lifted in December. To do so would be to reward her for breaking
the rules and to immediately thrust her into what would become
the biggest women's MMA fight in history.
But
who wouldn't relish seeing Rousey, the blonde who would blend
right in with the cheerleading squad, trying to tear the juiced
up Santos' arm off her shoulder? Ronda Rousey could be champ
a long time. (Tracey Lee for Y! Sport …
Rousey
is perhaps a better promoter than she is a fighter, and that's
saying something. She has a great sense of timing and knows how
to work a crowd to drum up interest.
After
calling out Santos, she sniffed and added a little rejoinder.
"If
you still want to go out in the parking lot … I'll be right
there," she shouted, working the crowd at the Valley View
Casino Center into a frenzy.
She's
already pretty good at the street fighting stuff. She tells a
story of how she beat up a group of men who were hassling her
in a movie theater, a story that sounds like myth and urban legend
but which she swears is true.
Santos
would be wise, if she's given the chance, to take the match in
the cage and not in the parking lot.
That
way, not only will she get paid, she'll have a referee who will
be there to protect her in case Rousey does temporarily lose
it and start trying to yank her arm off.
Source: Yahoo Sports
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Source: Wally Carvalho
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