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2013
2/16/12
Mayhem At The Mansion
Kauai Cage Match 14
(MMA)
(Kilohana Carriage House, Lihue, Kauai)
2/2/12
World
Professional Jiu-Jitsu 2013:
USA Hawaii Trial
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(McKinnley H.S. Gym)
2012
11/24/12
Aloha
State BJJ Championship
(BJJ
& Sub Grappling)
(McKimley H.S. Gym)
11/10-11/12
Eternal Submission Tournament
(Sub Grappling)
(Kauai)
11/10/12
Toughman Xtreme Fighting Championships
(Boxing, Kickboxing, XMA, MMA)
(Hilo Civic Center, Hilo)
10/20-21/12
NAGA
Hawaii
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Radford H. S. Gym)
10/20/12
King of the Cage: Mana
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)
10/7/12
Worlds
Master Senior Championship
(BJJ)
(The Pyramid, Long Beach, CA)
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)
|
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November
2012 News Part 3
|
O2 Martial Arts Academy
provides 7 days a week training! Relson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu classes
taught by Black Belts Kaleo Hosaka and Chris & Mike Onzuka
We are also offering Kali-Escrima (stick fighting) on Monday
nights with Ian Beltran & Erwin Legaspi.
Kickboxing Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with PJ Dean &
Chris Slavens!
We just started a
Wrestling program in May taught by Cedric Yogi.
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O2 Martial Arts features Relson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu taught by Relson
Gracie Black Belts Chris and Mike Onzuka and Kaleo Hosaka as
well as a number of brown and purple belts.
We also offer Boxing and Kickboxing classes with a staff that
is unmatched. Boxing, Kickboxing, and MMA competitor PJ Dean
as well as master boxing instructor Chris Slavens provide incredibly
detailed instruction of the sweet science.
To top it off, Ian Beltran & Erwin Legaspi heads our Kali-Escrima
classes (Filipino Knife & Stickfighting) who were directly
trained under the legendary Snookie Sanchez.
Our wrestling program is headed by Cedric Yogi who was previously
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Just a beginner with no background? Perfect! We teach you from
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BJ
Penn Won’t
Question GSP but Everyone Knows What He Would Say if Offered
Anderson Silva
by Damon
Martin
BJ
Penn at
UFC 107Former two-weight class champion B.J. Penn is no stranger
to big fights.
The
Hawaiian has been in more than his fair share of main events,
title fights, and even what could be described as “super
fights” when he’s fought well out of his own weight
class.
He’s
fought at lightweight, welterweight, middleweight and even what
was considered “open weight” when he took on former
UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida back in 2005.
His
willingness to always step up and fight the best competition,
regardless of weight class, has shown Penn’s fearlessness
throughout his career. Of course some would say Penn’s choices
could also be described as foolhardy considering his domination
of the lightweight division for much of his career, but he is
best defined as the fighter who will literally fight anybody.
That
mentality is probably a big part of the reason why Penn is such
a fan of the “super fight” concept, which pits two
fighters against each other from much different weight classes.
“I
think super fights are great. I think it causes a lot of hype,
and Dana (White) knows that. Look at the name ‘super fight’,
it’s awesome, it’s what this sport is about. It’s
what this sport was built on. Get the two best fighters in the
world and put them in the ring, and I’ve got to give that
to Dana White, he does that every time,” Penn said on Tuesday.
“He
doesn’t let no (Floyd) Mayweather/ (Manny) Pacquiao situations
ever happen, he’s the man.”
The
Mayweather/Pacquiao situation is reference to the long standing
idea that would pit the two pugilists considered the best pound-for-pound
in the sport together in a bout, but because of contractual hold
ups, promoter bickering and other issues, it’s never actually
happened.
Penn
loves that White is willing to put together the biggest fights
possible, just like when he jumped up from lightweight to face
welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre in 2009.
Penn
had battled St-Pierre to a split decision in 2006, but after
three straight wins at lightweight including capturing the belt,
he was offered the chance to go back to welterweight and face
the 170lb champion one more time.
The
fight ended with St-Pierre the victor once again, but Penn has
no regrets about his decision making about taking the “super
fight”.
Recently,
the super fight on everybody’s minds has been middleweight
champion Anderson Silva taking on St-Pierre, for what most believe
would be the biggest fight in UFC history between two of the
top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport.
Silva
has already signed off on the idea, but St-Pierre has been a
bit more skittish with the idea of accepting the bout. Penn won’t
question what St-Pierre ultimately decides to do, but he knows
what he would do if he got the same call from Dana White.
“That
fight, that’s on Georges himself, but everybody on this
call knows what B.J. Penn would do,” said Penn.
Whether
the Silva vs. St-Pierre fight becomes a reality remains to be
seen. St-Pierre is currently on vacation following his win at
UFC 154, but when he returns UFC President Dana White plans on
broaching the subject with the welterweight champion about potentially
facing Silva by the middle of 2013.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Sherdog’s
Top 10: MMA Nicknames
From ‘Hunter’ to ‘Zombie’
By Tristen
Critchfield
What’s
in a nickname? As it turns out, quite a bit. Whether they are
assigned by a teammate or coach, earned through the heat of battle
or simply based on a previous life, mixed martial arts can claim
some of the most colorful and creative nicknames in any sport.
Would
Wanderlei Silva have been any less fearsome if he was more commonly
referred to by his Brazilian moniker, “Cachorro Luoco?”
Would Mirko Filipovic have experienced any less success had he
stuck with his original alias, “Tigar?” The answer,
of course, is no. Nicknames have no bearing on fight night performance,
but they do tend to give great athletes a larger-than-life aura,
and, most importantly, they can be a lot of fun.
Here
is our attempt at selecting the top nicknames in MMA history,
as voted on by a 10-person panel of Sherdog.com staff:
Sakuraba
owned MMA’s first family.
10. Kazushi Sakuraba: “The Gracie Hunter”
It
seems that no Sherdog.com Top 10 list is complete without an
appearance by Sakuraba, the professional wrestler turned mixed
martial artist who terrorized the sport’s first family in
his heyday. How Sakuraba came to be known as “The Gracie
Hunter” is pretty simple: during a 13-month stretch from
November 1999 to December 2000, the Japanese star defeated Royler
Gracie, Royce Gracie, Renzo Gracie and Ryan Gracie.
The
most historic of those bouts was Sakuraba’s 90-minute showdown
with Royce in the Tokyo Dome on May 1, 2000 -- a contest that
ended when Rorion Gracie threw in the towel on his younger brother’s
behalf after six exhausting 15-minute rounds.
The
Japanese media took to calling Sakuraba “The Gracie Hunter,”
but the former Pride Fighting Championships star was not able
to take out everyone in the Gracie family.
Rickson
Gracie, who was widely recognized as the family’s most skilled
Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner, reportedly turned down huge
amounts of money from Japanese promoters to step into the ring
with Sakuraba.
Sakuraba
would not maintain a perfect ledger against the Gracies for the
duration of his career. In 2007, Royce avenged his earlier loss
to Sakuraba via unanimous decision at a K-1 Hero’s event,
and the Japanese fighter also dropped a three-round verdict to
Ralek Gracie at Dream 14 in 2010.
Johnson
reigns at 125 pounds.
9. Demetrious Johnson: “Mighty Mouse”
Johnson
knows what it means to be the underdog. The AMC Pankration product
began his stint with Zuffa as an undersized bantamweight, but
he battled his way to the No. 1 contender’s spot before
finally coming up short against reigning champion Dominick Cruz.
When
the UFC introduced the flyweight division with a four-man tournament
earlier this year, Johnson was an easy choice to fill one of
the spots in the bracket. However, the Washington native was
not the favorite; that honor belonged to Joseph Benavidez. When
Johnson defied the odds and bested both Ian McCall and Benavidez
to become the promotion’s inaugural 125-pound champion,
it was not a surprise to his team. Coach Steve Skids dubbed the
diminutive fighter “Mighty Mouse” a long time ago for
his tenacity, stature and appearance.
“We
were training, I’m the smallest guy in the gym, and there’s
a lot of big guys. I’m just going after them like it ain’t
nothing,” Johnson told Luke Thomas of SBNation prior to
facing Cruz. “Mighty Mouse is short in stature, I have big
ears -- my ears stick out and my structure is compact. The nickname
‘Mighty Mouse’ just landed with me, it just stuck and
everybody seems to like it.”
Like
his cartoon namesake, Johnson is fast and ruthless on the attack,
a lethal combination for prospective foes. As any old-school
animation buff might say: “What a mouse!”
Courage
defines Nogueira.
8. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira: “Minotauro”
A
Minotaur is a mythological creature with the head of a bull and
the body of a man. In MMA circles, “Minotauro” is a
near-mythic fighter known for his toughness, resilience and ability
to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
Nogueira’s
ability to bounce back from long odds was established at an early
age, as the Brazilian was run over by a truck when he was 10
years old. The indentation that remains on Nogueira’s back
to this day is a remnant of that accident.
During
his professional fighting career, Nogueira has authored many
a comeback en route to becoming one of only three men to hold
titles in both the UFC and Pride. He has seen his share of injuries
from competition, as well. Knee and hip surgeries sidelined Nogueira
for 18 months prior to UFC 134, where he made a triumphant return
by knocking out Brendan Schaub in his home country.
In
his next outing, the Brazilian had his arm broken by a nasty
kimura from Frank Mir at UFC 140. He returned to the Octagon
in October, submitting Dave Herman with a second-round armbar.
The wear-and-tear of a many demanding battles has gradually taken
its toll on “Minotauro,” but he somehow manages to
keep showing up for work. Some might call him crazy. Others?
Well, they would say he has the bull-headed determination of
a legend.
McCall
looks the part.
7. Ian McCall: “Uncle Creepy”
Despite
being one of the world’s top flyweights, McCall spent much
of the early portion of his fighting career mired in obscurity.
His anonymity ended when the UFC announced it would introduce
the 125-pound division with a four-man tournament in 2012. The
eccentric Californian with the curious alias drew much of the
attention as the division’s debut approached.
“I
hate nicknames. Nicknames are stupid, especially people who give
themselves nicknames,” McCall said during an interview on
Inside MMA. “One night I was trying to teach my friend’s
son to skateboard ... and then he said ‘Uncle Creepy’
in front of everyone. Everyone noticed and it stuck.”
Since
he did not assign it to himself, McCall has grudgingly accepted
the sobriquet, and, with his prominent handlebar moustache, he
looks the part.
“It
works so well,” McCall once told Sherdog.com of the moustache.
“People say I look good in it. I meet so many people who
compliment it, saying, ‘I don’t like moustaches, but
yours looks good.’”
McCall’s
shining moment did not arrive in the flyweight tournament, however.
A pair of hard-fought battles against Johnson left “Uncle
Creepy” on the outside of the UFC’s 125-pound title
picture, at least for now. Expect the Team Oyama representative
to remain a prominent player in the division, taking out anyone
with a self-appointed nickname in his way.
Teammates
labeled Jung.
6. Chan Sung Jung: “The Korean Zombie”
The
date was April 24, 2010, and World Extreme Cagefighting was set
to hold its first-ever pay-per-view event. It was a preliminary
bout aired on Spike TV that stole the show, however. For three
rounds, promotional debutante Jung went toe-to-toe with veteran
brawler Leonard Garcia, trading punches, knees and kicks in a
furious display of action. While Garcia would emerge with a controversial
split decision triumph, Jung earned plenty of followers for his
“Night of the Living Dead” imitation in the cage that
night.
The
performance did not surprise Jung’s training partners at
Korean Top Team. They were the ones who gave Jung his unique
title thanks to his move-forward-at-all-costs philosophy. The
setback to Garcia was part of a rough stretch in which the Korean
lost three of four fights. Jung has righted his ship since moving
to the UFC, winning his first three bouts in the Octagon.
While
Jung remains an all-action type of guy on fight night, the plodding,
zombie-like approach appears to be a thing of the past. Now,
“The Korean Zombie” has realistic 145-pound title aspirations.
“I’ve
really changed a lot,” Jung told MMAJunkie.com prior to
his breakout win over Dustin Poirier at UFC on Fuel TV 3, “both
in my technique and my game as an MMA fighter, but also in the
way that I think about my fighting and my thought process.”
5. Mauricio Rua: “Shogun”
Rua
is rumored to have received his nickname because “Shogun”
was the brand of a gi he wore while training Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
In Japanese history, a shogun was a powerful military commander,
while the literal meaning of the term is “commander of force,”
which applies quite well to Rua himself.
A
native of Curitiba, Brazil, Rua’s explosive fighting style
earned him plenty of comparisons with Chute Boxe teammate Wanderlei
Silva. However, “Shogun” would come into his own during
the 2005 Pride Fighting Championships middleweight grand prix,
where he bested Quinton Jackson, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Alistair
Overeem and Ricardo Arona to win the tournament. That performance
helped launch Rua to the top of many 205-pound rankings -- a
spot he would unofficially hold until an upset loss to Forrest
Griffin in his UFC debut.
For
the most part, however, Rua has commanded the fight arena like
his Japanese military counterparts did the battlefield hundreds
of years ago. Of his 21 career victories, 19 have come by way
of knockout or technical knockout, many in impressively violent
fashion. Oftentimes fighters seek out catchy nicknames for themselves,
but in the case of “Shogun,” the appropriate alias
found him.
Couture
defied Father Time.
4. Randy Couture: “The Natural”
Couture
was 34 years old when he made his mixed martial arts debut at
the UFC 13 heavyweight tournament in 1997. A three-time NCAA
All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State University, he tore through
the competition that night, finishing opponents Tony Halme and
Steven Graham in a combined 4:09. As it turned out, that was
just the beginning. At an age when many athletes were coming
to terms with the fact that their primes had come and gone, Couture
began making waves in an upstart sport.
When
he defeated a 20-year-old and heavily favored Vitor Belfort in
his next outing at UFC 15, it was abundantly clear that Couture
was going to be pretty good at this MMA thing. By the time he
retired following a loss to Lyoto Machida at UFC 129, his resume
was unassailable: three-time heavyweight champion, two-time light
heavyweight champion, UFC hall of famer and ageless badass.
As
his swan song against Machida approached, UFC President Dana
White summed up Couture’s tenure with the company to the
Las Vegas Sun: “The guy just never ends. Couture is the
master of going out there and figuring out a game plan to beat
anybody with any style.”
In
other words, the man was nothing short of a “Natural.”
Power
made Jackson a superstar.
3. Quinton Jackson: “Rampage”
Jackson
is one of the sport’s few athletes who are recognizable
by a single name.
During
an interview with TMZ, Jackson revealed that his cousin had dubbed
him “Rampage” thanks to a penchant for playing the
Midway arcade classic of the same name. In the video game, Jackson
favored the King Kong-like character George, whom he used to
tear down buildings, eat civilians and generally wreak havoc
on the world. In real life, Jackson has lived up to his childhood
moniker both inside and out of the cage.
The
Tennessee native rose to prominence in Pride Fighting Championships
before moving to the UFC and winning the Las Vegas-based promotion’s
light heavyweight crown with a technical knockout victory over
Chuck Liddell in 2007. Known for entering the cage with a chain
around his neck and a menacing glare, Jackson’s power has
been evident through his heavy hands and thunderous slams.
“Rampage”
has also had his run-ins with the law. While wrestling at a community
college in California, Jackson was charged with assaulting a
teammate who had allegedly hit him in the face with a phone.
Jackson was later arrested at gunpoint after leading police on
a high speed chase in California, plowing into several vehicles
in the process, just days after he relinquished his belt to Forrest
Griffin at UFC 86.
“I
don’t see myself doing anything crazy again,” Jackson
would later say. “I want to be a positive role model.”
Filipovic
victimized many.
2. Mirko Filipovic: “Cro Cop”
The
nickname is not on the birth certificate of the K-1, Pride and
UFC veteran, but it sure feels like it should be. Filipovic is
one of a handful of fighters whose handle is more commonly used
than his given name, whether he is referred to as Mirko “Cro
Cop” or simply “Cro Cop.”
Filipovic’s
MMA career is littered with memorable moments. Victims of his
vaunted left high kick include Wanderlei Silva, Igor Vovchanchyn,
Aleksander Emelianenko, Dos Caras Jr. and Yuji Nagata. Additionally,
“Cro Cop” owns triumphs over former UFC champions Josh
Barnett, Mark Coleman and Kevin Randleman, and he compiled a
16-4-2 record while fighting in Pride, including a victory in
the promotion’s loaded 2006 open weight grand prix.
Before
he become famous for the “right leg, hospital; left leg,
cemetery” routine, Filipovic was a member of Croatia’s
elite police Special Forces tactical unit.
Filipovic
began his amateur kickboxing career while serving as a commando
in a Croatian anti-terrorist unit, and he sometimes competed
under the tag “Tigar,” which is Croatian for tiger,
in his early kickboxing days. When Filipovic joined Pride in
2001, he left his law enforcement career for good. However, “Cro
Cop,” a shorthand nod to his previous calling, stuck with
him.
Violence
remains Silva’s hallmark.
1. Wanderlei Silva: “The Axe Murderer”
Outside
of the mixed martial arts arena, Silva is as nice they come:
friendly and accommodating to fans, media and fellow fighters
alike. However, one does not get a nickname like “The Axe
Murderer” for being sweet, and Silva, thanks to an intimidating
demeanor and bloodthirsty fighting style, has long been one of
the most feared competitors to step into a cage or ring.
Also
known as “Cachorro Louco,” or “Mad Dog,”
in his native Brazil, Silva’s legend was forged while competing
for the International Vale Tudo Championship, where he captured
the promotion’s light heavyweight crown in 1999. It is believed
that Silva earned his more well-known moniker after he captured
the IVC belt with a 32-second triumph over Eugene Jackson. The
longtime Chute Boxe Academy standout offered his most serial
killer-worthy violence in Japan while competing for the now-defunct
Pride Fighting Championships promotion.
There,
he authored a 20-fight unbeaten streak that included battles
with the likes of Quinton Jackson, Kazushi Sakuraba, Mirko Filipovic
and Dan Henderson, to name a few.
Since
leaving Pride, Silva has had an up-and-down tenure with the UFC,
but his long-awaited encounter with Chuck Liddell at UFC 79 was
one of 2007’s best scraps, and his 36-second knockout of
Keith Jardine some six months later offered fight fans a brief
glimpse of his vintage former self. At his peak, “The Axe
Murderer” was known for his fearsome whirlwind of punches,
knees and soccer kicks -- a frightening combination indeed.
Honorable
Mentions (in no particular order): Jon “Bones” Jones,
Brad “One Punch” Pickett, Frank “Twinkle Toes”
Trigg, Bas “El Guapo” Rutten, Roy “Big Country”
Nelson, Keith “The Dean of Mean” Jardine, David “Tank”
Abbott, Jason “Mayhem” Miller, Fedor “The Last
Emperor” Emelianenko, Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell,
Dan “The Beast” Severn, Renato “Babalu” Sobral.
Source: Sherdog
|
Strikeforce
will die, but Showtime’s MMA dream will live on? Update:
Is GLORY now a candidate?
By Zach
Arnold
So,
the announcement of Ronda Rousey going to UFC was made…
on TMZ. The focus now is on Ronda Rousey vs. Cris Cyborg.
As
MMA Weekly’s Damon Martin puts it, “Just because Strikeforce
is exiting Showtime, don’t think they are getting completely
out of the MMA game.”
Given
Showtime’s history, they will want to work with a turnkey
operation rather than build their own promotion. Do they figure
out a way to cut a deal with World Series of Fighting if NBC
Sports Network/Versus cuts bait after the ratings the first show
drew last weekend? I guess there’s always King of the Cage…
The
last Strikeforce event on Showtime will be in January. Out with
a whimper, not a bang.
The
big loser? California’s fight scene (again).
Press
release:
STRIKEFORCE®
heads to the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Okla.,
on Saturday, Jan. 12 with three championship fights, plus the
return of Oklahoma State University star Daniel Cormier, all
televised live on SHOWTIME®. With a collection of some of
the best fighters in the world today, STRIKEFORCE has put together
a memorable and historic card for the fans in the Sooner State.
The
action-packed night includes the following bouts:
Gilbert
“El Niño” Melendez (champion) vs. Pat Healy
for the STRIKEFORCE lightweight title
Luke Rockhold (champion) vs. Lorenz Larkin for the STRIKEFORCE
middleweight title
Nate Marquardt (champion) vs. Tarec Saffiedine for the STRIKEFORCE
welterweight title
Daniel Cormier (Grand Prix champion, OSU All-American) vs. Dion
Staring
“We’ve
built an absolutely stacked card for Oklahoma City and the SHOWTIME
viewers,” STRIKEFORCE CEO Scott Coker said. “We have
three awesome title fights featuring some of the best fighters
to ever grace the STRIKEFORCE cage. Plus, we have Daniel Cormier,
one of the fastest-rising heavyweight stars today, returning
to his roots in Oklahoma to fight Dion Staring. January 12 is
going to be a really special night.”
“The
biggest stars in STRIKEFORCE are putting their titles on the
line in competitive fights,” said Stephen Espinoza, Executive
Vice President and General Manager, SHOWTIME Sports®, “and
that is precisely what fans of STRIKEFORCE on SHOWTIME have come
to expect. We are excited to be part of the event.”
STRIKEFORCE®
will air live on SHOWTIME® at 10 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the
West Coast), while preliminary fights will be shown live on SHOWTIME
EXTREME® at 8 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on West Coast). Additional
fights scheduled for the event are expected to be released shortly.
Tickets
for STRIKEFORCE® go on sale to the public on Friday, November
16 at 12 p.m. CT and are priced at $150, $100, $70 and $50. Tickets
are available at the Chesapeake Energy Arena box office, all
Ticketmaster locations, at Ticketmaster.com or 1-800-745-3000.
Ticket prices will be announced in the coming days. Applicable
service charges may apply.
Update:
The Glory 12/2 Makuhari Messe show in Chiba has been canceled
in favor of piling resources towards their New Year’s Eve
event on 12/31 at Saitama Super Arena. If Glory’s going
to push forward in 2013 and spend cash, Showtime may just have
a partner for both MMA & kickboxing.
Source: Fight Opinion
|
Ronda
Rousey talks sex before fights, fighting at the movies and more
on Jim Rome show
By Dave
Meltzer
Jayne
Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE
Appearing
on Jim Rome's new talk show on Showtime, Ronda Rousey gave no
hints as to her UFC debut, but visible bruising showed she's
in serious fight training. Instead, she talked sex before fights,
Georges St-Pierre's comments on women in MMA, and the fight that
got her sued
Facebook
Twitter
Ronda
Rousey, sporting a badly discolored leg from Muay Thai training
and some facial bruises covered up by makeup, talked sex before
fights and Georges St-Pierre's comments on women fighting during
the second episode of Jim Rome's new Showtime talk show Wednesday
night.
Rousey
was the subject of a segment involving 10 questions and made
it clear she was in fight training, but provided no hints as
to when, where or who she would face in her inevitable UFC debut.
Rousey
has in the past spoken about how she thinks sex before fights
is great for women, thinking it raises their testosterone level,
although maybe not the actual day of the fight.
"For
girls, it raises your testosterone, so I try to have as much
sex as possible before I fight actually," said the 25-year-old
who appeared on the cover of this year's ESPN Body Magazine.
"Not with everybody. I don't put out like a Craigslist ad
or anything, but if I got a steady, I'm going to be like, `Yo,
fight time's coming up."'
The
UFC's women's bantamweight champion did seem annoyed when Rome
brought up comments by Georges St-Pierre, who said that he wasn't
a fan of women's mixed martial arts and didn't enjoy watching
women punch each other in the face. Rousey seemed mad someone
in her own sport would say that, comparing that attitude with
the generation of boxing fans who looked down on MMA because
it was different.
"Initially,
the way he said it, it reminds me a lot like when you listen
to boxing fans that are like, 'Oh, the MMA fighters, they're
good athletes, and they're talented and good for them, but I
can't stand to see guys humping on the ground like that. It's
not a real man's sport. Good for them, that they make money,'
they're kind of prejudiced against it," she said. "(He)
seems to have very much that same kind of prejudice toward women
in MMA, and he said it as tactfully as possible. That doesn't
make it a tactful thing to say."
In
fairness to St-Pierre, everyone does have the right to enjoy
or not enjoy sports or aspects of sports. If he had said he didn't
believe women belong fighting in MMA, that would be a very different
issue.
She
then told a story about her wildest fight, this one before she
ever got into MMA, with two guys in a movie theater, which ended
up getting her sued. She joked that they picked the fight, and
then when they lost, they filed a suit. But since there were
enough witnesses to what happened, she won in court as well.
"Yes,
I got into a fight with a couple of guys at the end of 2007,
before the Olympics, in a movie theater," she said. "It
was four couples, so four guys and four girls. One girl tried
to get into it. And I had two friends with me, who held off two
of the guys, so I was only really handling two guys by myself.
They sued me for assault because it didn't really go too well
for them. I guess if you lose a fight in Santa Monica, the next
option is to sue. Everyone in the theater was cheering for me.
I was thinking I might have a future in this."
Source: MMA Fighting
|
Dana
White on GSP’s Return – “The King of Pay-Per-View
is Back”
by Damon
Martin
The
UFC has never been in the business of giving out exact numbers
when it comes to returns on pay-per-view buys, but it’s
safe to say they are happy to have Georges St-Pierre back in
the fold.
St-Pierre
has been described on numerous occasions by UFC president Dana
White as the company’s No. 1 selling fighter on pay-per-view
and his 19-month absence from the sport certainly didn’t
do the promotion any favors.
His
return at UFC 154 was a big moment because huge returns were
expected, and White says St-Pierre’s pay-per-view performance
did not disappoint.
“GSP
delivered again. It was awesome, it was a great weekend for us,”
White said on Tuesday.
No
pay-per-view estimates have been released and the UFC never gives
out specifics in terms of numbers, but White’s mood could
only be described as jubilant after the Canadian superstar made
his comeback at UFC 154.
“It
was a good show,” said White. “The king of pay-per-view
is back; let’s put it that way.”
St-Pierre
defeated former interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit by
unanimous decision in his return to the UFC.
Currently,
St-Pierre is away on vacation and when he returns the UFC will
discuss options for his next fight, which may include a potential
superfight against Anderson Silva.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
An
update on UFC Japan 2013 series starting next Spring
By Zach
Arnold
Update
(11/10): UFC will return to Saitama Super Arena on March 3rd,
2013. Will be interesting to see if they do as well as the 2012
show. They have a multi-year agreement with Dentsu for shows,
so this is no surprise. The question is how much paid vs. paper.
***
(Originally
posted on August 29th, 2012)
Mark
Fischer of UFC told Nikkan Sports the following:
UFC
Japan series starts in Spring 2013
The plan is for four house shows a year
The shows will be in 5,000-seat buildings (Yokohama Bunka Gym,
Osaka Prefectural Gym, Tokyo Bay NK Hall, the like)
Won’t be UFC numbered shows but shows in order to find Japanese
talent and extend the UFC name into the marketplace
What
wasn’t said is as interesting as what was said.
First,
is Japan going to be UFC’s primary Asian target market or
is it China, which is Mark’s home turf in Asia?
No
real talk about a television deal in the marketplace. As I’ve
said before, the over-the-air TV situation for combat sports
in Japan is terrible. The door has been slammed shut. The combat
sports business is too dirty right now for the networks to touch.
They don’t want any part of it. They would be interested
in a Japanese operation if it was big-time and clean but UFC
is not a Japanese operation. Will a Japan series change that?
No. It won’t really get them anywhere in terms of getting
a substantive TV deal in Japan. They’ll have to be content
with buying time from TV Tokyo for random 3 or 4 AM show airings
that don’t move the needle. That’s not UFC’s fault
but rather the way things are in Japan in 2012.
As
for what it means for the yakuza in combat sports, the gangs
on the ground are hurting big time for cash and the anti-yakuza
finance laws are targeting them in a big way. The police are
trying to clear out the gangs from some of the more notable buildings
so that there aren’t as many scams going on for protection
money of turf. That said, always expect the gangs to act like
stooges and try to sink their teeth into the UFC Japan series
either through managing talent or by trying to get an ‘in’
as a consultant. Dentsu has power and they can always take care
of the small fish but if the big fish get interested, you never
know. I doubt UFC will encounter much trouble with the smaller
buildings in the Tokyo area. The rest of the country may be a
different matter…
UFC
Japan 2012 at Saitama Super Arena turned out to be a last gasp
of big-scale MMA in Japan rather than a starting point. Even
if you believe the reports that Dentsu/Softbank had half the
arena comped for tickets, UFC still overachieved with that show.
But even bubbles burst and it’s clear that there was no
real momentum from that show for UFC to run big scale events
in Japan on a continuing basis. This is OK. It’s not bad
news nor is it a sign of any failure for them. It’s just
reality. Will UFC be able to draw big houses again in Japan?
The jury is still out on that one, but it makes it easier that
they really are the only ball game in town at this point. It
could go either way.
History
says that UFC looks at Japanese fighters and what they desire
in future prospects much differently than what the general Japanese
public thinks is appealing. The classic example is Tsuyoshi Kohsaka,
who the UFC coveted and he was an undercarder in RINGS. The public
cared little about Kohsaka, even after the UFC run, and cared
all about Kiyoshi Tamura. If the purpose of the UFC Japan shows
is to find talent that will be title-class, they may be in for
a disappointment given how the situation on the ground is right
now for the gyms and their kind of training. That and there simply
isn’t the level of high-end doping going on in the Japanese
gyms like there is at the American & Brazilian gyms. The
truth is the truth. If the mission of UFC is to try to find Japanese
fighters who can draw but may not be competitive worldwide, that
might be a more realistic goal. However, that’s not the
way UFC thinks. They always think with one mindset and not about
regional market preferences.
So,
I’m not entirely sure what the overall goal is for the UFC
Japan series other than it fulfills a contract with Dentsu, builds
some name recognition in Japan, and maybe they find a few fighters
in smaller weight classes. Just don’t expect a big splash
to happen as far as this series of shows booming into something
major. I like the overall concept but I don’t think the
UFC’s standard corporate philosophy meshes with the traditional
Japanese fan tastes very well. Here’s hoping they can find
some success and flush the bad guys out of the Japanese scene.
There’s still plenty of cockroaches that need to be fumigated.
Source: Fight Opinion
|
MMA
Roundtable: GSP vs. Silva's chances, UFC-FOX relationship, Bellator
rematches and more
By Luke
Thomas
Georges
St-Pierre - Esther Lin, MMA Fighting
The
MMA world never stops turning and the final quarter of 2012 is
certainly no exception. With the return of Georges St-Pierre
at UFC 154, the GSP vs. Silva sweepstakes launched, but there's
a question of whether the entire thing will actually happen.
Bellator introduced rematches without tourney fights, December
is stacked and UFC and FOX seem to be on good footing.
What
to think of all of this? To help break down what it all means,
the esteemed Shaun Al-Shatti has joined me in this week's edition
of the MMA Roundtable.
1.
GSP continues to throw cold water on the idea of a superfight
with Anderson Silva. Is he serious about not wanting to fight
him or just doing hardline negotiating?
Al-Shatti:
In all likelihood the truth lies somewhere between column A and
column B. St-Pierre's reservations about accepting this superfight
are well noted, and to be fair, for the most part they're completely
valid. Silva is the bigger man, is the one who instigated this
drama, and at 37 years old, is on the tail end of his career
while the 31-year-old St-Pierre is still well into his prime.
The last point is most telling, since Silva is obviously looking
to close out his career by squeezing in as many big money fights
as possible. That's all well and good, but for St-Pierre, who
still has an untold number of years of earning potential ahead
of him, it does him no favors to succumb to Silva's public pressure
and accept terms that are inherently disadvantageous when any
loss, even to Silva, could dampen that potential.
Besides,
St-Pierre already has a big money fight out there at his own
weight class in Nick Diaz. Combine the indelible 209 intrigue
and the pair's tumultuous history, and that fight would easily
become one of the biggest blockbuster pay-per-views of 2013.
St-Pierre's camp knows this, Tri-Star's Firas Zahabi has already
started to float the idea out into the media under the guise
that Diaz "deserves" it more. And if you strapped St-Pierre
and his management into a lie detector test, my guess is you'd
find out how perfectly content they are to avoid messing with
proven formula and continue dominating the 170-pound division
while raking in top dollar pay-per-view earnings.
That's
why, in many ways, St-Pierre throwing out the 170-pound caveat
to Silva was the perfect power play. There's little chance Silva
accepts such a massive (but fair) discrepancy, meanwhile St-Pierre
doesn't wind up the public scape goat for a heavily-hyped match-up
failing to come to fruition. Plus, if Silva somehow accepts and
slashes down his weight, then hey, the lopsided dynamics of this
fight change completely.
Thomas:
For reasons that won't match my answers here, I'm still optimistic
about the chances of this fight happening. I have irrational
impulses that are too unjustified to publicly air, but I'm also
clinging to a hope that miraculously this will all work out.
Ultimately, though, Shaun's right: we just don't know. And 'don't
know' is most certainly a grade below 'yes' with conditions.
That's troubling.
One
has to admit GSP has been remarkably consistent over time on
his answers when pressured about fighting Silva: he basically
says no each and every time. It used to be the move to middleweight
would take too long and besides, there's too much at welterweight
to worry about. Now weight is still an issue (although the pressure
to go to middleweight is basically off), but a little less so.
Instead, the timing isn't right, at least not as GSP would tell
us. Besides, there's still work at welterweight to do.
I
certainly would never dream of demeaning GSP or stupidly suggest
he's afraid. But he's saved from having to give into the pressure
by being king of a division in MMA that's talent rich. He's consistently
able to lean on the fact that, well, why not stay at welterweight?
There's plenty to do there, right? That's not an option available
to every champion of every weight class.
Strangely,
I'd hate for negotiations to go too well for GSP. What if Silva
does decide to make the cut all the way to 170 pounds, but looks
like death and fights terribly in the process? What is the point
of that? My hope is that 170 for GSP and 177/178 for Silva are
the starting negotiating points.
2.
December will feature a ton of good fights from all over the
MMA world. Which one are you looking forward to most?
Al-Shatti:
If you asked me this last month, the words "JDS vs. Cain
II" would have been out of my mouth before you even finished
the question. But alas, after watching a revitalized B.J. Penn
shadowbox around the streets of Hawaii and then hearing his smoldering,
show-stealing act on this week's conference call, I have to admit,
I think I've fallen for it again.
Two
things often prove troublesome in athletic retirement. One, obviously,
is the abrupt lack of competition and sudden upswing in free
time. But the other aspect, the one that's often overlooked,
is the meat market discussion about "legacies" that
inevitably seems to take place. An athlete is forced to watch
as his/her entire career is poked and prodded, achievements criticized
and minimized, until the public comes to some form of collective
conclusion, fair or not, about an athlete's life work.
For
Penn, after offering us one brutal final memory at UFC 137, that
conclusion seemed to land somewhere at "he was great, but
he should have been greater." Such a dismissive slight couldn't
have sat well with the 33-year-old when he knew he could still
do something change it. Penn basically said as much on Tuesday,
when he bemoaned how scarcely he's brought up in the conversation
of pound-for-pound greats. Even if it's a one-off, this sudden
fire, also fueled by Rory MacDonald effectively dismissing the
former champ as nothing but a fat has-been, is the reason a match-up
that once looked tremendously one-sided, no longer seems as such.
It's become one of the longest running clichés in the
sport, but a motivated Penn has proven to be a monster for anyone
to deal with.
Thomas:
Like Shaun, I'm a sucker for Penn, too. There's just a weakness
I have about his declarations that things will be new or amazing
the next time out I simply cannot get away from. But I also have
to say that's where Shaun and I part ways. Even if Penn wins,
I don't expect him to stick around MMA very long. In fact, if
he stopped Rory in the first round (however unlikely that may
be), I still see him retiring after this fight. Without more
gravity to the bout, it's not enough for me.
Instead,
I'm looking at the rematch between Junior dos Santos vs. Cain
Velasquez. I won't call their first fight a fluke, but I don't
think we saw the best of either man. We certainly didn't get
much out of Velasquez and we didn't get the chance to truly see
JDS tested in a way Velasquez has the capability to do.
Everyone
talks about JDS' takedown defense and it may well be good, but
that's based on as much speculation as it is limited evidence.
What JDS has yet to prove - and may well do in this fight - is
that he can sustain his takedown defense over the course of several
rounds from a consistent attack. I'm told in sparring Velasquez
gets hit early, but by the time the third round comes along is
basically unhittable. He'll need to make this a wrestling match
as early and often as possible and for a fighter like JDS who
has questionable cardio down the stretch, this fight is as interesting
as ever.
I'd
also say Velasquez winning is important for the UFC's attempts
to get into Mexico, if not Latin America. In case you hadn't
been paying attention, Mexico is on the come up. While I'm hesitant
to underscore this point too much, I do believe MMA typically
better succeeds in countries where a strong middle class with
purchasing power exists or is rapidly developing. You'll note
Brazil was never overly fond of MMA until it's economic climate
changed for the better. Velasquez is still the UFC's best hope
in opening up the Mexican market, which will help them develop
inroads into Latin America. If those aren't huge stakes, nothing
is.
3)
Bellator recently changed their long-held policy of championship
opportunities can only be earned through tournament victories
by allowing title fight rematches. Does this open the door to
any other future changes in format and is it ultimately a good
thing?
Thomas:
It most certainly is a good thing. Is anyone even complaining
about this save for the next tournament winner who has to wait
an extra turn before getting a title fight?
Bellator
is wedded to the tournament model, for better or worse. They're
looking for a differentiator from the UFC that helps them stand
out. The tournament format does that, but it also carries significant
costs. Fighters who could be popular attractions but are not
necessarily the best fighters won't get the kind of promotional
shine they would otherwise receive. This isn't to say the tournament
model lacks any redeeming qualities, but there are restrictions
it places on the ability of Bellator to leverage popular or would-be
popular talent.
This
new policy of allowing rematches without the use of a tournament
is an excellent idea. It also is a way to circumvent the control
the tournament places on Bellator's promotional needs. It, too,
carries cost and I'm sure the next tourney winner who has to
wait for his chance to fight so someone else can rematch will
be perturbed. So what? That's a small price to pay for the chance
to settle dispute, promote the best talent and relive ultra exciting
moments beyond the narrow confines of what the tournament affords.
Al-Shatti:
Luke is correct in that, at the very least, the decision shows
us that Bellator is open to flexibility and willing to make changes
for the good of the organization, which in and of itself is a
good first step. With a major move to Spike imminent, the last
thing Bellator needs is to step on its own toes.
Like
it or not, history has proven that rematches tend to be big business.
The drama of a bitter rivalry builds personalities for the public
to latch on to, and in a promotion sorely lacking on bankable
stars, any move that would aid the creation of those stars is
a worthwhile pursuit. Though it’s somewhat telling that
this change in policy was made almost a year after the reason
for it -- Michael Chandler vs. Eddie Alvarez -- became irrelevant.
4)
Fox has stated they are very bullish on the UFC despite some
ratings troubles in the first year of their 7-year deal. Will
their recent changes (UFC on FOX prelim fights on FX, changing
TUF nights, etc.) give them a bump in year two?
Thomas:
It's impossible to declare things will automatically be better,
but I do have some cause for optimism. It appears after a year
of realizing they can't put any fighter anywhere and get good
results that more appropriate placement is necessary.
Let's
start with FUEL. As I previously wrote, they're getting better
about learning where to stage these events and which fighters
to use. Overseas expansion dovetails nicely with FUEL's limited
broadcast reach and it is possible to use exciting newcomers
or rising prospects (although not close contenders) to bolster
the fight card's strength without sacrificing larger interests.
With
FOX, UFC is finally putting title fights for those weight classes
where the star power needs a boost, namely, lightweight and below.
That isn't without risk, but it's far better to put title fights
on than No. 1 contender eliminator matches. Title fights are
easier to promote, have generally better talent and often better
known names.
With
FX, things are a little murkier. That's especially true as it
relates to the future of FOX Sports 1. Still, FX is already making
a bigger commitment. They're moving the air date of TUF, they
airing Primetime at a semi-reasonable hour and they're showing
the UFC on FOX prelims rather than putting those on FUEL. That's
progress.
There's
still much work to be done. MMA is not as hot a property as it
was in 2008. But these changes are encouraging. I also think
it's worth noting Zuffa are better as competitors than they are
as conquerors. Bellator's move to Spike can only be good for
MMA and MMA fans.
Al-Shatti:
I agree that while it’s impossible for us to predict automatic
success, the UFC’s 2013 campaign on FOX is looking optimistically
bright. It's important to remember, the FOX deal was vastly extensive
and unprecedented. Everything wasn't destined to be sunshine
and rainbows from day one. It was, and still is, a partnership
unlike anything a major network and anyone in MMA had engineered
before, and as such, the learning curve was inevitably going
to be steep.
Frankly,
the most important takeaway from a rough first year is the that
UFC seems to have learned it can’t just throw any fighter
on a network card and expect the brand to carry the ratings,
as Luke mentioned. If the next two FOX cards are any indication,
it’ll be a while before we see a second or third tier name
like Jim Miller and Brandon Vera headlining one of the quarterly
events. And considering how stacked FOX 5 and FOX 6 are, it’ll
be surprising if the UFC doesn’t start seeing a gradual
upswing in viewership as a result.
Likewise,
the FUEL TV cards seem to be finding their niche as first-step
platforms for burgeoning contenders and fun, exciting introductions
(or revisits) into foreign markets. Although when it comes to
TUF, it remains to be seen it the upcoming changes will stick
or if the series really has jumped the shark. Because if Jon
Jones, Chael Sonnen and an escape from a poisonous Friday time
slot can’t save it, it’s safe to say the series has
run its course.
Nonetheless,
learning how to maximize your properties is a slow but important
process, and if that can be only thing the UFC and FOX take away
from Year 1, it’s hard not to be encouraged.
Source: MMA Fighting
|
B.J.
Penn Wants
to Show the World He’s Still One of the Best Fighters on
the Planet
by Damon
Martin
BJ
Penn at
UFC 118For a great many years, whenever the discussion for best
pound-for-pound fighter in MMA came up the conversation started
and stopped at B.J. Penn.
Penn
has claimed titles in both the UFC welterweight and lightweight
divisions, and his willingness to step up to fight any competition
offered was always his calling card.
It
was also his extreme adaptability as the sport continued to evolve
that always made Penn one of the most dangerous fighters in all
of MMA, whether the fight was on the feet or on the ground.
But
over the last few years, Penn’s activity has slowed down
a bit as he’s become a father, and his time at home has
been much more important to him than ever before. His once invincible
aura carried around the lightweight division took a hit with
back-to-back losses to Frankie Edgar, and was followed up by
a trio of fights in the welterweight division that left him with
one win, one loss and one draw.
Certainly
those aren’t the kind of statistics that an all-time great
sports when being considered amongst the top fighters in MMA,
and recently that fact has started to bug B.J. Penn.
Now
names like Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre and Jon Jones dominate
the conversation of who is the greatest fighter alive today.
Penn is quick to point the finger back at the man in the mirror
when looking at the reason why he’s no longer on that list.
But it’s not something he’s content with, and Penn
hopes to turn that around starting with his next fight, at UFC
on Fox 5.
“I
actually texted Dana (White) a couple months ago and I told Dana,
I watch all these interviews and all these people talking and
no one says my name when they talk about the greatest fighters
anymore, and I really don’t like that, it really bothers
me,” Penn stated on Tuesday.
“I
know it’s my fault. I know I’m the reason people don’t
talk about me when they talk about GSP or Anderson Silva. My
name was always in the mix, and it’s never in the mix anymore.
I told Dana, I’ve got a real problem with that.”
The
issue started to fester in Penn’s mind as he was sitting
at home unsure what his future in MMA would be. As of last year,
Penn was going to retire and walk away from fighting altogether,
but with the right motivation he was drawn back to the sport
he loved for so long.
“That
was a big part of my motivation to come back strong and do a
good fight here on Dec. 8,” said Penn.
When
Penn does finally decide to walk away for good, he wants to know
he left everything he had inside the cage and doesn’t want
to live with regret.
He
doesn’t want to be mentioned as an afterthought or one of
those “what could have been” stories. Penn knows he
can still be one of the best fighters in the world, and he aims
to prove that against Rory MacDonald.
“I
don’t want to just be, ‘oh, he was good back in the
day,’” Penn said. “I want to be known as one of
the best.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Company
Officials Pleased with UFC 154 Prelim TV Ratings in Canada
The
Ultimate Fighting Championship on Thursday announced that Canadian
viewers shared in the excitement this past weekend around the
highly anticipated return of UFC welterweight champion Georges
St-Pierre for UFC 154: St-Pierre vs. Condit.
The
UFC 154 preliminary card, available on Sportsnet and TVA Sports
in English and French Canada, respectively, posted impressive
numbers with a cumulative reach of more than 1.5 million viewers
tuning in to watch all or part of the broadcast.
In English Canada, the UFC 154 preliminary card was the most-watched
UFC prelim ever on Sportsnet, attracting an average audience
of 319,000 (2+). In French Canada, TVA Sports had an average
audience of 177,000 (2+).
Overall,
the UFC 154 prelims was the number one sports show of the evening
in both English and French Canada on November 17 with an average
of 496,000 Canadians watching the entire two-hour preliminary
broadcast on Sportsnet and TVA Sports.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
UFC
on FOX 5 Fight Card: Henderson vs. Diaz
The UFC on FOX 5 fight card will feature UFC lightweight champion
Ben Henderson defending his title against Nate Diaz on Dec. 8
at the KeyArena in Seattle.
The
main card will also feature former UFC champion Mauricio Rua
facing Alexander Gustafsson. Also, former champion BJ Penn will
square off against Rory MacDonald.
Check
out the UFC on FOX 5 fight card below.
Main
card:
Benson Henderson vs. Nate Diaz
Mauricio Rua vs. Alexander Gustafsson
BJ Penn vs. Rory MacDonald
Mike Swick vs. Matt Brown
Undercard
(FX):
Brendan Schaub vs. Lavar Johnson
Ramsey Nijem vs. Joe Proctor
Yves Edwards vs. Jeremy Stephens
Undercard
(Facebook):
Daron Cruickshank vs. Henry Martinez
Scott Jorgensen vs. John Albert
Tim Means vs. Abel Trujillo
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
TOP
5 STORIES OF THE WEEK
Will
Georges St. Pierre warm to the idea of facing “The Spider”
in a super fight?
UFC
President Dana White usually gets what he wants, and he wants
a pound-for-pound super fight between welterweight champion Georges
St. Pierre and middleweight titleholder Anderson Silva.
St.
Pierre returned from a 19-month layoff to defeat Carlos Condit
at UFC 154 on Nov. 17 at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Though
“Rush” remains at best lukewarm to the idea of meeting
Silva, talk immediately turned to a potential showdown featuring
St. Pierre and “The Spider,” with White leading the
parade.
“It’s
the No. 1 best pound-for-pound fighter in the world against the
No. 2 best pound-for-pound fighter in the world,” White
told Fox Sports. “It’s a big fight. We think people
want to see it, and we think the guys want to do it, so we’ll
do it. They will fight, and it will probably be in May or around
May.”
Can
White fulfill his promise?
Other
stories of interest on Sherdog.com this week centered on Thiago
Silva’s continuing problems away from the cage, settled
lawsuits between Alistair Overeem and his former management team,
the retirement of UFC veteran Rich Clementi and David “Tank”
Abbott’s turn as a novelist.
Source:
Sherdog
|
Ex-UFC
and Pride FC fighter returns to Brazil, teaches submission
This coming
November 29, another MMA event will come to be in the Brazilian
State of Ceará. The inaugural Warrior Fight (WF) event
is set to take place at Fortaleza City’s Ginásio
Paulo Sarasate arena, and the big draw is the pairing of local
fighters against American imports as main events.
Names
like former UFC fighter Marcus Aurelio, Junior Killer and André
Gigueto head the hometown troop against American invaders Garrett
Gross, TJ Thomas and Jack Rosenbaum.
The
black belt Marcus Aurelio, or “Maximus”, is the most
famous fighter in the bunch. Relocated to Florida 11 years ago
to train and teach in the gentle art, Marcus once choked unconcious
the then-undefeated Takanori Gomi with an arm-and-neck choke.
With 21 career wins, the Brazilian is in Fortaleza to train for
the fight.
There,
he demonstrated a position exclusively for GRACIEMAG.com readers,
one that is just as useful for MMA as it is for No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu.
Warrior
Fight
Ginásio Paulo Sarasate, Fortaleza, Ceará
November 29, 2012
Marcus
Aurelio vs Garrett Gross
Junior Killer vs TJ Thomas
André Gigueto vs Jake Rosenbaum
Lucas Lopes vs Brian
Iramar Forota vs Ryan Tobar
Igor Negão vs adversário a ser definifdo
Danilo Mota vs Jânio Carlos
Marilia Fanta vs Viviane
Teo Menezes vs Goran
Mil vs Bruno
Source:
Gracie Magazine |
Technique
Talk: Ryan Hall and the future of the 50/50 position in mixed
martial arts
Can an esoteric leg entanglement that's growing in the sport
of jiu-jitsu and beginning to rear its head in MMA be a viable
position to win in a fight? Ryan Hall - ADCC bronze medalist,
black belt and master of the 50/50 - weighs in on its future.
If there is a constant in MMA, it's that the techniques popularized
and used to win are in constant evolution. While many high-level
grapplers have said much of sport jiu-jitsu is useless for MMA,
a curious adaptation could be happening.
The
50/50 position, a leg entanglement popularized and used in more
recent years in sport jiu-jitsu, has been on display in two key
MMA bouts. The first was between Rousimar Palhares and Alan Belcher
at UFC on Fox 3. The second was a week ago at Bellator 81 between
Marcin Held and Rich Clementi. Leg locks have historically been
successful in MMA, but also carry significant risk in their application.
50/50 offers something new: less risk of punishment, but demands
a higher degree of positional and leg attack acumen. It also
requires a commitment to the position.
While
it's too early to suggest this is the new frontier in leg attacks
in MMA, the appearances of it are intriguing. They also force
one to ask the very basic question: can 50/50 be a path for victory
in MMA? Are these one-offs of the 50/50 or the start of something
larger? What challenges are presented in the 50/50 in MMA versus
jiu-jitsu?
To
help answer the question and break down how it was used between
Held and Clementi is Ryan Hall, a 2009 ADCC bronze medalist,
Felipe Costa black belt and one of sport jiu-jitsu's most noteworthy
50/50 position savants.
Partial
edited transcript below:
Luke
Thomas: At Bellator 81, Marcin Held defeated Rich Clementi via
toehold, but what was interesting was that a portion of that
fight was fought in the 50/50 guard. For folks who many not know,
what is that?
Ryan
Hall: The 50/50 position is ostensibly a neutral position that
is, generally speaking, regarded as that way but in practice
doesn't really work out that way. It's a neutral leg positioning
where my right leg is hooked inside of yours and we are both
vulnerable and have at our disposal a number of foot locks, leg
entanglements, sweeps, things like that.
It's
very similar to the over/under clinch on the feet and it's about
as neutral as that. That would be like me tying up with Dan Henderson
and being like, 'Yeah, we're neutral here' even though he's the
Olympian and I'm not.
It's
a great position because you can get there relatively easily
because it is neutral the same way the over/under clinch works.
A beginner and an expert can get themselves there, but so much
of it has to do with who knows what they're up to in that position.
Luke
Thomas: But it's a relatively new position not just in MMA, but
in jiu-jitsu. Why did it take so long for people to get good
at it?
Ryan
Hall: I'm not really sure, to be honest. I certainly have been
using it for a long time and definitely didn't invent it. It's
definitely something that's only recently started to come around.
It's caught a lot of heat in jiu-jitsu competitions because it's
used for massive amounts of stalling, but I think of that as
a shortcoming of the rules and a shortcoming in the lack of a
stalling call more than anything else.
One
thing I would say, though, for the most past is there aren't
people who are good in it. There are a handful of people who
I would consider legitimately good at the 50/50. Everyone else
is kind of fumbling around at this point.
Luke
Thomas: Who is good at it?
Ryan
Hall: I think Rafael Mendes is fantastic. Obviously 'Toquinho'
[Rousimar Palhares] has had some success there. Dean Lister was
the first person in competition that I'd ever seen use it in
Abu Dhabi in 2003 when he submitted 'Cacareco' [Alexandre Ferreira].
[Masakazu] Imanari is fantastic. He's been using this position
for a long time, but for the most part in jiu-jitsu people use
it to latch onto each other and not do much. The guys from the
Atos camp do a very good job of utilizing the position for sweeping
in jiu-jitsu. I use it a lot myself.
Luke
Thomas: Irrespective of the two noteworthy Marcin Held vs. Rich
Clementi and Rousimar Palhares vs. Alan Belcher bouts, does this
position have viability in MMA? How accessible is this for your
typical MMA fighter?
Ryan
Hall: I think it's an extremely valuable position, but like anything
else it really depends on the hands of someone knowing what they're
doing. It could be great. In the hands of someone not knowing
what they're doing it could be disastrous for the person attempting
to use it. I would just say it would depend on the level of skill.
It's something you're going to see being used more and more over
time.
Speaking
personally training MMA, I use it all the time.
Luke
Thomas: Aside from strikes, does 50/50 in MMA present any new
hazards? Outside of that, are there critical differences between
50/50 in MMA and 50/50 in jiu-jitsu?
Ryan
Hall: I would say the thought process of the aggressor and the
opposition is definitely in mixed martial arts than it is in
jiu-jitsu in a way I feel makes the position more effective.
In jiu-jitsu you're dealing with people who three quarters of
the time want to latch onto you, hang on for 10 minutes and hopefully
win by advantage. It gets very lame. In MMA, because of the punches
and because of the ability to attack your opponent in a variety
of ways, I think it keeps them a little more honest and you're
much more likely to see an aggressive battle in such a situation
that allows for more attacking and aggressive opportunities.
You
can always get punched in the head, but I would submit that the
jiu-jitsu that's done in MMA is not high level. Most of the guys
going for leglocks in MMA are not terribly good at them, which
is why they get beat up. That's not to say someone with a very
high level of skill in foot locks of jiu-jitsu couldn't get beat
up, but it's the little differences. You put little gloves on
Floyd Mayweather, I don't care who he's fighting, he's going
to knock your freaking head off. It wouldn't really matter that
the gloves are small because the level is so high.
The
ability to hit something hard doesn't make a great striker the
same way an ability to break a leg does not make a great leg
locker. I think that's something that been seen thus far because
you'll see a lot guys go kamikaze for the legs. As people get
more and more used to the position and they're utilizing effectively
they're jiu-jitsu and leg locks in MMA, you'll see them getting
beat up a little bit less because they won't commit unless they
are pretty darn certain they're going to get it.
Luke
Thomas: There are armbar specialists or specialists for guys
who can take the back. Why is it hard to find leg lock specialists?
Ryan
Hall: I can take a stab at it. In jiu-jitsu, for instance, when
I was coming up a very important tournament to win was Grapplers
Quest. That was a tournament that allowed leg locks of all kinds
once you get to the most experienced, expert divisions. As a
result, all of the best competitors that were winning tournaments
at that time had the option of using leg locks. Whether they
used them, their opponent had the opportunity to attack them.
And not just attack them in a specific way, but in any way one
could attack a leg. What I think that allows for is development
of that type of skill whereas I would say most of the tournaments
now that are important to win in jiu-jitsu with the notable exception
of ADCC, heel hooks are disallowed. Leg entanglements are disallowed.
You're going to see fewer and fewer people over time having very
well developed leg entanglement attack games simply because the
rules don't reward them and penalize them, sometimes justified
and sometimes not.
It's
just something a little less common. It takes no more skill to
attack a leg than it does an arm. There's also been a stigma
in jiu-jitsu associated with it for a while: the idea that attacking
a leg is somehow dishonorable. That was something I heard back
in the day. As well as the idea that if I break someone's leg
with a heel hook, I'm a jerk. But if I break their arm with an
arm lock, they should've tapped. The leg doesn't really work
that differently than the arm. In fact, it's a whole lot bigger
and stronger.
It's
more stigma associated with it that prevents people from working
on it and learning the ins and outs of it rather than anything
specifically mystical about the technique.
Luke
Thomas: Let's talk about this Held vs. Clementi fight. Held locks
up with Clementi and looks like he's going for an uchi mata.
He then wraps his throwing leg on Clementi's nearside leg and
rolls through to initiate leg attacks. Clementi appeared to be
concerned with staying on top with heavy base. What is the thinking
behind that?
Ryan
Hall: Generally speaking, that is the notable distinction between
sport jiu-jitsu or sport submission wrestling and mixed martial
arts where you're allowed to hit me in the face. Once you can
actually get up to your feet, you can game ahead if I'm not careful.
That would definitely be in Clementi's interest as well as being
able to keep his weight on his foot makes it more difficult.
I
thought that Marcin Held did a good job of trying to deny that
situation, which allowed him to attack the vast majority of the
round.
Luke
Thomas: Held then applied the toehold, but Clementi used the
free leg to push off an break the hold. How would you characterize
that escape?
Ryan
Hall: I think that's a great idea, really. Anything that damages
the structure of my hold is probably in your interest because
if you think about it, Aikido works (laughs) if you let me go
and grab your wirst and yank it in the wrong direction. That
would certainly hurt. It's just the issue, let's say, one might
have if one were to do that is the lack of body controls. If
I grab your wrist and you can move, it's very difficult for me
to put the torque in the joint necessary to injure you severely.
When
you're talking about someone being wrapped up on the ground,
it's a little bit more difficult for you to roll or twist or
get yourself out of trouble. A good leg locker, generally speaking,
is seeking to limit your movement or your ability to roll and
rotate and take all of the pressure out of the lock.
It's
a great idea to damage the structure. That was the right move
at the time from Clementi.
Luke
Thomas: Then they move to the 50/50 position. One fighter would
try something, then the other would follow. How would you describe
what happens there? When you saw that, what were you watching?
Ryan
Hall: I thought Marcin Held was doing a good job of looking for
the proper finish. Clementi went for the heel hook when Held
has his legs triangled, which is an immediate indicator that
he didn't know what he was doing in that position, really, because
that will literally never work.
I
thought he was doing a good job of attempting to fight the hands,
fight the feet. He wasn't making Held's life easy by any stretch.
In my mind, it was clear who the aggressor was in that situation
and that was certainly Marcin Held.
Luke
Thomas: From that position there are heel hooks, inverted heel
hooks. Are there sweeps to get on top? Are there ways to take
the back?
Ryan
Hall: In my mind, the ability to equally manage all of those
offensive options is what makes the skill of the position. You
let anyone grab ahold of your foot and turn it the wrong way,
they're going to hurt you. You see it in MMA all the time: someone
who can put a hole in a heavy bag. That's not boxing skill; that's
the ability to hit something very hard. The skill of boxing,
I would submit, is the ability to move around the other person
and hit someone in situation where they're unable to hit you
back.
When
you can also mix in the different sweeps and leg entanglements
as well as the other foot locks as well as the back attacks,
that's when you have a more diverse attack from the 50/50 that's
more likely to give higher level guys trouble.
Luke
Thomas: There were moments where their 50/50 entanglement appeared
to be loose, but neither tried to escape the position. What's
preventing one of them from doing that?
Ryan
Hall: It's hard to say without actually being in there and feeling
what's going on. They're both obviously experienced fighters.
They've been in there for a long time. At the same time, they're
not grappling specialists no matter how grappling specialist
they seem for MMA. You put someone like that in there with Rafael
Mendes and that match will last 45 seconds.
I
can't really tell you what the feel would've been, but I did
see a little bit of space in there as well and was surprised
to see no one quite capitalize on it. Obviously Marcin Held has
been phenomenally successful attacking the legs in MMA. I would
imagine it was in his interest to keep that position as long
as he reasonably could. With Clementi, I was thinking he should've
been looking to disentangle.
Luke
Thomas: Is 50/50 a tight position or is it reasonable to expect
daylight in the spacing because competitors are moving around?
Ryan
Hall: I'd say it depends, but I'd look at either of those guys
and say neither is a 50/50 specialist by any stretch of the imagination.
It really depends on what your goal is at the time and what you're
looking to accomplish, but generally speaking, when you're looking
to attack you don't want that much space. When you're looking
to defend, you'd like to give yourself a little bit of room.
The space is definitely not to the attack's advantage.
Luke
Thomas: The fight eventually ended with a toehold. What is the
optimum way to execute that? Does the leg need to be extended
or can it be bent in?
Ryan
Hall: I'm certainly not the greatest in the world with the toehold,
but you want to think about putting my toe onto my butt and bending
my leg as much as possible to shorten everything up. Not only
does having the leg bent make it easier on you because your arms
are closer to your body where you're more powerful, but it also
puts extra torque into the knee which is exactly what we're looking
for.
I
think it's more on the leg, is a good way to think about it.
You're much more likely to tear my shoulder when my arm is bent
at 90 degrees than when my arm is out at 120. By bending the
leg all the way in - certainly as much as Held was able to do
- that's going to put quite a bit of pressure on the foot.
The
only thing that's a little bit of a bummer on the toehold is
some people just have that rubber foot where they will stare
at you and check their watch while you're looking to break their
foot off. Sometimes it can be a high energy, expenditure move
and to have it backfire would be a bummer. In that case it worked
out great. Marcin Held obviously has a lot of faith and belief
in that position.
Luke
Thomas: What about a high-level grappler in the UFC like Demian
Maia. Does he have any relevancy as a top guy in the 50/50 position?
Ryan
Hall: I've never trained with Demian. I know he's incredible.
He was a great champion in jiu-jitsu. I wouldn't think that he
would specialize in such a position probably because he has so
many other things to focus his time on. [The position] rose to
prominence as he was leaving the sport.
I'm
sure as a great grappler in general he has a good deal of ability
there. Just looking at a Demian Maia, you're looking at someone
who is so many levels beyond a Rich Clementi or Marcin Held.
Not to speak of them disrespectfully in any way. They're both
great fighters. Just in terms of overall grappling ability, someone
like a Demian Maia is just so far beyond them it's not even funny.
I would imagine he'd be able to use that position with success
no matter what, just the same way if you took Buvaisar Satiev
and you're like 'Oh, he uses the single leg a lot. Does he have
a good double?' Oh, I would say so even if it's not his go-to.
When you're talking about someone at that level, he's by any
normal standard fantastic at all of wrestling.
Luke
Thomas: As it relates to you, you've left jiu-jitsu for MMA.
What's your future: do you have a weight class in mind and any
fight lined up soon?
Ryan
Hall: I've already had one professional fight in 2006, so amateur
is not an option for me. I'll be fighting in two weeks at an
event called SLAMM-1 in Montreal with a bunch of my teammates
from Tri-Star on the same card. I'm very excited. I've been training
very hard and just looking to improve.
There's
so much work that needs to be done and so many things that I
need to learn that I'm very excited to have the opportunity to
really take MMA as far as I'm capable of going. It's what I wanted
to be involved in when I started martial arts and then I just
got caught up in jiu-jitsu competition. I loved it for a long
time and I don't anymore. I'm just very excited to be finally
able to get the opportunity to fight for real.
My
fight will be at 145 pounds. I'll be fighting someone that has
9 fights in my second, but I'm looking forward to it. I train
with great guys, I have fantastic coaching and I just try to
do what they say and do my best not to embarrass myself.
Luke
Thomas: Is there a name for this opponent?
Ryan
Hall: Phillip Deschambeault and he's from Saskatchewan. I don't
know too much about him, but I'm sure he's a tough guy and just
can't wait to fight.
Source:
MMA Fighting |
More
Than the Punch: Benson Henderson Training for the Infamous Nate
Diaz Trash Talk
UFC
lightweight champion Benson Henderson knows that Nate Diaz brings
a lot of physical tools to the fight game.
He’ll
have to watch out for a long reach and relentless boxing attack
on the feet, while Diaz brings the same sort of aggression on
the mat, but those aren’t the factors that have Henderson
most concerned.
Chief
among Diaz’s abilities in the Octagon that Henderson concerns
himself with is… trash talk.
Yes,
trash talk.
Nate
Diaz and his brother, Nick, are both adept at trash talking and
mocking their opponents. It’s something that each of them
does in nearly every fight.
It
may seem inconsequential, but trash talking can get inside of
a fighter’s head, triggering unwanted, unnecessary emotions
that could distract from the original game plan. And that is
precisely what Henderson is worried about.
So
much so that his coaches have had his training partners gabbing
it up during sparring sessions, trying to goad Henderson into
getting angry and make mistakes.
Henderson’s
job, of course, is to work on blocking out such tactics, focusing
on his own strategy and tactics.
“I’m
supposed to be calm and collected and implement my game plan,”
said Henderson in a recent interview with Inside MMA.
But remaining calm when someone is getting in his face, peppering
him with insults, all the while also trying to pepper him with
punches, admittedly, isn’t one of Henderson’s strong
suits.
“I’ve
been having a hard time with that,” he revealed.
That’s
why he’s been working on it with his sparring partners,
however; hoping to have at least built up a tolerance for it
by the time he and Diaz headline UFC on Fox 5 on Dec. 8 in Seattle.
“Hopefully,
come fight night, I won’t let any of that trash-talking
get in my head.”
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Sapo
waive contract with Bellator and reveals negotiating with UFC
Luis Sapo had one more fight on his contract with Bellator. However,
the fighter waived bond and was released by the organization.
Free to sign with another event, the athlete negotiates his way
to the UFC, as he stated in an interview with tatami.
According
to Sapo, the interests of competition comes from the year before,
but at that time it was not possible to break the commitment
and close with the UFC.
"I
had a five fights, one was missing and asked not to extend more
and they released me. I'm waiting for my manager, Jason Chandler,
who is the same Carlo Prater, finalizing negotiations with the
UFC. We are working hard on it. "
Pending
the outcome of negotiations, Luis Sapo takes this ancient period
to treat injuries and expects that in 2013, can act with more
regularity and rediscover the path of victory.
"This
year was not very good for me. I'm six months ago without a fight,
I just fight in Bellator and the result was not expected. I keep
working because I know I'm fully capable of being in the UFC,
fighting with the best in class. "
A
month ago in Belém do Pará, Luis Sapo praises local
athletes and ensures that training in anything is due regarding
who participates in the United States.
"I
arrived in America still have a month and an emphasis on my training.
Bethlehem is the land of champions. We have several athletes
that are emerging in Brazil and worldwide, as Yuri Marajó,
Lyoto himself, the Zezão Tractor and Ildemar "Queixinho"
Marajó. The training here at CFT MMA and Black Dragons
do not fall short. "
Source:
Tatame
|
Uncharted
waters for a Ronda Rousey headlined pay-per-view
One of the biggest stories of 2013 will be the introduction of
women to the UFC. Questions regarding how MMA fans will view
women's fights have long since been answered. But whether they
will buy them as pay-per-view main events is a different question.
One of the stories that will be getting the most media attention
in UFC in 2013 will be the introduction of women fighters to
the organization, built around Ronda Rousey.
Rousey,
likely as soon as is legally possible in the Zuffa/Showtime divorce,
will be defending her newly-created UFC women's bantamweight
championship, essentially the Strikeforce belt moved over.
This
has already garnered more attention than moves in recent years
like adding men's featherweight, bantamweight and most recently
flyweight to the organization, and we don't even have a date,
a place, or an opponent for the first fight.
All
we have are questions.
At
one point, a UFC championship match almost guaranteed a successful
pay-per-view show. It was a combination of things as to why.
Only having five championships had its advantages. It was those
five titles along with the people who held those titles from
2006 to 2010 that fueled UFC's rise to set and later break annual
business records on pay-per-view.
Today,
you can categorize the championships, and perhaps the champions,
as the "haves" and the "have-nots". The big
four weight divisions - heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight
and welterweight - can be counted on to do good numbers almost
every time out, and great numbers when the right match-up comes
along. You can't overlook that it's the four heaviest weight
classes, but part of it is also the guys themselves. Jon Jones,
Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre have established themselves
as the three biggest stars in the sport for various reasons.
Junior dos Santos did well in his first headline match, and historically,
there are things worse to have than a likeable heavyweight champion
who knocks out almost every opponent.
The
lighter divisions are not as successful when headlining. The
idea the big four classes can be counted on to draw good to great
while the bottom four are not in the same ballpark can't be coincidental.
But it's a combination of both the division and the face of the
division. B.J. Penn was a big draw as lightweight champion. Urijah
Faber had the ability to double and even triple the normal television
numbers in the old World Extreme Cagefighting promotion when
he was either defending or challenging for the title. The current
champions Ben Henderson, Jose Aldo, Dominick Cruz and Demetrious
Johnson haven't established major drawing power yet.
This
is the world that a 135-pound women's champion walks into. Unlike
Johnson, however, she will go in with a far bigger spotlight,
far more talk, and inevitably, far more expectations.
UFC
President Dana White said this past week that Rousey's debut
will be on pay-per-view, and it will be the main event, unless
there is a title fight at a heavier weight class on the same
show.
As
likely the first women's fight in a UFC cage, and Rousey's personal
magnetism, the event will garner the kind of media attention
UFC only gets for its biggest fights. But there is a flip side
to that. There will be detractors waiting in the wings. There
will be the backlash of those who think women shouldn't fight
in UFC. There will be also be those who would love to say that
all the Rousey hype didn't translate to the box office and call
this experiment a failure right off the bat. And the last thing
you want in introducing a new product is an immediate stigma
that it was hyped like crazy and the public rejected it.
And
the reality is this is completely uncharted water.
What
we do know is that women have been on MMA shows for years. Of
the larger U.S. organizations, UFC has really been the last holdout.
As far as being on shows, the idea fans will reject it because
it's women has been disproved nearly every time out.
What
has been proven is a great women's star can be very successful
as a television draw. A women's fight being in the main event,
or in a featured spot on a show, has never once hurt television
ratings and has at times helped them.
But
there is only one example of a women's fight that has had a show
built around it that was a big box office success: the 2009 Gina
Carano vs. Cris "Cyborg" Santos.
The
inevitable arguments about women's pro soccer and the WNBA are
meaningless because this will be women appearing on shows with
mostly men's fights, and we've had years of precedent in other
organizations to show fans will not reject women as part of the
show, and will embrace them when the big fight comes along.
In
UFC, maybe each show will have one or two women's fights out
of a dozen or so. An all-women's fighting league, like Invicta,
is a completely different animal. I don't believe Invicta will
ever be able to draw big crowds, or do numbers on pay-per-view.
That organization, over the long haul, is dependent upon being
able to get a television deal that pays them enough make it worth
while.
There
is also the question of UFC commitment. All the women fighters
have to be thankful for Rousey coming along and winning the championship
when she did. White and UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta were publicly
negative for years on women's fighting. White first thought women
shouldn't fight, and questioned whether the public would want
to see it. When Carano became a big star, he changed his stance
to that there just wasn't enough depth to introduce a women's
division. When someone with the obvious marketing potential of
Rousey came along, they opened their doors.
That's
very different from men's bantamweights and featherweights, who
weren't used in UFC because they were the province of WEC. When
brought in, even though they haven't set the world on fire at
the box office, they are an established part of every show and
aren't going away. They weren't brought in due to the marketing
potential of one person, but because the company had already
proven with WEC that they could add exciting fights and more
championship matches to their ever-expanding schedule.
The
fact they added flyweights, and White has even spoken of adding
115 pounders, tells you that they view lighter weights as a good
long-term investment.
Part
of it is those weight classes have been established in boxing,
and many that sport's biggest stars have either started in low
weight classes or still compete in them.
With
women, you don't have that boxing precedent. Boxing had a short
window with women in the 90s, built around Christy Martin, that
garnered enough attention she was once featured on a Sports Illustrated
cover. But Martin was really promoted as a novelty act, like
Butterbean, an undercard attraction before the serious main event
that you bought the pay-per-view to see. If anything, while women's
boxing still exists, its lack of staying power in the spotlight
is ammunition for those predicting failure before this has even
started.
Having
been in arenas seeing women's fights for years, the reaction
is no longer gender-based. It was a little when first introduced,
and came off like a novelty act in the early days.
Today,
if a woman is a star or the fight is exciting, people are with
it every bit as much as the men. If the fight is boring, and
the personalities don't click, the crowds are usually not as
quick to turn on it, but lose interest just the same.
When
it comes to watching on television, if a woman is a star, she
will move ratings equal to her male counterparts.
When
Carano fought on CBS, every time, her fights added more than
1 million new viewers to the broadcast from start-to-finish.
If you understand television, that is an amazing statistic. No
other non-main event in history, for any promotion on any station
has ever done that. And only a few male main eventers ever have.
But
there has also in the history of women's MMA been only one Carano.
Judging women in MMA based on what she did could be taking the
mentality that bringing in backyard fighters will draw record
ratings because Kimbo Slice did, or bringing in pro wrestlers
can draw record pay-per-view numbers because Brock Lesnar did.
Carano's
lone main event against Cris "Cyborg" Santos is the
only example we have of a women's fight being a huge ticket seller.
Strikeforce
and Showtime have done four women's main events starting with
the 2009 Carano vs. Cyborg fight. The promotion of that fight
was a huge success. They drew 13,976 fans. No show in the history
of the Strikeforce promotion headlined by anyone but Frank Shamrock
sold more tickets. The reaction to the fight in the arena was
near the level of the biggest men's fights of all-time. The show
did a 2.17 rating and main event did a 2.91, both setting records
for MMA on the station and numbers only broken once since.
But
nothing like that has happened since, largely because that perfect
dynamic hasn't been there.
Sarah
Kaufman vs. Takayo Hashi on Feb. 26, 2010, a Challengers show
that did a 0.59 rating, exactly what an average show of that
type would have done. Building a show around women in this case
was neither a plus nor a minus. That was also a boring fight,
a five-round decision in front of a sold out crowd at the 2,500-seat
San Jose Civic Auditorium, that had maybe 300 fans left in the
building as the final stanza ended.
Rousey
vs. Miesha Tate on March 3, 2012, did a 1.15 rating, slightly
below average for Strikeforce events this year. It drew 5,500
fans, the largest Strikeforce crowd of the year. It should be
noted that it Rousey had never even appeared on a major Showtime
event before this, with two appearances limited to smaller Challengers
shows that far less people saw. It probably wasn't fair to expect
her to draw big numbers, even though the fight was well promoted
and garnered a lot more media attention than most Strikeforce
shows. It also had little in the way of undercard support. The
same fight today would do a lot better because both women became
bigger stars just being involved in the promotion. The fight
itself was a huge success, with far more talk after the fact
than all but a few Strikeforce main events.
Rousey
vs. Kaufman on August 18, 2012, did a 1.43 rating, Strikeforce's
best number of the year. That number was more impressive than
it sounds because they had no undercard support, and the main
event went only 54 seconds. The rating would have been significantly
higher had the main event segment, which was already at a 1.9
level for the ring intros and the first minute, had time to build.
But attendance was only 3,502 fans.
Rousey
is a significantly bigger star since the Kaufman win. Having
the UFC machine behind her is a game changer. But pay-per-view
is a different animal. The attendance figures may cause concern,
but Strikeforce didn't draw big crowds for anything this year.
But
there is also a second and in the long run, much more important
question. What about after Rousey?
I
can recall at a boxing show when Manny Pacquiao pretty well ended
the career of Oscar de la Hoya reporters were talking about it
being a bad day for boxing because the sport's biggest draw was
clearly past his prime. Bob Arum said that what happened was
Pacquiao winning was going to make him a new level of star. That's
exactly what happened.
When
Santos beat Carano, and Carano left the sport, no such thing
happened. I was actually amazed at how little of a fan base Santos
had in her subsequent fights considering the high profile and
magnitude of her win. While women's fights were fine as second
from the top fights on Strikeforce shows, it wasn't until the
emergence of Rousey that they dared headline a big show with
them.
If
this division is here only to take advantage of the marketing
potential of Rousey, then it's incumbent that be a success early.
Rousey isn't always going to be there. She can always lose, as
a better quality of female athlete will inevitably start gravitating
to the sport if it's spotlighted on UFC shows. And in many ways,
she's an almost inevitable Catch-22.
If
she continues to win and becomes a big draw, as a woman who looks
like she does in a fighting sport, it's almost inevitable outside
offers from the action-film world will start coming her way.
If she doesn't continue to win, women's MMA is going to have
to show enough to stay in a crowded nine-or-more division battlefield.
As
for this case, if they are going to introduce Rousey on pay-per-view,
the first fight or two would be best-served as being part of
a double main event show with one of the big four champions.
The key is that you never get a second chance to make a first
impression, and if the first impression is that all this hype
didn't equal public interest, that's a bad start.
Granted,
with as many shows as UFC runs, that may not be feasible.
As
a No. 2 fight on a big show, the media attention will still be
there for her debut. It will also result in additional attention
to the show overall, including the male main event. There would
be no pressure when it comes to ticket sales or pay-per-view
numbers, since the "haves" are pretty much assured
of doing well. Whatever curiosity interest is added will make
the show that already has a big star anchoring do a little better.
If
her previous fights are any indication, the fight will likely
be exciting, or end quickly and decisively, either of which will
serve its purpose. From that point on, audiences will be more
acclimated to her as a headliner going forward.
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
Top
Flyweights Chris Cariaso and John Moraga Battle at UFC 155 in
Las Vegas
The
end-of-year UFC 155 fight card is filing to the brim with UFC
officials recently adding a battle between two Top 10 flyweights.
Chris
Cariaso and John Moraga have verbally agreed to throw down on
Dec. 29 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Cariaso
is currently 14-3 with his only recent slip being a split decision
loss to bantamweight contender Michael McDonald four fights ago.
He has since streaked to three consecutive victories and quickly
become someone to watch in the flyweight division.
He’ll
battle Moraga (12-1) for that next step towards title contention
in the 125-pound division.
Moraga – the Rage in the Cage bantamweight champion –
debuted in the UFC with an impressive first-round knockout victory
over highly touted veteran Ulysses Gomez at UFC on Fox 4 in August.
UFC
heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos puts his belt on the line
in a rematch with Cain Velasquez in the UFC 155 main event.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Jeremy
Stephens Steps In on Short Notice to Face Yves Edwards at UFC
on Fox 5
If
at first you don’t succeed…
Following
the cancellation of their bout in October, Jeremy Stephens and
Yves Edwards will get the chance to mix it up after all.
The
two lightweights have agreed to meet at UFC on Fox 5 on Dec 8
after Edwards original opponent John Cholish was forced off the
card for undisclosed reasons.
Stephens steps in to replace him and face Edwards on the upcoming
show in Seattle according to the fighter’s manager at EVO
Agents as confirmed to MMAWeekly.com on Friday.
Stephens
and Edwards were scheduled to face off in October, but an old
outstanding warrant came to light early morning on fight day
with authorities taking Stephens into custody.
Stephens
was arrested and despite the best efforts of UFC President Dana
White to get the fighter released in time to compete, the authorities
between Minnesota and Iowa, where the warrant originated from,
didn’t set bail in time and the fight eventually had to
be cancelled.
Days
later Stephens was finally released and allowed to travel back
to San Diego while waiting the chance to defend himself against
the assault charges pending in his home state of Iowa.
Until
then however, Stephens will get the chance to redeem himself
in the Octagon with the fight he was supposed to have back in
October.
Stephens
faces Yves Edwards in a bout between two strikers both looking
to etch another victory on their UFC resumes.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Sonnen
refused TUF 1, and Jon Jones was unable to attend the TUF 8
It is not today that Chael Sonnen and Jon Jones have their stories
intertwined with TUF. Responsible for commanding the 17th season
of the reality show Ultimate, both had opportunity in the past
to enter the biggest MMA event of the planet through TUF, as
revealed by site gringo MMA Junkie. But they had different problems
that prevented him from participating in the program.
The
loudmouth Chael Sonnen, for example, was invited to participate
in the first season of TUF, which happened in 2005, and is cited
by many as the main factor for the fall in MMA like the pubic
in general.
Even
with the call, Sonnen chose not to accept the proposal for not
knowing what to expect in the program, which had Randy Couture
and Chuck Liddell as coaches, and Forrest Griffin and Diego Sanchez
as winners.
"This
season was very strong. You have guys like Nate Quarry, Josh
Koscheck, Stephan Bonnar, Kenny Florian, and who have not earned.
That's where you can really understand that first season. I did
not know what to expect. I do not know what it was. I sat, watched
and regretted that decision. I liked to see, and all these years
later, here I am, "said Sonnen, sorry for denying a chance
in 2005.
If
the target still has the option of choosing Chael Sonnen, Jon
Jones not. The current light heavyweight champion of the UFC
tried to enter the eighth season of TUF, which was captained
by Frank Mir and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in 2008, but was forced
to leave the competition for his young age.
"I remember attending the first step and then, when he was
approaching the stage of grappling, arrived Dana (White), I think
he was saying, 'Man, you're too young. You have 20 years. You
must be 21 to apply for TUF '. And I thought, 'All right,' "recalls
Jones, who can still participate in the training of grappling,
but not in selective followed by having alcohol in the house
where the fighters are staying.
Without
going through the TUF as participants, Jones and Sonnen season
record 17 programs in the United States. In January, TUF 17 will
air through the channel FX, FOX's alternative giant. The challenge
between the rolls trenadores April 27 in Newark (USA), in what
will be the fifth title defense to Jon Jones, who won the category
title in March last year.
Source:
Tatame
|
Denied:
Alessio Sakara’s UFC 154 Appeal of Patrick Cote DQ Shot
Down
Alessio
Sakara’s appeal of his disqualification loss to Patrick
Cote at UFC 154 on Nov. 17 in Montreal has been denied.
Sakara
thought he had become the first fighter ever to knock Cote out.
Moments after their UFC 154 bout was halted, however, the stoppage
was ruled a disqualification due to blows to the back of the
head with Cote awarded the victory.
The
Italian slugger clocked Cote with a big elbow early in the first
round, dropping him to the canvas where he continued to reign
blows down upon him.
After
a couple of shots landed to the ear, Sakara continued to throw
hammerfist after hammerfist with several of them landing to the
back of Cote’s head. After several shots, referee Dan Miragliotta
swooped in to stop the fight, but after a confusing few minutes,
the end result was Sakara being disqualified for illegal shots
to the back of the head, and Cote being handed the victory.
Sakara’s
manager, Lex McMahon of Alchemist MMA, appealed to the Quebec
regulatory agency, the Régie des Alcools, des Courses
et des Jeux (RAJC), to have the disqualification changed either
to a win for Sakara as originally ruled or to a no-contest.
UFC president Dana White, following the fight, characterized
it as a “horrible” job of refereeing by Miragliotta.
“I
counted between seven and nine illegal punches to the back of
the head,” he recounted. “It was crazy. (Miragliotta)
was just standing there watching it; didn’t jump in, didn’t
do anything. I think it should’ve been no contest, not awarded
to Cote, but a no contest.”
The
Quebec commission on Friday denied the appeal, saying the referee’s
decision “is final and without appeal,” according to
a report by LaPresse.ca. MMAWeekly.com subsequently confirmed
the report with McMahon.
A
rematch between Sakara and Cote could still happen. White, in
meeting with reporters following UFC 154, sounded as if he was
in favor of a rematch between the two.
Sakara’s
record now stands at 15-10 including what is now a three-fight
skid due to the disqualification.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Fabio
Maldonado Appreciative of UFC 153 Post-Fight Bonus, Even in Losing
Effort
Every
so often, talk of a fighter union surfaces, especially with the
UFC, primarily because it is the mixed martial arts juggernaut,
the largest MMA promotion on the planet.
UFC
president Dana White often answers questions about the potential
for a fighter union, saying he just doesn’t think fighters
on the top rung want to give up a chunk of their earnings to
those lower down on the ladder.
One
thing he doesn’t talk about in as much detail is the non-disclosed
“locker room” bonuses that the company often hands
out. White and his business partners, the Fertitta brothers,
don’t really like making their company’s finances public,
especially when it comes to dealing with their fighters.
It’s
not a very well kept secret, however, that the UFC often hands
out bonuses to fighters that, win or lose, White or other UFC
execs felt gave it their all.
One
of the latest such fighters was Fabio Maldonado, who lost brutal
battle to Glover Teixeira at UFC 153 last month in Brazil.
Despite
receiving some unbelievable punishment, Maldonado, through heart
and instinct, fought on until the Octagonside doctor recommended
the fight be stopped after the second round.
Maldonado on Friday took to his Facebook page to let all his
friends know that, despite losing the fight, White & Co.
took care of him rather well after the fight.
“Just
got a check from the UFC,” he commented in Portuguese, noting
it was the fourth time he received a bonus. “The UFC paid
me more than if I had won the fight. Thanks to the Fertitta brothers,
Dana White and Joe Silva.”
The
money UFC fighters make is also often compared to the headline
inducing paydays in the boxing world. White often explains that
what people are comparing is apples to oranges, as they’re
looking at the miniscule amount of boxers at the top of the heap
pulling in tremendous paydays, while those at the bottom are
sometimes fighting for $50 or $100 a round.
Maldonado,
who fought for years in as a professional boxer (with a 22-0
record), sounds as if he agrees, at least to some degree.
“Fought
boxing, never seen it happen before,” he said of the bonus
he received, even in a losing effort.
While
many may question the necessity of a union for mixed martial
artists, it doesn’t sound if Maldonado is among them.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
What’s
Melendez’s Opponent Got in Store for Him at Strikeforce?
Find out Here
Pat
Healy against Maximo Blanco at Strikeforce: this time he takes
on Jiu-Jitsu black belt Gilbert Melendez.
If
you’re a Strikeforce fan, you’d better make the most
of the next show. According to sources close to the event that
launched the likes of Ronda Rousey, Antonio Pezão and
Ronaldo Jacaré, it’s set to close its doors after
the January 12 show in Oklahoma, USA.
What
we can expect now, if no twists or turns in the story arise,
is an exit for the ages, as that’s just what the card in
the works looks sure to provide. The reigning lightweight champion,
Gilbert Melendez, will take on Pat Healy in the main event, and
besides retiring the promotional belt to his mantel, the winner
will surely join the UFC’s ranks carrying some major clout.
And
three more champions are tipped to defend their crowns at the
farewell event. Middleweight kingpin Luke Rockhold takes on Lorenz
Larkin, while Nate Marquardt defends his welterweight belt against
Tarec Saffiedine, and the promotion’s number 1 heavyweight,
Daniel Cormier, locks horns with Dion Staring, with UFC fans
watching attentively.
In
the video below, Pat Healy, Melendez’s opponent, teaches
how to subdue an opponent using the crucifix, explaining step
by step how to lock in the position and ultimately get the choke.
Strikeforce
Oklahoma, USA
January 12, 2013
Gilbert
Melendez vs. Pat Healy
Luke Rockhold vs. Lorenz Larkin
Nate Marquardt vs. Tarec Saffiedine
Daniel Cormier vs. Dion Staring
Gegard Mousasi vs. Mike Kyle
Ryan Couture vs. KJ Noons
Source:
Gracie Magazine
|
Rankings:
Georges St-Pierre back in the mix
Georges
St-Pierre returned to the UFC with an impressive win over Carlos
Condit in a welterweight title unification bout at UFC 154 on
Nov. 17. He also returned to his perch near the top of the Yahoo!
Sports MMA rankings with the decisive unanimous decision win.
St-Pierre had been ineligible for consideration for the poll
because had had been inactive for more than 12 months. Voters
proved they hadn't forgotten about him, sliding him back into
the rankings at No. 3, behind only UFC middleweight champion
Anderson Silva and UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
[Related: Georges St-Pierre's long-awaited return proves rousing
success]
St-Pierre's return prompted a minor shuffle in the ratings, with
Condit falling out with his loss. Light heavyweight Dan Henderson,
who has been inactive for more than a year, is newly ineligible
and dropped out.
Renan Barao, the UFC's interim bantamweight champion, moved into
the poll at No. 10.
With that, here is the results of the November Yahoo! Sports
MMA poll:
1. Anderson Silva
Points: 199 (19 of 20 first-place votes)
Affiliation: UFC (middleweight champion)
Weight class: Middleweight
Record: 31-4
Last outing: TKO1 Stephan Bonnar, Oct. 13
Previous ranking: 1
Up next: Nothing scheduled
2. Jon Jones
Points: 174 (1 of 20 first-place votes)
Affiliation: UFC (light heavyweight champion)
Weight class: Light heavyweight
Record: 17-1
Last outing: SUB4 Vitor Belfort, Sept. 22
Previous ranking: 2
Next: Title fight vs. Chael Sonnen, April 27
3. Georges St-Pierre
Points: 165
Affiliation: UFC (welterweight champion)
Weight class: Welterweight
Record: 23-2
Last outing: W5 Carlos Condit on Nov. 17
Previous ranking: NR
Next: Nothing scheduled
4. Jose Aldo
Points: 139
Affiliation: UFC (featherweight champion)
Weight class: Featherweight
Record: 21-1
Last outing: TKO1 Chad Mendes, Jan. 14
Previous ranking: 3
Next: Title fight vs. Frankie Edgar, Feb. 2
5. Junior dos Santos
Points: 105
Affiliation: UFC (heavyweight champion)
Weight class: Heavyweight
Record: 15-1
Last outing: TKO2 Frank Mir, May 26
Previous ranking: 4
Next: Title fight vs. Cain Velasquez, Dec. 29
6. Benson Henderson
Points: 101
Affiliation: UFC (lightweight champion)
Weight class: Lightweight
Record: 16-2
Last outing: W5 Frankie Edgar, Aug. 11
Previous ranking: 5
Next: Title fight vs. Nate Diaz, Dec. 8
7. Frankie Edgar
Points: 78
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Featherweight
Record: 14-4-1
Last outing: L5 Benson Henderson, Aug. 11
Previous ranking: 7
Next: Title fight vs. Jose Aldo, Feb. 2
8. Gilbert Melendez
Points: 71
Affiliation: Strikeforce (lightweight champion)
Weight class: Lightweight
Record: 21-2
Last outing: W5 Josh Thomson, May 19
Previous ranking: 7
Next:Title fight vs. Pat Healy, Jan. 12
9. Demetrious Johnson
Points: 68
Affiliation: UFC (flyweight champion)
Weight class: Flyweight
Record: 16-2-1
Last outing: W5 Joseph Benavidez, Sept. 22
Previous ranking: 8
Next: Title fight vs. John Dodson, Jan. 26
10. Renan Barao
Points: 16
Affiliation: UFC (interim bantamweight champion)
Weight class: Bantamweight
Record: 29-1
Last outing: W5 Urijah Faber, July 21
Previous ranking: NR
Up next: Nothing scheduled
Others receiving votes: Carlos Condit, 13; Cain Velasquez, 12;
Rashad Evans, 7; Ronda Rousey, 7; Johny Hendricks, 4; Gray Maynard,
4; Daniel Cormier, 2.
Ineligible: Nick Diaz (serving marijuana suspension); Alistair
Overeem (serving PED suspension); Dominick Cruz (inactive more
than 12 months) Dan Henderson (inactive more than 12 months).
Voting panel:Denny Burkholder, CBSSports.com; Elias Cepeda, Cage
Potato; Mike Chiappetta, MMA Fighting and Fight! Magazine; Steve
Cofield, ESPN Radio 1100, Las Vegas; Neil Davidson, The Canadian
Press; Dave Doyle, MMA Fighting/SI.com; Matt Erickson, MMA Junkie/USA
Today; Adam Hill, Las Vegas Review-Journal; Kevin Iole, Yahoo!
Sports; Case Keefer, Las Vegas Sun; Damon Martin, MMA Weekly;
Todd Martin, freelance; Dave Meltzer, The Wrestling Observer/MMA
Fighting; John Morgan, MMA Junkie/USA Today; Brett Okamoto, ESPN.com;
Ken Pishna, MMA Weekly; Greg Savage, Sherdog; Mike Straka, Spike
TV and Sirius/XM; Dann Stupp, MMA Junkie/USA Today; Jeff Wagenheim,
SI.com.
Source:
Yahoo Sports
|
THE
DOGGY BAG: THE GEORGES AND ANDERSON EDITION
The Straight Dope on Silva-St. Pierre
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.
Welterweight
ruler Georges St. Pierre returned after more than 18 months of
inactivity and rehabilitation at UFC 154 and dominated Carlos
Condit in perhaps the champ's most thrilling title bout to date.
However, with UFC boss Dana White publicly calling for GSP to
square off with middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva in a 2013
super fight, the MMA public can hardly discuss anything else.
Since the UFC and Bellator Fighting Championships decided to
play it cool for the Thanksgiving holiday, folks' fight discussions
are still firmly in the super fight realm.
The
much-ballyhooed St. Pierre-Silva fight has given rise to all
flavors of opinion. Is GSP a coward or a shrewd businessman?
Is Silva dodging Jon Jones? Is it going to happen? If so, where?
Is the media unfair to St. Pierre with its constant needling?
And since when does White care so much about super fights?
And,
hey, let's say they did fight after all. Is MMA's all-time greatest
welterweight really the dead man walking he is portrayed as being?
While we're breaking down fights, could breakout 170-pound contender
Johny Hendricks really be the next challenge for St. Pierre?
Grab
a leftover drumstick and come have a good old-fashioned MMA argument
with us.
Do
you think St. Pierre will actually be fighting Silva the next
time he's in the Octagon? I honestly hope he fights Hendricks.
I look at GSP like MMA's Marvin Hagler, taking out the toughest
contenders in a tough division. I would hate to see his legacy
tarnished by losing to a much larger Silva. -- Ray from Costa
Mesa
Jordan
Breen, administrative editor: Luckily for you, I think you just
might get your wish.
It
is hard for me to listen to St. Pierre answer questions about
Silva and a potential super fight so delicately, so bureaucratically.
I couldn't possibly tell you if St. Pierre is scared of losing,
nervous about becoming part of a highlight reel, bored by the
notion or what his motivation is. However, it does seem overwhelmingly
clear that he simply isn't interested. That is unfortunate --
St. Pierre-Silva would be the most pressing, relevant, extravagant
MMA event of all-time; however, it is the champ's prerogative.
Unless Silva is willing to harken back to his Shooto days and
get down to the welterweight limit, it is likely that GSP stays
evasive and non-committal forever.
You
know, it's a shame, too. If anything, people are too hard on
St. Pierre in the Silva matchup. Everyone acts like he has no
chance on Earth, he of the most effective MMA wrestling ever,
against a guy with historically shaky takedown D. Is a Silva
highlight-reel finish possible? Sure, but St. Pierre has a better
chance than even he seems to give himself.
So,
he might need to guard himself from a public character assassination
from White, should he scoff at the UFC prez's Cowboys Stadium-laden
plans. Ultimately, though, we should be looking at a Hendricks
title defense in the new year. When? That's a bit trickier. Obviously,
it'll be up to GSP. The UFC was originally targeting a return
to Montreal in March, but it appears to be reconsidering. April
already has Jon Jones-Chael Sonnen on deck. Do they push that
Montreal date to May and risk competing with the traditional
Memorial Day card in Vegas?
Based
on how the UFC's 2013 calendar is shaping up and the kind of
rest period that St. Pierre will take for himself before gearing
up for an eighth straight title defense, I think we're probably
looking at St. Pierre-Hendricks on that Memorial Day card in
Vegas. That's not exactly the same kind of once-in-a-lifetime
fight, but Hendricks is a legitimate challenger who is good with
the media and the magnetism of his woolly-faced, hard-nosed American
is obvious. Unless the UFC drops the ball entirely, this bout
will appeal to casuals and hardcores alike in both the U.S. and
Canada. This is still a successful UFC event.
Until
St. Pierre comes out and announces his plan to move up to 185
pounds full-time, which he has long said would be the only way
he'd venture to middleweight, I'm not too optimistic about his
chances of fighting Silva unless the Brazilian makes good on
previous promises of being able to sniff the welterweight limit.
A catchweight will just be another excuse for it not to happen.
However, people love this debate. Silva-St. Pierre is the UFC-Pride
of our time -- the unattainable, unknowable capital-T Truth that
tugs at the very fibres of why we care about people fighting
one another.
Also
consider that Silva and St. Pierre are still pretty damn good.
They're probably going to beat their next foes. The debate won't
go anywhere. We'll see what version of the truth time reveals
to us.
Source:
Sherdog
|
Full
RFA 5: Downing vs. Rinaldi Fight Card
Jared
“Demon Eyes” Downing and Jordan “All Day”
Rinaldi will face each other for the RFA’s featherweight
(145-pound) title in the main event of RFA 5 – Downing vs.
Rinaldi. The card includes 12 bouts that begin at 6:30 p.m. CT
on Friday, November 30.
RFA
5 – Downing vs. Rinaldi
Friday, November 30, 2012
Viaero Event Center
Kearney, Nebraska
Main
Card (Televised on AXS TV at 10 p.m. ET / 9 p.m. CT):
Main
Event | Featherweight Title Bout:
-Jared Downing (9-1, RFA-Bellator vet) vs. Jordan Rinaldi (6-0,
RFA-TUF vet)
Co-Main
Event | Welterweight Bout:
-James Krause (17-4, RFA-WEC-TUF vet) vs. Joe Jordan (49-13-2,
UFC vet)
Featherweight
Bout:
-Mirsad Bektic (4-0, Titan FC vet) vs. Doug Jenkins (8-3, MCC
vet)
Bantamweight
Bout:
-Pedro Munhoz (6-0, Jungle Fight vet) vs. Bill Kamery (10-3,
Titan FC vet)
Welterweight
Bout:
-Kamarudeen “Marty” Usman (0-0, NCAA D-2 champ) vs.
David Glover (0-0, Extreme Challenge champ)
Heavyweight
Bout:
-Derek Bohi (0-0, U.S. Marine Corps, 3x amateur champ) vs. Tony
Rodriguez (0-0, RFA amateur vet)
Flyweight
Bout:
-Matt Manzanares (4-1, RFA vet) vs. Kevin Gray (0-0, NAIA wrestler)
Amateur
Card:
Middleweight
Bout:
-Enrique Torres (12-1-1, Kearney, NE) vs. Jett Jones (18-7, Kansas
City, MO)
Middleweight
Bout:
-Jesus Sandovol (5-1, Kearney, NE) vs. Jordan Sanford (2-0, Cedar
Rapids, IA)
Featherweight
Bout:
-Richard Barajas (6-3, Kearney, NE) vs. Dalton Goddard (10-2,
Kansas City, MO)
Bantamweight
Bout:
-Josh Smith (2-0, Kearney, NE) vs. Ryan MacDonald (2-1, Hastings,
NE)
Featherweight
Bout:
-Kenny Navas (1-0, Kearney, NE) vs. David Allen (1-0, Hastings,
NE)
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Luke
Rockhold Off Upcoming Strikeforce: Champions Card Due to Injury
And
the hits just keep on coming…
Strikeforce
can’t seem to catch a break over their last few shows and
there’s been another injury to a main card bout for their
upcoming final card in January.
Middleweight
champion Luke Rockhold has been forced off the card with an injury,
and his bout against Lorenz Larkin has been scrapped for a second
time.
Sources
close to the situation confirmed the change to MMAWeekly.com
on Sunday with Rockhold’s nagging wrist injury the likely
suspect in the fight being cancelled.
Rockhold and Larkin were originally scheduled to meet in November
as part of the Strikeforce card scheduled for Oklahoma City,
but the champion was also forced off that show with a similar
injury.
The
fight was rescheduled as part of the final card for the promotion
titled Strikeforce: Champions, but now the bout appears off again.
As
of now it appears the show has lost both Rockhold and lightweight
champion Gilbert Melendez, who is also likely out of his scheduled
bout against Pat Healy.
That
leaves welterweight champion Nate Marquardt as the only champion
left on the show with his title defense against Tarec Saffiedine
still scheduled to happen on Jan 12 along with Daniel Cormier’s
finale Strikeforce bout against Dion Staring in a heavyweight
showdown.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Michael
Bisping Calls for UFC Interim Belt; Should the UFC Make the Move?
Everything
surrounding UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva lately has
swirled about anything but defending his 185-pound divisional
title, and everything points to the likelihood that he won’t
be defending the belt anytime soon.
The
last time he did so was earlier this year in July in a rematch
against Chael Sonnen. He won the fight then went on to help save
UFC 153 from cancellation by fighting Stephan Bonnar in a 205-pound
non-title bout.
Silva
has since indicated that he’s got several personal projects
that he wants to focus on, plus, he has a target on Georges St-Pierre
as his next opponent. If he does get the fight with St-Pierre,
it would be a superfight, not a title bout.
If
he doesn’t intend to defend the belt anytime in the near
future – we’re already going on nearly five months
without any word of a title defense in view – should an
interim UFC middleweight champion be crowned?
Michael
Bisping – the UFC’s self-proclaimed No. 1 middleweight
contender – believes so. He’s scheduled to fight Vitor
Belfort in January at UFC on FX 7 in Brazil, and feels that their
fight is worthy of championship status.
“Me
vs. Vitor Belfort in Brazil in January should be for the Interim
Middleweight Title,” Bisping wrote in a Thanksgiving message
to his fans this week. “With (Chris) Weidman out, I think
me vs Vitor is a worthy Interim Title fight. Way more worthy
than Urijah Favor’s 2354987th title shot and, and I would
defend my Interim Title against all-comers and keep the division
moving.”
Weidman
has been regarded as the top contender to Silva’s title,
or at least among the top two alongside Bisping, but he recently
ended up on the sidelines with a shoulder injury.
Bisping
feels like that leaves he and Belfort as the logical choice for
an interim title bout. And he’s probably right… if
there is to be one.
But
the question begs to be asked: should the UFC institute an interim
champion when its current titleholder isn’t injured? He
just appears to be focused on things other than defending his
championship belt.
It’s
definitely a unique situation, but Bisping believes that, with
all the momentum the UFC middleweight division has right now,
an interim champion who is willing to defend his title would
serve to keep the division moving forward.
“I’m
at the top of my game, you had Weidman getting some serious momentum,
Alan Belcher – when he is healthy – is as good as anyone
at 185lbs in spite of that abomination on his arm, Cung Le has
just KO’d the former champion Rich Franklin in one round,
Tim Boetsch is there, Mark Munoz, Brian Stann, Chris Leben and
the poison dwarf (Hector) Lombard are all in the mix and then
you’ve got Vitor Belfort who is back at his real weight
class after almost snapping Jon Jones’s arm in half on two
weeks’ notice,” Bisping remarked.
“On
top of that it looks like the Strikeforce guys are coming in
shortly, too.
“As it stands, the middleweight division’s champion
has no plans whatsoever to defend his belt until at least the
end of next summer.”
Is
Silva not defending his belt for a year or longer enough reason
for an interim title bout?
“According
to my boss and their boss – Mr Dana F White – Anderson
and GSP will have a super-fight in May and who knows what happens
then? Anderson could win and then fight Jon Jones at light heavyweight
in September and go the entire year – 18 months and more
– since defending the middleweight belt,” Bisping said
in explaining his reasoning.
“Or
GSP could win or Anderson get hurt… the fight could even
be moved to mid-summer for venue reasons… a million things
could happen even when we get to May. Meanwhile, the middleweight
division is in a complete holding pattern.”
Should
the UFC take the unprecedented step of declaring an interim champion
when it’s current titleholder isn’t injured or otherwise
unable to defend his belt? Do they need to do so in order to
keep the division moving forward?
As
always, only time will tell how this all plays out, but until
it does, we can all weigh in on how the situation develops…
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
UFC
President Dana White Doesn’t Think a Fighters Union Will
Ever Happen
In
any industry that employs a vast number of people – particularly
industries where there are wide differences in compensation –
there is always talk of whether or not the workers should form
a union to protect the interests of the masses when it seems
a small group reaps the highest benefits.
Talk
of a fighters union has long been on the tongues of many, especially
with the exploding success of mixed martial arts across the globe.
It
seems little effort has been made over the years to actually
form a union for mixed martial arts athletes.
UFC president Dana White, at least publicly, doesn’t seem
to care one way or another whether there is a fighters union,
but does have a theory as to why there isn’t one.
“The
thing about fighting is, fighting is not a team sport; it’s
an individual sport,” White remarked recently.
“It’s
going to be tough to see a day when (Anderson) Silva or GSP is
giving up big chunks of their money to guys who won’t make
two fights in the UFC.”
Should
it ever come to fruition, however, White doesn’t seem overly
concerned.
“If
it happens, it happens. I have to negotiate with somebody on
the fight contracts.”
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
English
Vaughan is Lee's opponent Urijah Faber at UFC 156 in February
Urijah Faber against already know who will have the chance to
return to the path of victory between the Roosters Ultimate.
As
TATAME found in issue # 156 of the event, the buzz Feb. 2 in
Las Vegas, the "California Kid" will face a challenge
against the Englishman Lee Vaughan
In
his last fight, Faber had a chance to win the interim belt category
at UFC 149, but eventually succumbed to the game Renan Barao
and was defeated in a unanimous decision sides.
Less
experienced that former WEC champion, Lee has only three fights
in the UFC. In February, he performed well and achieved the biggest
achievement of his career to finish Kid Yamamoto at UFC Japan
To boot, the Englishman still won the Submission of the Night
bonus.
But in his latest appointment, Vaughan Lee could not resist TJ
Dillashaw and was finalized in the first round of the fight,
which happened at UFC on Fuel TV 4 in July. Interestingly, Dillashaw
is training partner of Urijah Faber at Team Alpha Male, which
are trained by Brazilian black belt Fabio Goofy.
MOMENTARY
CARD (Subject to change):
UFC
156
Saturday, February 2,
Mandalay Bay - Las Vegas (USA)
-
Jose Aldo will face Frankie Edgar;
- Alistair Overeem will face Antonio Silva ;
- Rashad Evans will face Rogerio Nogueira ;
- Demian Maia will face Jon Fitch;
- Erick Silva will face Jay Hieron;
- Urijah Faber will face Vaughan Lee
Source:
Tatame
|
The
Jiu-Jitsu and MMA World’s Most Impactful Statements of the
Week
Johny
Hendricks lands the knockout of the night at UFC 154, in Montreal.
Photo by Josh Hedges/UFC.
“Carlos
Condit is the only guy besides Jake Shields who’s guard
didn’t get passed by Saint-Pierre. GSP passed the guard
of phenoms like BJ Penn with ease, even passed Dan Hardy’s
guard 26 times!”
Caio
Terra, challenger Carlos Condit’s Jiu-Jitsu coach
“Shogun’s
level on the ground is really great. I even asked him if he didn’t
want to double up with me at the South American Championship
so we could close out at weight and absolute. I learned one lesson
from him: if you’re well trained and tire out, don’t
stop, because your opponent will be exhausted too.”
Léo
Nogueira, Jiu-Jitsu world champion and sparring partner to former
UFC champion
“I’m
not big on Anderson. He’s a phenomenal fighter but an extremely
arrogant guy. (…) I feel a fight between him and Jon Jones
would be a much bigger challenge than against GSP. Anderson knows
he has an advantage over GSP because of his height and all.”
Roberto
Drysdale, letting slip that the “Spider’s” 2010
spat with Demian Maia at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi hasn’t yet
been forgotten
“GSP
hasn’t fought anyone like me yet. I’ve got strong wrestling
and a power punch, and no one’s even seen my Jiu-Jitsu yet.”
Johny
Hendricks
Source:
Gracie Magazine
|
Rickson
Gracie satisfied with the first edition of the Master of Combat
In last Thursday (22), in Rio de Janeiro, the show rolled home
the Combat Master, an event that has the legend Rickson Gracie
such as the "Master of Combat".
In
the card, which featured eight fights, six ended definition in
the gentle art, with the loser dropping three taps.
With
official weigh-in the day of the fight, the first round of 10
minutes and other peculiarities, the first edition of the Combat
Master Rickson pleased.
"I
believe there is much truth in this format, because the fighter
has to work better, can not be too explosive not to spend all
the gas has to be technical, it has to be precise. The frills
and game rule were eliminated, then play to take a fall and you
think you are winning the fight out of reality. Objectivity was
greater, was more time for the guy to do the job and I think
it enhances the athlete, technique and philosophy of struggle.
Without a doubt, created a space within the large audience of
MMA today, which is the fastest growing sport today. I have no
pretensions to be the only one, but I'm sure there is a really
big sport in this type of rule, and I am very satisfied. I think
people are going to have to get used to this rule because she
came to stay, "said the son of the late Helio Gracie to
TATAME, completing.
"He
is reserved and the extent of passing the Sports Interactive
for the whole of Brazil. I think this combination makes those
who are present have a quality show more sophisticated, and who
is seeing the images on television is underway with the rules
that are really innovative. It was a good combination, I liked
the end result of the event. I am very pleased, eager for the
next.
Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo faced off in five fights in the
Combat Master. To the delight of the Rio Rickson, the "Marvelous
City" got the better of 3-2. Murilo Bustamante was responsible
for the "Samurai of Rio."
The
challenge between Rio and "Sampa" was just to show
the format of dispute. For 2013, a national competition is scheduled,
with teams of Bahia, Paraná, Minas Gerais and Pará,
as well as two more teams of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
"The
production has already created some state teams, Curitiba, Bahia,
Belem, and next year it will catch the bug" promises Rickson
Gracie, the "Master of Combat".
Source:
Tatame
|
Nick
Diaz Wants Main Event Fight When He Returns; Still Targeting
Georges St-Pierre
by Damon
Martin
Nick
Diaz is very excited about his return to action in 2013, and
he’s looking for the biggest fight possible.
Still
serving out his one-year suspension after testing positive for
marijuana following his last bout in 2012, the Stockton native
is eyeing his return early next year when his ban is lifted in
February.
Once
licensed, Diaz is gunning for the biggest fights possible, and
that includes settling a long standing rivalry with UFC welterweight
champion Georges St-Pierre or current top contender Johny Hendricks.
“Nick
Diaz is a main event fighter,” Diaz’s manager and trainer
Cesar Gracie told MMAWeekly.com on Wednesday. “He wants
main event fights.”
In
a perfect world according to Gracie, Diaz would return to the
UFC and face St-Pierre right away with the UFC welterweight title
on the line.
Diaz
and St-Pierre have no love lost for each other, and both competitors
still appear interested in settling the score inside the Octagon.
Last weekend during St-Pierre’s return to action against
Carlos Condit at UFC 154, Diaz tweeted that he was not impressed
by the champion’s performance.
St-Pierre
fired back during the post fight press conference by saying,
“I did better than Nick did against Carlos (Condit”.
St-Pierre defeated Condit by unanimous decision at UFC 154, while
Diaz lost to Condit at UFC 142 last year.
As
far as other names in the mix to face Diaz upon his return such
as former welterweight title contender Josh Koscheck, Gracie
keeps it simple and says the Stockton bad boy wants main event
fights, and whoever that happens to be, that’s who it will
be.
Diaz
will be eligible to re-apply for a fight license as of Feb 2,
2013 when his suspension is lifted by the Nevada State Athletic
Commission.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Beating
the Odds: UFC 154
By Yael
Grauer
Sam
Stout had a bad night at UFC 154 on Saturday, as he faced fellow
Canadian John Makdessi in a preliminary lightweight bout at the
Bell Centre in Montreal.
Despite
entering as a -200 favorite -- Makdessi was a +160 underdog --
the man they call “Hands of Stone” had to contend with
the skilled hands of his opponent. Makdessi’s excellent
head movement, good timing and counterstriking skills were evident
throughout the encounter, as the Tristar Gym representative utilized
a stiff jab as his primary weapon. Although Stout grew increasingly
more aggressive throughout the fight, “The Bull” stuffed
his takedowns and walked away with a unanimous decision victory.
Prior
to the fight, Makdessi had suffered back-to-back losses. He succumbed
to a first-round submission from an overweight Dennis Hallman
at UFC 140 and dropped a decision to Anthony Njokuani at UFC
145. Stout, on the other hand, had won his previous fight, handily
defeating Spencer Fisher at UFC on FX 4 in June.
Stout’s
Team Tompkins teammate, Mark Hominick, also came up short, suffering
a unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Pablo Garza despite
entering as a -290 favorite. This was Hominick’s fourth
setback in a row, coming on the heels of a unanimous decision
defeat to featherweight champion Jose Aldo at UFC 129, a seven-second
knockout loss to Chan Sung Jung at UFC 140 and a split decision
defeat to Eddie Yagin at UFC 145.
Despite
the Canadian’s recent skid, UFC president Dana White was
quick to point out that “Hominick always comes to fight”
at a post-fight press conference. “That was a really good
fight. They both went at it,” he added. Although White said
the UFC does not make decisions during the presser about which
fighters will get cut, he made it a point to express his respect
for Hominick.
Garza
had lost two in a row before the bout; he was a victim to a Dustin
Poirier brabo choke at UFC on Fox 1 and lost a decision to Dennis
Bermudez at UFC on Fox 3 in May. An improved striking game paved
the way for his victory.
Stout
and Hominick have seen brighter times. They fought on six of
the same cards for the now-defunct Canadian MMA promotion TKO
Championship Fighting, with five of the events taking place in
Montreal and the other in Victoriaville. The two Team Tompkins
teammates also made their promotional debuts at the same Ultimate
Fighting Championship event: UFC 58 “USA vs. Canada”
in March 2006. There, Hominick submitted Yves Edwards with a
triangle choke, while Stout walked away with a split decision
in his first matchup with Fisher.
Source:
Sherdog
|
Invicta
FC 4 official with Esparza-Gadelha title fight, Baszler-Davis
and more
by Dann
Stupp
The
lineup is nearly compete for the all-female Invicta Fighting
Championships' next card.
Invicta
FC 4 takes place Jan. 5 at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kan.
The card is expected to stream online.
Headlining
the 12-bout lineup is undefeated Claudia Gadelha (9-0) vs. Carla
Esparza (8-2) for the organization's first-ever 115-pound strawweight
championship.
Gadelha
takes a spot initially expected to feature Ayaka Hamasaki (8-0),
who instead will defend her Jewels title in December. Gadelha,
a 23-year-old Brazilian submission specialist, makes her U.S.
debut against Esparza, a Bellator vet who earned the title shot
after recent Invicta victories over Sarah Schneider and Lynn
Alvarez, both via TKO.
In
the co-headliner, world-ranked bantamweights and Strikeforce
veterans Alexis Davis (12-5) and Shayna Baszler (15-7) square
off. Combined, 20 of their 27 wins have come via submission.
Other
main-card fights include bantamweights Amanda Nunes (7-2) vs.
Sarah D'Alelio (6-3), featherweights Hiroko Yamanaka (12-2) vs.
Ediane Gomes (8-2), and strawweights Joanne Calderwood (4-0)
vs. Bec Hyatt (4-1). Additionally, bantamweight Leslie Smith
(4-2-1) will fight an opponent to be determined.
The
night's prelims include featherweights Veronica Rothenhausler
(0-0) vs. Katalina Malungahu (2-1), atomweights Stephanie Frausto
(4-4) vs. Cassie Rodish (3-3), featherweights Tamikka Brents
(1-0) vs. Amanda Bell (0-0), atomweights Jodie Esquibel (2-0)
vs. Liz McCarthy (1-0), strawweights Emily Kagan (2-0) vs. Rose
Namajunas (0-0), and strawweights Paige VanZant (2-0) vs. Tecia
Torres (1-0).
The
latest Invicta FC 4 card includes:
MAIN
CARD
Carla
Esparza vs. Claudia Gadelha - for inaugural strawweight title
Shayna Baszler vs. Alexis Davis
Leslie Smith vs. TBA
Sarah D'Alelio vs. Amanda Nunes
Ediane Gomes vs. Hiroko Yamanaka
Joanne Calderwood vs. Bec Hyatt
PRELIMINARY
CARD
Katalina
Malungahu vs. Veronica Rothenhausler
Stephanie Frausto vs. Cassie Rodish
Amanda Bell vs. Tamikka Brents
Jodie Esquibel vs. Liz McCarthy
Emily Kagan vs. Rose Namajunas
Tecia Torres vs. Paige VanZant
Source:
MMA Junkie
|
Mayhem
Miller: Burglary charges dropped after case dismissed
By Ariel
Helwani
Esther Lin, MMA Fighting
Jason
"Mayhem" Miller can finally move past his recent arrest.
The
former UFC fighter confirmed with MMAFighting.com Wednesday that
the case for his August arrest was dropped earlier in the day
at the Orange County Superior Court. According to Miller, the
incident has also been removed from his record.
Attempts
to reach members of the Orange County Superior Court on Wednesday
to confirm the story were unsuccessful.
When
asked for a comment on the news, Miller only said, "God
is good."
Miller
was arrested Aug. 13 in Mission Viejo, Calif., on burglary charges
after he allegedly broken into a church, sprayed a fire extinguisher
and broke many items. According to a spokesperson for the Orange
County Sheriff's Department, Miller was found by police naked
on a couch in the church. He was not intoxicated and was arrested
without incident.
Miller,
who retired from MMA following his UFC 146 loss to C.B. Dollaway,
explained the misunderstanding in an hour-long interview with
MMAFighting.com last month.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-Ir6edEqIU&feature=player_embedded
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
Anderson
Silva vs. Georges St-Pierre is All About Dollars, Not Sense
by Damon
Martin
It
was a proud moment for Georges St-Pierre to step inside the cage
at the Bell Centre last Saturday night to defend his UFC welterweight
title.
More
than a year had passed since the Canadian stepped foot in the
Octagon after a devastating knee injury required surgery and
months of rehab. Mixed in with the physical ailments was a mental
hurdle that St-Pierre had to jump because, for the months leading
up to his last fight at UFC 129, he had lost the love for fighting.
Luckily
for the UFC and fans around the world, the time off provided
St-Pierre some much needed rest and gave him the chance to realize
he missed fighting, he missed competing and he missed the rush
of what it felt like to be in the UFC.
So
upon his return, St-Pierre was greeted by interim UFC champ Carlos
Condit, and outside of a third-round scare that saw him get planted
on the mat by a head kick, the long reigning welterweight king
did what he does best – dominate on the ground and win a
one-sided decision.
Before
St-Pierre could even have the belt wrapped around his waist,
cameras were already panning cageside where UFC middleweight
champion Anderson Silva sat smiling. You see, Silva has been
asking for a “superfight” against St-Pierre for the
past several months, and says it’s the one fight he really,
really wants right now.
St-Pierre’s
done his best to avoid the subject and even after the fight tried
to keep the focus on his win over Carlos Condit, not a potential
bout against Silva.
The
UFC is all in on a fight between the two champions because it
would likely provide for them the biggest pay-per-view of all
time, and one of the biggest selling live events in company history.
A Silva vs. St-Pierre show would pack a major stadium in either
the U.S., Brazil or Canada, and would shatter records because
St-Pierre and Silva sit at No. 1 and No. 2 respectively as the
biggest draws in the promotion in terms of selling rates on pay-per-view.
The
problem of the superfight seems to lie in the future of Georges
St-Pierre, and the UFC is gambling an awful lot on a fighter
they could likely promote for the next five to six years, easily,
but it might all go away should he lose to Anderson Silva in
this mega-fight.
If
St-Pierre goes up to middleweight, or even up to a catchweight
of say 178 pounds, he’s stated numerous times that it would
likely signal the end of his welterweight career. That’s
in large part why there’s been so much posturing from St-Pierre’s
camp about Silva dropping down to 170 pounds to take the potential
superfight, should it happen.
Add
to that, St-Pierre has been a welterweight his entire career
and he’s perfectly suited for the weight class. He is five-feet-10-inches
tall, which is considerably shorter than many of the top middleweights,
and while he’s been described as a “huge welterweight,”
as the division continues to grow, so do the fighters.
The
most significant arguing factor against a Silva vs. St-Pierre
superfight may just be a man by the name of Johny Hendricks.
When
St-Pierre left the welterweight division to deal with his knee
surgery, there weren’t many top contenders roaming around
for him to fight. Now that he’s back, St-Pierre already
faced a clear-cut No. 1 fighter in Carlos Condit, and after flattening
two top five welterweights in the span of 11 months, Johny Hendricks
has by far done enough to earn a shot at the title.
Add
to that the fact that Silva has two middleweight contenders potentially
lining up for him in the next three months and, from a sporting
aspect at least, the fight with St-Pierre makes even less sense,
except when you look at it for what it’s truly about –
a money grab.
The
UFC is a business and their business is like any other business,
it needs to make money and there is no fight with bigger potential
than a bout between Silva and St-Pierre. But the fallout in terms
of divisions being held in limbo and at least one of your most
marketable fighters and champions being handed a loss can’t
be good for future revenue.
No
one’s hand should be forced in this situation, but a Silva
vs. St-Pierre superfight is no longer about who is truly the
pound-for-pound best in the sport – it’s about cashing
in on a five-year-old idea, and making a boat load of cash along
the way.
There’s
nothing wrong with making the money, but at what expense to the
rest of the UFC?
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Caio
Terra Plays Down Cesar Gracie’s Criticism, Praises Carlos
Condit’s Jiu-Jitsu
Nalty Junior
GRACIEMAG.com:
Now the dust has settled, what are your thoughts about Carlos
Condit’s performance against Georges Saint-Pierre at UFC
154?
CAIO
TERRA: Carlos put on a big-time display of true, smooth and free-flowing
Jiu-Jitsu. He’s really smart and a fast learner. I trained
him for about 40 days, which isn’t very long when it comes
to Jiu-Jitsu. But he did great. Carlos is the only guy who Saint-Pierre
hasn’t passed the guard of; except for Jake Shields, who’s
a ground-fighting specialist, so GSP didn’t want to him
take down—he beat him standing. GSP easily passed the guard
of a phenomenon like BJ Penn, passed Dan Hardy’s 26 times!
He only made it to Carlos’s half-guard, a position where
he attacked but also got attacked. GSP never made it to side-control,
the only position where he could have attacked and hit, because
Condit didn’t let him.
Do
you feel Condit could have attacked more on the ground?
I
feel all the blood that came out at the start of the fight made
things more slippery, which hindered Condit in using his Jiu-Jitsu.
Even on bottom I feel Carlos hit harder, though. All you have
to do is take a look at GSP’s face after the fight; he was
beat up worse than Carlos. And Condit didn’t get hit all
that much in half-guard.
After
the fight, Cesar Gracie said that you’re no longer part
of Gracie Fighter Team because you trained Condit. How did you
deal with that?
I’m
chill. I know I didn’t do anything wrong, and don’t
regret it. When I moved to the USA I’d already been a black
belt for a year, had already won the Worlds and other titles
at every other belt. After three years teaching at Cesar’s
academy, in 2010 I took off and started my own academy—with
Cesar’s permission. It’s been a while now that I haven’t
met up with anyone from Cesar’s MMA team, if just because
on weekends I always travel to teach seminars.
You’d
already notified Cesar and Nick Diaz, another welterweight contender,
that you were going to coach Condit, right?
When
Condit got in touch with me I immediately asked Cesar if it was
cool. But he was aggressive with me, which made me sad because
I saw that he didn’t have the same respect for me as I had
for him. A few weeks later I bumped into him at an event, and
he told me it had all been just a joke, that there was no problem,
and that I should speak with Nick, who’d already faced Condit.
Since Nick’s impossible to get a hold of, I asked Nick to
call me, which never happened.
Do
you feel you did anything wrong?
No.
First of all, Nick isn’t just suspended; he said he was
retiring (laughs). Secondly, I was training Condit to face GSP.
Nick and Nathan have trained with a bunch of opponents in the
past, like BJ Penn, Ben Henderson, Frankie Edgar. It’s normal.
Jake [Shields] has trained with the Blackzilians. I have nothing
but respect for them all, so the lack of respect for me saddens
me.
He
said that you went to train Condit so you could make money and
get some press…
If
Cesar was unhappy, all he had to do was call me to tell me I
was off the team, but he wanted to let it all out in the press.
I didn’t want that press, nor did I want to appear in the
UFC Countdown special. To paint a picture for you, it was Dana
White who called Carlos and demanded that I be on the special.
He’s the one who wanted to see shots of Jiu-Jitsu training
to publicize the fight with. Anyways, I just want to make it
clear that I didn’t coach Condit for press or for money.
I need money just like the next guy, but that wasn’t my
main motivator.
What
was your main motivation, then?
I’ve
done plenty of competing in Jiu-Jitsu. I’ve won all the
big tournaments, and sometimes you need a new challenge to give
you that extra motivation. Carlos is an excellent person, a talented
fighter and true warrior, and I wanted to help him because I’d
already seen him helping a lot of other people. I wanted to help
him by teaching him modern Jiu-Jitsu, and I feel it was a phenomenal
experience. And what a fight!
Source:
Gracie Magazine
|
Diego
Sanchez hints at possible UFC on FUEL TV 8 bout with Takanori
Gomi
Diego
Sanchez (23-5 MMA, 12-5 UFC) may soon have his first fight in
more than a year.
The
UFC veteran today tweeted that he may fight fellow lightweight
Takanori Gomi (34-8 MMA, 3-3 UFC) at UFC on FUEL TV 8 in Japan,
assuming the Japanese fighter takes the bout.
UFC
on FUEL TV 8 takes place March 3 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama,
Japan. Following Facebook prelims, the night's main card airs
on FUEL TV (on March 2 in the U.S. due to the time difference).
UFC
officials have announced nothing in regards to the potential
Sanchez vs. Gomi fight, which likely would be part of the main
card.
"Might
have a fight lined up for march 2nd," wrote Sanchez, who's
been on the mend following shoulder surgery. "Just waiting
on the man Joe Silva to see if Mr. Fireball kid takes it?"
Earlier
this year, Sanchez told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio)
he was considering a return to lightweight. Most recently he
suffered a unanimous-decision loss to welterweight Jake Ellenberger
at UFC on FUEL TV 1. Prior to the February defeat, he posted
decision wins over Martin Kampmann and Paulo Thiago. He's won
three straight "Fight of the Night" bonuses and five
in his past seven fights.
Gomi,
meanwhile, recently rebounded from a 1-3 skid that nearly cost
him his UFC job. Back in February, he knocked out Eiji Mitsuoka,
and earlier this month at UFC on FUEL TV 6, the former PRIDE
champion picked up a narrow split-decision victory Mac Danzig
that also nabbed him "Fight of the Night" honors.
Source: MMA Junkie
|
Fightweets:
Silva-GSP chatter, Chris Weidman's injury, and more
By Dave
Doyle
Eric Bolte-US PRESSWIRE
I'm
writing the bulk of this piece on Wednesday, before Thanksgiving,
but it's not going live on the site until Friday, when you're
starting to get sick of all the leftover turkey. Fortunately,
since this is running after the holiday, this means you get spared
the "reasons why I'm thankful" lead writers of all
sorts have leaned on since, well, probably the day after the
first Thanksgiving in Plymouth Colony.
So,
with that, I hope you and your family had a good holiday and
I hope you get a chance to rest up over the weekend.
We've
got a couple weeks without major events in MMA before the schedule
heats up once again. But there's still plenty to talk about,
from Anderson Silva vs. Georges St-Pierre super fight talks to
Joe Rogan's UFC 154 comments to Chris Weidman's injury.
With
that, a holiday edition of Fightweets. If you'd like to be considered
in a future edition,leave me a question on my Twitter page.
The
Superfight
@Beingbrad:
Do you think a Silva/GSP fight would be more spectacle than sport?
Like a Bailey/Johnson 150m runoff?
Every
champion vs. champion superfight, whether in MMA or boxing, has
an element of spectacle to it. It's out of the ordinary. It's
a "what if" come to life. The spectacle is a big part
of why superfights are such big draws when promoted properly.
The
question is whether this particular fight leans too much on the
side of spectacle instead of sport. In the case of GSP vs. Silva,
I'd say it doesn't. It's not like we're dealing with PRIDE open
weight tourney levels of potential size disparities here, and
it's not like Silva is angling to set this fight at the light
heavyweight limit. If the two camps can settle on a reasonable
weight agreement, you end up with a fight in which one fighter's
strength, GSP's wrestling, matches well with the other's weakness,
Silva's takedown defense. It's true GSP has the size differential
B.J. Penn had against him and that Silva would have against Jon
Jones, but it's not like we're talking about a freak-show fight
here.
@JoeTew:
Why would GSP want to leave his weight class with so many great
new fighters? Let silva cut weight for legacy fight.
And
we're off to the races. Firas Zahabi's comment on this week's
MMA Hour that he considers that a 170-pound weight limit would
make GSP vs. Silva a "fair fight" is the first in what
promises to be a protracted, public negotiation between the two
sides. The chances that Silva's camp accepts Zahabi's proposal
is virtually nil, just like Silva's reps are likely to counter
with a weight too high for GSP to accept the first time out.
And
that's just in trying to figure out the weight at which the fight
will be contested. That's before we get to the topic of a fight
venue. Give this about a month or so, and everyone will claim
to be sick of hearing about all the posturing, while also still
clicking on every story which mentions the potential fight. Bottom
line: Get used to it, this topic isn't going away any time soon.
What
Weidman's injury means for middleweight division
@AdamHutcheon:
What do you think Weidman dropping out means for Silva-GSP and
the MW division?
Unfortunately,
it appears Chris Weidman's shoulder injury is going to knock
him off track in the middleweight race, a tough break for a guy
still trying to recover from losing his home to Hurricane Sandy.
Weidman
recently told MMAFighting he can expect to be sidelined from
three to six months due to the injury. If closer to the latter,
that would put us right up around the time the UFC wants to make
Silva vs. St-Pierre happen. If that the superfight doesn't occur,
it's reasonable to expect Silva will defend his middleweight
title sometime around then, regardless of his posturing to the
contrary.
Who
would be in line for a title shot with Weidman out of the picture?
That's a bit less clear-cut, but if Michael Bisping can defeat
Vitor Belfort in Brazil, that would make Silva vs. Bisping a
hot fight in the country in the country where the UFC is currently
hottest.
Weidman,
meanwhile, is going to need a fight or two to get back on track.
By the time he returns, he'll be a year removed from his impressive
win over Mark Munoz. I'm not in anyway discounting that Weidman
could still be a potential future champion, but it's going to
take more time than he may have planned on.
Joe
Rogan at UFC 154
@RuckerYeah:
hey @davedoylemma u think Rogan's comment about "Kampmann
coming from behind more often than Lance Bass" was out of
turn?
Since
Joe Rogan's fans like to blur the line between the Rogan comedian
and Rogan the color commentator, let's take a look at his performance
at UFC 154 from both angles.
I
can't get outraged over Rogan's joke for a simple reason: It
was just lame. (And dated. Lance Bass jokes in 2012? Really?)
As a comic, Rogan's passive-aggressive swipes at gays have slowly
turned into a schtick, one roughly as edgy Gallagher and his
watermelon or Jeff Foxworthy's redneck one-liners. I see his
Bass joke more as a sign he's starting to jump the shark as a
comic than something to get upset about.
Now,
as for Rogan the color commentator, to some degree, we know what
we're going to get by this point. Sometimes he's astute and incisive.
Sometimes he seems distracted and veers way off-topic. Sometimes
he's all of the above in a mere matter of moments. His comments
on referee Phillippe Chartier belong in the "off-topic"
category. You would have thought Emmanuel Yarborough was the
third man in for Francis Carmont vs. Tom Lawlor, the way Rogan
went on about it. But Chartier did nothing wrong during his fights.
Meanwhile, a ref with a physique more likely to earn Rogan's
seal of approval, Dan Miragliotta, watched Alessio Sakara rain
a series of undefended punches to the back of Patrick Cote's
head during the same card. Maybe instead of judging refs based
on how their appearance, we should be judging them based on,
you know, how they do their jobs.
We've
long learned to take the good with the bad in Rogan's commentary.
The potential problem is, the bigger the UFC gets, the bigger
microscope it falls under. If Rogan says the wrong thing at the
wrong time during a UFC on FOX broadcast, it has the potential
to become an unwanted headache for the company.
Rogan
obviously hears the criticism, since he talked about it in his
most recent podcast. Rogan is capable of very good work. It would
be nice to see more of insightful Rogan and less of his evil
twin.
Where's
Ben Askren?
@SeanPeconi:
Crazy that Askren isn't in [welterweight] top 10.
I
ranked him ninth. I can't tell others on the poll how to vote.
Rasslin'
and MMA
@xX_FROST_Xx:
#1 Hope you and your family have a wonderful and joyful Thanksgiving.
#2 Are the shots that the WWE are taking ..
@xX_FROST_Xx:
(cont) at the UFC as a result of the move from Spike to Fox?
I think so. (Jilted lover scenario) What do u think?
First
off, thanks man, and likewise to you and yours. As for the WWE,
look, I was a wrestling fan growing up. I actually first heard
of the UFC through Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer when he
reported on UFC 1. By the time UFC 3 rolled around, Dave's writing
about this strange new event intrigued me enough to give a UFC
pay-per-view a shot.
The
problem with pro wrestling as it relates to MMA is that while,
yes, there are undeniable similarities between the UFC's pay-per-view
business model and that of the WWE, wrestling's defenders in
general try way too hard to draw broad parallels between the
two. One is a sport. One isn't. That does matter. The fact that
wrestlers work hard and that there is athleticism in their craft
is irrelevant to the conversation.
While
there is some crossover in the audience, the UFC gains nothing
by the conflation the two products. And it's clear they understand
this, since they're not even dignifying the WWE's recent on-air
taunt. And anyway, "our Friday night show has more social
media engagement than yours" is just about the weakest putdown
I've ever heard on a wrestling program, anyway.
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
Pat
Miletich Thinks Georges St. Pierre Could Take Down, Control Anderson
Silva
Pat
Miletich, on “Rewind,” discussing a potential matchup
between Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva:
“I
think Georges can take him down. I think he can control him,
but the one thing, the difference there is, Anderson Silva is
the master of deception with his hands and with his strikes.
Georges would not have the control of that area against Anderson.
Anderson would control that area and would keep Georges off balance.
That’s the variable there, and I think Georges has a little
more trouble being able to take Anderson down because of that.
He’s not going to be able to set up the pretty takedowns,
get in clean as much. That makes for a very interesting matchup,
but I think Georges is physically probably stronger even though
he’s a lighter guy. He’s obviously got better takedowns,
and I think he could put Anderson on his back and honestly, I
don’t think Anderson could submit him. I think Georges is
strong enough to deal with that stuff. It makes for a hell of
a match.”
Source
Sherdog
|
Working
Class Fitness: Blow Your Mind and Raise the Bar
by Matt
Wiggy Wiggins
What
would you say if I told you that you could improve your cardio,
explosiveness, strength, and more – in only ONE workout?
And
what if I went on to tell you that you could improve any of these
traits without ever actually improving any of these traits. You’d
just be tricking yourself into improving them?
Sound
like some sort of fitness mumbo jumbo? Waiting on the infomercial-like
pitch?
LOL
– I can imagine. But it’s true.
See,
there are two ways we can improve. Firstly, we can actually improve.
By that I mean whatever it is we’re using to measure ourselves
can be improved. You go from benching 230 pounds to benching
240 pounds. You go from running a mile in 7 minutes to running
one in 6 minutes.
These
are all objective measurements. They’re all black or white.
Either you’re better or you’re not.
But
there’s a lot of training you do that’s more subjective
than objective. And that’s a matter of hard work.
Problem
is that, many times, “hard work” is relative. What
I think is hard, you might think is easy, and that guy over there
is crazy to even attempt.
Usually,
you see this as conditioning work, sparring, hitting the pads,
or any other activity that takes longer sustained work. You have
a certain pace, threshold, or level that you work at. You go
until it’s “hard” and maintain that pace. Or whatever.
(It’ll depend on what you’re doing.)
You
can’t really apply this thought process to stuff that’s
objectively measureable. If you can only bench 230 pounds, then
that’s all you can bench. Doesn’t matter how hard it
is or heavy it feels. If 235 buries you, then 235 buries you.
So
we won’t worry about that. Let’s focus on the subjective.
Training
that’s subject to how we feel is all based on personal association.
That’s why it can seem hard to me and easy to you (given
that we have the same physical capabilities, and we both have
to expend roughly the same amount of effort).
If
every time I go for a run, I only ever do very slow roadwork,
anytime I try to run hard for an extended distance (say 400m
tempo runs or running 2 miles as quickly as I can) is going to
kick my ass. Why? Because I’m not used to running that hard
for that long.
But
let’s say that kind of running is all you do. It’s
going to seem easier to you, as you’re used to it.
You’ve
built up the mental toughness to endure that kind of training.
I haven’t.
On
the flip side, let’s say next week we go out and jog 8 miles.
I might think it’s just another day at the office, while
it might kick your ass, as you’re just simply not used to
pounding the pavement for that many miles.
See
what I mean?
Thing
is that you can adjust this and train your brain pretty easily.
Every
now and then, go out and just have one massively kickass workout.
Do something you know is way above your normal workload, and
maybe even above your capabilities (use your head, though –
don’t do anything stupid). And just do it. Figure out a
way to get it done.
What
will happen is that you’ll “raise the bar” (so-to-speak)
in your own mind. You were used to working out at a certain level
before, but now that will seem much easier (even if you’re
working the same as you ever were), simply because now you’ll
have something much harder to associate it to.
Jogging
4 miles normally might seem like a hard workout. But it’ll
seem like an easy day if you force yourself one day to go out
and run 8 miles. Doing 75 burpees in a workout might seem tough.
But it’ll seem like a short workout if you go out and do
150 one day. Doing 200 reps of ab work might seem like a tough
way to finish a workout. But it’ll seem quick if you up
it to 500 reps one day.
It’s
all about training your mind – getting used to doing things
you never do, so that the things you normally do now seem easy.
Now,
don’t go out and do one of these “raise the bar”
workouts all the time. Just a few times per year is all you need.
Otherwise, you’ll end up losing the proper effect anyway.
So
next time you think your (subjective) workout is tough, go out
and “raise the bar.” I guarantee your next workout
will be easy.
Before
you go to the gym again, you owe it to yourself to find out what
kind of MMA workout pro fighters, boxers, recreational MMAists,
or just the “regular guy” who wants to be in shape
like his favorite fighter *should* be doing. (HINT – it’s
not the crap you see in the magazines.) To discover the truth,
hit up Wiggy at www.workingclassfitness.com or on Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/matt.wiggy.wiggins.
(Physical
exercise can sometimes lead to injury. WorkingClassFitness.com
and MMAWeekly.com are not intended to be a substitute for professional
medical or fitness advice. Please consult a physician before
starting any exercise program, and never substitute the information
on this site for any professional medical advice or treatment
you may receive or the assistance of a fitness professional.)
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Source:
Romolo Barros
|
Dan
Henderson vs. Lyoto Machida Targeted for UFC 157 in Anaheim
Dan
Henderson will look to get back into a title fight in 2013, but
first he will face former champion Lyoto Machida at UFC 157 in
Anaheim on Feb 23.
Sources
close to the fight confirmed to MMAWeekly.com that the competitors
have agreed to meet on the late February card in 2013.
Henderson
will return to action after more than a year away from the sport.
Originally, Henderson was scheduled to meet UFC light heavyweight
champion Jon Jones at UFC 151 in September, but a knee injury
sidelined the former Pride and Strikeforce champion.
With
his knee still in recovery, Henderson has now targeted the late
February show for his return to action against Lyoto Machida.
Machida
will look to take another step closer towards another crack at
the belt as well when he faces Henderson in February. The former
champion knocked out Ryan Bader in his last fight, and now hopes
to do the same when he faces Henderson next year.
The
bout was initially reported by Tatame.com
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
UFC
154 Post-Mortem Q&A
By Chris
Nelson
Is
there any reason for the UFC not to make GSP-Silva? Could Johny
Hendricks be the next welterweight champ? And what’s up
with Rafael dos Anjos? Sherdog.com features editor Brian Knapp
poses these questions, with answers from associate editor Chris
Nelson.
Got
a different take? Be sure to leave your own answers in the comments.
What
are the risks and rewards associated with a Georges St. Pierre-Anderson
Silva super fight?
It’s pretty hard to see much downside in this one. With
both guys having already cemented their places as all-time greats
in their respective divisions, the risk of tarnishing one’s
legacy with a loss to the other is minimal. At this point, the
only more salivated-over champ-versus-champ matchup is Silva-Jon
Jones, and Silva has made clear that’s not happening. Even
if the majority sees a Silva win over GSP as a foregone conclusion,
it’s still a fight that scores of fans would kill -- or,
more importantly, pay -- to see. As rewards go, it’s not
tough to imagine the UFC smashing pay-per-view numbers, not to
mention the massive media exposure that would come with a show
at a venue like Cowboys Stadium.
The
only real negative would be another year-long holdup in the welterweight
division, especially after Johny Hendricks’ breakout win
against Martin Kampmann last Saturday. St. Pierre just fought
for the first time in18 months, and the thought of him not defending
his title again until next fall is frustrating. That said, Hendricks
isn’t going anywhere, and one more fight against Condit
or Nick Diaz to decide a clear No. 1 contender wouldn’t
be the worst thing in the world.
Could
Carlos Condit have done anything differently to improve his chances
against St. Pierre?
Wrestled in college? No, I think Condit did everything in his
power and things still went the way we expected. He got GSP’d
and there’s no shame in that; it’s happened to the
best of welterweights. Rewatching the head-kick knockdown from
the third round, Condit might have had a better shot at pounding
out the champ if he’d attacked from the side, rather than
going into GSP’s guard. But that’s a minor adjustment
to a split-second decision and one that wouldn’t have changed
the fact that St. Pierre is ridiculously resilient.
If
they should meet, would Johny Hendricks pose a serious threat
to St. Pierre’s title reign?
It would be foolish to say that somebody with Hendricks’
punching power and wrestling game doesn’t pose a serious
threat to GSP, or anyone at 170 pounds for that matter. We’ve
seen St. Pierre punched out before and we saw him dazed by Condit
last Saturday, so there’s no doubt a Hendricks left hand
to the dome could put the champ in danger. Hendricks’ boxing
isn’t as technically sound as St. Pierre’s, and the
fight could wind up looking a lot like GSP’s five-round
jab clinic against Josh Koscheck, but it’s still a fight
that needs to happen.
Where
does Rafael dos Anjos fit in the lightweight division?
Calling a fighter “well-rounded” is such an MMA cliche,
but that’s exactly what dos Anjos has become over the last
few years. Already a BJJ black belt, the Brazilian has upped
his striking game with the addition of intensive muay Thai training
at Singapore’s Evolve MMA. Beating Mark Bocek, as dos Anjos
did soundly at UFC 154, is no small feat -- however, even with
his all-around game in full swing, it’s difficult to imagine
dos Anjos doing the same to the 155-pound elite like Benson Henderson
or Nate Diaz. He might not win a world title, but I can see dos
Anjos sticking around in the UFC for a long time, separating
contenders from pretenders as a skilled gatekeeper, much like
the man who broke his jaw, Clay Guida.
What
did we learn about Francis Carmont?
He’s good at avoiding takedowns, defending guillotines and
using psychic manipulation to convince judges to score in his
favor. Not positive about the last one, but it’s otherwise
hard to explain how two officials sided with Carmont when eight
of nine media scorers tallied by MMADecisions.com scored the
bout for Tom Lawlor. (I had Lawlor up 29-28; most gave him all
three rounds, 30-27.) Of course, Carmont isn’t to blame
for the funky scorecards, and he did manage to hang for 15 minutes
with one of the middleweight divison’s grimiest grinders.
The fact that he couldn’t find a way to hurt Lawlor on the
feet suggest that Carmont is not, as his nickname suggests, “Limitless,”
but it will be interesting to see how the UFC matches him up
after technically winning four straight inside the Octagon.
Source:
Sherdog
|
Whatever
UFC champ Anderson Silva does, Michael Bisping wants him to get
on with it
by Steven
Marrocco
Middleweight
Michael Bisping still was digesting news that Anderson Silva
planned to take a year off from fighting when he spoke to MMAjunkie.com
Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio).
Since
then, Silva has reversed course – if he ever changed course
at all – and volunteered to fight welterweight champ Georges
St-Pierre, who will now decide whether the superfight is in his
best interest.
Whatever
Silva's plan is, Michael Bisping wants to make sure his middleweight
division doesn't get left behind.
"Yes,
of course, we like to fight, and it's a business as well,"
he said. "But you want that progression and to fulfill your
dream, and my dream is to be world champion one day. We all have
a clock that's ticking. I've still got a lot of time left, but
I don't want to waste a year fighting for the hell of it. I want
to know that I'm moving toward something."
Silva
announced his willingness to fight St-Pierre just prior to the
welterweight champ's title defense against Carlos Condit at UFC
154. There was no in-cage staredown, but the middleweight kingpin
dropped into UFC President Dana White's office to announce he
is ready for the superfight.
Now
scheduled to headline UFC on FX 7 opposite Vitor Belfort, Bisping
would move closer to a No. 1 middleweight contender's spot with
a win. A setback against onetime title challenger Chael Sonnen
is the Brit's only setback in the past two years, and his marketability
makes him not only attractive to the UFC, but to Silva, who's
complained of lack of marquee opponents in the 185-pound class.
That
might not matter, though, if the middleweight champ has his sights
set on meetings with St-Pierre and light-heavyweight champ Jon
Jones. And it certainly wouldn't make a difference if he sat
on the bench to make movies with Steven Seagal and spend time
with his family.
Whether
Silva is simply toying with his audience by hinting at one fate
or another, and whether his lofty plans come to fruition, Bisping
needs answers.
"I
kind of feel like he's maybe having a little bit of fun with
it sometimes, but this isn't a comedy program," he said.
"This is the UFC, and this is fighting. It's serious business.
If you want to take a year out, take a year out. If you don't
want to take a year out, fight the No. 1 contender. Anderson
is the best, but you've got to defend that title."
Bisping
doesn't fault Silva for carving his own path and acknowledges
the Brazilian as the best fighter in the business. At the same
time, he suggested an interim title could keep the middleweight
division viable if the champion is absent. He isn't keen on the
idea of holding a "fake belt," but it might be better
than nothing.
"Perhaps
he vacates the belt, and when he's ready to come back, he gets
an immediate title shot and fights the new champion then,"
Bisping added.
Ultimately,
the outspoken middleweight won't be able to do much other than
continue to win fights and lobby for a title shot. With Silva
reigning over division, he's at the mercy of the champ's timetable.
"He's
put us all in this position," Bisping said. "It just
sucks for the fans that want to see Anderson fight. It sucks
for the fighters that want to fight Anderson for his belt, and
it sucks for the UFC, as well."
Source:
MMA Junkie
|
Chris
Weidman Injures Shoulder Ahead of UFC 155; Teammates and Sponsors
Stepped Up
by Damon
Martin
Chris
Weidman has had some very tough times over the last few weeks,
and it didn’t get any easier over the past couple of days.
The
UFC middleweight contender lost his home earlier this month during
the devastation of Hurricane Sandy. Weidman’s Long Island
home suffered major damage and flooding amidst the catastrophic
storm that swept through the east coast of the United States.
Never
one to be deterred however, Weidman and his family picked up
the pieces and with help from his manager and friends, relocated
to Arizona to continue his training for a scheduled bout against
Tim Boetsch at UFC 155.
Weidman’s
manager, David Martin of the Martin Advisory Group, also works
with the team at Power MMA and Fitness headed up by UFC regulars
Ryan Bader and Aaron Simpson, and they were more than happy to
extend a helping hand to their friend for his training camp.
According
to Martin who spoke to MMAWeekly.com on Wednesday, it was friends
like Bader and Simpson along with a dedicated group of sponsors
that helped Weidman during his time of need.
Martin
says the team at Bad Boy offered to fly Weidman out to Las Vegas
with a free place to stay to allow him to train in the city,
as well as MicroTech who offered to pay Weidman his sponsorship
money ahead of his UFC 155 bout against Tim Boetsch. Martin also
revealed that the team at American Ethanol and the Sanford Group
also stepped up to help Weidman after the devastation of Hurricane
Sandy cost the fighter and his family their home.
The
support didn’t go unnoticed as Weidman was extremely appreciative
of the sponsors that stepped up to help him as well as a personal
call from UFC President Dana White, who vowed to stand by the
fighter in his time of need.
Unfortunately
in the midst of getting ready for his bout, Weidman suffered
a shoulder injury while drilling his wrestling with the team
in Arizona.
“Chris
was wrestling and it just happened, his shoulder popped,”
Martin told MMAWeekly.com. “He had an MRI on Tuesday and
he’s flying home to New York as we speak while we wait for
the orthopedic surgeon to make a final diagnosis.
“We
just felt it was bad enough that there was no way Chris could
fight at UFC 155, and to be fair to the UFC and Tim Boetsch,
we didn’t want to delay the inevitable so we had to make
the call to pull out of the fight.”
Weidman
will await final word on just how bad his shoulder injury really
is, and how long it will take him to get back in action in 2013.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
UFC
NEWS: Todd Duffee Returns to UFC in December
Erik Fontanez
Two
years after he was released from the UFC, heavyweight Todd Duffee
is on his way back to the octagon.
Duffee
will return to the organization and is scheduled to fight Phil
De Fries at UFC 155 on Dec. 29, according to a Wednesday report
from the Las Vegas Sun. The UFC later confirmed Duffee’s
return on Twitter.
“Welcome
back, big guy!” read the status update.
Duffee,
once considered one of the heavyweight division’s brightest
prospects, was last seen defeating Neil Grove by knockout at
Super Fight League 2 in April. Prior to that, Duffee suffered
a loss to currently-suspended UFC fighter Alistair Overeem at
Dynamite!! 2010 in his bid for the Dream heavyweight title.
Most
memorably, Duffee fell to Mike Russow at UFC 114 in May 2010.
Duffee was dominating the fight for the better part of the contest
when Russow landed a shocking punch that sent Duffee falling
to the floor unconscious. The loss was Duffee’s first of
his career.
De
Fries was last seen finishing Oli Thompson by submission at the
UFC on FOX event last August.
UFC
155 will take place in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Source:
Gracie Magazine
|
UFC
interim champ Renan Barao's coach prefers title shot, but doesn't
want to wait
by Steven
Marrocco
Barao
coach Pederneiras would prefer title shot, but doesn't want fighter
to wait
Nova
Uniao leader and coach Andre Pederneiras on Wednesday told MMAjunkie.com
(www.mmajunkie.com) he's waiting on UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby's
call to tell him when and where UFC interim bantamweight champ
Renan Barao (29-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) is fighting next.
"If
I had a choice, I would rather Renan fight Dominick (Cruz), but
I don't want to wait too long," Pederneiras said.
With
Cruz (19-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) still recovering from a knee injury,
Pederneiras said a bout with Michael McDonald (15-1 MMA, 4-0
UFC) is a good matchup.
"I
think his game is a good game for Renan," said Pederneiras,
who recently heard that UFC President Dana White would offer
Barao a fight before getting a shot at champ Cruz.
White
didn't offer a timetable for Barao's next fight, which might
be against McDonald.
Barao
won the interim title in July with a unanimous-decision victory
over Urijah Faber at UFC 149. He then said he would wait to fight
Cruz, whose return was expected sometime next year. White OK'd
the delay but changed his mind when speaking to MMAjunkie.com
at the post-event press conference for this past Saturday's UFC
154 event.
Pederneiras,
who this past month said his fighter would wait for Cruz, said
Barao took one week off after winning the title and returned
to the gym. He said Barao is now a big celebrity on the streets
of Rio de Janeiro.
"Every
time he goes into the street, people shake his hand," Pederneiras
said. "He loves that."
The
coach said he had no preference on a timetable for Barao's return.
Source:
MMA Junkie
|
Erick
Silva vs. Jay Hieron set for UFC 156
By Ariel
Helwani
Esther Lin, MMA Fighting
Erick
Silva will look to get his career back on track on Super Bowl
weekend.
According
to the UFC Brazil Twitter account, Silva will meet Jay Hieron
at UFC 156 on Feb. 2 in Las Vegas.
Silva
(14-3, 1 NC) most recently dropped a unanimous decision to Jon
Fitch at UFC 153 last month.
Hieron
(23-6) also lost via unanimous decision to Jake Ellenberger at
UFC on FX 5 last month. The fight marked Hieron's first in the
UFC in seven years.
No
word on whether the welterweight fight will air on the pay-per-view
main card or the prelims just yet.
UFC
156, headlined by Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar for the featherweight
title, will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Update:
according to Hieron, the fight will take place on the main card.
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
An
MMA Thanksgiving
In
various parts of the world on Thursday, people will pause to
give thanks. In conjunction with the Thanksgiving holiday, various
members of the Sherdog.com staff sat down and opened up about
what they were most thankful for in the world of mixed martial
arts:
Breaking Barriers
Mike
Whitman, news editor: I am thankful for women’s mixed martial
arts.
Who
could deny that this sport’s female divisions have grown
by leaps and bounds in the past five years? Not only are more
women fighting, but more women have developed the type of world-class
skill that commands respect from even the most seasoned fight
fans.
This
has finally been recognized by UFC President Dana White, who
recently made Ronda Rousey the first female signee in the Ultimate
Fighting Championship’s history. With Cristiane Santos’
positive steroid test knocking her out of action for all of 2012,
Rousey has undoubtedly become the new face of women’s MMA.
The Olympic judo bronze medalist skyrocketed to stardom this
past year, and it has been entertaining as hell to watch.
I
can remember a conversation I had two years ago with Sherdog
photographer Dave Mandel, who had just shot Rousey for a gallery.
We were covering a Strikeforce event at the time -- this was
obviously before Zuffa had bought the company -- and he asked
me if I had seen Rousey in action yet. When I told him I had
not, all he could do was shake his head, his jaw agape. Months
prior to Rousey’s first pro fight, I distinctly remember
him telling me that Rousey would be a world champion.
Good
call, Dave.
As
we all now know, Rousey would take this game by storm, finishing
her first four opponents in less than 60 seconds with her patented
straight armbar before capturing the Strikeforce bantamweight
crown from Miesha Tate and defending easily it against Sarah
Kaufman. Every time I watch Rousey fight, my jaw drops, just
like Dave’s did. Judging by Rousey’s growing popularity,
other jaws are dropping, as well. Bottom line: Rousey is being
watched, and not just by males aged 18-34.
For
instance, my 12-year-old niece rang me up out of the blue during
Rousey’s August title defense against Kaufman, asking me
if I was watching the fight, despite never before showing any
interest in MMA. Honestly, I thought she might have been pulling
my leg. The next day, I sent her an email asking whether she
had managed to stay awake through the main event. She wrote me
back: “That girl is insane! The arm lock is unbelievable.”
Let
me be clear. Ideally, my niece will not choose a career path
in which she will be punched in the face on a regular basis.
However, I am thankful she feels empowered by someone like Rousey,
a woman who would rather apply a lifetime of hard work toward
becoming the best at a given craft than simply be ogled for a
living.
Whether
we want to admit it, the online MMA community is often a misogynistic
space. The insulated walls of Internet forums provide character
assassins the necessary cover to either shoot down women excelling
in this sport or pseudo-glorify them with backhanded compliments
that ultimately only serve to objectify them further. With every
brilliant female performance we see, however, those voices become
quieter and quieter.
In
short, I am thankful a woman in Rousey’s position of power
has decided to use her platform to inspire others and not just
to make a living. I am thankful Rousey decided to pose for ESPN
The Magazine’s “Body Issue” and not for Playboy
or Maxim, because, yes, there is a difference. I am thankful
for both her colleagues and for those who paved the way for her,
and I am thankful for an all-female organization like the Invicta
Fighting Championships.
Most
of all, I am thankful that as a male fan of MMA, I am seeing
more and more of my brethren admiring the skill and dedication
of the women competing in the cage, instead of discussing how
they might look if they were not wearing any clothes. Yes, the
MMA fan community is still often defined by that type of attitude
but it is nevertheless changing for the better, and that is something
for which we should all be thankful.
Room for the Little Guys
Tristen
Critchfield, associate editor: The UFC debuted the flyweight
division to the world with a four-man bracket at UFC on FX 2,
exposing the uninitiated to some of the most frenetic action
available in combat sports. Some six months later, Demetrious
Johnson became the promotion’s inaugural 125-pound champion
with a split decision triumph over Joseph Benavidez at UFC 152.
The
bout was far from well-received, however, as many in attendance
that night at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto booed the back-and-forth
action in the Octagon. Johnson and Benavidez were perplexed by
the reaction. UFC President Dana White was furious. It was clear
the newly minted division did not yet have a place in the hearts
of the masses. These things require time.
I,
for one, am thankful the UFC continues to push its newest division
instead of relegating it to also-ran status.
By
putting Johnson’s first title defense against John Dodson
atop the UFC on Fox 6 bill in January, the promotion is showing
faith that the naysayers will eventually come around. This next
year figures to be a time of development for the flyweight division
in the UFC. The talent pool will continue to grow as more 125-pounders
are added to the roster, while the fighters already under contract
will have more opportunities to establish a following. The end
result will be a slew of competitive and exciting matchups in
2013 -- and maybe a few converted fans along the way.
A Welcomed Return
Brian
Knapp, features editor: He was gone for 19 months, a serious
knee injury and subsequent surgery stalling what had been a run
of pure brilliance. Georges St. Pierre returned to the cage for
the first time since April 2011 on Saturday in the UFC 154 headliner
at the Bell Center in Montreal. “Rush” sounded like
a man with a renewed passion for his profession in the weeks
leading up to the event. Most importantly, he was healthy.
MMA
as we know it is not yet two decades old, hard as that may be
to believe. It still needs fighters like St. Pierre, pictures
of grace, class and professionalism, to carry the torch for a
sport still viewed as barbaric in some circles. Ambassadors do
not grow on trees. To that end, I was thankful to see St. Pierre
enter the Octagon against the outstanding Carlos Condit after
a lengthy, frustrating and undoubtedly painful period of rehabilitation.
That
St. Pierre looked like his old self after such an extended stretch
of inactivity was nothing short of miraculous and speaks volumes
about the man.
Outside
of a 30-second spurt in which Condit stunned him with a head
kick and swarmed for an attempted finish, St. Pierre bullied,
controlled and short-circuited one of the sport’s most dangerous
offensive fighters. Afterward, St. Pierre admitted he had a new
appreciation for the term “ring rust.” It never showed
during the 25 minutes he was engaged with Condit. He was the
same sharp, dominant and technical thoroughbred who has lorded
over the 170-pound division since 2008.
A
little more than a year into its landmark television deal with
Fox, the UFC finds itself with transcendent athletes atop four
of its eight weight classes: Jon Jones at light heavyweight,
Anderson Silva at middleweight, St. Pierre at welterweight and
Jose Aldo at featherweight. It was wonderful to see St. Pierre
rejoin the others after such a long time away.
Source Sherdog
|
Ex-UFC
fighter Dennis Hallman says house burned down prior to Thanksgiving
Dennis
Hallman is undoubtedly on an unlucky streak.
Weeks
after the UFC released him from the promotion, the veteran fighter
today said via social media that his house burned down on the
night before Thanksgiving.
Hallman
said no one, including his kids, was injured during the blaze.
"On
top of all the $h*t that I've been going thru lately, my house
burned down last night," he tweeted on Thursday. "No
one hurt but, What else can possibly go wrong?"
All
of the family's belongings were destroyed in the fire, Hallman
wrote.
This
past month Hallman missed weight for his UFC on FX 5 fight with
Thiago Tavares. On the eve of the Oct. 5 fight, which was rebooked
after they were slated to meet at the ill-fated UFC 151 card
in September, Hallman would only say that he had "serious
personal family matters" that needed to be addressed and
that they contributed to him failing to make the 156-pound limit.
The
UFC then released him, but UFC President Dana White paid Hallman
his show and win money (which totaled $60,000).
Hallman,
a 16-year vet and former UFC title challenger, hasn't fought
in nearly a year due to injuries and his UFC release. Following
his UFC release, he told MMA Oddsbreaker he was in a custody
dispute with his wife and that she's dealing with drug addiction,
which affected his mental state ahead of UFC on FX.
Source:
MMA Junkie
|
Glory
Intends to Make Dream NYE Bigger Than Ever; Plans Full Assault
on the U.S. Next Year
By Mick
Hammond
For
a brief period, it had appeared that major MMA in Japan had seen
its final days when Dream’s parent company Real Entertainment
closed its doors earlier this year. But then things quickly changed.
In
stepped Glory, announcing that the promotion would revive Dream
for at least one more New Year’s Eve show from the Saitama
Super Arena.
“Dream
has a great name in Japan – it has a great name around the
world – but it’s a very strong Japanese product, so
it allows us from the get-go to be more dominant in the Japanese
market, which is an important piece of the puzzle in our global
quest,” said Glory Managing Director Marcus Luer.
“Taking
over the Dec. 31 date also is very significant with what MMA
and K-1 had done in the past on NYE in Japan. It’s a big
day for the martial arts world, and we like the combination of
being able to get in that slot and being able to do what we bring
in the stand-up fighting world bigger and better.”
According
to Luer, Glory had set its eyes on expanding world-wide, and
Dream’s availability just happened to come at the right
time.
“Glory
as a brand has always had a global approach and global vision,”
said Luer. “Japan has always been part of the plan to expand
into this marketplace, and Dream has allowed us to be quicker,
bigger, better in Japan. It just fell nicely into what we were
looking for.”
For
Dream 18: Special NYE 2012, Glory will be bringing together the
best of Japanese MMA with their own 16-man heavyweight kickboxing
tournament to form one big night of fighting.
Luer
tells MMAWeekly.com that not only will the fights themselves
follow in the tradition of big NYE cards, but the production
values will match as well.
“We’re
going to spend a lot of money on production and bring some new
technology into it as well,” he said. “We’re trying
to take it a step higher, (and these shows) have always been
very large and very grand. That’s exactly the direction
we’re going to take it as well and try to make it a big
spectacle.”
Currently
Glory is set to back this one Dream show, but there is a possibility
of more if things work out between the promotions.
As
for Glory itself, Luer says the company will be headed to the
United States in the coming year and has plans to continue to
become a world-wide brand for combat sports.
“We
just spent the week here trying to finalize some pieces to make
a ‘full assault’ on the U.S.,” said Luer. “We’re
rolling out some events early next year; we’re going to
be on TV and will be launching our first full big Glory show
there next year as well.
“We’re
hitting on as on many cylinders on as many parts of the world
simultaneously here. The U.S. is very important to us and is
a very big piece of the puzzle, and so is Japan.”
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Tomorrow
Source:
Romolo Barros
|
Gegard
Mousasi vs. Mike Kyle Verbally Agreed for Strikeforce Card Jan
12
by Damon
Martin
A
light heavyweight showdown has been added to the final Strikeforce
show coming in January as former champion Gegard Mousasi has
agreed to face Mike Kyle.
Kyle
initially reported the bout on Wednesday via YouTube, and additional
sources have told MMAWeekly.com that the fight has been verbally
agreed to by both fighters with bout agreements expected shortly.
This
isn’t the first time Mousasi and Kyle have been matched
up either.
Mousasi
and Kyle were first scheduled to meet in 2011, but Kyle suffered
a broken hand cancelling the bout. They were again paired up,
and again the fight was cancelled, this time Mousasi was pulled
from the fight for unknown reasons.
Finally,
Mousasi and Kyle were set to meet at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey
earlier this year, but another injury sidelined Kyle and the
fight was delayed.
Now
the two light heavyweights have been schedule to face off yet
again, with this bout scheduled for Jan 12 in Oklahoma City.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
Viewpoint:
Not So Super
By Tristen
Critchfield
Yes,
Georges St. Pierre, we were impressed with your performance.
Impressed
enough to want to see you finally square off with Anderson Silva
in an epic pay-per-view blockbuster? Well, maybe not so much,
at least if you take the time to really think about it.
After
567 days away from the Octagon, the reigning welterweight king
performed as if he had never left. In earning a unanimous decision
victory over Carlos Condit at UFC 154, St. Pierre struck for
takedowns in each round and opened a cut above the challenger’s
eye within the opening five minutes. He landed effective combinations
on the feet and survived a harrowing third round in which Condit
floored him with a head kick and aggressively pounced for the
finish.
Through
it all, St. Pierre showed no lingering effects from the torn
knee ligament that kept him on the sidelines while a new generation
of talented welterweights emerged, eager to challenge one of
the sport’s all-time greats upon his return. By reclaiming
his place atop the 170-pound division, St. Pierre also kept the
torch burning for a long-awaited showdown with the middleweight
king, his chief rival when it comes to pound-for-pound accolades.
“It’s
the No. 1 best pound-for-pound fighter in the world against the
No. 2 best pound-for-pound fighter in the world,” UFC President
Dana White told Fox Sports after the bout. “It’s a
big fight. We think people want to see it, and we think the guys
want to do it, so we’ll do it. They will fight, and it will
probably be in May or around May.”
St.
Pierre-Silva is the dream matchup that most everyone wants to
see. What other bout could just as easily fill a football stadium
in the United States as it could a soccer stadium in Brazil?
Certainly not a St. Pierre-Johny Hendricks pairing, which would
seem to be the next logical step should “Rush” elect
to remain at 170 pounds.
Silva-St.
Pierre is sexy and alluring; St. Pierre-Hendricks is plain and
practical. “The Spider” was a high-profile guest at
the Bell Centre in Montreal on Saturday, and the pay-per-view
broadcast conveniently included a special Silva cam so fans could
simultaneously follow St. Pierre’s actions in the Octagon
and the middleweight champion’s reactions outside of it.
A post-fight confrontation in the cage between the two icons
would have been a perfect way to cap off the night -- had St.
Pierre allowed it.
“I
know Anderson is here right now,” St-Pierre said during
a post-fight interview. “I was focusing on Carlos Condit
100 percent. I need to take some vacation and think about it
to see where I put my career. I want to make the best decision
for myself and the fans.”
Considering
the circumstances, it is hard to blame St. Pierre for having
only a lukewarm response to what could turn out to be the biggest
fight in promotion history. After five rounds with Condit, St.
Pierre looked like he had just emerged from a car accident. Motivation
to face arguably the greatest striker in the UFC is understandably
difficult to come by after going through such a grueling battle.
When
St. Pierre does decide he is ready to fight again, he will be
faced with overwhelming pressure to make a super fight with Silva
his next endeavor. That is the bout that will draw the most interest
and make the most money. Only Silva versus Jon Jones comes close
to duplicating that hype, and the Brazilian is much less amenable
to the idea of a bout with the light heavyweight champion.
Fighting
Silva is clearly the best decision for everyone else, but is
it the best choice for St. Pierre? The Tristar Gym representative
has said repeatedly that he needs to add more muscle to his frame
before he would feel comfortable moving up to face Silva, even
at a catchweight. Even then, St. Pierre would struggle to implement
his MMA-tailored wrestling against “The Spider.” While
the Canadian has technical and accurate standup, he would not
be nearly as efficient with his striking against Silva. As great
as St. Pierre is -- and he continued to prove it on Saturday
-- a fight with Silva does not promise to be especially competitive.
A
matchup with Hendricks, who knocked out Martin Kampmann in just
46 seconds in the UFC 154 co-main event, figures to be much more
intriguing. A two-time NCAA national champion wrestler at Oklahoma
State University, Hendricks has the pedigree necessary to keep
St. Pierre from imposing his will. Couple that with the otherworldly
power he has in his left hand, and suddenly St. Pierre has someone
his own size to pick on.
“It
feels great,” Hendricks said after starching Kampmann. “I
had to prove I was No. 1 contender. Please, please give me a
shot at the belt.”
Scary
power and solid wrestling aside, Hendricks may find himself in
Chris Weidman territory for the time being. As much as “Bigg
Rigg” looks to be a legitimate No. 1 contender, his name
does not yet carry the weight necessary to shift the focus away
from Silva-St. Pierre.
However,
professional sports is not always about big names and star power;
sometimes, good old-fashioned competition will suffice, and St.
Pierre appears to have plenty of that in his own weight class.
Although the scorecards might say otherwise, Condit gave St.
Pierre a significant struggle at UFC 154. A pair of 50-45 tallies
from the cageside judges would seem to suggest that St. Pierre
cruised to victory, but his demeanor, along with his battered
countenance, told a different story.
The
Condit head kick that had everyone thinking upset for a few fleeting
moments? St. Pierre might not get a mulligan if he gives Silva
a similar opportunity. Judging by his overall lack of enthusiasm
for the bout at the post-fight press conference, perhaps St.
Pierre himself recognizes as much.
“[St.
Pierre] is lumped up. He’s sore. He feels like he just got
hit by a bus, I’m sure. He hasn’t fought in 18 months.
I’ll make this [Silva] fight,” said White. “We’re
going to sit down with Anderson, probably in the next two weeks,
and I’m sure we’re going to sit down and talk to St.
Pierre and his team, too. Who knows? Maybe we go into this thing
and St. Pierre says, ‘Absolutely not,’ but I just don’t
see that happening.”
While
the UFC boss hopes to get both parties to come to terms by the
spring, he also acknowledged that St. Pierre could fight again
before a showdown with the Brazilian. If that is the case, it
makes sense for Hendricks to be next in line. If St. Pierre does
tell White no on Silva, then Hendricks is that guy anyway.
Maybe
we already know how this story will end: St. Pierre jabs the
decorated wrestler to death, plants him on his back a few times
and cruises to another unanimous decision. Or maybe Hendricks
shows a better mix of boxing, wrestling and stamina than his
predecessors at 170 pounds and pulls the upset. From here, Hendricks
appears talented enough to make it happen.
In
the last hyped, cross-divisional pairing, St. Pierre overwhelmed
B.J. Penn at UFC 94 in January 2009. He is well aware of how
a significant size advantage -- especially when paired with the
skill set of someone like himself or Silva -- can alter the course
of a fight. If St. Pierre packs on the added weight necessary
to face Silva and promptly suffers a traumatic knockout loss,
who says he returns to 170 pounds the same fighter he once was?
Somehow,
some way, it seems like St. Pierre and Silva will eventually
happen. St. Pierre is simply too much of a company man to keeping
telling White no, especially when he realizes what kind of effect
the fight will have on his bank account. Be careful what you
wish for, fight fans. In the case of Silva-St. Pierre, the chase
is where the suspense ends.
Source:
Sherdog
|
'Shogun'
Rua auctioning UFC on FOX 4 fight gloves for Brazilian hospitals
Former
UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
(21-6 MMA, 5-4 UFC) is auctioning a pair of fight-worn gloves
in the name of a Brazilian charity.
Rua
autographed the gloves he used in his UFC on FOX 4 win over Brandon
Vera and is hosting an auction for them at doesantacasa.org.
All
money raised from the auction will go to the hospitals of Irmandade
da Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Curitiba in Rua's native
Curitiba, Brazil.
"The
growth of the sport helped us to get closer to the audience of
all ages," Rua stated through an interpreter. "If we
all help a little, a lot can be improved."
The
auction is already underway and runs through Dec. 20.
Rua
is currently scheduled to face Alexander Gustafsson at next month's
UFC on FOX 5 event in Seattle. It's the Brazilian's first fight
since his fourth-round TKO of Vera in the headlining bout of
UFC on FOX 4.
Rua,
who on Sunday turns 31 years old, is a former UFC light heavyweight
champion and is also a former PRIDE middleweight grand prix champion.
In 2005, Rua put together one of the best calendar years in MMA
history with wins over Ricardo Arona, Alistair Overeem, Antonio
Rogerio Nogueira and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson en route
to his grand prix win.
Source:
MMA Junkie
|
Rashad
Evans 'definitely' believes Georges St-Pierre beats Anderson
Silva in potential super fight
By Luke
Thomas
Rashad Evans - Scott Cunningham
From
their days training together at Jackson's MMA in Albuquerque,
New Mexico, former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans
and UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre have forged
a bond. They're friends and often if not always speak fondly
of one another. They've both also developed a keen sense of the
other's abilities and limitations as fighters, which gives them
insight into what they can and can't do.
Sure,
there's bias there, but for all of their rose-colored glasses,
there's an equal amount of conviction. That's why Evans, who
has dealt with knee injuries during the ups and downs of his
own mixed martial arts career, had high praise for his friend
and former training partner after his big win over Carlos Condit
on Saturday at UFC 154.
Evans
wasn't merely relieved to see St-Pierre physically able to move
around, but specifically noted how smart he believed the French-Canadian's
game plan was in addition to being highly effective.
"I
thought it was outstanding," Evans said of St-Pierre's comeback
performance on Monday's The MMA Hour. "Right out the gate,
he did something to Carlos which really changed it up from the
beginning. He put him on a black line, that outside edge of the
cage. And he kept him on that black line, pretty much kept him
on his heels the entire time. It's really hard to mount an offensive
attack when you're on your heels and you're backing up. That
was something Georges did right out the gate. The only time he
did get in trouble, Carlos was pushing forward and he got caught
with that left high kick."
Now
that St-Pierre is back to what appears to be full form, a proposed
super fight with UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva looms
on the horizon and Evans knows it. While St-Pierre has been non-committal
about it and has never publicly stated he likes the idea, Evans
doesn't seem to think that's an issue.
The
Blackzillian light heavyweight told Ariel Helwani on Monday's
show that St-Pierre's best skills match up neatly with Silva's
most glaring weaknesses. Asked if St-Pierre has a shot against
'The Spider', Evans was unequivocal.
"Oh
yeah, I definitely think he has a shot against Anderson,"
he said. "One thing about Anderson is this right here: Anderson's
a great fighter, but one thing with Anderson is that he has such
a problem with defending the takedown. And then on the ground
even sometimes he allows people to advance position way too much."
"You
see Chael Sonnen, the second time he fought him," Evans
continued. "He took him down and before the round's over
he had him in mount. You get a guy like Georges St-Pierre in
a position like that, Anderson may not make it to another round."
in
fairness, Evans - who admitted Silva is one of his favorite fighters
to watch compete when he's just being a fan and not a UFC light
heavyweight - didn't think it'd be a walk in the park for St-Pierre.
Sure, GSP is widely regarded as the better wrestler between the
two and arguably the best MMA wrestler in the sport. But what
about closing the distance? Silva may not have the wrestling
of St-Pierre, but he's also believed by many to manage the real
estate between himself and his opposition in fights better than
most others. Could St-Pierre really work through that to bring
his wrestling to life?
"You
know [Silva]'s going to get taken down," Evans argued, "but
what it comes down to is does Georges have enough razzle dazzle
in order to get in to take a shot? And I say 'yes'".
Evans
doesn't suggest beating Silva will be easy for St-Pierre and
suggested he'd be more than willing to help the welterweight
champion prepare for such a challenge if he's called upon to
help. Silva is a stiff test for anyone, the UFC welterweight
champion included.
But
while Evans acknowledges beating Silva is no given for St-Pierre
or any other UFC fighter, he didn't hesitate to go on the record
about his prediction for the fight should it happen. Challenges
and all, Evans firmly believes St-Pierre has what it takes to
become arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter alive.
"I
think Georges beats Anderson, yeah," he said. "I really
do."
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
UFC’s
Alistair Overeem and Former Management at Golden Glory Settle
Lawsuits
by Ken
Pishna
Alistair
Overeem and his former management team at Golden Glory have settled
their respective lawsuits against one another.
Golden
Glory’s lead counsel Roderick Lindblom informed MMAWeekly.com
on Tuesday that both lawsuits have been dismissed after the two
sides came to an “amicable resolution.”
After
splitting from his former team and management, Overeem filed
a suit in 2011 alleging that Golden Glory hadn’t paid him
some of his earnings due, as well as a bonus from when he signed
with the UFC, among other issues. Golden Glory fired back, claiming
that Overeem’s suit was a preemptive strike against them
because they believed that Overeem had neglected to pay them
commissions that he contractually agreed to.
All
of that friction has now come to an end.
“Everyone
worked extremely hard to resolve these matters so that Management/Promoter
KOI/Golden Glory and Bas Boon can walk away and move forward
with the Glory World Series Promotion in Europe, Japan and the
USA,” said Lindblom. “And Alistair Overeem can concentrate
on his fighting career with his new manager Glen Robinson at
Authentic Sports Management and his new team the Blackzilians.”
Details
of the settlement were not disclosed.
Overeem,
who is expected to return from a drug test related suspension
at the beginning of 2013, is already slated to face Antonio “Bigfoot”
Silva at UFC 156 on Feb. 2 over Super Bowl weekend in Las Vegas.
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
UFC
boss Dana White hints at potential for 'longer-term deal' with
FOX network
by Matt
Erickson and Steven Marrocco
A
little more than a year after the Ultimate Fighting Championship's
first venture onto network television, the promotion and FOX
may be happy enough with the pairing to renew their vows, so
to speak.
The
UFC in 2011 signed a seven-year broadcast deal with FOX that
officially took effect at the start of this year. But on Nov.
12, 2011, UFC on FOX 1 gave viewers a taste of what was to come.
Now
almost a year into the official deal, UFC President Dana White
said once again the two sides are happy with the path they're
on.
"We're
in a long-term deal with FOX," White said Saturday following
the UFC 154 post-event news conference. "We're not going
anywhere. And we might even be in a longer-term deal with FOX.
We'll see what happens."
The
sudden hint that perhaps the seven-year deal with FOX could be
extended was a new revelation from White, who hasn't been shy
about defending the UFC's ratings on FOX to critics who have
argued that they should be higher.
UFC
on FOX 1, which featured just one fight – Junior Dos Santos'
knockout of Cain Velasquez to win the heavyweight title –
was the highst-rated MMA event in U.S. network TV history with
5.7 million viewers.
The
numbers dipped slightly for UFC on FOX 2 this past January in
Chicago to 4.7 million. But UFC on FOX 3 in May saw a sharp decline
to 2.4 million, and they held steady at 2.4 million for UFC on
FOX 4 in August.
The
May event fell on Cinco de Mayo and also had the Floyd Mayweather-Miguel
Cotto boxing match to contend with later that night on pay-per-view.
August's event fell on the first Saturday of the summer Olympics.
But
the UFC and FOX may be optimistic about what they can do with
UFC on FOX 5, which takes place Dec. 8 in Seattle. Big-time college
football will have mostly cleared the deck by then and the NFL
Network now broadcasts weekly games on Thursdays, not Saturdays
like it has done in previous seasons after college football runs
its course until bowl season.
Plus,
the key ingredient at UFC on FOX 5 may be the inclusion of a
title fight in the main event. Benson Henderson defends his lightweight
belt against Nate Diaz. Plus, former two-division champ B.J.
Penn meets Rory MacDonald and fellow ex-champ Mauricio "Shogun"
Rua fights Alexander Gustafsson.
And
in January, UFC on FOX 6 returns to Chicago, site of its highest
ratings in the "official" FOX era, which saw Rashad
Evans beat Phil Davis to move on to a title shot against Jon
Jones. That event, on Jan. 26, falls on the weekend in between
the NFL's conference championship games and the Super Bowl, just
like this past January's card. And like FOX 5, it, too, features
a title fight in the main event when Demetrious Johnson defends
his flyweight belt for the first time.
Both
UFC and FOX executives, while not overjoyed with the ratings
for FOX cards, as well as live shows on FX and FUEL and "The
Ultimate Fighter" on FX, have said they're in line with
what they expected in the first year of the deal.
White
hinting Saturday that the long-term deal could become an even
longer-term deal would appear to be an indication that both sides
are not only satisfied with things so far, but optimistic about
what's to come.
Source: MMA Junkie
|
FX,
not FUEL TV, to air UFC on FOX 5 prelims next month
By Ariel Helwani
Esther
Lin, MMA Fighting
Next
month's UFC on FOX 5 prelims will air on FX and Facebook, not
FUEL TV.
Prior
to this year's three UFC on FOX telecasts, the main prelims have
aired on FUEL TV, however, the promotion and network have decided
to move them to FX this time around. UFC president Dana White
confirmed the switch with MMAFighting.com on Tuesday.
FX
will air six fights prior to the Dec. 8 UFC on FOX 5 main card
beginning at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT: Brendan Schaub vs. Lavar
Johnson, Michael Chiesa vs. Marcus LeVesseur, Nam Phan vs. Dennis
Siver, Daron Cruickshank vs. Henry Martinez, Ramsey Nijem vs.
Joe Proctor, and Yves Edwards vs. John Cholish. Prior to the
FX prelims, Facebook will also stream three fights beginning
at 3:45 p.m. ET / 12:45 p.m PT: Bryan Caraway vs. Mike Easton,
John Albert vs. Scott Jorgensen, and Tim Means vs. Abel Trujillo.
The
FOX main card will feature four fights beginning at 8 p.m. ET
/ 5 p.m. PT: Benson Henderson vs. Nathan Diaz for the lightweight
title, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Alexander Gustafsson,
B.J. Penn vs. Rory MacDonald and Mike Swick vs. Matt Brown.
In
addition, according to a UFC official, FX is also expected to
air the main prelims prior to UFC on FOX 6 on Jan. 26.
Source:
MMA Fighting
|
Promotion
Official: Kendall
Grove Meets
Mamed Khalidov in New KSW 21 Headliner
By Mike
Whitman
Kendall
Grove will
replace an injured Melvin Manhoef against Mamed Khalidov in the
main event of KSW 21.
KSW
co-founder Martin Lewandowski notified Sherdog.com of the booking
on Friday morning. Manhoef was pulled from the bout two days
ago due to a left leg injury. KSW 21 takes place Dec. 1 at Torwar
Arena in Warsaw, Poland, and features a trio of championship
bouts in addition to the evening’s middleweight headliner.
Grove,
29, made his name by winning “The Ultimate Fighter”
Season 3 back in 2006. “Da Spyder” competed for nearly
five years in the Octagon, racking up a promotional record of
7-6 before receiving his release on the heels of back-to-back
losses. Following a 2-0 stint in the ProElite cage, Grove has
gone 3-1 in his last four bouts, most recently earning a technical
knockout over former WEC light heavyweight title challenger Ariel
Gandulla on Nov. 3.
KSW’s
first light heavyweight champion, Khalidov, 32, rides a five-fight
winning streak heading into clash with Grove, besting a quintet
of UFC veterans, including Yuki Sasaki, James Irvin, Matt Lindland
and Jesse Taylor. The middleweight was last seen picking up a
win on May 12, knocking out Rodney Wallace in 1:55 at KSW 19.
Source
Sherdog
|
UFC
champ Benson Henderson preparing for Nate Diaz by enduring plenty
of trash talk
by Matt
Erickson
The
super-polite way to put it would be to say Nate Diaz likes to
try to get in his opponents' head.
And
then there's what Benson Henderson was a little more blunt in
calling it: Diaz likes to talk crap.
To
get ready to defend his UFC lightweight title against Diaz (16-7
MMA, 11-5 UFC) next month, Henderson (17-2 MMA, 5-0 UFC) has
been training using a steady diet of trash talk from his teammates.
Henderson
puts his title on the line for a second time when he defends
against top contender Diaz in the main event of UFC on FOX 5,
which takes place Dec. 8 at KeyArena in Seattle. The four-fight
main card airs on FOX.
Henderson
on Monday told AXS TV's "Inside MMA" that a specific
part of his training for the brash Diaz is preparing for the
verbal warfare his opponent is sure to bring to the table.
"The
biggest thing I've had a hard time with so far, to be honest,
is we've been having my teammates talk a little bit of trash
inside the octagon and have me stay calm and not be worked up,"
Henderson said. "I actually have a hard time with that.
Somebody talks trash to me, I want to talk trash back. I get
emotional back to them. So, I've been working on staying calm
and collected and still do my technique and not fall into his
game.
"I've
got to get a little more work on that, though."
For
that work, he now has less than three weeks before the fight.
The oddsmakers believe the fight with Diaz to be a close one,
making Henderson just a 1.5-to-1 favorite over the Californian.
Close
fights, at least on paper, have been something of a hallmark
of Henderson's career in Zuffa with the WEC and UFC. And this
one could wind up being yet another close five-round war like
he has had in back-to-back fights against Frankie Edgar, first
to win the title in February and then to defend it in August.
Henderson,
of course, also is preparing for Diaz's physical attributes and
a game that includes not just a dangerous ground game, but perhaps
the lightweight division's best boxing.
"We're
definitely trying to prepare for his physical tools, his long
reach, his boxing style that he has," Henderson said.
But
more than anything, it sounds like the physical work in the cage
is something Henderson has confidence in, and the verbal sparring
is not being underestimated.
"My
teammates, Efrain Escudero and Joe Riggs, were told by my coaches
to talk crap and to say not very nice things to me," he
said. "I don't like it. But they're told to talk crap to
me, and I'm supposed to not get lured into that game and do something
I'm not supposed to do. I'm supposed to stay calm and collected
and implement my game plan.
"I've
been having a hard time with that, but hopefully, we get that
taken care of, and come fight night, I won't allow any of that
trash talking to get into my head and affect my game."
Since
2007, Henderson's only loss was a close decision defeat at the
hands – and foot – of Anthony Pettis at WEC 53, where
he surrendered his lightweight title at the promotion's final
event. Since then, he's won five straight, all in the UFC, including
a pair of "Fight of the Night" bonuses. Diaz has won
three straight since returning to the lightweight division with
a pair of "Submission of the Night" wins and a "Fight
of the Night," as well. In all, Diaz has a staggering 10
UFC bonus awards in his 16 fights with the company.
Source: MMA Junkie
|
Super
Fight League is Back with SFL 10 Friday Fight Nights: Ambriz
vs. Karim
Press
Release
Following
the amazing action of SFL 9, the Friday Fight Night series is
back with the biggest main event yet. At SFL 10 two heavyweights
collide as Jimmy Ambriz of America takes on ‘The Hulk’,
Mohammed Abdel Karim of Egypt. SFL’s ‘Friday Fight
Nights’ airs live on Neo Prime and streams live on www.YouTube.com/SFL
and MMAWeekly.com on Friday, Nov. 23, at 10:30 a.m. ET / 7:30
a.m. PT.
Arguably
the most memorable event in SFL history, SFL 9 saw Amr Wahman
(2-3-1) brutally knock out Afghan Baz Muhammed (1-1) in a welterweight
war, while Bhabajeet Chowdhury (2-0) was awarded Fighter of the
Week after continuing his own rise up the welterweight rankings
with another impressive KO win. Fight of the Week went to Ifran
Khan (2-0) vs Kapil Kumar (1-1), with Khan pulling off an epic
come-from-behind win via submission in the second round.
Dan
Isaac, COO of SFL said: “I am truly blessed and honored
to be part of the evolution of Mixed Martial Arts in India. SFL
has impacted people lives, educated the masses, changed people’s
opinion and provided a livelihood for many. The rest will be
history.’
For
complete results from SFL 9 visit; http://superfightleague.com/schedule_result_sfl9.php
or watch here: www.YouTube.com/SFL.
SFL 10
Co-headlining
the tenth installment from SFL is India’s fast rising female
featherweight sensation Puja Kadian (1-0) taking on Canada’s
Charmaine ‘Not So Sweet’ Tweet (1-3). Kadian is fighting
just three weeks after her dominant display at SFL 7, beating
Walaa Abass via TKO in the second round.
SFL
10 also sees a clash of two new heavyweights, when India’s
Vikas Singh takes on Serbian Nikola Janijc. Also featured is
light-heavyweight Abhijieet Petkar (1-3) who looks to pick up
his second SFL win against the debuting Sanjay Jha.
With
five more debuts on the seven-bout card the show will be full
of surprises, creating new stars and providing knockout action
along the way.
Raj
Kundra, Chairman of Super Fight League said: ‘I am very
happy to see Super Fight League events touching double digits
with SFL 10 and this is just the start. We do our best to promote
and train the talent of India whilst giving the best rising stars
in the world a platform to show what they are made of. Super
Fight League has been going from strength to strength and the
matchup’s – thanks to Mr. Daniel Isaac – have
been getting better and better.’
With
the SFL heavyweight division wide open right now, the greatly
experienced Jimmy Ambriz is fighting. It’s been eight months
since his emphatic 14 second KO win against Satish Jamia on SFL
1. Ambriz will have his hands full taking on the 6’5”
Mohammed “Hulk“ Abdel Karim from Egypt. Mohammed Abdel
Karim will be looking to become only the second Egyptian to win
inside the SFL’s O-Zone, following his teammate Amr Wahman’s
victory on SFL 9 last week.
Don’t
forget to play along with the SFL MMA Game to predict when and
how the fights will end and check how you did after the event.
For more information on how to play visit http://superfightleague.com/mmagame/
Watch
SFL 10 this Friday November 23rd 2012, streaming live on www.YouTube.com/SFL
and MMAWeekly.com.
at
9:00 PM in India, 3:30 PM in London, 7:30 AM in Los Angeles,
11:30 PM in Hong Kong, and 10:30 AM in New York.
SFL 10 Friday Fight Nights:
Heavyweight:
Jimmy Ambriz vs Mohammed Abdel Karim
Featherweight: Puja Kadian vs Charmaine Tweet
Lightheavyweight: Abhijeet Petkar vs Sanjay Jha
Welterweight: Jason Solomon vs Suresh Rajput
Heavyweight: Vikas Singh vs Nikola Janjic
Middleweight: Srikant Sekhar vs Javed Ali Khan
Bantamweight: Jagdish vs Shaikh Mohammed Farhan
Source:
MMA Weekly
|
|
11/22/12
Happy Thanksgiving! |
Bellator
81 Results: Marcin Held and Dave Jansen Move On to Lightweight
Finals
Bellator
81 took place on Friday night at the Ryan Center in Kingston,
Rhode Island.
The
Season 7 Lightweight Tournament finals are now set after the
semifinalists battled it out on Friday night.
Polish fighter Marcin Held was relentless, eventually submitting
UFC veteran Rich Clementi with a toe hold just past the midway
point of round two. The victory earned him a spot in the lightweight
finals opposite Dave Jansen.
Jansen
claimed his spot in the finals with a narrow split decision victory
over Ricardo Tirloni, after the two battled for the full 15 minutes,
leaving it to the judges to determine a winner.
Marlon
Sandro returned to the Bellator cage with a quick first-round
submission victory over Dustin Neace. Sandro locked on a rear
naked choke, putting Neace out cold before he could tap out.
Kicking
off the main card, Perry Filkins scored a unanimous decision
victory over Jonas Billstein.
Bellator
81 Full Results
Main
Card:
-Marcin Held def. Rich Clementi by Submission (Toe Hold) at 3:04,
R2
-Dave Jansen def. Ricardo Tirloni by Split Decision, R3
-Marlon Sandro def. Dustin Neace by Technical Submission (Rear
Naked Choke) at 2:05, R1
-Perry Filkins def. Jonas Billstein by Unanimous Decision, R3
Preliminary
Card:
-Ruben Rey def. Robbie LeRoux by Unanimous Decision, R3
-Andrew Calandrelli def. Eric Brown by Submission (Armbar) at
3:10, R2
-Dan Cramer def. Joe Lamoureux by KO (Punches) at 3:26, R1
-Murad Machaev def. Lorawnt-T Nelson by Unanimous Decision, R3
-Mike Mucitelli def. Matt Uhde by Submission (Armbar) at 0:26,
R1
-Brennan Ward def. Sam McCoy by KO (Punches) at 2:49, R1
-Matt Bessette def. Paul Barrow by Unanimous Decision, R3
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Can
Ronda Rousey Establish Women’s MMA in the UFC? If So, It
Will Likely Be Without Cyborg
Now
that the cat is out of the bag and Ronda Rousey has been publicly
confirmed as signing with the UFC, the questions begin to swirl
around who and when she will make her Octagon debut.
At
this point in time, there is no answer to either of those questions.
At
this point in time, Ronda Rousey is the sole female fighter in
the UFC.
One
thing UFC president Dana White – who confirmed Rousey’s
signing on Friday – is fairly sure of is who Rousey is not
likely to fight in her Octagon debut… Cris Cyborg.
“It’s
become abundantly clear to me that Cyborg does not want to fight
her,” said White in an interview with Fuel TV following
Friday’s UFC 154 weigh-ins in Montreal.
That
he isn’t likely able to put that fight together hasn’t
deterred White from taking a chance on women’s MMA, something
that just a couple years ago, he didn’t think was ever likely
to happen.
White
always believed that the women’s divisions just weren’t
deep enough with top talent to forge individual weight classes
in the UFC. He’s changed his mind, to a degree, but it appears
that this is still very much a work in progress.
He
seems to think there is enough talent in Rousey’s 135-pound
class to see if it is sustainable, but White isn’t sure
beyond the next couple of years.
“I think the 135-pound division that Ronda is in and is
the champion of, there’s four or five good fights for her
over the next year, year and a half,” remarked White.
“I
think you’ll see a lot more women coming up through that
135-pound division… or they won’t. It’s deep enough
to get through a couple years and then we’ll see what happens.
“I’m
gonna give this thing a shot. We’re gonna try it.”
White
is obviously seizing the moment to capitalize on Rousey’s
star power, which currently appears to be boundless, as she’s
made inroads into the mainstream that has eluded other women
fighters. But he’s also using Rousey’s time in the
spotlight to give women’s MMA the opportunity to show that
there is enough talent to establish itself as a staple in the
Octagon.
“I
think Ronda Rousey is gonna be a huge star,” White continued.
“I think she’s incredibly talented. She’s mean
and nasty. She’s a real fighter. So we’ll see how this
thing plays out and see how strong women’s MMA really is.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Dana
White angered by officiating job in Cote-Sakara, targets rematch
MONTREAL -- UFC president Dana White voiced frustration at the
officiating job done in the UFC 154 matchup between Patrick Cote
and Alessio Sakara which ended in a disqualification loss for
Sakara for illegal strikes to the back of the head.
White's
anger stemmed from referee Dan Miragliotta's failure to call
a timeout at any moment during a sequence of blows that landed
in the forbidden area. If Miragliotta had stopped it earlier,
Cote may have had a chance to recover, offering the fight a chance
to continue. Instead, he was badly hurt by the strikes and the
fight was waved off before the disqualification ruling was made.
"Way
late," he said of Miragliotta's stoppage. "I haven't
heard anything about [Cote] that he's not OK but that was a horrible
job. I counted between seven and nine illegal punches to the
back of the head. It was crazy. He was just standing there watching
it. Didn't jump in, didn't do anything. And I'm pretty sure,
I think it should’ve been no contest, not awarded to Cote,
but a no contest. But, horrible, really bad."
The
fight lasted just 86 seconds.
White
said he would like to put a rematch together when possible. Cote
appeared OK afterward, coming back out to the arena floor later
on to watch some of the main card bouts.
The
ruling on the no contest is likely to be appealed by Sakara's
camp, but Quebec's commission rules do state that a referee can
"warn a competitor, penalize by points or disqualify without
prior notice" depending on the foul committed.
Miragliotta
reportedly re-watched the video at cageside before offering his
final decision.
"I
do respect that," White said. "I do like the fact that
they pulled the trigger and made a decision one way or the other.
Don't take me wrong, I'm not knocking them for what they did.
I'm just saying that normally that would be a no contest. But
I like commissions that get in there and pull the trigger, because
that was a horrible, horrible job by the ref. It's mind-boggling
how you sit there and watch that many punches go to the back
of someone’s head. It's crazy."
Source: MMA Fighting
|
UFC
2012 Christmas event card slate (four shows)
Event:
UFC on Fox 5 (12/8 Key Arena in Seattle, Washington)
TV: Fox over-the-air (broadcast)
Lightweights: Tim Means vs. Abel Trujillo
Bantamweights: Scott Jorgensen vs. John Albert
Lightweights: Daron Cruickshank vs. Henry Martinez
Lightweights: Yves Edwards vs. John Cholish
Lightweights: Ramsey Nijem vs. Joe Proctor
Lightweights: Dennis Siver vs. Nam Phan
Bantamweights: Mike Easton vs. Bryan Caraway
Lightweights: Michael Chiesa vs. Marcus LeVesseur
Heavyweights: Brendan Schaub vs. Lavar Johnson
Welterweights: Mike Swick vs. Matt Brown
Welterweights: Rory MacDonald vs. BJ Penn
Light Heavyweights: Alexander Gustafsson vs. Mauricio Shogun
UFC Lightweight title match: Ben Henderson vs. Nate Diaz
Event: UFC on FX 6 (12/14 Gold Coast Convention Centre in Queensland,
Australia)
TV: FX
Light Heavyweights: Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Ednaldo Oliveira
Light Heavyweights: Igor Pokrajac vs. Joey Beltran
Welterweights: Mike Pierce vs. Seth Baczynski
Featherweights: Chad Mendes vs. Hacran Dias
Middleweights: Hector Lombard vs. Rousimar Palhares
Lightweights: George Sotiropoulos vs. Ross Pearson
Event: The Ultimate Fighter 16 finale (12/15 Hard Rock Hotel
& Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada)
TV: FX
Flyweights: Jarez Papazian vs. Tim Elliott
Bantamweights: Reuben Duran vs. Hugo Viana
Lightweights: John Cofer vs. Mike Rio
Featherweights: Dustin Poirier vs. Jonathan Brookins
Heavyweights: Pat Barry vs. Shane del Rosario
Welterweights: TJ Waldburger vs. Nick Catone
Lightweights: Vinc Pichel vs. Rustam Khabilov
Featherweights: Marcos Vinicius vs. Johnny Bedford
Welterweights: Mike Pyle vs. James Head
Lightweights: Melvin Guillard vs. Jamie Varner
Heavyweights: Matt Mitrione vs. Roy Nelson
Event: UFC 155 (12/29 MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada)
TV: FX/PPV
Featherweights: Leonard Garcia vs. Cody McKenzie
Bantamweights: Erik Perez vs. Byron Bloodworth
Lightweights: Michael Johnson vs. Myles Jury
Bantamweights: Eddie Wineland vs. Brad Pickett
Middleweights: Karlos Vemola vs. Chris Leben
Middleweights: Yushin Okami vs. Alan Belcher
Lightweights: Joe Lauzon vs. Jim Miller
Middleweights: Chris Weidman vs. Tim Boetsch
Light Heavyweights: Phil Davis vs. Forrest Griffin
UFC Heavyweight title match: Junior Dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez
Source: Fight Opinion |
A
mixed reception for Georges St. Pierre’s return?
It’s
interesting to see the reaction internally in the MMA business
about the return of Georges St. Pierre. Ticket sales for his
return in Montreal (against Carlos Condit) are OK. They’re
not off-the-charts, but completely respectable. On top of that,
I don’t think there’s much doubt that St. Pierre will
draw at least 600,000 PPV buys. Of course, the card underneath
the fight isn’t the most eye-catching menu in the world
but it’s serviceable.
What’s more intriguing is that since St. Pierre has been
on the sidelines, there are a few notable fighters who are willing
to take their digs at St. Pierre. Martin Kampmann is one who
decided to throw St. Pierre under the bus in a recent interview.
Kampmann says that Carlos Condit isn’t a quitter but that
St. Pierre’s showing against Matt Serra is somehow proof
that when things get tough, St. Pierre is a frontrunner who will
quit.
If there were any concerns about St. Pierre winning convincingly
against Condit, the public isn’t buying it. St. Pierre remains
a solid -350 (7 to 2) favorite for the fight, which is slightly
lower but not off the normal favorite status GSP is in for his
high-profile fights as champion. Kampmann, in comparison, remains
a slight underdog to Johny Hendricks for the semi-main event
fight. Don’t put the cart before the horse?
And then there’s the public negotiations happening with
Anderson Silva about a potential fight against either St. Pierre
or Jon Jones. St. Pierre’s probably the safer fight for
him to take and he’ll probably make the same amount of cash
for that bout as he would if he fought Jon Jones, who is a bigger-sized
opponent.
As
this video from Ed Soares demonstrates, they’re considering
a 178-pound catch-weight fight against St. Pierre. If you had
to make the odds for a Silva/St. Pierre fight, who would be the
favorite and by how much?
Source: Fight Opinion
|
An
update on UFC Japan 2013 series starting next Spring
Update
(11/10): UFC will return to Saitama Super Arena on March 3rd,
2013. Will be interesting to see if they do as well as the 2012
show. They have a multi-year agreement with Dentsu for shows,
so this is no surprise. The question is how much paid vs. paper.
The shows will be in 5,000-seat buildings (Yokohama Bunka Gym,
Osaka Prefectural Gym, Tokyo Bay NK Hall, the like)
Won’t be UFC numbered shows but shows in order to find Japanese
talent and extend the UFC name into the marketplace
What wasn’t said is as interesting as what was said.
First, is Japan going to be UFC’s primary Asian target market
or is it China, which is Mark’s home turf in Asia?
No real talk about a television deal in the marketplace. As I’ve
said before, the over-the-air TV situation for combat sports
in Japan is terrible. The door has been slammed shut. The combat
sports business is too dirty right now for the networks to touch.
They don’t want any part of it. They would be interested
in a Japanese operation if it was big-time and clean but UFC
is not a Japanese operation. Will a Japan series change that?
No. It won’t really get them anywhere in terms of getting
a substantive TV deal in Japan. They’ll have to be content
with buying time from TV Tokyo for random 3 or 4 AM show airings
that don’t move the needle. That’s not UFC’s fault
but rather the way things are in Japan in 2012.
As for what it means for the yakuza in combat sports, the gangs
on the ground are hurting big time for cash and the anti-yakuza
finance laws are targeting them in a big way. The police are
trying to clear out the gangs from some of the more notable buildings
so that there aren’t as many scams going on for protection
money of turf. That said, always expect the gangs to act like
stooges and try to sink their teeth into the UFC Japan series
either through managing talent or by trying to get an ‘in’
as a consultant. Dentsu has power and they can always take care
of the small fish but if the big fish get interested, you never
know. I doubt UFC will encounter much trouble with the smaller
buildings in the Tokyo area. The rest of the country may be a
different matter…
UFC Japan 2012 at Saitama Super Arena turned out to be a last
gasp of big-scale MMA in Japan rather than a starting point.
Even if you believe the reports that Dentsu/Softbank had half
the arena comped for tickets, UFC still overachieved with that
show. But even bubbles burst and it’s clear that there was
no real momentum from that show for UFC to run big scale events
in Japan on a continuing basis. This is OK. It’s not bad
news nor is it a sign of any failure for them. It’s just
reality. Will UFC be able to draw big houses again in Japan?
The jury is still out on that one, but it makes it easier that
they really are the only ball game in town at this point. It
could go either way.
History says that UFC looks at Japanese fighters and what they
desire in future prospects much differently than what the general
Japanese public thinks is appealing. The classic example is Tsuyoshi
Kohsaka, who the UFC coveted and he was an undercarder in RINGS.
The public cared little about Kohsaka, even after the UFC run,
and cared all about Kiyoshi Tamura. If the purpose of the UFC
Japan shows is to find talent that will be title-class, they
may be in for a disappointment given how the situation on the
ground is right now for the gyms and their kind of training.
That and there simply isn’t the level of high-end doping
going on in the Japanese gyms like there is at the American &
Brazilian gyms. The truth is the truth. If the mission of UFC
is to try to find Japanese fighters who can draw but may not
be competitive worldwide, that might be a more realistic goal.
However, that’s not the way UFC thinks. They always think
with one mindset and not about regional market preferences.
So, I’m not entirely sure what the overall goal is for the
UFC Japan series other than it fulfills a contract with Dentsu,
builds some name recognition in Japan, and maybe they find a
few fighters in smaller weight classes. Just don’t expect
a big splash to happen as far as this series of shows booming
into something major. I like the overall concept but I don’t
think the UFC’s standard corporate philosophy meshes with
the traditional Japanese fan tastes very well. Here’s hoping
they can find some success and flush the bad guys out of the
Japanese scene. There’s still plenty of cockroaches that
need to be fumigated.
Source: Fight Opinion
|
UFC
154 Results: Georges St-Pierre Unifies the Welterweight Belt,
but is Anderson Silva Next?
The
Montreal crowd was beyond deafening as Georges St-Pierre entered
the Bell Centre at UFC 154: St-Pierre vs. Condit on Saturday
night to unify his UFC welterweight title with Carlos Condit’s
interim strap.
Neither
man would lay claim to being the UFC champion before this fight,
but one man would at the end of the night. And that man would
be Georges St-Pierre, but not before Carlos Condit gave him the
fight of his career.
St-Pierre
wasted no time, racing straight across the Octagon at Condit,
although both were then measured in their engagement. St-Pierre
looked extremely confident, cutting off the Octagon, mixing up
his punches and kicks, keeping the pressure on before securing
a takedown.
St-Pierre
smothered Condit for the remaining three minutes of round one,
grounding and pounding him, as Condit tried to find something
from the bottom. Condit regained his feet just before the horn,
but showed a bad cut over his right eye as he headed to his corner.
Round
started off strong again St-Pierre, who kept pressing forward.
He gave Condit a little more space on the feet, but seemed to
use it to his advantage, countering Condit with one-off shots
before once again planting him on the mat and smothering him
in his ground and pound attack.
The
right side of Condit’s face was a crimson mask following
the second round.
Just
when it seemed St-Pierre was starting to open a gap, Condit caught
St-Pierre with a left high kick to the head that put him on the
mat. Condit swarmed, but St-Pierre defended, eventually escaping
to his feet.
That
sequence seemed to awaken something deep inside St-Pierre, as
he unleashed a punch combination that rocked Condit, and then
planted him on the canvas, once again grounding and pounding
him. Condit regained his feet briefly, but St-Pierre drug him
down, finishing the round on top, pounding on Condit.
Condit
landed a less effective high kick to open the championship rounds,
but St-Pierre’s takedown timing was again impeccable. St-Pierre
worked his ground pound, eventually was reversed by Condit, but
immediately took his top position back. He worked body and head
to the end of the fourth round, pinning Condit against the fence.
Both
men entered the final rounding searching for the finish, trying
to snare the one unified UFC welterweight championship, not leave
it to be handed over.
St-Pierre
scored early with his strikes, but Condit wouldn’t go quietly,
answering back with as much firepower was lobbed his way…
on the feet. The one area Condit had no answer, however, was
St-Pierre’s takedown game.
He
hit the takedown once again just past the midway point of the
final stanza. St-Pierre stayed on Condit, relentless in his ground
and pound attack, smothering him, but not laying on him.
In
the end, Georges St-Pierre walked away the undisputed UFC welterweight
champion, a unanimous nod from the judges declaring him so. He
took Condit down at will, pounding him into a bloody mess, but
had to fight his way through one of the most tenacious fighters
he’s ever met, proving that he’s not just a tremendous
athlete, but also has the heart of a fighter beating in his chest.
“Credit
to Carlos, he gave me my toughest fight. He is a martial artist,”
said St-Pierre after the fight. “He lost, but this loss
is going to make him a better martial arts.”
It
was little consolation to Condit, who obviously wanted to walk
away with the belt, but he accepted St-Pierre’s compliment
with humility.
“It’s a great compliment from a great champion, but
I’m still disappointed.”
St-Pierre,
of course, would not escape the Octagon without answering the
question on everyone’s mind: would he now take a fight with
UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva?
He
answered, but still, St-Pierre did not have the answer that everyone
wanted.
“I
know Anderson Silva is here right now, but I was focusing on
Carlos Condit 100 percent right now. I need to take a little
vacation and discuss my future (before I make a decision).”
St-Pierre
re-established himself as thee UFC welterweight champion, but
still left fans wondering if there is a superfight on the horizon
or if he will instead defend his belt, perhaps against Johny
Hendricks.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Anderson
Silva Will Fight Whoever the UFC Wants – Georges St-Pierre
or Jon Jones
UFC
middleweight champion and icon Anderson Silva was in attendance
prior to UFC 154 kicking off to speak with the media about his
plans for 2013.
The
champion spoke about a lot of possibilities, but mainly he focused
on a super fight against UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.
If
St-Pierre is successful against Carlos Condit on Saturday, all
signs are pointing towards a super fight between Silva and the
welterweight champion in 2013.
The
interesting addition to Silva’s talk was his new opinion
on a potential match-up with UFC light heavyweight champion Jon
Jones.
In
the past, both Silva and Jones have declined the possibility
of the fight happening, but now the Brazilian legend says if
the UFC wants it, then he’ll do it.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
UFC
154 Results: Johny Hendricks KOs Martin Kampmann, Pleads for
Title Shot
Martin
Kampmann and Johny Hendricks each entered UFC 154: St-Pierre
vs. Condit at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Saturday night trying
to establish himself as the No. 1 welterweight contender, despite
what happens to the belt following the main event, but there
could be only one.
That
one was Johny Hendricks.
In
just 46 seconds, Hendricks repeated his sensational performance
against Jon Fitch by finishing Kampmann with a right-left combination
that left the Danish fighter out cold.
“I
just started hitting that combo a week ago; it came to me in
a dream,” said Hendricks after the fight, giving his wife
a spectacular birthday present.
The victory certainly establishes Hendricks at the No. 1 UFC
welterweight contender, but now, he’ll have to sit back
and see how the division shakes out. But there is no questioning
what Hendricks wants to see happen.
“It
feels great. Martin Kampmann, he’s a tough dude. I new I
had a chance to go out there and prove I’m the No. 1 contender,
but please, please, give me a shot at that belt.”
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Georges
St-Pierre endures test, grinds out tough win over Carlos Condit
in return
MONTREAL
– With the world's best fighter looking on, Georges St-Pierre
didn't show any ring rust in his return after more than 18 months
away from the Octagon.
He was slightly more aggressive, but otherwise the same old Georges
St-Pierre in taking apart Carlos Condit before an unbelievably
loud crowd at the Bell Centre to retain his welterweight title
in the main event of UFC 154.
St-Pierre, who hadn't fought since April 30, 2011, because of
a major knee injury, looked superb. He repeatedly took Condit
down and was aggressive from the top, throwing punches and elbows.
He won a unanimous decision by scores of 50-45 twice and 49-46.
Afterward, he wouldn't commit to the fight with middleweight
champion Anderson Silva.
"I need to take some vacation and think about it,"
St-Pierre said.
Silva traveled to Montreal from Brazil to challenge St-Pierre
and hype a potential fight. His reaction in the cage was a letdown,
as the crowd was incredibly amped and hoping for him to challenge
Silva.
He did not, but that was probably the only mistake he made. Condit
was tough and knocked St-Pierre down with a kick to the head
in the third, but ultimately couldn’t stop St-Pierre’s
takedowns.
After the bout, St-Pierre walked to Condit and said, "You're
the best fighter I ever fought."
But St-Pierre proved why he's one of the best two or three fighters
in the world, pummeling Condit with punches and elbows and defusing
his great offense.
If St-Pierre decides to forgo a fight against Anderson Silva,
he’ll have at least one man with legitimate claim to a title
shot waiting for him.
Johny Hendricks used to get beaten up regularly by Martin Kampmann
when they trained together at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. But
when it counted, Hendricks got revenge in a massive way.
He landed a right hand and followed it with a crushing left that
knocked Kampmann down and out. Referee Dan Miragliotta stopped
it at 46 seconds of the first.
The win should cement Hendricks as the No. 1 contender at welterweight.
He had a similar knockout against Jon Fitch in 2011.
"Kampmann is a tough dude and I knew he had a chance to
beat me," Hendricks said. "But I am the No. 1 contender
now. Please, please give me a [title] shot!"
Tom Lawlor seemed to get the short end of a bad decision in a
three-round middleweight fight, dropping a split card to Francis
Carmont.
It was a slow fight highlighted by battling for position against
the cage. It prompted the crowd to boo frequently, but most of
the offense that occurred seemed to be initiated by Lawlor.
Lawlor finished both the first and second rounds by catching
Carmont in guillotine chokes. The choke at the end of the first
seemed particularly tight, but Carmont wiggled out as the bell
sounded.
Rafael dos Anjos outgrappled Mark Bocek, taking a clear unanimous
decision victory in their lightweight bout. Dos Anjos had an
advantage on both the feet and the ground en route to winning
a 30-27 decision on all three cards.
Bocek was unable to mount much offense, as dos Anjos repeatedly
controlled the positioning. Bocek's left eye was mangled from
punches and elbows by dos Anjos.
"I watched Mark's previous fights and he always comes with
the same combination," dos Anjos said. "I could tell
he got frustrated, but I was prepared for him. This has been
a good year for me. I got three wins and I'm ready to keep going
and improving."
In the pay-per-view opener, the UFC career of Mark Hominick may
have come to an ignominious end on Saturday when he lost a unanimous
decision to Pablo Garza.
Garza controlled the fight throughout and didn't allow Hominick
to get his hands untracked. Garza ripped him several times with
good knees and cut him over and under the left eye.
Hominick has now lost four in a row over the last 18 months,
putting himself in jeopardy of being cut.
Source: Yahoo Sports
|
UFC
VS. STRIKEFORCE: 10 CROSSOVER MATCHUPS
The
idea of the crossover fight has long proven seductive for the
mixed martial arts fan, as countless minutes have been devoted
to discussing such matters around the proverbial water cooler.
Never was that kind of banter more prevalent than when the Pride
Fighting Championships-Ultimate Fighting Championship rivalry
was at its height.
When
UFC parent company Zuffa purchased Pride in 2007, some fantasy
matchups became realities, most notably the title unification
bout between Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Dan Henderson
at UFC 75 and the long-sought Chuck Liddell-Wanderlei Silva showdown
at UFC 79. However, contract disputes kept a number of Pride
stars, including Fedor Emelianenko, from planting their flags
inside the Octagon.
With
the news this week that Strikeforce will merge with the UFC after
holding one final event on Jan. 12, armchair crossover matchmakers
have sprung into action yet again. Here are 10 potential Strikeforce
vs. UFC matchups that could get the blood pumping:
Gilbert
Melendez vs. Benson Henderson: No man figures to benefit more
from the UFC-Strikeforce merger than Melendez, a perennial Top
10 lightweight who has been a big fish in a small pond for years.
On a seven-fight winning streak, the Strikeforce lightweight
champion will put his title on the line against the rugged and
experienced Pat Healy on Jan. 12 before finally touching down
in the Octagon. Henderson will defend the UFC’s 155-pound
crown on Dec. 8, when he toes the line against “The Ultimate
Fighter” Season 5 winner and longtime Melendez teammate
Nate Diaz.
Luke
Rockhold vs. Chris Weidman: They are clearly the top two young
middleweights in the sport. Based at the American Kickboxing
Academy in San Jose, Calif., Rockhold will defend his Strikeforce
championship against the undefeated Lorenz Larkin before relocating
to the UFC. The 28-year-old has won nine consecutive fights,
finishing seven of them inside one round. The unbeaten Weidman
has been nothing short of sensational since joining the UFC in
March 2011. Five consecutive wins have followed, placing the
Serra-Longo Fight Team thoroughbred on the fast track to stardom.
Weidman will collide with Tim Boetsch at UFC 155 on Dec. 29.
Brian
Stann vs. Tim Kennedy: No one in MMA carries the torch of the
United States military quite like these two. Stann, a decorated
Marine who was awarded the Silver Star, has emerged as one of
the world’s top middleweights since moving down from 205
pounds in 2010. The 32-year-old former WEC champion owns key
wins against Chris Leben, Jorge Santiago and Alessio Sakara.
A proud member of the Army Special Forces, Kennedy has twice
fought for promotional gold in Strikeforce. The 33-year-old has
posted 14 wins in his last 17 appearances.
Josh
Barnett vs. Frank Mir: They entered the Ultimate Fighting Championship
less than a year apart more than a decade ago, but their paths
have never crossed inside the cage. Barnett and Mir have since
captured and lost UFC gold, leaving fans to wonder what a matchup
between them might look like. Perhaps the answer to that question
could come soon. Mir withdrew from a Nov. 3 appearance in Strikeforce
with an injury, and Barnett has not competed since May.
Ronaldo
Souza vs. Rousimar Palhares: For many, these two Brazilians rank
1-2 on a list of the sport’s most feared submission grappler.
Souza enhanced his profile in Strikeforce, pairing middleweight
gold with multiple Brazilian jiu-jitsu world championships. The
32-year-old “Jacare” has won six of his last seven
fights, finishing four opponents in that span. The gifted but
volatile Palhares has injured more than one foe with his vast
assortment of leg locks. “Toquinho” will tackle former
Bellator Fighting Championships titleholder Hector Lombard at
UFC on FX 6 on Dec. 14.
Daniel Cormier vs. Alistair Overeem: Cormier emerged as a Top
5 heavyweight in May, when he won the Strikeforce heavyweight
grand prix. However, some may forget that Cormier entered the
tournament as a replacement for Overeem, who bowed out of the
draw following his unanimous decision victory over Fabricio Werdum
in June 2011. Cormier will make his final Strikeforce appearance
on Jan. 12, when he locks horns with Dion Staring in Oklahoma
City. Overeem is currently serving a Nevada Athletic Commission-imposed
suspension for suspected use of performance-enhancing drugs.
Nate
Marquardt vs. Nick Diaz: The once-disgraced Marquardt has enjoyed
a resurgence under the Strikeforce banner, capturing the promotion’s
welterweight championship with a riveting fourth-round knockout
against Tyron Woodley in July. His path to the 170-pound title
was cleared in part by Diaz, who vacated the championship when
he returned to the UFC. Marquardt will defend the belt against
Team Quest’s Tarec Saffiedine on Jan. 12. Diaz will be eligible
for reinstatement from a year-long suspension in February.
Robbie
Lawler vs. Chris Leben: Mirror images of one another, they have
carved out their respective niches through a willingness to brawl,
oftentimes to their detriment. Lawler has hit the skids of late,
with five defeats in his last eight outings. However, his 16
knockouts -- 11 of them inside one round -- remain a testament
to his brutal punching power. Leben will return from a year-long
absence on Dec. 29, when he confronts Karlos Vemola at UFC 155
in Las Vegas.
Gegard
Mousasi vs. Mauricio Rua: One of the forgotten pieces of the
Strikeforce puzzle, the 27-year-old Mousasi has not fought since
he took a unanimous decision from Ovince St. Preux 11 months
ago. The well-rounded former Dream and Strikeforce champion has
tasted defeat only once in his past 22 bouts. Rua will try to
clear a major hurdle on Dec. 8, when he squares off with surging
Swede Alexander Gustafsson at UFC on Fox 5 in Seattle. Still
viewed as one of the world’s premier 205-pound fighters,
the 2006 Pride middleweight grand prix winner has not won back-to-back
bouts in nearly four years.
Josh
Thomson vs. Anthony Pettis: The oft-injured Thomson’s days
as an elite lightweight may be over, but few can surpass him
in terms of providing consistent entertainment value. “The
Punk” remains one of only two men to defeat Melendez and
pushed the Cesar Gracie protégé to the limit in
their rubber match in May, losing a split decision. Thomson holds
a 2-1 mark in the UFC but has not competed inside the Octagon
since 2004. One of MMA’s most dynamic fighters, Pettis will
be back in the cage on Jan. 26, when he battles Donald Cerrone
at UFC on Fox 6.
Source: Sherdog
|
VALE
TUDO JAPAN 2012 ADDS KUNIYOSHI HIRONAKA-CARLO PRATER, HIDEO TOKORO-RUMINA
SATO
Recently
released UFC lightweight Carlo Prater will try to halt a two-fight
skid in Tokyo on Christmas Eve when he takes on Shooto 154-pound
world champ and fellow Octagon vet Kuniyoshi Hironaka.
The
non-title matchup, which will be part of Vale Tudo Japan 2012,
was announced Sunday during Shooto “12th Round.” Also
confirmed for the card was a bantamweight bout between Japanese
fan favorites Hideo Tokoro and Rumina Sato.
Prater
entered the UFC in January on a four-fight winning streak and
earned a controversial disqualification victory over welterweight
prospect Erick Silva at UFC 142. The 31-year-old subsequently
moved down to lightweight, where decision losses to T.J. Grant
and Marcus LeVesseur spelled the end of his Octagon tenure. A
Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, Prater has scored 16 of his 30
career victories by way of submission.
Hironaka,
36, will make his second appearance on the year and enters the
bout after four consecutive wins. The leader of team Master Japan
captured Shooto’s vacant 154-pound title last July with
a win over Kotetsu Boku and successfully defended the belt in
May with a first-round stoppage of Nova Uniao product Giovani
Diniz. Since being released by the UFC in 2008 after a 1-3 run
at welterweight, Hironaka has racked up nine wins with only three
defeats.
Vale
Tudo Japan 2012 marks the eighth iteration of the 18-year-old
series and the first since its revival in 2009. It will be the
first VTJ event to take place in a cage under MMA’s unified
rules.
Source: Sherdog
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Source:
Romolo Barros
|
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