Feb 21, 2012 - If you count yourself among those growing queasy with UFC 144 fever, yesterday probably didn't do you any favors. But that's not to say it was uneventful.
Between a late release of the first UFC 144 video blog, an abrupt Rampage Jackson-Joe Rogan beef, and Carlos Condit's latest return timetable, there were plenty of morsels to whet your appetite. So while we await the gear-up to Japan, catch up with all the MMA you may have missed on the Morning Report.
5 MUST-READ STORIES TO START YOUR DAY
The MMA Hour. Ariel Helwani and The MMA Hourreturn with a quartet of interviews featuring lightweight contender Joe Lauzon, broadcaster Mauro Ranallo, snakebitten UFC fighter Sean Loeffler, and journalist Daniel Herbertson.
Ian McCall: 'I'm on borrowed time, I shouldn't be here.' McCall, a contender for the UFC's inaugural flyweight championship, candidly recounted the drug overdose that nearly killed him.
Carlos Condit unsure of St. Pierre's schedule, 'would like to stay busy.' Condit gave a timetable for his return and revealed what it would take to get him back in the cage against an opponent not named Georges St-Pierre.
Loss to Anthony Pettis might have been the best, most painful thing to happen to Ben Henderson. Henderson discussed in painful detail the moment that, even now, can bring tears to his eyes.
Jon Jones named 'Honorary Race Official' for Daytona 500. In a strange melding of worlds, Jones will take part in the pre-race ceremonies for NASCAR's biggest race.
A rematch nearly three-and-a-half years in the making is expected to take place on April 20.
MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today learned that both Shinya Aoki (30-5 MMA, 0-0 BFC) and Eddie Alvarez (22-3 MMA, 6-1 BFC) have verbally agreed to meet at an as-yet-unannounced Bellator 66 event.
Contracts are expected to be finalized shortly.
Bellator 66 takes place April 20, but Bellator Fighting Championships officials have yet to announce a venue for the card.
The pair originally met in December 2008, when Aoki needed just 92 seconds to submit Alvarez via heel hook and claim the WAMMA lightweight crown. Since that meeting, Aoki has pieced together an 11-2 mark, while Alvarez has gone 8-1.
Aoki, the current DREAM lightweight champion, makes his Bellator debut on the strength of a seven-fight win streak. He's fought twice before in the U.S., both times under the Strikeforce banner.
Alvarez, a season-one tourney winner who held the Bellator lightweight title for two-and-a-half years, lost the belt to Michael Chandler in November at Bellator 58. The spirited and back-and-forth bout, which proved one of 2011's best, ended in a fourth-round submission victory for new champ and still-undefeated Chandler.
ESPN aired a negative feature on UFC fighter pay at the beginning of this year, which resulted in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Dana White responding with their own version of the piece and a few not-so-kind words for ESPN.
The problems between the UFC and ESPN are also evident in the United Kingdom, where the sports giant broadcasts the majority of Ultimate Fighting Championship events. The UFC's current contract with ESPN expires this August.
During a recent fan Q&A session via Twitter, Lorenzo Fertitta stated that he was “not happy” with the ESPN and when asked about the new partner after the current contract expires in August, Fertitta said that they want "something big ... ESPN is stopping MMA gaining maximum traction in the UK. Need a station with more views, gain traction then big fight PPV,” indicating that the organisation's aim for the UK market is to have fights broadcast on pay-per-view.
It seems then that all signs currently point towards a deal with FOX's UK counterpart, Sky television, after the ESPN deal expires in August. Despite moving away from the pay-per-view business, 'Box Office' movies and events are still big business and as the most established sports network in the UK, Sky certainly have the resources required to push MMA (and the UFC brand) into the mainstream outside of the United States.
Traditionally, the pay-per-view model does not work in the United Kingdom, but if the UFC were to put on an event at the O2 Arena featuring a big title fight and a couple of the most popular fighters on the roster, fans would almost certainly be willing to part with their hard earned cash to tune in. On top of live fight cards, if you include The Ultimate Fighter, UFC Tonight, UFC Central, Ultimate Insider, UFC FX and Fuel TV cards, which would more than likely end up spread across the various Sky Sports or Sky Entertainment channels, it could end up being the perfect scenario for the UFC.
The new gig casts further doubt on the Strikeforce fighter's potential return to the MMA cage.
According to the report, the film, which John Stockwell will direct, begins principal photography "in late spring or early summer in Puerto Rico." That schedule all but assures Carano won't return to Strikeforce by year's end.
Carano (7-1 MMA, 1-1 SF) hasn't fought since an August 2009 title loss to Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos. Soon after, famed director Steven Soderbergh cast the 29-year-old for "Haywire," which opened nationwide this past month to largely positive reviews. Many reviewers singled out Carano, who starred alongside the likes of Ewan McGregor and Michael Douglas, for her performance.
"In the Blood" focuses on a woman (Carano) who hunts down her kidnapped husband while on vacation in the Caribbean.
Following "Haywire" filming, Carano was slated to fight Sarah D'Alelio this past June at "Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum," though she ultimately withdrew from the card for undisclosed reasons. She also was targeted for a Strikeforce fight this past December, but the booking never materialized. Nevertheless, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker has maintained the former muay Thai fighter will always have an open invitation to return to the promotion.
Before her loss to Santos, Carano became arguably MMA's highest-profile female fighter following an undefeated run in the now-defunct EliteXC organization.
Amidst a late-night marathon on Twitter on Thursday night, UFC co-owner Lornzo Fertitta broke quite a bit of news, including heavyweights Cain Velasquez vs. Frank Mir and bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber 3 being likely for the summer.
Fertitta also announced that heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos vs. Alistair Overeem will take place at UFC 146 and that a rubber match between Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz is in the works.
According to Fertitta, Velasquez, who dos Santos knocked out in just 64-seconds to win the heavyweight title in November, is likely to take on another former champion in Mir next, but he did not announce which upcoming event will host the matchup.
Velasquez (9-1) has not fought since that loss, the first of his career, while Mir (16-5) was in action at UFC 140 in December, defeating Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira via kimura.
While Fertitta did not go into detail on the matchup, it is likely to be a number one contender’s bout, with the winner taking on the winner of dos Santos vs. Overeem.
Meanwhile, Cruz and Faber will appear as opposing coaches on the upcoming 15th season of The Ultimate Fighter on FX and, according to Fertitta, the rubber match between the two is expected to take place at UFC 148 on July 7th in Las Vegas.
Miesha Tate is the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion, but for whatever reason, it seems that upstart Ronda Rousey is the one garnering the lion’s share of the attention heading into the main event showdown at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey on March 3 in Columbus, Ohio.
Tate has openly questioned Rousey’s credibility in getting a title shot in his first fight at bantamweight, especially when she’s only had four professional fights on her resume. She does, however, realize this is a fight that excites fans and will likely draw more of them to favor women’s mixed martial arts.
“I believe that’s this fight at this point. Regardless of Ronda’s record, nevertheless, I feel like she’s still going to be a challenge,” Tate told MMAWeekly.com’s Damon Martin in an exclusive interview.
Tate isn’t one to hold her tongue, however. She openly despises Rousey and how she got the title shot.
“I feel she’s pretty much talked her way into this fight,” said Tate. “I think she still had one or two more fights before she earned a spot. She’s next in line, but she’s not the No. 1 contender.
“She’s gonna get what she asked for, but I don’t think she’s gonna want it.”
Feb 9, 2012 - Stop me if you’ve heard this one. Nick Diaz fights in Las Vegas, does his usual schtick enlarging his fame among his diehard fans and leaving the rest of the MMA world slightly confused, but intrigued. Then the drug-test results come back, and suddenly he has a real problem that won’t go away. Not without a suspension and a fine, in all likelihood.
Fast forward five years, and it’s the same story, only this time in the UFC, and at a time when he can least afford it.
If you were surprised to learn that Diaz has a bit of a thing for weed, I have some news about Ernest Hemingway and booze that may shock you. If, like most of us, you already knew that Diaz liked a puff from time to time and just assumed he’d gotten better at fooling the drug tests, the news is probably more of a vague disappointment than anything else. It’s not that he uses one of the most harmless drugs (and least performance-enhancing ones) on the banned substances list -- it’s that he got caught for it.
Fast forward five years, and it’s the same story, only this time in the UFC, and at a time when he can least afford it.
Less than 24 hours after UFC president Dana White announced Nick Diaz (Pictured) and Carlos Condit had agreed to an immediate rematch, it appears Part II has been scrapped before contracts were ever even drawn up.
Unfortunately for curious minds that want to know, Diaz’s longtime manager, Cesar Gracie, wasn’t able to provide much information outside of the fact his client’s future is still as uncertain as ever.
“Yeah, I said that (there will be no rematch). But that’s all I can say,” Gracie told ESPN. “I can’t say anything else. I can’t do anything.
“Quote that if you want to. There is not going to be a rematch. Other than that, that’s all I can say.”
More details should come to light on Friday when Condit and his manager meet with White in Las Vegas, Nevada.
This past Saturday at UFC 143, Condit was rewarded with a highly controversial unanimous decision victory to capture the interim welterweight crown. Many believed Condit should have lost the championship bout because Diaz seemed to be the more aggressive fighter and won the ever-ambiguous “Octagon control” aspect of their 25-minute affair.
At Saturday night's UFC 143 post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White confirmed that both UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva (31-4 MMA, 14-0 UFC) and his nemesis Chael Sonnen (27-11-1 MMA, 6-4 UFC) have verbally agreed to meet in Brazil on an as-yet-undetermined date in June.
Silva was in Las Vegas for Saturday's fight card, and White said an agreement was reached during the event.
Bout agreements are expected to be finalized shortly.
Sonnen, of course, had stated he didn't believe Silva would ever fight him again following the pair's memorable UFC 117 matchup, in which the challenger dominated for four-and-a-half rounds before relenting to the champ. Since that fight, Sonnen has alternated between campaigning for a rematch and dismissing the need for one.
White, however, said the likelihood of the rematch was never in doubt.
"Chael's full of [expletive]," White said. "You guys need to stop listening to Chael."
UFC heavyweight and No. 1 contender Alistair Overeem has been charged with misdemeanor battery stemming from an incident over New Year’s weekend in Las Vegas.
According to a report from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Overeem was cited by the Las Vegas Police Department for allegedly shoving a woman in the face at the Wynn Las Vegas on Jan. 2 at 3 a.m.
Overeem has obtained criminal defense attorney David Chesnoff to handle the case.
“There are two sides to every story,” Chesnoff told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, “and we intend on vigorously defending this. Alistair maintains his innocence.”
The report also states Overeem is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 21 at 8 a.m., but the Clark County Office of the District Attorney tells MMAWeekly.com they have no record of such a hearing. Clark County court records also show no scheduled date.
MMAWeekly.com attempted contacting Chesnoff, but he was unavailable for comment at the time of this publication.
The last MMA and UFC fans saw of Overeem was in his Octagon debut at UFC 141, the same weekend of the alleged incident, where he TKO’d former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar in the first round of their main event bout.
Last week, @JoshTheGod and his “Underground Nazi H4ck3rGr0up” took over UFC.com for nearly two days. The group hacked the website because of the UFC’s public support of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA), which would allow the US Government to shut down Internet websites that provide pirated content.
After the Ultimate Fighting Championship regained control of their web domain, @S3rver.exe stepped in as a contributing member of @YourAnonNews, another coalition that has loudly spoken out against SOPA and PIPA, and defaced UFC.com and UFC.tv to help the protest efforts.
Shortly after the Internet assault died down, UFC president Dana White (Pictured) claimed he couldn’t have cared less what the “terrorists” were trying to do and dared them to attempt another takeover.
Hours later, JoshTheGod posted a link containing White’s confidential information, including his current address, phone numbers and Social Security number. However, it appears several pieces of the info released on White was inaccurate.
Now that the dust has somewhat settled, one of the hackers has revealed himself to be a 13-year-old from Australia. That’s correct, one of the keyboard crunchers that cracked UFC.com has just barely cracked into his teenage years.
Here is @S3rver.exe’s exclusive interview with Softpedia.com:
The hackers that claimed responsibility for re-directing the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s website a few days ago took aim at UFC president Dana White on Thursday, releasing his personal information on the web.
The hackers noted that their takeover of UFC.com was in response to the company’s open support of controversial Internet piracy legislation, SOPA and PIPA.
White discussed the hacking and his company’s support of the legislation following Thursday’s UFC on Fox 2 pre-fight press conference, reiterating their anti-piracy stance.
“Is SOPA the perfect bill, no it’s not,” he said. “The only thing that we’re focused on is piracy. Piracy is stealing.”
He openly challenged the hackers, daring the cyber-bullies to come after them again because they are only fueling the people who actually support SOPA in the first place.
“Keep hacking our site, do it again. Do it tonight,” said White. “These guys look like terrorists now and a bill that was about to die, is about to come back.”
Despite his characterization as terrorists, or maybe because of it, the group accepted the challenge, but instead of going after UFC.com again, they took aim directly at White.
CHICAGO – Regardless of what Chael Sonnen (26-11-1 MMA, 5-4 UFC) says, should he defeat Michael Bisping (22-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) at Saturday's UFC on FOX 2 event, Anderson Silva (31-4 MMA, 14-0 UFC) is next.
UFC president Dana White clarified the organization's plans at today's UFC on FOX 2 pre-event presser in Chicago.
"Chael is nuts," White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "He says all kinds of crazy things. 'He's the champion.' Listen to me. OK? Listen to me. He's not the champion.
"He will fight Anderson Silva if he wins. He will not fight for the heavyweight championship or Jon 'Bones' Jones. I have to have a separate press conference to stop all the stuff that Chael Sonnen says."
Bisping and Sonnen meet in the co-feature of Saturday's fight card, which takes place at United Center in Chicago. The main card airs on FOX.
Sonnen, of course, has stated he doesn't believe Silva will ever fight him again following the pair's memorable UFC 117 matchup, in which the challenger dominated for four-and-a-half rounds before relenting to the champ. Since that fight, Sonnen has alternated between campaigning for a rematch and dismissing the need for one.
As he prepares to take on British slugger Bisping, Sonnen is apparently in one if his dismissive stages.
As expected, the UFC will hold its third FOX-televised event on May 5, and the first fight announced for the card looks like a guaranteed barnburner.
UFC president Dana White today announced that Nate Diaz (15-7 MMA, 9-5 UFC) vs. Jim Miller (21-3 MMA, 12-2 UFC) will take place on that date at UFC on FOX 3.
The event takes place at IZOD Center in East Rutherford, N.J.
Diaz enters the bout after back-to-back career bests, flashing moments of absolute domination in wins over Donald Cerrone and Takanori Gomi. The 26-year-old is just 4-2 in his past six fights, but with five "Fight of the Night" bonuses under his belt, he's a must-watch competitor and may very well work his way into title contention with a win.
Meanwhile, Miller looks to build on the strength of his impressive submission win over Melvin Guillard at this past weekend's UFC on FX 1 event. Miller was decisioned by Ben Henderson in a bid for a shot at the lightweight title, but he's still 9-1 in his past 10 fights and extremely relevant in the 155-pound title picture.
The UFC made its network-TV debut with UFC on FOX 1 in November. The abbreviated/teaser show featured just one televised fight – Junior Dos Santos' title-clinching knockout of then-heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez. However, on Saturday night at UFC on FOX 2 in Chicago, FOX airs three main-card bouts, and FX carries the event's full preliminary card.
UFC President Dana White discussed the next fights for UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, middleweight champ Anderson Silva and light heavyweight champion Jon Jones with Fuel TV following Friday’s UFC on FX 1 event.
Jones is expected to headline April’s UFC 145 event in Atlanta with his challenger decided by next Saturday’s UFC on Fox 2 main event between Rashad Evans and Phil Davis. If Evans beats Davis and isn’t injured he’ll earn a long awaited matchup with his former teammate Jones, while Dan Henderson would likely challenge Jones for the belt if Davis wins.
The next shot at Anderson Silva will be on the line when Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping square off at UFC on Fox 2, but Sonnen has expressed doubts that Silva will rematch him after nearly dethroning him in their first meeting in 2010. However, White “guaranteed” that Silva would fight Sonnen again this summer should he beat Bisping next Saturday and that the matchup would likely take place at a soccer stadium in Silva’s home country of Brazil.
Finally, Georges St-Pierre’s recovery from knee surgery is well ahead of schedule and the welterweight champion could return as early as this summer, especially if Nick Diaz claims the interim title over Carlos Condit at UFC 143 early next month.
Watch Dana White’s complete interview with Fuel TV HERE.
Posturing, nonsense and the same old problems in boxing. Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao have been going back and forth in an intense PR war over the past month. Floyd got his jail date pushed back so he could fight on May 5 and said he wanted Pacquiao, Bob Arum said Manny would be ready in May, but then changed it to June because of a cut suffered in November. Then Manny said he wanted to fight Floyd more than anyone else, so Arum said he didn't know who to call to discuss the fight. Then Floyd decided to say that there'd be no 50/50 purse split, effectively killing any chance of the fight.
Now word has come out that Manny will rematch Miguel Cotto with Cotto already having agreed to almost all terms for the bout.
The fight is already receiving backlash from many in the boxing community and the fanbase who feel that no matter what, Cotto simply isn't a tough style matchup for Pacquiao. The two went pretty even for the first four rounds of their November 2009 bout, but in the end Pacquiao simply wound up the much better man, and by the time Kenny Bayless mercy-stopped it in the 12th round, Cotto was refusing to engage Pacquiao.
It was unrealistic to think that he and Floyd were ever going to meet in May, but this is still not exactly a thrilling development.
It's not so much that Cotto/Pacquiao is a horrible fight, it's not really. It's just that it already happened once and pretty much anything was going to be a letdown with the constant "will they/won't they?"
Remember Erick Silva's bizarre disqualification at UFC 142? The one that caused the Brazilian prospect to go from jubilant to despondent in about .15 seconds? The one that made UFC commentator Joe Rogan call out referee Mario Yamasaki's judgment while in the Octagon? The one that made us all wonder why there's no instant replay in MMA?
Yeah, that one? It won't be overturned. Since the fight was in Brazil, with no regulatory commission, the UFC served as the regulator of the fight. They announced that they have no plans to change the fight to a no-contest.
"Based on the referee's verbal warnings and his determination that the blows were intentional and a disqualifying foul, this is not the type of decision that can be reviewed," Ratner stated. "Therefore, the decision stands."
However, Ratner did share some good news. The UFC will start using instant replay at their self-regulated, international events, and will encourage state commissions to come into the 90s and use replay.
While it may not be the exact outcome that MMA fans -- or Erick Silva -- wants, it's still a good sign that the UFC is willing to make a change to improve the sport overall.
"Outside the Lines has spoken with more than 20 current, former and potential UFC fighters, as well as agents and promoters," ESPN's John Barr charged. "To a person, they say UFC fighters have not received their fair share of the company's rapidly increasing revenue."
In short, the show charges that UFC pay is not fair. This is an extraordinariy claim to make in a free-market economy.
With the advent of recycling, there are now countless thousands of people employed to stand by moving lines of refuse, separating the garbage from the recycling. How much would you have to be paid to spend eight hours a day picking through garbage? Is the near minimm wage that scut line workers are paid fair? Best way to determine the answer might be to spend a day doing it, for 50 bucks.
The show established unequivocally that UFC main event fighters make far, far more than do first time prelim fighters, who can earn as little as six or eight thousand dollars if they lose. However, equally unequivocally the UFC is paying main event fighters vastly larger sums because so many more fans pay money to see the main event and main card fighters than they do the undercard fighters.
One need only see the extraordinary swings in PPV buys with roughly equal undercards to understand that main event fighters bring in the money. That may not be "fair" to the undercard fighters who may train just as hard as a Rampage Jackson, and often hold down a full time job simultaneously, dreaming of the day when all they have to do is train. But it is what it is in a free-market economy.
RIO DE JANEIRO – Anthony Johnson today grossly missed the middleweight mark required for his co-main event bout with Vitor Belfort at UFC 142.
Prior to the start of weigh-ins, UFC president Dana White said Johnson would "badly" miss weight.
Moments later, when he officially weighed 197 pounds, officials announced Johnson has been fined 20 percent of his "show" money (which goes to Belfort), and after rehydrating, he can weigh no more than 205 pounds on fight day.
Today's official weigh-ins took place today at HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro, the same venue that hosts Saturday's pay-per-view event and Johnson vs. Belfort co-headliner. They aired on FUEL TV and streamed online.
Belfort (20-9 MMA, 9-4 UFC), who weighed in at 186 pounds, stipulated he'll only take the fight if Johnson (10-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) is no heavier than 205 pounds for the bout.
It's a shocking turn for Johnson, whose repeated issues making the 170-pound limit required of welterweights prompted calls he move up in weight. UFC 142 is his first fight at middleweight, though today's gaffe marks the third time he has missed weight during his UFC career.
When Vitor Belfort got the call from the UFC that he would be fighting in his native Brazil, he was obviously excited.
But the excitement soon turned to anticipation because Belfort then only wanted to know one thing. Who was he fighting?
The name Anthony Johnson came across the telephone, and without hesitation, like any other fight before, Belfort said yes. To some it may have been an odd choice because Johnson has spent his entire UFC career fighting at welterweight.
Belfort on the other hand trusted the UFC’s judgment and knew that if Johnson was their choice for the fight, then he’d prepare for him accordingly.
“I’m not a picky fighter like ‘oh no I don’t want this.’ I think of it like this, I’ve been in this sport for so long, I know so many managers, promoters, fighters, they have a way to do business. I do business like this… God is my manager, God is my everything. If somebody is trying to do something with me, that’s bad for me, I cannot stop it. I can control my intentions, to work for the UFC,” Belfort told MMAWeekly Radio recently.
“If they think this is a good fight to the UFC, then it’s a good fight for Vitor.”
As soon as Belfort got the news about who his opponent would be, he started training like any other fight camp. There was no lacking in his preparation simply because Johnson hadn’t ever competed at middleweight before.
Manny Pacquiao demanded on Tuesday that a fight be made between he and Floyd Mayweather Jnr, and the American has responded by "calling out" the Filipino fighter.
Pacquiao spoke extremely clearly of his wish to fight Mayweather, telling PhilBoxing.com that he wants nobody else as his next opponent. Pac-man's comments come just a week after promoter Bob Arum said it would be the fighter who chooses his next rival.
"I've said this over and over before and I'm saying this again, I want Floyd Mayweather Jnr to be my next opponent and I haven't changed my choice despite recent developments," Pacquiao said.
"I am meeting with my promoter, Bob Arum, and I will insist that the fight with Mayweather be given the preference. Whoever the fans want me to fight, I will face him atop the ring."
Momentum for the fight has gained since a Las Vegas judge ruled Mayweather's jail sentence would not start until June 1. The decision was made largely due to the pre-booked date of May 5, which is pencilled in for Mayweather's next bout.
Complex negotiations between the Pacquiao and Mayweather camps must still take place before the pair can lock sights on one another, but the American issued his response to Pacquiao late on Tuesday, labelling him a "punk".
"Manny Pacquiao I'm calling you out, let's fight May 5th and give the world what they want to see," Mayweather tweeted. "My jail sentence was pushed back because the date was locked in. Step up punk."
The next step will be for the respective camps to see eye-to-eye, something which they have never previously managed, and Pacquiao admits the situation may be taken out of his hands. "I don't choose the fight," said the 33-year-old. "It is my promoter who does because it's his job. My job is to fight, everybody must realise that."
The first international edition of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality series appears to have a broadcast home in the U.S.
"The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil," an upcoming version of the show that features Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort as coaches, is expected to air on the FOX-owned FUEL TV.
UFC president Dana White recently shared news of the plans.
"Nobody knows this yet, and it's the first time it's being told," White told ESPN1100/98.9 FM in Las Vegas. "And to be honest with you the deal isn't 100 percent done yet, but I'm so confident it's going to happen. ... 'The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil' will air on Fuel TV. All this unique content that we're doing in these other parts of the world, Fuel TV is going to take."
FUEL TV officials couldn't comment on the plans when contact by MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) but said they have a handful of UFC-related announcements planned for this week.
Filming for "TUF: Brazil" is expected to begin next week with a March 25 debut. It airs locally in Brazil on Globo every Sunday evening. It concludes with a live finale in June. The UFC recently held an open tryout for lightweight and middleweight fighters in Brazil for the show, and the coaches will meet at season's end.
In addition to "TUF: Brazil," regular editions of the reality series will move from Spike TV to FOX-owned FX this year. "TUF 15," which features bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber as coaches, debuts March 9. For the first time ever, all fights will be aired live during the Friday-night episodes.
Shortly after Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos was issued a year-long suspension for failing her “Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal” drug test, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker released a prepared statement regarding the future of their featherweight queen.
“Strikeforce has not seen the test results regarding Ms. Santos,” Coker expressed in his generic announcement. “However, we have a consistent and strong stance against any use of performance-enhancing drugs. We also have a long history of supporting effective drug testing of athletes by authorized regulatory bodies.
“Therefore, we will closely monitor the matter and will work with the California State Athletic Commission regarding any information we may be asked to provide. We also recognize that Ms. Santos has administrative process rights under California law and we hope that she is not prejudged before she has the opportunity to exercise such rights.”
Mac Danzig (20-9 MMA, 4-5 UFC) today revealed his next booking, a UFC 145 matchup with Efrain Escudero (18-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC).
"Just signed to fight in March," Danzig posted on Twitter. "Opponent is tough as hell, but they all are. Efrain Escuerdo, March 24, Montreal."
UFC 145 takes place March 24 at Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. UFC executives later confirmed the Danzig vs. Escudero matchup, which likely takes place on the evening's preliminary card.
Danzig looks to rebound from an October loss to Matt Wiman at UFC on Versus 6. The rematch of a controversial UFC 115 contest, in which Wiman was incorrectly awarded a technical-submission victory, saw Danzig drop a unanimous decision result. However, the bout did earn both men the evening's "Fight of the Night" bonus.
While Danzig's current octagon record is below .500, he is 2-2 in his past four bouts, including the controversial stoppage loss.
Meanwhile, Escudero returns to action after suffering a unanimous-decision loss to Jacob Volkmann at December's UFC 141 event. Escudero, the winner of the eighth season of "The Ultimate Fighter," was a late-notice replacement for an injured T.J. Grant and now looks for his first octagon win since he was released from the promotion in 2010.
Unless you crawled under a rock for the past week, it’s no surprise that Sweden has been in the UFC’s plans for an event this spring.
UFC officials on Wednesday, however, confirmed the UFC on Fuel TV 2 for the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm. The promotion has been planning for quite some time to expand into Sweden, it’s just been a matter of when and where.
Despite the confirmation, little has been released by way of details, although there is one fight already in the works for the card. MMAWeekly.com sources recently confirmed that DeMarques Johnson will face off with John Maguire on the UFC’s first Swedish fight card, which is slated for April 14.
The UFC's new weekly show "UFC Tonight" debuts tonight on FUEL TV at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT).
The weekly half-hour show then airs each Tuesday in the same timeslot.
In a preview of tonight's debut episode, UFC middleweight contender Chael Sonnen debuts "Chael's Corner" – while also suggesting Jon Jones or Georges St-Pierre could be future opponents.
Former WEC broadcaster Todd Harris and UFC fighter Kenny Florian host "UFC Tonight," and Jay Glazer and Ariel Helwani are contributors.
The show includes event previews, fight highlights, fighter interviews, behind-the-scenes UFC footage and, of course, "Chael's Corner."
In the latest, the polarizing fighter, who meets Mark Munoz later this month at UFC on FOX 2, suggested he won't take a rematch with middleweight champ Anderson Silva is he's victorious. Instead, he may be looking to other divisions.
"I will be announcing who I'll be fighting very soon," Sonnen said. "But I promise you this: If I was GSP or Jon Jones, I'd be swallowing real deep right now."
A little less than two and a half years ago, Brock Lesnar was king of the hill.
As the centerpiece of the UFC 100 extravaganza, Lesnar dominated his rematch withFrank Mir in spectacular fashion, and the bout itself was just the beginning. Afterward, he taunted and flexed, spewing saliva toward the cameras that were fixed on the spectacle that this mountainous man had become. He dissed one prominent sponsor before informing the world of his post-fight plans with his wife.
The heel script seemed as though it came straight from the desk of World Wrestling Entertainment head Vince McMahon, and it elicited a strong reaction from those who resented the notion that a sports entertainment star could go from choreographed tough guy to legitimate champion in such a short time. Here was a monster, who, while weighing in the vicinity of 290 pounds on fight night, could redefine the heavyweight division with his frightening blend of size and athleticism. “He’s just too big” seemed a worthy explanation when forecasting Lesnar’s dominance for years to come.
It was polarizing. It was entertaining. It was fleeting.
On Friday, after succumbing to Alistair Overeem -- who is nearly his physical equal -- atUFC 141 in Las Vegas, Lesnar called it career. There would be no sound bites, no theatrics, no hoopla, just a man at peace with his decision.
“I’ve had a really difficult couple of years with my disease,” Lesnar said, referring to the diverticulitis that claimed nearly a foot of his colon. “I’m going to say that tonight is the last night you will see me in the Octagon. Brock Lesnar is officially retired. I promised my wife and kids if I won this fight that I would get a title shot and that would be my last one, but if I lost tonight ... everyone, you’ve been great.”
The Staff at BMMAT would like to thank all of our users for their support we would like to present you with the BMMAT Holiday and New Years Donation Drive where you guys can get something extra for your donations to us.
From now until January 7th all donations to BMMAT will give twice (2x) the upload credit. Any donation over $50 will get you 3x the upload credit and donation of $100 and more will get you 4x the normal upload credit.
Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year to all. From the BMMAT Staff.
We´re finally going to make a BMMAT P4P list, guys!
Before we make a poll we would first appreciate your opinions about what fighters you would like to see on that list. Keep in mind that this is a poll for the very best P4P fighters on the planet right now, not yesterdays stars or a list of the fighters that are closest to your hearts. Unless that guy happens to be named A. Silva of course, lol..
Please be honest and pick intelligently. Everybody has got different opinions about this but let´s try our very best and I am confident we will cut out the names for the final version of BMMAT´s very own P4P ranking poll. So please remember that this ain´t the poll itself but rather a way to gather names for the final poll!
One day before the new year evening the biggest main event ever is live on UFC 141, biggest for fame and biggest for weight, this two HEROES of the sports bring every freaking time and impressive show and everybody that loves MMA wants to see them fight. Its a fantasy fight the strikeforce champion vs Brock, it's also a call to the comparison between UFC and STRIKEFORCE, I guess doesnt matter now becouse everything is owned by the UFC, lol+
On the same card there's also the fight of Nate Diaz vs Donald Cerrone and Jon fitch vs Hendricks, very interesting! even Matyshenko vs Gustafsson is a big fight in my humble opinion. To end it if you watched TUF, you sure know who Nam Pham is, well he is fighting vs Jim Hettes that comes with a perfect record (of submissions), also a fighter on The Ultimate Fighter Manny Gamburyan is fighting the incredibly aggresive Diego Nunes. Starts with Ross pearson vs Junior Assucao
Super Heavy Card, I love it.
Who would you pick as a winner for the next UFC 141?
I CHALLENGE YOU, LOOK FOR ME WITH THE NAME MARCOS ON THE LEADERBOARD, MAKE YOUR PICK 100% FREE.
Joining Justin Bieber on stage during his concert in Brazil is one thing, but performing a couple of his songs equipped with backup dancers is proof UFC middleweight king Anderson Silva is truly a BELIEBER.
Silva’s shoulder might be too banged up to defend his throne against Chael Sonnen anytime soon, but there’s certainly nothing wrong with his fancy feet.
Speaking of Sonnen, it will be interesting to hear what MMA’s most articulate trash talker has to say about Silva’s latest performance.
We’re going to let Silva slide on this one, but if he dresses up as Bieber for Halloween then an intervention might be in order.
Next week's UFC 141 main event will remain intact.
After issues with a recent Nevada State Athletic Commission-mandated drug test, Alistair Overeem (35-11 MMA, 0-0 UFC) finally has taken and passed a test and been cleared to compete against Brock Lesnar (5-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC).
UFC president Dana White first hinted at the news today via Twitter, and an official later confirmed the passed test with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
"Overeem is ready to go!!!" White tweeted. "Lesnar vs Overeem is on!"
"UFC 141: Lesnar vs. Overeem" takes place next Friday, Dec. 29, at Las Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena. The main card airs on pay-per-view, and prelims air on Spike TV and stream on Facebook.
The five-round non-title fight, which will determine a No. 1 contender in the UFC's heavyweight division, was thrown into doubt this past week when Overeem missed an out-of-competition test the commission ordered him to undergo on Nov. 17. As it turned out, NSAC executive director Keith Kizer notified Overeem of the test the same day the fighter flew to Holland to attend to his mother, who is dealing with a possible cancer relapse.
Fedor Emelianenko will make his return to the Land of the Rising Sun on New Year’s Eve.
Sherdog.com confirmed with a source close to the event Monday that “The Last Emperor” will lock horns with Olympic judo gold medalist Satoshi Ishii at Dream “Genki Desu Ka! New Year! 2011.” The bout had been teased previously by a number of sources, but it remained unconfirmed until today.
Going down Dec. 31 from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, the event will also feature the semifinal and final rounds of Dream’s ongoing bantamweight world grand prix. Four men currently remain in the tournament draw, which features Antonio Banuelos, Masakazu Imanari, Bibiano Fernandes and Rodolfo Marques.
The Dream lightweight and featherweight titles will also be up for grabs, as company 155-pound king Shinya Aoki will put his belt on the line against former Sengoku champion Satoru Kitaoka, and 145-pound pacesetter Hiroyuki Takaya will defend his strap against two-time Shooto champion Takeshi Inoue. The event is expected to air live on HDNet.
Long considered the best heavyweight in the world, Emelianenko returned to his winning ways in November after suffering three consecutive losses. Following his defeats to Fabricio Werdum, Antonio Silva and Dan Henderson in the Strikeforce cage, the Russian outpointed former UFC title challenger Jeff Monson on Nov. 20 in Moscow. The face of M-1 Global, Emelianenko last competed in Japan four years ago, submitting massive South Korean kickboxer Hong Man Choi in 2007.
LAS VEGAS – "The Ultimate Fighter 11" veteran Jamie Yager and K-1 kickboxing vet Kultar Gill were among approximately 150 welterweights who attended Monday's open tryout session for "The Ultimate Fighter 15."
Additionally, more than 200 lightweight fighters also attended the all-day session, which aims to secure a cast for the upcoming edition of the reality series, set to begin filming in early 2012.
The prospective cast members gathered at the Fertitta family-owned Texas Station Hotel & Gambling Hall in Las Vegas.
UFC president Dana White and UFC matchmakers Joe Silva and Sean Shelby were among the executives judging the hopefuls through grappling matches, striking workouts and interviews. FX Director of Production Maureen Timpa also attended the tryouts.
Gill, who has not competed in a professional MMA contest since 2008, was a perhaps-surprising entrant into the 170-pound field's very first group of applicants. But it was "The Black Mamba" and fellow hopeful Cortez Coleman whose grappling match brought the first cheers from the crowded room after a few safety-first matches kicked off the festivities.
A DREAM and K-1 Hero's veteran, Gill boasts MMA fights with Yves Edwards, Joachim Hansen, Tatsuya Kawajiri and Caol Uno, among others.
Meanwhile, Yager made it to the quarterfinals of "The Ultimate Fighter 11," downing Charlie Blanchard and Ben Stark while competing as a middleweight. He was ousted from the tournament by Josh Bryan and then released from the promotion after suffering a second-round TKO loss to Rich Attonito.
Yager has since dropped to 170 pounds and rattled off three-straight stoppage victories.
Other notable welterweights included MMA veterans Sam Alvey, Blas Avena, Rudy Bears, Zak Cummings, Jacob McClintock, Leopoldo Serao and Dave Terrel, as well as a host of young prospects who each had to confirm a winning record with promotion officials before entering the actual tryouts.
Less than six months after Dominick Cruz defeated Urijah Faber to vanquish his biggest rival and retain the UFC bantamweight title, the champ can begin preparation for a rematch.
That's because on Tuesday, the UFC confirmed that the pair would coach the next season of The Ultimate Fighter when the revamped series moves to its new home on FX.
The season, which will feature both lightweight and welterweight contestants, will begin airing on March 9, 2012, with a two-hour premiere.
Cruz (19-1) has solidified his stronghold as the 135-pound division's best fighter, capturing 10 straight fights overall. Most recently, he defeated Demetrious Johnson by decision at October's UFC on Versus 6. But just prior to that, he beat Faber in a long-awaited rematch of their 2007 fight which remains the only loss on his record.
Cruz injured his hand in the Johnson fight but apparently will be ready to go by the springtime.
"This is a dream come true," Cruz said in a statement. "To get a chance to coach TUF and beat Faber again is all the motivation I need. This is going to be an insane season of The Ultimate Fighter."
The new season will air on Fridays for 13 weeks, with live fights on each episode. That would likely put a Cruz-Faber bout in June, about a year from their last match.
In that bout, Cruz won by scores of 50-45, 49-46 and 48-47 but Faber said afterward that he believed he did enough to earn the win. The Cruz victory puts them at 1-1 heading into a rubber match.
Faber is 26-5 overall and rebounded from his Cruz loss to beat Brian Bowles in a second-round submission at UFC 139, but despite his overall history of success, he's struggled recently in some big fights, going 0-4 in his last four title bouts.
faber has to win cheers axe g'day destructor vice and all etc..
UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones (14-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) sees a much bigger role in the UFC than just a delivery man for punches, kicks, and throws.
Jones sees himself as an ambassador of the sport, and hopefully, a figure that will elevate the industry-leading promotion to new heights as it transitions to network TV.
"One of my main goals in the UFC is to try to change the sport for the better (and) try to elevate the UFC organization to a different level with the demographics," Jones said in advance of his title defense this weekend against Lyoto Machida (17-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) at UFC 140.
UFC 140 takes place Saturday at Air Canda Centre, and its main card airs live on pay-per-view. Preliminary bouts air on ION TV and stream on Facebook.
MMA's demographic, of course, is heavily weighted toward young men, though there have been encouraging signs of gains in female viewership as of late. The past month's UFC on FOX was watched by 1.7 million women over the age of 18, according to figures released by the network, in addition to the historically strong demographics. Older demographics in males and female have lagged far behind.
FOX historically has been strong in young male demographics, which made it the UFC's choice when its TV contract with Spike neared its end this year.
Of course, younger demographics are the most coveted by advertisers, and Jones, who's the youngest undisputed champion in the promotion's history, is already something of a lightning rod for fans of the sport that alternately see him as humble and cocky.
The Ultimate Fighter season 14 finale is set after Wednesday night's episode determined the divisional championship pairings to take place at The Pearl at the Palms in Las Vegas on Saturday.
In the bantamweight class, John Dodson advanced to the final and will face TJ Dillashaw, while Diego Brandao navigated his way through the featherweight brackets to meet Dennis Bermudez.
Those were two of the eight pairings announced by the UFC following completion of the series.
Dodson faced heat from his Team Miller group all season long for leaking inside information to the opposition, and fellow semifinalist Johnny Bedford vowed revenge, but Dodson had the last laugh with a spectacular second-round KO.
He'll face Dillashaw in the finals. Dillashaw had previously defeated Dustin Pague to advance.
Brandao notched his third straight first-round knockout victory in advancing to the final, where he'll be matched up against Dennis Bermudez. Interestingly, Bermudez also finished all three of his TUF fights thus far, two by TKO and one by submission.
Also taking place on the main card, televised on Spike, is a bantamweight bout pitting the colorful Louis Gaudinot and Johnny Bedford. All three of those bouts, along with a lightweight fight with veteran Yves Edwards against season 13 winner Tony Ferguson will support the main event bout between coaches Michael Bisping and Jason "Mayhem" Miller. The full card is below.
Main Card
Michael Bisping vs. Jason "Mayhem" Miller
Diego Brandao vs. Dennis Bermudez
John Dodson vs. T.J. Dillashaw
Yves Edwards vs. Tony Ferguson
Louis Gaudinot vs. Johnny Bedford
Preliminary Card
Stephan Bass vs. Marcus Brimage
John Albert vs. Dustin Pague
Roland Delorme vs. Josh Ferguson
Steven Siler vs. Josh Clopton Bryan Caraway vs. Dustin Neace
A key welterweight matchup between Jake Ellenberger (26-5 MMA, 5-1 UFC) and Diego Sanchez (23-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) has been scheduled for February.
MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today confirmed with sources close to the event that Ellenberger and Sanchez will headline an as-yet-unannounced fight card expected to take place on Wednesday, Feb. 15.
While UFC brass have yet to make an official announcement, additional sources indicated that the event will likely take place in Ellenberger's hometown of Omaha, Neb., and air on FUEL TV.
Omaha's 18,000-seat CenturyLink Center (formerly Qwest Center Omaha) is said to be the leading candidate to host the event, but venue officials declined to comment on the potential booking.
Ellenberger enters the bout on a five-fight win streak that includes back-to-back first-round knockouts of Jake Shields and Sean Pierson. The 26-year-old, who earned "Knockout of the Night" honors for his stoppage of Shields, is actually 9-1 in his past 10 overall fights with the lone loss coming in his UFC debut – a hotly contested split-decision result against current contender-in-waiting Carlos Condit.
1. Anderson Silva (31-4)
Oh, the drama. After weeks of Anderson Silva and former challenger-stroke-antagonist Chael Sonnen going back and forth in the media, it appears that Silva's shoulder bursitis and associated issues will keep him sidelined into mid-2012. Though his hit list is beyond reproach, if “The Spider” is unable to step back into the Octagon until June, the lucrative rematch with Sonnen -- now unquestionably the middleweight division's no. 2 -- will have to wait. Presently, Sonnen is expected to tangle with rising challenger Mark Munoz in early 2012.
2. Georges St. Pierre (22-2)
A knee strain and a hamstring pull nixed Georges St. Pierre's much-anticipated Oct. 29 title defense against Carlos Condit. However, that same night, former Strikeforce champion and welterweight antagonist Nick Diaz went out in the Octagon and brutally took apart B.J. Penn, earning his biggest career win and another chance to try to fight for the UFC welterweight crown. Come Super Bowl weekend in February, St. Pierre will have the chance to put yet another welterweight star in his win column in his seventh consecutive UFC title defense.
3. Jon Jones (14-1)
In consecutive bouts, Jon Jones has taken apart light heavyweight icons Mauricio Rua and Quinton Jackson. On Dec. 10 in Toronto, he will have the chance to lock up consensus “Fighter of the Year” status when he looks to do likewise to another former UFC champion in Lyoto Machida. Jones' talent seems to have no visible ceiling, and perhaps his pound-for-pound cred, too: if Jones downs Machida, he's looking at a bout with another former UFC titlist and one-time pound-for-pound entrant, Rashad Evans, in what would be one of 2012's most anticipated showdowns.
Some might know that the 'elite' member axemurderer posted what he think could be a better logo for BestMMAtorrents.com, it all ended up as a 'Logo Contest'. It's funny how things can escalate, right?
Althought since we will be touching the THEME soon we don't really know what background or style we'll have, basically I will be wanting to leave the current goodies of the theme and obliterate those that are pesky. Optimization time. Ergo the timing for the logo contest couldn't be worse, that's why I'm asking to froze the current contest and wait until further notice, next step would be to get for real the cons and pros of the theme.
I invite you to goto the forum and MAKE A COMMENT. (don't put your feedback on this news post, instead on the forum)
UFC officials today announced Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-4 MMA, 1-3 UFC) will drop to 170 pounds for a February meeting with former Strikeforce champ Jake Shields (26-6-1 MMA, 1-2 UFC).
The two meet on the main card of UFC 144, which takes place Feb. 26 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
Akiyama made his professional debut in 2004 and quickly rose to prominence while fighting under the K-1 and DREAM banners. While controversy followed Akiyama from his judo career into a few hotly-debated bouts with Kazushi Sakuraba and Kazuo Misaki, Akiyama continued to rise in popularity throughout the Asian market.
In July 2009, Akiyama made his UFC debut with a controversial split-decision win over Alan Belcher. However, he's struggled in recent contests, dropping consecutive fights to Vitor Belfort, Michael Bisping and Chris Leben. While the bouts with Bisping and Leben were competitive and each earned Akiyama additional "Fight of the Night" bonuses, he looked fatigued in the latter rounds of both contests.
LOS ANGELES – Maybe fighting on Facebook isn't the worst thing in the world.
While many MMA fans and pundits have expressed their frustration that a key UFC on FOX lightweight matchup between Clay Guida (29-11 MMA, 9-5 UFC) and Ben Henderson (14-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) has been relegated to the evening's Facebook-streamed undercard, it appears UFC brass is still dangling a rather large carrot in front of the winner.
MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has learned from multiple sources close to the promotion that the winner of the Guida vs. Henderson matchup is expected to receive an immediate title shot against current lightweight champ Frankie Edgar (14-1-1 MMA, 9-1-1 UFC).
Guida and Henderson meet in the co-feature of Saturday night's UFC on FOX 1 event, which sees heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez defend his belt against Junior Dos Santos in Anaheim, Calif. The main event airs on FOX.
While an exact date for the fight with Edgar would certainly depend on the condition of the Guida vs. Henderson winner, multiple sources suggested the UFC's planned February event in Japan is the preferred destination. The organization, which hasn't promoted a show in the country since UFC 29 in late 2000, heads to Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, on Feb. 26, 2012.
To accommodate the traditional live North American broadcasting on Saturday night, Feb. 25, the event is expected to take place Sunday morning at 10 a.m. local time. Officials haven't determined broadcast plans or event naming for the show, and no broadcast plans have been announced for North America.
Edgar, of course, fought most recently at this past month's UFC 136 event, where he defeated top contender Gray Maynard via fourth-round TKO. The clash capped off an epic trilogy between the two, which ended in a dead heat at 1-1-1. However, with Edgar earning the lone stoppage in the series, many fans and pundits have put aside the need for a fourth meeting between the two rivals.
A hand injury has forced Patricio "Pitbull" Freire to undergo surgery, scuttling plans for his Bellator featherweight title shot against Joe Warren. So instead, Bellator will go to plan B.
By virtue of his recent 2011 Summer Series featherweight tournament win, Pat Curran was next in line after Freire, but now he's been bumped ahead with Freire on the shelf, and Curran will face off with Warren at an early 2012 event.
The promotion confirmed the bout on Tuesday, but has not yet finalized an exact date for the title fight.
This will be Curran's second shot at a Bellator championship. In 2010, he won a lightweight tournament and advanced to face reigning champ Eddie Alvarez, but lost a unanimous decision. Afterward, he dropped to featherweight and impressed during his three fights through the bracket, defeating Luis Palomino via submission, Ronnie Mann by decision, and then stopping pre-tournament favorite Marlon Sandro in a second-round knockout.
Curran is 16-4 overall.
Warren (7-2) recently attempted to become a two-division champion in Bellator, hoping to add a bantamweight belt to his collection, but in a first-round fight with Alexis Vila, he was knocked out in just 64 seconds. He previously won the 145-pound belt in September 2010 with a KO of Joe Soto. This will be his first title defense.
Freire (17-1), who won a season four featherweight tournament, will eventually take on the winner of Curran-Warren. The promotion confirmed that Freire's surgery was expected to keep him out of the gym for three months.
While the UFC has been busy promoting the size of the two heavyweights in its UFC 141 main event, one of those two big men says there are some big stakes to go along with the December 30 bout.
According to what former Strikeforce heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem told Ariel Helwani on Monday's edition of The MMA Hour, the winner at UFC 141 will get the next crack at the UFC heavyweight title.
"The winner of the fight between me and Brock [Lesnar] will fight the winner of Cain [Velasquez] and [Junior] dos Santos," Overeem said. And though he declined to pick a winner in this Saturday night's heavyweight tilt, he was not so shy about making a prediction for his own bout.
"You know what? I'm going to be bold," said Overeem. "I'm going to kick that guys ass."
But the supposed number one contender fight with Lesnar isn't the only topic of conversation for the Dutch heavyweight these days. There's also the issue of his split from longtime management team Golden Glory, which Overeem addressed in today's episode of his web series, "The Reem."
According to Overeem, he left Golden Glory because of a "major breach of trust," and has now settled at the Xtreme Couture gym in Las Vegas as his new training home. As Overeem told Helwani, "I left the trainers [at Golden Glory] on very good terms, but the management not. The management, we left on bad terms."
Overeem went into slightly more detail in the new episode of "The Reem," explaining that the split was the result of many small communications leading up to one big one.
BIRMINGHAM, England – After being bumped from a championship fight with Georges St-Pierre in favor of Nick Diaz, Carlos Condit (27-5 MMA, 4-1 UFC) has his new target.
from sources close to the promotion that Condit and Josh Koscheck (16-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC) have verbally agreed to meet at UFC 143 in February.
UFC president Dana White revealed the likelihood of the potential booking at Saturday night's UFC 138 post-event press conference in Birmingham, England.
"Right now, Carlos Condit wants to fight," White said. "He wants to fight on the same card as GSP and Diaz, so we'll see what happens. Koscheck has been offered.
"It could be with Koscheck. Condit wanted that fight."
According to several sources MMAjunkie.com spoke with on Saturday evening, Condit now has it.
UFC brass have yet to officially announce UFC 143, but the event is expected to take place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. St-Pierre defends his welterweight title against Diaz in the main event.
Condit was expected to face St-Pierre at UFC 143 before a post-UFC 137 outburst led the champ to request Diaz, instead. White also revealed that night that Condit is next line should he prove victorious in his next fight, which now appears to be against Koscheck.
Koscheck fought most recently at September's UFC 135 event, where he downed UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes via first-round knockout. The win was Koscheck's first fight since suffering a broken orbital bone in a UFC 124 loss to St-Pierre.
FOX has announced its full lineup of programming that will air before and after next Saturday's historic UFC telecast, and it's without a doubt the most impressive TV lineup served up to fans surrounding any UFC event.
In addition to the one-hour telecast on FOX, which will feature Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos for the UFC heavyweight title, UFC programming will air on FUEL TV and FOX Deportes.
Below is an easy to read schedule of everything you can expect to see:
Friday, Nov. 11:
7:00 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT -- Weigh-ins live on FUEL TV
7:00 P.M. ET -- Cain Velasquez: Brown Pride, episode 3 on FOX Deportes
Saturday, Nov. 12:
3:00 p.m. ET -- Cain Velasquez: Brown Pride, episodes 1-3 on FOX Deportes
4:45 p.m. ET -- UFC on FOX prelims live on Facebook and FOXSports.com
5:30 p.m. ET -- Weigh-ins re-air on FUEL TV
6:00 p.m. ET -- UFC Primetime re-air on FUEL TV
6:00 p.m. ET -- Re-air of Cain Velasquez vs. Brock Lesnar on FOX Deportes
7:00 p.m. ET -- UFC prelims live on FOX Deportes
7:00 p.m. ET -- Pre-fight show on FUEL TV, hosted by Glazer, along with Kenny Florian and Stephan Bonnar
9:00 p.m. ET -- UFC on FOX broadcast, hosted by Curt Menefee, along with Dana White, Brock Lesnar and Joe Rogan. Mike Goldberg and Rogan will call the heavyweight title fight.
10 p.m. ET -- UFC on FOX post-fight show on FUEL TV, hosted by Glazer, along with Florian and Bonnar
In addition, FOX Sports Radio will air five hours live coverage on Nov. 12, which will include pre-fight analysis, the call of the heavyweight title fight and a post-fight show hosted by MMA journalist Larry Pepe.
UFC on FOX 1 takes place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
Fedor Emelienanko is headed back to the ring to face UFC and Strikeforce veteran Jeff Monson, and the pay-per-view broadcast is now set as well.
Fedor vs. Monson will be available to U.S. customers via Integrated Sports Media for a price tag of $29.95 and it will air on Sunday, Nov 20 starting at 7:30am ET/4:30am PT.
The card will also be available through replays as well.
This is the first time Emelianenko has competed since losing three fights in a row in Strikeforce, and exited that promotion.
The one time heavyweight king will look to get his career back on track when he faces American Top Team grappler Jeff Monson on Nov. 20.
The hefty price tag seems a bit much for a fighter in Emelianenko, who has never drawn tremendous numbers in American pay-per-view revenue during his time with promotions like Bodog Fights and Affliction, but they will try, try again.
The timing of the fight will also be a tough sell in the U.S. market with a live fight starting at 7:30am ET from Olympia Arena in Moscow, Russia.
Regardless, Fedor will face Monson and it will be available via pay-per-view starting on Nov. 20.
A intriguing middleweight bout between Vitor Belfort (20-9 MMA, 9-4 UFC) and former welterweight Anthony Johnson (10-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) will be part of January's UFC 142 card.
UFC officials today announced that verbal agreements are in place for the fight.
UFC 142 takes place Jan. 14 in Brazil, and Belfort vs. Johnson will be part of a main card expected to air on pay-per-view.
Although UFC officials haven't announced exact details, event sources told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) it'll likely be held at Rio de Janeiro's HSBC Arena, which also hosted UFC 134 in August.
Recent reports suggested Belfort and UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva were slated to coach an upcoming Brazilian edition of "The Ultimate Fighter," though UFC officials shot down the rumors on Monday when contacted by MMAjunkie.com.
Belfort had been scheduled to fight Cung Le in the co-headliner of this month's UFC 139 event but eventually was forced off the card due to injury. Belfort recently rebounded from a vicious KO title loss to champ Anderson Silva with a dominant victory over Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 133. Belfort, who's now won six of his past seven fights, scored a "Knockout of the Night" award with the Akiyama victory. In fact, his past four victories (and nine of his past 10) have all come via knockout.
Johnson, who recently hasn't had trouble with his weight despite some slip-ups early in his UFC career, nonetheless will move up a weight class, and he'll do so on the strength of a 5-1 run that included a recent head-kick KO of Charlie Brenneman at UFC on Versus 6. Johnson was deep in welterweight title contention but now will test the waters at middleweight.
LAS VEGAS -- Up until now, it's been assumed that the winner of UFC on Fox 1's co-main event will be the next man up to face current lightweight champion Frankie Edgar.
But that's no guarantee.
UFC president Dana White told MMA Fighting that on the heels of Edgar's stirring comeback knockout win over Gray Maynard, he's yet to determine the champion's next challenge.
Asked whether it was a sure thing that the Clay Guida vs. Ben Henderson winner would earn a chance to fight for the belt, White initially said no.
But that's not necessarily his final answer. Moments later, he clarified his thoughts, saying that his unrelenting schedule hasn't afforded him the opportunity to sit down, examine the situation and make a decision.
"I don't know. I have no idea," he said. "We're going to have to see what happens. I haven't even thought about it. You have to understand, the only thing I'm thinking about now is FOX. I've just got to get past this event. Everything else is taking a back seat. All the other s--- will work itself out."
After a decision win over Anthony Pettis, Guida (29-11) is currently riding a four-fight win streak while Henderson (14-2) has won seven of his eight fights under the Zuffa banner, most recently dominating Jim Miller en route to a decision at UFC Live: Lytle vs. Hardy.
Still, the Guida-Henderson winner seems like the most likely option for Edgar. Other possibilities include the Donald Cerrone-Dennis Siver winner from Saturday night, or Gilbert Melendez if he is brought over from Strikeforce. Both Jim Miller and Melvin Guillard recently had win streaks snapped that likely removed them from the conversation.
LAS VEGAS -- With increased exposure comes increased scrutiny, as the UFC has learned through its fast rise to becoming a sports powerhouse.
As the promotion continues preparation for its network television premiere on FOX on November 12, they have faced a recent, ongoing campaign led by the Culinary Workers Union Local 226, charging that the UFC is unfit for children due to abusive and bigoted language by UFC president Dana White and his fighters, a charge White denies.
As part of that campaign, the union, which represents more than 50,000 workers on the Las Vegas Strip but is embroiled in bitter litigation with Fertitta-owned Station Casinos -- recently launched the website UnfitForChildren.org that details some of White's more controversial quotes. More recently, they have pressured some of the UFC's sponsors to pull advertising dollars from the promotion because of their " history of tolerating homophobic conduct that is hostile to millions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people all over the world who struggle every day against bigotry and discrimination."
Asked about the recent developments, White argued that they were based in politics more than substance, and said the UFC would gladly welcome a gay fighter.
"Seriously, if you guys look at some of the stuff I said in the last 10 years, some of it stupid, some of it whatever, that's the one that bothers me. It's the only one that bothers me," White said. "The fact that these losers from the culinary union can go out and say I'm a homophobe and things like that, because It's the furthest thing from the truth. I think enough of you here know me that if I was, I'd tell you I was, and I'd tell you why I was. It's not true and it's just something these guys can throw up on a cute little website."
LAS VEGAS -- The UFC has finally, officially signed a deal to produce its first international edition of The Ultimate Fighter.
And despite UFC president Dana White's past statements that it would probably take place in either Canada or The Philippines, it will instead take place in Brazil.
"It's a done deal," White said on Thursday afternoon.
White said the UFC had signed a deal to produce and air the series in Brazil, though he did not yet know exactly where it would take place. But the series is also likely to air in the U.S. Under the promotion's new FOX deal, White said there are ongoing discussions, and that the show is likely to air on FUEL.
"Let me tell you what, if you're a UFC fan, you want FUEL," he said. "FUEL's going to be loaded with all kinds of UFC programming including live fights, and live fights from other countries."
The UFC just recently visited Brazil for the first time during the Zuffa era, in a massively successful show. Given MMA's roots in the country, the market has grown quickly and become a hot target for the UFC, which is seriously exploring a return within the next few months. The TUF deal shows how serious they are about continuing to grow the sport in Brazil.
But if you're in The Philippines or Canada, have no fear. TUF is likely coming to those markets and others, in due time.
"We're doing all those, too," he said. "This one just happened really fast."
Kenny Florian is not ready to call it quits just yet.
In the hours immediately after losing a UFC featherweight championship to Jose Aldo two weeks ago, Florian wouldn't commit to any future plans, but now it appears his decision has been made, and it includes a move back up to his former home in the lightweight division.
Florian told The Boston Herald that he considered retirement but couldn't bring himself to bow out just yet because of his continuing desire to scratch his competitive itch and passion for learning.
"I still love this sport tremendously and still want to be a part of it," Florian told the newspaper. "I know myself, and it's not even just being competitive, but it's just being there, learning and competing. There's still very much a fire burning there so I'm going to do it."
He also said he won't fight for the next six months as he takes time off to add muscle to better withstand the rigors of fighting in the bigger weight class.
Florian of course fought as a 155-pounder from 2006-2010, going 9-3 in 12 fights. His only losses were in championship fights against Sean Sherk and BJ Penn, and a No. 1 contenders fight against Gray Maynard. The last of those caused him to move down and try his hand at the featherweight division, where he won his debut against Diego Nunes before falling to Aldo in a decision at UFC 136.
While his previous history may have exhausted his championship opportunities in the lightweight division, Florian told the paper he has several personal goals he is interested in chasing and would not put a timetable on how long he has left in his career.
The 35-year-old fighter is 14-6 all-time and is the only man in UFC history to fight in four different weight classes, beginning his career as a middleweight before competing at 170, 155 and 145.
Donald Cerrone is called the “Cowboy” for the distinct hat that he wears to the cage. It is also his nickname because of the attitude he carries around at all times.
Cerrone will try to continue his current hot streak bext weekend when he meets Dennis Siver at UFC 137. Cerrone volunteered himself as a replacement fighter immediately following his last win Charles Oliveira, and the UFC was quick to tab him in place of Siver’s original opponent, Sam Stout.
Since a submission loss to Ben Henderson in early 2010, Cerrone has won five straight fights, including three in the UFC. He is 16-3 overall for his professional MMA career.
“I’m ready to go whenever I get the call,” said Cerrone, in a recent interview with UFC’s website. “I want to make some good money and put on good fights. If that means being ready at a drop of a hat, then that’s what must be done.”
We're now less than one week away from UFC 137: "Penn vs. Diaz" in which former welterweight champion B.J. Penn will do battle against Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz.
It's an interesting clash of styles. Both men are highly competent boxers with equally dangerous jiu-jitsu skills. They're grapplers without being wrestlers, often eschewing that particular martial art in favor of more exciting fighting styles.
But who's better all around?
Some would say it's Penn, who famed boxing trainer Freddie Roach once called the very best boxer in all of MMA. Others would say Diaz, the foul-mouthed bad boy from Stockton who speaks softly and carries a big stick.
The person of the most interest, perhaps, believes that all things being equal, "The Prodigy" will get the job done -- as long as he comes at his best.
Then again, he would also re-sign with Strikeforce if the money was right. Or the UFC:
"Maybe. ... If they pay me what I deserve. Yeah, it's a contractual thing (with Strikeforce). I don't have any contract with Strikeforce anymore. (There is no specific organization I'm talking to), not yet. I would like to go anywhere that would pay me what I think I deserve."
Looking for his fifth straight UFC victory, lightweight Jacob Volkmann (13-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) will meet T.J. Grant (17-5 MMA, 4-3 UFC) later this year at UFC 141.
UFC officials today announced the bout.
UFC 141 takes place Dec. 30 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The event, which takes place on a Friday to avoid Sin City's usual New Year's Eve congestion, features a pay-per-view main card.
As MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) first reported, the event also will have a "UFC Prelims" special on Spike TV, though it's not clear if Volkmann vs. Grant will be part of one of the broadcasts or a possible Facebook stream.
Since a pair of losses to Paulo Thiago and Martin Kampmann in his first two UFC fights, Volkmann has earned consecutive decision victories over Rony Torres, Paul Kelly, Antonio McKee and Danny Castillo. The former University of Minnesota All-American wrestler and practicing chiropractor dropped from welterweight to lightweight after the initial UFC losses.
The same day someone from the company's official Twitter account announced the fight, Shark Fights officials since have denied that their next event will feature a heavyweight headliner between ex-WWE star and Strikeforce vet Bobby Lashley (6-1) and UFC vet Tim Hague (13-5).
Shark Fights officials today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) the fight hasn't been booked.
They also said they "have no idea" who tweeted the news from the company's Twitter account.
"It's not Tim Hague," Shark Fights CEO Bud Brutsman said. "We haven't even signed him."
Shark Fights 21 takes place Nov. 11 at Fair Park Coliseum in Lubbock, Texas. The event airs via delay on FUEL TV on Dec. 23.
Early this morning, a tweet stated that Hague would be filling in for Shark Fights heavyweight champ Darrill Schoonover (11-5), who was forced out of the Lashley fight with a shoulder injury this past week.
Chael Sonnen (Pictured) was hoping his game inside the Octagon and outlandish comments outside of it would score him a rematch with UFC middleweight king Anderson Silva. On Friday, Fighters Only announced the sport’s most articulate trash talker will host their “2011 World MMA Awards” on November 30th.
Molly Querim will return as the show’s co-host.
Furthermore, this year’s ceremony will be broadcast in primetime slots across North America by the FOX Sports Network. Replays will be made available on FUEL TV and FSN on dates to be determined.
The Pearl Theatre at the Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada will host the fancy black-tie reception.
“I say it every year that we want to make the awards show bigger and better and every year we have done just that,” Fighters Only CEO Rob Hewitt said. “However, none of it would be possible with out the support of the MMA industry, the fans, our sponsors and TV and venue partners who all believe as much as we do in this project.
“To celebrate the sport we love and the people within it in the way that we do is a crowning moment of the year for Fighters Only and we can’t wait to reveal this year’s winners.”
Fans can still cast their votes on a wide range of mixed martial arts categories. Polls will close on November 25th.
Tickets for the “2011 World MMA Awards” go on sale today on Ticketmaster beginning at 3PM ET/12PM PT. Seats for the shindig range between $55 to $99.
Beginning next year, fans will be able to watch select UFC events in 3D theaters across the country.
The organization announced Thursday that it had partnered with digital theatrical distribution company Cinedigm Digital Cinema to deliver 3D broadcasts of its pay-per-view events, starting with its annual Super Bowl Weekend card on Feb. 4, 2012. According to the release, the 3D broadcast will be available in more than 120 theaters across the country and will be the first of four of its kind next year.
"By partnering with Cinedigm, we're taking the UFC viewing experience to a whole new level," UFC President Dana White stated. "For the first time ever, fight fans can watch a UFC Pay-Per-View card in 3D at theaters across the country. We want UFC fans to have the best viewing experience possible and now they get a chance to experience major UFC Pay-Per-Views in 3D."
The UFC's first-ever 3D broadcast was UFC Live on Versus 3 in March, however, it was only available on television.
The Super Bowl Weekend card has yet to be announced, but middleweight contender Chael Sonnen has pushed for his rematch with Anderson Silva to take place that weekend.
UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre wants to recover the right way following an injury that scrapped his planned title defense against Carlos Condit.
St-Pierre on Wednesday told Sportsnet.ca that he actually suffered two injuries – not one as originally reported – and doesn't anticipate returning before the end of January or early February.
"The recovery, I want to do it well," he said. "I don't want to do it too fast."
The initial injury occurred Saturday while St-Pierre was training to fight Condit in the headliner of UFC 137, which takes place Oct. 29 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. The champ said he suffered a "moderate ligament strain" that may have damaged the medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his knee. He believed he could still fight if he trained lightly, but on Tuesday, he injured his hamstring compensating for the original injury.
St-Pierre trainer Firas Zahabi on Tuesday told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that the fighter sprawled on a sparring partner's takedown attempt and appeared afterward to be injured.
"After he cooled down, I knew he couldn't fight anymore," Zahabi said. "I've been around, I've seen injuries, and I know that that kind of injury is going to take at least two to five weeks of not standing on it for it to be really good (and) sturdy to fight. That's just me estimating with what I've seen in the past."
In the wake of St-Pierre's withdrawal, Condit elected to wait for his title shot, and co-headliner Nick Diaz vs. B.J. Penn was moved to main-event status. Ironically, Diaz was originally scheduled as the headliner opposite St-Pierre before he was reassigned to fight Penn in the wake of his no-show of two press conferences in support of UFC 137.
"I wanted to fight Nick Diaz before this whole thing happened," St-Pierre said. "It's Nick Diaz who did not show up to both press conferences on the press tour. I talked to (UFC executive) Lorenzo Fertitta ... and he said to me, 'We cannot take the chance that you fight Nick Diaz and maybe he doesn't show up the day of the fight.' That's what he said to me and it makes perfect sense. I don't want to train the whole time and he doesn't show up."
UFC president Dana White has already stated that the new UFC 137 main event between BJ Penn and Nick Diaz will not be a five-round fight because, as he put it, "they haven't trained for five rounds."
However, Diaz's manager and trainer Cesar Gracie wants the world to know that Diaz is ready and willing to go five rounds with "The Prodigy" on Oct. 29.
"If they can't fight five rounds against each other, how are they going to fight five rounds against GSP?," Gracie said to MMAFighting.com on Tuesday.
Gracie said he told White that Diaz wanted to change the fight to a five-rounder but had yet to hear back from Penn's camp. After speaking to Gracie, both White and Penn could not be immediately reached for comment.
"Dana is good with it," he said. "We've agreed to it. If BJ agrees to it, we'll make it happen."
Gracie added that there was no hesitation on Diaz's part to agree to a five-round fight after hearing the news of GSP's injury and subsequent removal from the card.
"These guys have to prove they are ready. These guys are fighters. BJ has always said he's a warrior. ... The old school days of MMA, back when it was NHB, they fought forever.
"Don't be scared, homie. Let's make it five rounds."
Recent Strikeforce import Jason "Mayhem" Miller (24-7 MMA, 0-1 UFC) hasn't set foot in the UFC octagon in more than six years, but with a win over rival "The Ultimate Fighter 14" coach Michael Bisping (21-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC), he's ready to challenge middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva.
"I've got another guy on the radar: the guy with the damn strap, Anderson Silva," Miller told the crowd at this past weekend's UFC Fan Expo Houston 2011. "He's the best fighter in the world, and I want to stick my nose right to his nose and see what happens."
First, though, the former "Bully Beatdown" has a bit of business to handle, and he's ready to put his British counterpart to sleep.
"I would prefer [the rear-naked choke] because it's just so intimate when you get a rear-naked choke on somebody," Miller said when asked how he'd like to finish the Dec. 3 contest, which headlines The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale in Las Vegas. "You're behind them, and you're like, 'Yeah, I'm going to whisper a lullaby in your ear.' To me, that's awesome."
It's a lofty ambition but one perhaps not entirely out of reach. Silva is expected to rematch Chael Sonnen in his next outing, but Miller believes growing popularity from his "TUF 14" coaching gig and an impressive performance against an opponent such as Bisping could elevate him to top contender status.
Scott Coker doesn't believe Ken Hershman's exit from Showtime spells the end for Strikeforce's relationship with the premium cable channel.
The Strikeforce CEO today spoke with Showtime executives following news of Hershman's departure from the network, reportedly for a job at HBO, and said the network wants to remain in the MMA business.
"There are negotiations going on to extend the deal, and I believe both sides want to make a deal," Coker told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "Both sides have indicated to me that they'd like to stay in this relationship."
Coker said the much of the same executive staff will oversee the remaining events Strikeforce owes to Showtime, which comprise three major events and three of the promotion's Challenger series through February 2012.
Ken Hershman has stepped down from his position as executive vice president and general manager of Showtime's sports and events programming, reportedly in favor of a position at rival premium-cable outlet HBO.
Hershman, has long been considered a supporter of MMA and will apparently replace Ross Greenburg, who recently stepped down from his role as president of HBO Sports and was not necessarily a believer in the sport.
Despite his past support of MMA, Hershman and UFC president Dana White have often failed to see eye-to-eye, and the two have often traded verbal barbs in the media.
While injury forced a short delay in Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez's planned title defense with season-four tournament winner Michael Chandler (8-0 MMA, 5-0 BFC), fans won't have to wait long for the contest.
Originally scheduled to take place at this weekend's Bellator 54 event, company brass recently announced the matchup has been moved back just five weeks and will take place at November's Bellator 58 card.
Already featuring middleweight champion Hector Lombard in a 195-pound non-title fight with Trevor Prangley, Bellator 58 takes place Nov. 19 at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla.
Vasyli LLC, a leading global supplier of footwear and orthotics, has collaborated with two-time UFC champion B.J. Penn and launched the new pro model biomechanical flipflop.
VAS Brand and the technology help provide natural, affordable relief from common heel, leg and knee pain.
Reviewed and recommended by Penn, an internationally-recognized athlete and multiple-time world champion, the VAS prefabricated orthotics and line of VAS sandals reflect Penn's philosophy of optimum health from head to toe while keeping a stylish look to the product. Combining an innovative approach to overall foot health with an award-winning tri-planar motion control system, the VAS technology has been clinically proven to help reduce pronation and relieve pain by providing biomechanical support and stability. Perfect for after-sport therapy and everyday wear.
Bellator bantamweight champ Zach Makovsky isn't exactly a stranger to training with bigger guys.
Unless you're a regular with the Urijah Faber-led Team Alpha Male, a fighter of his stature can bet on rolling at a weight disadvantage for much of his training.
On Saturday at Bellator 54, Makovsky (13-2 MMA, 5-0 BFC) meets Ryan Roberts (16-9-1 MMA, 0-1 BFC) in his second non-title bout since winning the bantamweight strap in season three.
Roberts makes his debut at bantamweight after several appearances at lightweight, and Makovsky knows the fight is no walk in the park.
Makovsky vs. Roberts airs live on MTV2 as part of the main card for Bellator 54, which takes place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. Preliminary action streams live on Spike.com.
One FC head, Victor Cui always had a great relationship with the Philippines' top MMA promotion. Alvin Aguilar and the URCC brass have been working with them since they first started Martial Combat, up until One FC was conceived. Two of their biggest stars, Eduard Folayang and Eric Kelly making a huge impact on their debut event last September, and now they will move forward with this relationship as the two promotions have officially partnered up.
URCC officials have exclusively confirmed the news to BloodyElbow.com stating that they have finalized the deal with One FC during Victor Cui's recent trip to the Philippines.
Among the details on this partnership is an exclusive fighter sharing between the two promotions. The URCC will be sending fighters exclusively to One FC for Asian shows, and conversely, the URCC will be the only Philippine promotion that One FC can work with. While they can still send or share the top Filipino fighters on their roster to other promotions in the US, CNMI, Middle East, and other continents, this is a move towards trying to corner the Asian market for One FC, as they have also been reported to have secured similar deals with Korean and Thai promotions, Road FC and Dare.
Shane del Rosario was on the fast track to superstardom in the Strikeforce heavyweight division. Undefeated after eleven professional fights, he was slated to take on fellow undefeated ex-Olympic wrestler Daniel Cormier this past June in a clash between two of MMA's top heavyweight prospects.
And then fate intervened.
On April 14 earlier this year, another driver crossed the median and T-boned del Rosario's car, causing serious damage to the former Muay Thai world champion's back, herniating multiple discs and putting his mixed martial arts career on hold.
Del Rosario had previously hoped to return in mid-fall, but progress has been slow. He updated his injury status to MMAmania.com. We've got an excerpt below:
Once-beaten Brazilian Thiago “Big Monster” Santos will take the place of the injured Mike “300” Hayes in the semifinals of Bellator Fighting Championships’ fifth-season heavyweight tournament, promotion officials announced Monday.
Santos (Pictured) will step in to face undefeated Bulgarian sambist Blagoi Ivanov at Bellator 56, which takes place Oct. 29 at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kan., and also features Eric Prindle taking on Ron Sparks.
After earning a split decision over Neil Grove on Oct. 1 in Lake Charles, La., Hayes was issued a 60-day medical suspension by the Louisiana Boxing and Wrestling Commission due to a fractured orbital bone sustained during the fight. Santos, who was slated to face Ivanov in the quarterfinals before visa issues forced his withdrawal, made his stateside debut at Saturday’s Bellator 53 and earned his tourney reserve spot with a quick rear-naked-choking of Josh Burns.
Two and a half years have passed since Lyoto Machida knocked out Rashad Evans at UFC 98 and became the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s light heavyweight titleholder. He defended the crown once against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua before losing by knockout in their rematch at UFC 113. Another defeat to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson followed, leaving Machida in limbo.
A highlight-reel knockout against hall of famer Randy Couture before 55,000 fans at UFC 129 put Machida back on track and back in play at 205 pounds. Now, he awaits the most difficult test of his career: a five-round title bout against reigning light heavyweight king Jon Jones in the UFC 140 main event on Dec. 10 in Toronto. The former champion believes he has the weapon he needs to dethrone the man they call “Bones.”
“It’s hard to say what the perfect style is to stop Jones,” Machida told Sherdog.com. “I have a lot of trust in my skills against any fighter. I won’t change what people have seen, and I’d rather show them in the Octagon instead of talking about it beforehand. Jones wasn’t my problem until the UFC booked the fight. I’ll spend a lot of time studying him and find the best way to stop him. I know he’s versatile, but I have my own talents and know what it takes to win.”
Bubba Jenkins hasn’t fought in MMA yet, but he already knows what kind of fighter he doesn’t want to be.
“I will not be the lay-and-pray type of wrestler,” Jenkins (Pictured) told the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Savage Dog Show.” “That is just a promise to everyone who is out there.”
Jenkins probably could be a successful lay-and-prayer if he wanted. Wrestling at 157 pounds for Arizona State, he won the 2011 NCAA Division I championship. He’ll make his MMA debut Dec. 2 when he takes on Chris Huerta at Tachi Palace Fights 11.
It was a proud moment for Scott McQuary when Chael Sonnen cinched an arm-triangle choke that forced Brian Stann to tap out.
McQuary, who joined forces with Sonnen three months prior as a jiu-jitsu and muay Thai coach, said the submission was one of a handful drilled into the fighter over the course of training camp.
"I saw it as an opportunity – because in all of Chael's fights previously, he was always in those positions," McQuary on Monday told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "He had people's backs. He had the mount. He had side control, and it was just a matter of a little tweaking to see where the opening was, and then working on the finish."
Chael Sonnen, the submission artist? That's a big departure for the onetime middleweight challenger's run inside the octagon. Until Saturday's UFC 136 event, Sonnen had finished exactly none of his nine fights unless, of course, it was he who was tapping out.
In 2012, it's aiming to put on 34 shows, a 22 percent increase. In 2005, the year in which the promotion broke onto basic cable, 10 events filled the calendar.
Meanwhile, the UFC offices have spread into a new building. In about a month, the promotion arrives on network TV.
"This year was a big year for us," UFC president Dana White said. "But the next year is going to be the real big year for mixed martial arts. Next year is going to be the real big year for MMA. Next year is the one that's going to change everything and take it to the next level."
UFC on FOX 1 takes place Nov. 12 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., and features a heavyweight title fight between reigning champ Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos.
Ridiculous stipulations for an MMA fight, right? This isn't pro wrasslin' here, this is sport fighting.
Well, the fans at the Toyota Center absolutely ate this up. And casual fans are already getting hyped to a rematch between the two best middleweights in the world.
As for UFC President Dana White? He told media at UFC 136 (via USA Today) he would be "f*cking stupid" not to make that fight.
Just over a year ago, hulking heavyweight prospect Shane Carwin was the scariest (expletive) on earth. Over a five year span, the full-time engineer had compiled a perfect 12-0 record en route to earning a big money match-up against then-division kingpin, Brock Lesnar.
Carwin would take center stage at UFC 116 after claiming the Interim heavyweight strap, which came at the expense of Frank Mir's ability to chew solid foods. His frightening stoppage over the former 265-pound deity continued a streak of violent finishes that on paper, read like a work of fiction.
12 straight wins. 12 straight finishes. There wasn't a fighter to date that was able to survive more than three and a half minutes against the 5XL fist bumps.
When the opposing goliaths eventually did hook 'em up on July 3, 2010, it seemed like just another day at the water plant for the Greg Jackson disciple. Lesnar wilted under the powerful paws of the beefy bumrush, and seemed seconds away from a technical knockout stoppage.
"The training has a great flow, thank God. Flowing good, with everything based on the fight. Cung Le can be a predictable guy. We know what to do to match his game. This is a great match for Wanderlei. This fight won't pass blank. Cung Le is going to sleep in this one. In the best way, with brutality. Wanderlei will show everyone that he belongs on top. We are all united for this, and Cung Le will pay the price."
Over three years ago Vitor Belfort decided to cut down to middleweight after having started his career as a heavyweight and then spending a majority of it at 205-pounds. The Brazilian felt this was the right move to guarantee career longevity.
The plan proved to be a stroke of genius after "The Phenom" scored two knockouts at each Affliction pay-per-view (PPV) event. The second was particularly brutal. A little over half a minute into his bout with Matt Lindland, the Team Quest fighter was out cold and stiffer than a Stan Hansen lariat.
When the clothing company turned mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter went belly up, Belfort returned to the Octagon. His first fight back was against Rich Franklin who met a fate not too dissimilar from that of "The Law." It took place at a catchweight of 195-pounds but the message was clear: Vitor Belfort was a force to be reckoned with at middleweight.
Stacey Noell-Wozniak, a 26-year-old wife and mother of two young daughters, was recently diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia and immediately underwent aggressive and intensive chemotherapy treatment. As a result, Stacey has been unable to work and subsequently has faced growing medical bills. In an effort to offset the high costs of treatment, CageReligion.com reached out to Stacey's family to help auction signed mixed martial arts memorabilia at a fundraiser in Warren, Michigan on Sunday, ultimately raising nearly $8,000.
A handful of the world's top mixed martial artists — including Jon Jones, Rashad Evans, Shane Carwin and Forrest Griffin — donated numerous signed items to the charity including signed shirts, photos and fight shorts.
Chael Sonnen is funny, sure. But he's crossed the line, manager Ed Soares today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
"First the guy gets in trouble for fraud, then he tests positive for steroids, and now he wants to kick in someone's door and slap their wife in the ass? This guy should be in jail; he shouldn't be fighting," the Anderson Silva rep jokingly said.
Sonnen called out the middleweight champ in a post-fight interview following his victory over Brian Stann at this past weekend's UFC 136 event. But the fighter's comments a week prior set things off, Soares said.
During his pre-fight media duties for the pay-per-view event, Sonnen gave a racy provocation to MMA broadcaster Mauro Ranallo.
"You tell Anderson Silva I'm coming over and I'm kicking down his backdoor and patting his little lady on the ass, and I'm telling her to make me a steak, medium-rare, just how I like it," the trash-talking champ said.
For most fighters, the path from the cage to the dressing room to the press conference to the hotel to the airport, and finally, the deafening quiet of home is like a space shuttle in reentry – one-thousand miles per hour to 25 in a school zone.
Then it's back to the day job of the gym, the occasional interview, the signings, the seminar. The next fight comes around, and blastoff.
After 14 months away from fighting, it's been a bumpy ride back for Chael Sonnen. The world he's created and the world in which he finds himself day to day, well, they disagree.
In MMA, he's a onetime middleweight title challenger who jolted us to attention and then seemed to implode on the weight of his shortcomings. He's a blowhard, a pathological liar, a funny man, a talented guy who almost took the mighty Anderson Silva's title. Almost.
HOUSTON – UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva will grace the cover of "UFC Undisputed 3."
On the main stage of UFC Fan Expo Houston 2011, UFC president Dana White today revealed the winner of a fan-driven vote that ran from Aug. 26 to Sept 30.
"I'm very happy," Silva said after the announcement. "Thank you to my fans and my family. For me this is a great, great, great dream."
Silva emerged from a pool of five UFC champions that also included Frankie Edgar, Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre and Cain Velasquez.
The third installment of the critically acclaimed and bestselling "UFC Undisputed" videogame franchise is set for a January 2012 debut.
HOUSTON -- Saturday night's UFC 136 marks the fourth event in four weeks for the Las Vegas-based promotion.
Get used to it.
The schedule continues to grow at an exponential rate, according to UFC president Dana White, who said that the organization has already penciled in dates on its 2012 calendar.
The final tally? Thirty-four events. That's a serious increase from 2011, which will see 27 live events by the time Brock Lesnar and Alistair Overeem close out the UFC's year in Las Vegas on December 30.
That increased number of shows will come as welcome news to fans in markets that have been promised events but were shut out in 2011, like Sweden and Ireland. Though no locations are yet set in stone, the increased frequency of events will at least provide additional opportunities to visit more parts of the world as the UFC continues to grow its global footprint.
White also reiterated his plan to host two events on the same day at least once next year, with their first experiment in dual productions tentatively planned for late February, with shows in Las Vegas and Japan.
In 2011, the UFC re-opened what they believe will be a huge market for them, hosting a show in Brazil to great fanfare. It was the organization's first venture there since 1998. Afterward, UFC CEO and chairman Lorenzo Fertitta was so pleased with the reception that he voiced a hope the promotion could bring as many as four events there in 2012.
Aside from that, entering the Japanese market would be something of a coup for the UFC, which has not brought fights there under the Zuffa banner.
The expanded schedule is just one of many planned and/or official UFC initiatives and changes to roll out in 2012. Also among them, a move to network television on FOX, a departure from longtime cable home Spike, the addition of a flyweight division, and a revamping of The Ultimate Fighter to include live weekly fights.
HOUSTON – UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has been on quite the whirlwind adventure in the past 14 days.
After defeating Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Jones was planning to take a little vacation. Then came a challenge from Rashad Evans, which Jones answered. Now, it's Lyoto Machida. No sweat, says "Bones."
"Obviously taking Lyoto on nine weeks has sped up a lot of things, but I feel between every great challenge lies great reward," Jones today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "I think I'm on the verge of something amazing happening by beating three champions in one year. I'm honored."
Following his UFC 135 win over Jackson, Jones told anyone who would listen that he was ready for a little time away from the sport after fighting three times in just seven months, as well as both capturing and defending the UFC's light heavyweight title.
HOUSTON – When Saturday night's UFC 136 event hits Houston's Toyota Center, it will have been three-and-a-half years since UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar (13-1-1 MMA, 8-1-1 UFC) and his nemesis, Gray Maynard (10-0-1 MMA, 8-0-1 UFC), first locked horns.
In other words, a little too long thinking about one man, according to Edgar.
"I'm sick of talking about how sick I am of talking about him," Edgar told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "I have a loss to him and a draw to him. I want something definitive. I want a definitive win."
The pair's history began innocently enough. Just budding prospects with only 12 fights between them at the time, the two met in April 2008 at "UFC Fight Night 13: Florian vs. Lauzon." Maynard outmuscled Edgar en route to a unanimous-decision win, and the lightweight division simply rolled on, ostensibly taking little notice of the result.
Ratings for the third episode of "The Ultimate Fighter 14" slipped compared to the first two installments.
Overall, episode No. 3 of the Spike TV reality series scored a 1.0 household rating and averaged 1.3 million viewers on Wednesday. The first and second episodes scored 1.5 million and 1.6 million viewers, respectively.
Spike TV officials today emailed the ratings information to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
This season features Michael Bisping and Jason "Mayhem" Miller as coaches. For the first time ever, the show spotlights bantamweight and featherweights fighters. In an elimination round of fights, an initial group of 32 was whittled down to 16, who are now official cast members.
In the third episode, Team Miller's Johnny Bedford defeated Team Bisping's Josh Ferguson via unanimous decision to advance to the semifinal round of the bantamweight division's tournament. Team Miller now leads 2-0.
The TUF 14 Finale is scheduled to take place at the The Pearl at The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, December 3, and will air on Spike TV at 9pm ET/PT.
The card will be headlined by five-round middleweight match-up between TUF 14 coaches Michael Bisping and Jason “Mayhem” Miller.
“Bisping and ‘Mayhem’ spent the last few months as TUF coaches and they really got on each other’s nerves,” UFC President Dana White said. “On Dec. 3, the talking finally ends and these two will go at it inside the Octagon. There’s a lot at stake in this fight. Not only do they get to settle their feud, but they get to prove that they belong in the mix to fight Anderson Silva.”
“Jason is one of those guys that you either love him or you hate him,” Bisping said. “I definitely don’t like him. I think most people around him find him very, very annoying. I know people on The Ultimate Fighter did and I was no different. On Dec. 3, I’m going to kick him in the ass.”
“I definitely got under his skin during the season,” Miller, who owns a record of 34-8 with one no contest, said. “We hate each other’s guts at this point and on Dec. 3, we’re going to get in the cage across from each other and settle it. I’m excited for this fight.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – UFC president Dana White was willing to give Kurt Angle an opportunity in the UFC.
However, the 1996 Olympic gold-medal wrestler and WWE/TNA wrestling performer wasn't being targeted for a pay-per-view fight with Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson.
According to UFC president Dana White, Angle simply was offered a slot on the heavyweights-only 10th season of "The Ultimate Fighter" a few years back.
In recent interviews, Angle has talked about White's supposed offer for a PPV slot. But White said that's simply not true.
Not surprisingly, they first discussed a deal seriously when fellow WWE vet Brock Lesnar moved to MMA and made a splash with the UFC. Lesnar went on to win the UFC heavyweight title and has become one of the organization's top pay-per-view draws.
And this is no rumor… this is what is happening, according to UFC president Dana White.
“(It’s) not possibly, it’s gonna happen,” he stated emphatically following UFC on Versus 6 on Saturday night
“The way that it would work, the fights from Japan would go on live TV for free and lead into a pay-per-view. It would be live in Japan and live in the United States.”
Looks like another Strikeforce star is jumping ship and heading over to the UFC real soon. Dana White says that Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez, will be moving to the UFC as soon as possible. MMAWeekly has it.
"We do want to bring Gilbert Melendez over and we’re looking at it right now... We’re going to bring Melendez over ASAP. We’re looking to bring him over now."
"(Getting an immediate title shot is) a possibility. The thing is, that division is so stacked. And usually timing has a lot to do with (who gets the next shot)."
The last time we saw Chael Sonnen before a fight, calling him outspoken would have been a massive understatement.
Ahead of his UFC middleweight title fight against champion Anderson Silva at UFC 117 in August 2010, Sonnen was a whirlwind of controversial comments, outlandish outcries and, well, near lunacy.
Sonnen came closer than anyone before him in the UFC to stopping Silva, but his submission loss was followed by a suspension for elevated testosterone levels. And that was followed by a plea deal for money laundering in a mortgage fraud case. Is it possible that Sonnen has mellowed out?
Brian Stann, Sonnen's opponent at UFC 136 next Saturday in Houston, thinks it's a case of selective mellowing based on who Sonnen is fighting.
Tim Credeur, who returned to the UFC in June after a nearly two-year layoff, has been forced out of UFC 137 later this month.
Stepping in to take Credeur's place against Brad Tavares on the pay-per-view card in Las Vegas will be UFC newcomer Dustin Jacoby. Jacoby's trainer, Marc Fiore, made the announcement on his Facebook page and Twitter feed Saturday morning. The UFC has not yet announced the change, and Credeur vs. Tavares was still listed on the official fight card at UFC.com on Saturday morning.
UFC 137 takes place Oct. 29 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center and features a welterweight title fight between champion Georges St-Pierre and Carlos Condit, plus a co-main event between BJ Penn and former Strikeforce welterweight champ Nick Diaz.
There will be a time when the UFC featherweight champ's kidneys say, "No way, Jose."
A recent video documenting Jose Aldo's weight-cut for UFC 129 is proof positive.
The 25-year-old is misery incarnate as he attempts to shed the final ounces for the 145-pound limit. At one point, he refuses to get back into a bathtub containing a chemical that aids the process but creates a burning sensation on his skin.
Of course, he cuts the pounds. What's he going to do? Not make weight?
Aldo recently pointed to a weight regimen designed to pack on quality muscle mass as the cause for the battle with the scale. But he admitted a time is coming when his growing frame will no longer support the demands he must put on it to fight in the featherweight class.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) was on scene for today's official on Versus 6 fighter weigh-ins, where all 20 competitors hit the scale.
Today's festivities took place at the D.C. Armory in Washington, D.C. The city's nearby Verizon Center plays host to Saturday's event, which includes a main card on Versus and prelims on Facebook.
Check out images of all the fighters, including UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz and fellow headliner Demetrious Johnson.
A small but vocal crowd attended today's weigh-ins, where all but one competitor made weight. Preliminary-card fighter and promotional newcomer Bryan Bloodworth, who replaced injured Jeff Hougland earlier this week, came in heavy at 138 pound. Opponent Mike Easton agreed to fight at a catchweight of 138 pounds, and Bloodworth will be fined 20 percent of his "show" money.
For a full rundown of the proceedings, check out our UFC on Versus 6 weigh-in results post.
Across from him Saturday is big, scary Anthony Johnson. The guy who sometimes cuts 50 pounds to make welterweight. The guy who knocks out opponents with head kicks and can wrestle, to boot.
If you ask Brenneman, of course he's ready. He's been competing against those much bigger and more intimidating guys for quite some time, and this is just an extension of that.
"My entire career was going up against these Big-10 studs who were basically men, and I was a boy," Brenneman today told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio).
WASHINGTON, D.C. – MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) was on scene and reporting live from today's UFC on Versus 6 fighter weigh-ins.
Today's festivities took place at the D.C. Armory in Washington, D.C. The city's nearby Verizon Center hosts Saturday's event.
Among those weighing in were UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz and title challenger Dememtrious Johnson, whose both weighed 135 pounds for their Versus-televised headliner.
Only Byron Bloodworth, who fights Mike Easton on the night's prelims stream on Facebook, failed to make weight on his first attempt. The fighter, who took the bout just earlier this week as an injury replacement, weighed 138 pounds. He has two additional hours to make the 136-pound limit.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The fact that Reed Harris was hosting UFC on Versus 6's pre-event press conference instead of UFC president Dana White is all the proof you need that the UFC could simultaneously host a show in Japan and Las Vegas.
Harris, the UFC's director of community relations and the former head of the WEC, told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that the company's multi-team approach to hosting events makes it possible.
His comments came a few days after a Yahoo! Sports report in which White said the UFC is planning to host simultaneous events both in Japan and in Las Vegas, presumably in February.
Japan has produced a lot of content that is weird to Western eyes and ears, some of it not mentionable. Now Alistar Overeem, the first man to earn a world title in both kickboxing and MMA, has entered the Ultimate Sumo Championship.
The first tournament from May, shown at bottom, featured Semmy Schilt, Hayato "Mach" Sakurai, Akebono, and the old UFC logo, among others. The second tournament was aired in Japan with a bracket that contains more familiar names:
Minowaman vs. Shinichi Suzukawa
Yanagiryuken vs. Wanderlei Silva
Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Yasuyuki Hirose
Alistair Overeem vs. Winner of a preliminary match
In any heavyweight bout, Stefan Struve’s tall, lanky frame draws plenty of attention.
In the best of times, the 6-foot-11 Team Schrijber representative’s 83-inch reach can vex his opponents. When things do not go well, it is often because the 23-year-old did not fully utilize his physical assets. That is what Struve believes happened in his most recent Octagon appearance -- a knockout loss to Travis Browne via Superman punch at UFC 130.
“The last fight I made a stupid mistake of coming in with a knee strike when he was coming in for that punch. I should have used my reach in a better way,” he said during a pre-fight teleconference. “We’ve been working on that, and I’ve improved a lot. I’m always working to get better ... and just trying to use my reach the way I should. I think I’m really starting to pick it up.”
The Dutchman takes on kickboxing ace Pat Barry in the co-main event of UFC Live 6 on Saturday. The card goes down at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., and is headlined by a bantamweight title contest between champion Dominick Cruz and Demetrious Johnson. The event will be televised on the Versus network.
Dave Herman was wiped from the UFC 136 bill for undisclosed reasons on Wednesday, his bout with Mike Russow replaced by a featherweight rematch between Nam Phan and Leonard Garcia. On Thursday, Herman revealed the reason behind his removal from the card: an apparent failed drug test for marijuana, which he denies.
“It’s disappointing,” Herman told Clinch Gear Radio. “I’ve been training really hard, and I feel like I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in for a fight, but stuff happens. Maybe it’s for the best, [to] give me some more time to get even better and give an even better show in my next fight.”
Herman asserts that he submitted a urine sample to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation through an independent testing service on Sept. 15. One week later, the heavyweight claims he was called by the commission and told that he would need to resubmit his specimen, as his first sample had been lost.
Dan Henderson has been saying it for years: He does not enjoy fighting at middleweight.
The former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion is currently focused on his return to the UFC against Mauricio Rua in the main event of UFC 139 on Nov. 19. However, the decorated veteran admits that there is one enticing fight out there that could lure him into another rodeo at 185 pounds.
“There’s only one fight I’d probably want at middleweight, and that’s Anderson Silva,” Henderson (Pictured, file photo) said during Tuesday’s UFC 139 press conference in San Jose, Calif. “I'm not fond of cutting weight at this point.”
Though the fight with Silva was apparently discussed for Henderson’s first bout back in the Octagon, the conversation was halted when it was learned the Brazilian had suffered a shoulder injury in his most recent title defense against Yushin Okami.
As expected, the preliminary card for Saturday's UFC on Versus 6 event will stream live and for free on Facebook.
UFC on Versus 6 takes place Saturday at Washington, D.C.'s Verizon Center. The main card, which includes a bantamweight title fight between champ Dominick Cruz and Demetrious Johnson, airs on Versus.
MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today confirmed the preliminary-card streaming plans with event officials.
Six fights are part of the night's prelims.
They included notables such as Yves Edwards, Shane Roller, Michael Johnson and Josh Neer, among others.
He certainly looked unscathed following his first-ever title defense, but light-heavyweight champ Jon Jones is on the bench for six months unless a doctor says otherwise.
MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today requested and received a list of UFC 135 medical suspensions from the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies' Office of Boxing.
UFC 135 took place this past Saturday, Sept. 24, at Denver's Pepsi Center. All in all, a total of 12 athletes were suspended following the event.
Details on the nature of the suspensions were not available.
Quinton Jackson, who took visible damage in an unsuccessful bid to retake Jones' title in the event's pay-per-view headliner, has a mandatory suspension of two months.
Explosive UFC middleweight Vitor Belfort may be less than a week removed from withdrawing from a bout at UFC 139 due to injury but he’s already got a date and opponent in mind for his eventual return to the ring.
With his medical issue only expected to push his readiness back a month, Belfort recently expressed his desire to fight at UFC 141 on December 30 against the winner of Chael Sonnen’s scrap with Brian Stann in early October at UFC 136.
Longtime mixed martial arts veteran Dan Henderson, who surrendered the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship in order to make his highly-anticipated return to the Octagon, will get down and dirty against fellow PRIDE acquisition Mauricio Rua in the UFC 139 headliner in less than two months.
"Henderson vs. Shogun" is booked for Nov. 19, 2011, at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship apparently has big plans for February, as promotion president Dana White revealed Tuesday that the organization will attempt to hold two events simultaneously in early-2012.
“When we go to Japan next year, we are going to be putting on a show at the same time in Las Vegas,” White told Dave Meltzer of Yahoo Sports. “We’ll be doing a lot of that in the future.”
Dave Herman has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled heavyweight bout with Mike Russow at UFC 136, promotion officials announced Wednesday. As a result, the matchup has been removed from the event’s pay-per-view broadcast and will be replaced by a featherweight rematch between Leonard Garcia and Nam Phan.
Reasons for Herman’s withdrawal were not disclosed, and it is currently unknown if Russow will still compete on the card, which goes down in a mere 10 days.
Emanating from the Toyota Center in Houston, the show will be headlined by a lightweight championship rematch between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. Additionally, the Oct. 8 event will feature a featherweight title scrap pitting Jose Aldo against Kenny Florian, as well as a pivotal middleweight attraction between Brian Stann and Chael Sonnen.
A pair of bantamweight contests has been added to UFC 139, promotion officials announced Tuesday, as former WEC champion Miguel Torres will meet Nick Pace while rising prospect Michael McDonald will square off with Johnny Eduardo.
Just moments after Cheick Kongo knocked him out cold in one of the most stunning turnarounds in recent UFC history, Pat Barry tweeted, as usual, in all caps: "WELL THIS IS KIND OF WACK!! STILL HYPE!!!"
Jeff Hougland has suffered an unspecified injury and will not compete in a scheduled bantamweight contest against Mike Easton at Saturday’s UFC Live 6. Instead, Easton (Pictured) will lock horns with Octagon newcomer Byron Bloodworth, the promotion announced Tuesday.
Bellator Fighting Championships has undergone a change of plans for its Oct. 8 offering, as Bellator 53 will no longer take place at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino. Instead, the event will emanate from the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Okla.
Going up against the UFC juggernaut has proven a fool’s errand on more than one occasion, but that is the position in which Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney finds himself. Being hemmed into its Saturday slot on MTV2 often leaves the fledgling promotion in head-to-head battles with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Bubba Jenkins will make his MMA debut inside the Tachi Palace Fights cage.
The NCAA All-American wrestler confirmed Monday to Sherdog.com that he has inked a deal with the Lemoore, Calif.,-based promotion and will make the move to MMA on Dec. 2, when he faces fellow professional newcomer Chris Huerta at TPF 11 “Redemption.”
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is poised to launch what could be one of the most pivotal moments in the company’s history. On heels of signing a new seven-year television contract with the Fox family of networks, the company has put together its for live event for its new TV home, UFC On Fox 1: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos
DENVER – Rashad Evans (16-1-1 MMA, 11-1-1 UFC), who faces the winner of Saturday's UFC 135 main event, admits he has an odd feeling that Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (32-8 MMA, 7-2 UFC) will emerge victorious over UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones (13-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC).
But he'll also admit he's pulling for Jones. There's beef between them, and he wants nothing more than to face his former training partner in the cage.
"I would rather fight Jon Jones," Evans said Friday at a UFC Fight Club Q&A session in Denver. "We already have a situation with the whole Greg Jackson thing and the thing splitting up, so I would like to fight him."
Jones and Jackson meet in the featured contest of this weekend's UFC 135 event, which takes place at Denver's Pepsi Center.
Jones looks to defend the UFC's 205-pound title for the first time since earning it with an impressive win over Mauricio "Shogun" Rua this past March. But Jackson has written off Jones' performance, claiming a "rusty" Rua presented little challenge.
Jackson has also criticized Jones' UFC track record for missing many of the division's key names. Evans believes "Bones" is deserving of praise for his accomplishments but also thinks there's something to be said for the amount of attention given to Jones so early in his career.
The Ultimate Fighter 14 started its run last night, and the ratings were pretty comparable to the last few seasons. The two-hour season premiere scored a 1.1 rating and averaged 1.5 million viewers. It was number one-rated program for males 18-34 and males 18-49, and was the second-highest rated program of the day for males 18-49. The first episode was arguably one of the best ever, and featured a ton of entertaining fights as the competitors needed to defeat an opponent to get into the TUF house.
While it can't compare to The Ultimate Fighter 10's incredible debut that averaged 4.1 million viewers, it's pretty similar to TUF 13 (1.6 million) and TUF 12 (1.9 million). This season is the first to have featherweights and bantamweights competing, and features Michael Bisping and Jason "Mayhem" Miller as coaches. The coaches will meet in the season finale, currently scheduled for December 3rd.
This season of the show will be the last on Spike TV, due to the UFC signing a broadcast deal with Fox. The next season of the show will air on FX.
With the third installment of the critically acclaimed and bestselling "UFC Undisputed" videogame franchise set for a January 2012 debut, officials are beginning to roll out the details.
And while many MMA fans are looking forward to the release because of the addition of the UFC's bantamweight and featherweight divisions, as well as a "PRIDE rules" game-play option and fighter walkouts, THQ is also making additional tweaks to gameplay.
The development company recently released its first "Inside the Octagon" video segment, highlighting several key changes to "UFC Undisputed 3," particularly in the ground game.
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – Of the million things that concern UFC president Dana White in putting the best foot forward with UFC on FOX 1, the quality of the officiating is up there at the top.
White needs to look no further than the debacle of this past Saturday's mega-fight between boxers Floyd Mayweather and Victor Ortiz to put his nerves on edge.
"I don't care who they put in there as long as he doesn't blow a multi-million-dollar fight and a huge opportunity for the sport," White today told MMAjunkie.com(www.mmajunkie.com).
According to UFC president Dana White, it looks like we're going to be seeing a lot more fights on TV and no more on Facebook as soon as the Fox deal kicks in. He said this a month ago, right after the deal went down, but it seemed to not register with anyone at the time. Here is a link to the interview (the Facebook stuff starts at the 3:36 mark), and here's what Dana had to say about it.
Josh Koscheck (15-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) is the final obligation on the current contract of Matt Hughes (45-8 MMA, 18-6 UFC). Consequently, the former UFC welterweight champ is playing his future by ear after he fights the onetime title challenger Saturday at UFC 135.
"The outcome of this fight won't really matter, to be honest," he said today. "After this fight, win or lose, doesn't matter, I'll talk to the UFC and we'll figure out what we want to do."
UFC 135 takes place Saturday at Denver's Pepsi Center. The event's main card airs on pay-per-view. Two preliminary bouts to air on Spike TV make up a lead-in to the main card, and the remainder of the preliminary card streams live on Facebook.
The largest MMA promotion in the Southeast United States, Xtreme Fighting Championships (XFC), recently announced that former WEC champion Jamie Varner will take on Nate Jolly in the main event of XFC 14 Friday, October 21st at the UCF Arena in Orlando, Florida.
After much speculation due to the troubling financial state of event promoter Fighting and Entertainment Group, the K-1 World Grand Prix has finally returned with the Final 16 to take place on Oct. 29 at the the Nanjing Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium in Nanjing, China.
Badr Hari, one of kickboxing's most polarizing figures and the last man to defeat 2010 K-1 World GP champion Alistair Overeem, is also making his return following his absence from 2010's GP for a self-imposed break from the sport due to numerous disciplinary problems.
Hari, Hesdy Gerges, Tyrone Spong, Ruslan Karaev, Daniel Ghita, Ben Edwards, Melvin Manhoef, Dzevad Poturak, Sergei Lascenko, Rico Verhoeven and Anderson "Braddock" Silva are the names currently listed for the Final 16, with five more to be announced at a later date.
NEW ORLEANS – UFC Fight Night 25 drew a top-10 attendance figure in the event series' history.
Overall, Saturday's show drew 7,112 attendees for a live gate of $685,000.
UFC Fight Night 25 took place at New Orleans' Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. The night's main card aired on Spike TV while the prelims streamed on Facebook.
If the figure holds up, the attendance mark will rank 10th in UFC Fight Night history. Official figures will be available from the Louisiana State Boxing and Wrestling Commission next week.
Saturday's event was the first such event since the record-breaking UFC Fight Night 24, which broke record marks set by UFC Fight Night 20 ($753,962 gate) and UFC Fight Night 18 (10,267 attendance).
The top-10 attendance marks in UFC Fight Night history, as include:
"UFC Fight Night 24: Davis vs. Nogueira" – 13,741 attendance ($1,182,850 live gate)
"UFC Fight Night 18: Condit vs. Kampmann" – 10,267 ($626,077)
"UFC Fight Night 19: Diaz vs. Guillard" – 9,490 ($577,997)
"UFC Fight Night 15: Diaz vs. Neer" – 9,103 ($700,00)
"UFC Fight Night 16: UFC Fights for the Troops" – 8,500 (n/a)*
"UFC Fight Night 20: Maynard vs. Diaz" – 8,078 ($753,962)
"UFC Fight Night 22: Marquardt vs. Palhares" – 7,724 ($595,500)
"UFC Fight Night 21: Florian vs. Gomi" – 7,700 ($590,685)
"UFC Fight Night 17: Lauzon vs. Stephens" – 7,596 ($304,000)
"UFC Fight Night 25: Battle on the Bayou" – 7,112 ($685,000)
Former five-division champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. is fighting WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
The 34-year-old Mayweather (41-0, 25 KOs) is widely regarded as one of the two best pound-for-pound fighters in the world (along with fellow 147-pounder Manny Pacquiao). The 24-year-old Ortiz (29-2-2, 22 K0s) is lesser-known among casual fans, but considered one of the sport's hottest fighters after outpointing Andre Berto for the welterweight title in a Fight of the Year candidate on Apr. 16.
Ortiz has just one win over a world-class opponent in his prime: his unanimous-decision win over Berto for the welterweight title. But he has enough quick knockouts over recognizable names -- Vivian Harris (KO 3), Mike Arnaoutis (TKO 2), Jeffrey Resto (KO 2) -- to show he's more than a carefully matched prospect. Perhaps the biggest trial of Ortiz's career came when he quit during the sixth round of a 2009 slugfest with Marcos Maidana, opening himself to harsh criticism and questions about his constitution. Not until the Berto fight, where he showed tremedous courage by twice coming off the canvas to win, did Ortiz fully redeem himself.
In just five days, "The Ultimate Fighter" returns for a 14th season, and Spike TV has released a sneak peek of the season debut.
The show, which features coaches Michael Bisping and Jason "Mayhem" Miller, spotlights bantamweight and featherweight fighters for the first time in the reality series' history.
Debuts: Sept. 21
Broadcast: Spike TV
Cast: Bantamweights and featherweights
Format
16-man featherweight tournament and 16-man bantamweight tournament
Fighters must win an "elimination round" fight to be an official cast member
To hear British slugger Michael Bisping (21-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) tell it, he's really only a win or two away from a shot at UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.
"I'm always myself," Bisping today said on a media call promoting the Spike TV reality series. "I never change, and I always speak my mind. Sometimes that does me good and sometimes that does me harm."
Unfortunately for Bisping, fight fans in the U.S. have generally preferred to view the Brit as a perennial heel. He owns one of the best career records of any fighter currently competing in the promotion, yet many fans on this side of the Pond would prefer to watch a non-stop reel of Dan Henderson blasting Bisping into unconsciousness at UFC 100 than to take a single glimpse of any of the Brit's wins over Yoshihiro Akiyama, Denis Kang, Chris Leben, Dan Miller or Jorge Rivera, among others. More.
This Saturday night (September 17, 2011), two promising middleweights will meet as The Ultimate Fighter season 11 winner, Court McGee takes on top South Korean prospect Dongi Yang in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 25.
It was one of the most shocking stories in mixed-martial-arts history.
Former Strikeforce champion Nick Diaz (25-7 MMA, 6-4 UFC), handed the biggest opportunity of his career, no-showed a pair of pre-event press conferences and was pulled from a UFC 137 fight with UFC titleholder Georges St-Pierre (22-2 MMA, 16-2 UFC).
The world struggled to make sense of the situation, and honestly, so has Diaz, himself. The fiery Californian admits he dropped the ball, but he's shocked St-Pierre went along for the ride. And that supposed disdain for the press? Garbage, Diaz said. Media members should feel free to stop by his gym anytime.
"I'm not trying to make all these little excuses," Diaz today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "If I'd have known the fight was going to be off, I would have [expletive] gone to the press conference, or I would have told somebody, 'Hey, if I don't make it to this stupid [expletive], I'm not fighting.' I think that people would have gotten me there. I think people would have come and gave two [expletive] and gotten me to that press conference."
When the XFO said they were going to go big and put on a show at the Sears Centre, they weren't messing around. The show was set up to either be the launching pad to get Jeff Curran back into the UFC or be his last fight. After all, if you are going to go out, why not go out with a bang.
Bellator middleweight Jared Hess is about as tough as they come.
How many other people could go four rounds with Hector Lombard and then actually sign on the dotted line to have to go through three separate fights just to earn another shot at that beast of a man?
The new mixed martial arts movie ‘Warrior’ opened to very solid ratings by critics nationwide while pulling in 5.6 million dollars for it’s opening weekend.
Team Curran's Mike Stumpf recently returned to fighting after nearly a three year layoff in May of this year at XFO 39. He took on Dan Bolden in a three round battle earning the unanimous decision after dumping Bolden on his butt time and time again.
He makes the third fighter this year to have fought for the Xtreme Fighting Organization who has gotten the call up to the UFC. Eric Schafer recently got the short notice call after his recent victory at XFO 41 and Jeff Curran secured his spot with his victory at the same card as Stumpf.
Stumpf will be stepping in for Daniel "Ninja" Roberts who suffered an undisclosed injury and had to withdraw from the bout just a week prior.
His opponent, T.J. Waldburger made his UFC debut in September of 2010 and defeated David Mitchell by unanimous decision at UFN 22. The win marked his fourth straight victory, but his next fight snapped that win streak. In March of this year, he took on Johny Hendricks and lost via TKO just over ninety seconds into the first round.
Stumpf will be joined by fellow Chicagoan Mike Lullo at the Battle on the Bayou card on Saturday September 17.
UFC 137 just added another familiar name to the card as Chris Camozzi will be taking on Francis Carmont on the night's preliminary card. Camozzi was apart of the eleventh season of "The Ultimate Fighter" where he won his first fight to get into the house, but he sustained a broken jaw and was forced to leave the house.
Camozzi was given a second chance with a fight on the finale against James Hammortree where he earned a unanimous decision. He followed the victory up with a second, this time a split decision over Dongi Yang.
Unfortunately at UFC 127, he suffered his first loss in five fights when Kyle Noke was able to secure a rear naked choke and force a tap out at 1:35 of the first round. Camozzi was given his walking papers from the UFC after the loss.
He was able to rebound at Shark Fights 15 in a controversial fight against Joey Villansenor. The fight was originally ruled a split draw, but it was later revealed that one of the New Mexico judges' could not add correctly. Ultimately the fight was turned over to his favor when the scorecard was correctly added.
He will be taking on UFC newcomer Francis Carmont. Carmont makes his debut after putting together a five-fight win streak and compiling an overall record of 16-7. He is a member of Tristar Vale Tudo, which also happens to be the home of current UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. Carmont has impressively stopped 14 of his 16 opponents.
UFC 137 takes place on Saturday, October 29 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) season 11 veteran, Seth Baczynski, couldn't believe it.
Just over a year removed from losing his job with the UFC after a decision loss to Brad Tavares on the TUF 11 finale, he got the call to step in on short notice to replace the injured DaMarques Johnson against Clay Harvison on the UFC Fight Night 25 card.
Baczynski had gone 2-0 in his stint outside the promotion including a thrilling victory over Tim McKenzie in which he gutted through a nasty armbar and recovered to finish the fight with ground and pound in the first round.
The fighter out of Power MMA has made the drop to welterweight since his appearance on the reality show and he's ready to make an impact this Saturday night (September 17, 2011) in Louisiana.
Baczynski spoke with MMAmania.com about how good it feels to be back in the UFC, getting a second chance to make a good first impression and the current mood at his gym.
Mixed martial arts fans are invited to train with Forrest Griffin, Tito Ortiz and Frank Mir.
UFC officials recently announced that the three fighters will each host two-hour training and development sessions at October's UFC Fan Expo Houston. Scheduled in conjunction with conjunction with "UFC 136: Edgar vs. Maynard III," the two-day UFC Fan Expo Houston Oct. 7-8 at Houston's George R. Brown Convention Center. Tickets for each session cost $150 and are limited to just 100 participants.
Griffin's session takes place at 9:30 a.m. CT local time on Friday, October 7, and focuses on MMA fundamentals, including footwork techniques and introductory ground work. Ortiz hits the mats on Saturday, October 9, at 9:30 a.m. CT local time and focuses on his signature ground-and-pound techniques. Later that day, Mir talks bout striking and jiu-jitsu.
Additional fan-focused events at the UFC Fan Expo Houston include Q&A and autograph sessions, photo opportunities, a grappling tournament, a full trade show and other attractions and events.
Confirmed expo attendees, each of whom will be available for autographs, include Pat Barry, Vitor Belfort, Stephan Bonnar, Shane Carwin, Donald Cerrone, Phil Davis, Rashad Evans, Urijah Faber, Jon Fitch, Forrest Griffin, Clay Guida, Jason "Mayhem" Miller, Cole Miller, Frank Mir, Matt Mitrione, Tito Ortiz, Amir Sadollah, Brendan Schaub, Matt Serra, Jake Shields, Wanderlei Silva and Miguel Torres. A number of other fighters will also be available through exhibitor-sponsored autograph sessions.
Featuring a lightweight title fight (and trilogy bout) between current champ Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, as well as featherweight champ Jose Aldo putting his belt on the line against Kenny Florian, UFC 136 takes place Oct. 8 at Houston's Toyota Center.
After a pair of no-shows at two press conferences on consecutive days, the former Strikeforce welterweight champion has been removed from his UFC 137 showdown with reigning UFC king Georges St. Pierre. In his stead, former WEC titleholder Carlos Condit will challenge St. Pierre.
“Nick Diaz has lost his opportunity at the welterweight championship, and Carlos Condit gets it,” said UFC President Dana White at a Tuesday press conference in Las Vegas, which Diaz failed to attend. “I’ve had my reservations with Nick Diaz for some time now. We haven’t heard from him. He hasn’t returned my calls. When we brought him in to sign to fight Georges, I told him that all purses he’s ever made up won’t add up to as much as he would make in this fight. But I told him I needed him to do certain things. You have to promote the fight. You have to show up for pressers. You can’t start fights at fights.”
Not surprisingly, Condit jumped at the opportunity when White called “The Natural Born Killer” to offer him a shot at the welterweight belt.
“When we called Carlos for this fight, he started crying and had to call us back 15 minutes later,” White said. “Condit deserves this shot. He’s the guy.”
Former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem (35-11 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is UFC bound, and Brock Lesnar (5-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) will welcome him to the octagon.
UFC officials today announced that Overeem and Lesnar will meet on Dec. 30 in the main event of a rare Friday-night UFC card (expected to serve as UFC 141) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
The five-round contest serves as a No.1 contender's fight, and the victor meets the winner of the Nov. 12 bout between current UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez and top contender Junior Dos Santos.
"This is the fight the fans want," UFC president Dana White told "The Los Angeles Times" earlier today. "Both of these guys are monsters. Can Lesnar take Overeem down?"
UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta echoed White's enthusiasm for the fight.
"Our thinking when we bought Strikeforce was to give fans the fights they want," Fertitta said. "Obviously, Alistair's one of the best heavyweights in the world, but he also has that 'it' factor – the tremendous look. He's huge. It's a star factor."
The UFC heavyweight title will be up for grabs as the first UFC on Fox main event with champion Cain Velasquez taking on top contender Junior Dos Santos.
UFC president Dana White made the announcement on a Friday media conference call.
“There’s no secret how excited we are about this new television deal with Fox,” White said. “Most of the people that know about the UFC and the rapid growth that we’ve had over the last 10 years, and I think one of the big reasons for that… we deliver.
“We are going with the most prestigious championship in all of sports. The heavyweight title. So on Nov. 12 at Anaheim Honda Center, UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez will take on No. 1 contender Junior Dos Santos on the number one network in America, Fox.”
Just weeks before UFC light-heavyweight champ Jon Jones' first title defense and Quinton Jackson's first opportunity to reclaim his lost title, a behind-the-scenes drama has spilled into the public.
Jackson has accused Jones' camp of infiltrating a private, Denver-area facility where he's sequestered himself in preparation for their headlining fight at UFC 135. He said he's proven there's a spy in his midst.
Jackson (32-8 MMA, 7-2 UFC) and manager Anthony McGann believe Jones (13-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) is scared to fight and looking for a way out.
Jones' manager, Malki Kawa, denies he's used any underhanded tactics in the buildup to the Sept. 24 pay-per-view event and counters that Jackson is using spying allegations to excuse an imminent loss.
Whatever the case may be, the allegations have added a bizarre twist to the buildup of UFC 135, which takes place at Denver's Pepsi Center.
(After a one year hiatus, W-1 is back with a solid inaugural U.S. show.)
Apparently rumors of the demise of Warrior One (W-1) MMA were greatly exaggerated as the Toronto, Ontario-based promotion that made waves with its stacked Canadian cards the past two years but hasn’t held an event since last October, is back with another impressive offering — this time for American MMA fans in Florida.
W-1: Reloaded is set for October 15 at the Bank United Center at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida and according to W-1 president Jack Bateman, the reason his organization has not held an event in almost a year is that it underwent an ownership restructuring and he and his new partners were carefully laying the groundwork for the promotion’s foray into the U.S. because they wanted to make sure they took their time and did it right.
“Everything has come together and I couldn’t be happier with the way the company has evolved and the quality of our first event in the States,” Bateman told CagePotato.com Monday. “I have a great group of partners who are at the top of their specific fields and whose skill sets bring a lot to the table when it comes to promotion and putting on events like we’ve come to be known for putting on. We have some big signings we’ve been working on and will be having a few of those names on our next card in Miami on October 15.”
This Saturday, the rematch between middleweight belt challenger Yushin Okami and Anderson Silva takes place. Silva is on a dominating 14 fight win streak with his last loss due to a tournament disqualifying illegal upkick. That kick knocked Okami out. Yushin is on 3 fight win streak after losing to Chael Sonnen, whom he has been training with since. With notable improvements in his wrestling, putting on muscle mass and Sonnen in his corner, he intends to dethrone Silva. He wants to finish the wrestling domination where Sonnen failed, include heavy striking to bring down the champion and become the first Japanese UFC title holder.
Two top tier light heavyweights also rematch when Mauricio "Shogun" Rua fights Forrest Griffon. And after getting KO'd in the path of Cain Velasquez's heavyweight title run, Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Noguira will again be tested by part of the new breed of UFC heavyweights in TUF finalist Brendan "The Hybrid" Schaub.
UFC 134 happens in Brazil, putting a Brazilian in all fights on the pinnacle of this stacked card.
Mixed martial arts pioneer Royce Gracie will be in Rio this weekend when the UFC heads back to his home country, the nation that is credited with giving birth to the sport. Gracie, of course, won't be competing at UFC 134 in Brazil, but that doesn't mean he's not still hopeful of one more match.
There's a caveat to that, as he's not looking for just any match. There's only one fight he wants, and only one organization that can give it to him. Even though Gracie realizes that time is running short to make it a reality, he hopes to have a shot to avenge the one loss he still thinks about. He wants to fight fellow legend Matt Hughes.
"That's the only one," Gracie said on Monday's edition of The MMA Hour. "I want to be able to show up to the fight. [Last time], I didn't show up. It happens."
Gracie said that the first fight against Hughes -- a first-round TKO loss at UFC 60 back in May 2006 -- was the only time in his career he didn't have his A-game, not peaking on the right day.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar is ready to return to the Octagon just months after undergoing surgery for diverticulitis and said Thursday that he’s 100% healthy and motivated to reclaim the UFC title.
“I feel like a new man – great, healthy, strong. I feel like I used to feel,” Lesnar said in a video released by Fusion Ammo after declaring ‘I’m back!”.
“Right now it’s one day at a time for me,” Lesnar continued. “I believe there’s still a bright future in the UFC for me. My health is 100-percent. I feel great. My motivation is there. I want to get on the map again and become the UFC heavyweight champion again and I believe I will do that.”
Lesnar’s return has not yet been scheduled, but he is rumored to return as early as UFC 140 on December 10 in Toronto, which doesn’t yet have a main event as every current champion is already scheduled to defend their title between now and November.
The UFC and FOX are slipping Manny Pacquiao's punch in the first event of their new partnership.
The main card of the yet-unnumbered show on Nov. 12 will feature just two fights as opposed to the usual four or five, the "Las Vegas Sun" reported Thursday.
As a result, the mega-popular boxing champ's fight with Juan Manuel Marquez won't overlap. The Nov. 12 event will still be a full card, but more matches will be "dark," and likely streamed on Facebook.
"All of our interests are aligned," UFC president Dana White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) shortly after a Los Angeles press conference announcing the historic deal. "They're fired up about the product. We're fired up about the network."
Boxing and MMA have several times brushed shoulders on the calendar. This past July, a bout between heavyweight boxing champ Wladimir Klitschko and David Haye took place halfway across the world in Hamburg, Germany, as UFC 132 ramped up in Las Vegas. White was seen watching the boxing event backstage.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has reportedly signed a multi-year contract with the Fox Broadcasting Company, taking effect in January 2012.
According to a report from the Sports Business Journal, the promotion has inked a deal with the network for seven or eight years, giving Fox the rights to broadcast as many as four live MMA events per year.
Most of the UFC's weekly programming, which currently airs on Spike and Versus, will reportedly now be broadcast on the Fox-owned FX channel. This includes events such as “Ultimate Fight Night,” as well the UFC's long running reality show, “The Ultimate Fighter.” According to the SBJ's sources, Fox could pay the UFC up to $90 million, and a deal announcement could come as early as this week.
Fox subsidiary Fuel TV will also benefit from some UFC programming. However, the SBJ writes that Fox will not re-brand Fuel TV to give the UFC its own channel.
The UFC was rumored to be in talks to purchase struggling cable network G4 with plans to transform it into an independent UFC network. However, those plans seem to have been scrapped in favor of the aforementioned arrangement with Fox. The promotion's long-standing contract with Spike TV will reportedly expire at the end of 2011.
The five-fight pay-per-view main card is set for UFC 136, and the October card features two title fights and what's expected to be a No. 1 contender's bout.
UFC 136 takes place Oct. 8 at Houston's Toyota Center.
Headlining "UFC 136: Edgar vs. Maynard 3" is a third meeting and lightweight title fight between champion Frankie Edgar (13-1-1 MMA, 8-1-1 UFC) and challenger Gray Maynard (10-0-1 MMA, 8-0-1 UFC).
"Frankie and Gray had a 'Fight of the Year' candidate the last time they met, and I expect nothing different this time around in Houston," UFC President Dana White stated about the draw. "Both guys truly believe they won the last fight, and the wait for their third fight is over. On Oct. 8, neither of these guys plans on leaving it to the judges."
Also slated for the PPV main card is a featherweight title fight between champ Jose Aldo (19-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and challenger Kenny Florian (15-5 MMA, 12-4 UFC).
The four-fight televised main card for October's UFC on Versus 6 event is set.
Headlining the Versus-televised show is UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz (18-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) vs. Demetrious Johnson (10-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC).
"UFC on Versus 6: Cruz vs. Johnson" takes place Oct. 1 at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. It marks the UFC's debut in the U.S. capital.
Also on the main card are Charlie Brenneman (14-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) vs. Anthony Johnson (9-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC), Pat Barry (6-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) vs. Stefan Struve (21-5 MMA, 5-3 UFC) and Mac Danzig (20-8-1 MMA, 4-4 UFC) vs. Matt Wiman (13-6 MMA, 7-4 UFC).
Two days after suffering a savage defeat at UFC 133, light heavyweight Matt Hamill has announced his retirement from mixed martialarts.
“Today is a sad day for me. After six years and 13 fights in the UFC, I’m ready to hang up my gloves and retire from this amazing sport,” Hamill, 34, wrote in a statement on his official website. “I was ready to make this decision after UFC 130 but my friends, family coaches and most importantly my daughter encouraged me to give it one last chance.”
Hamill’s “last chance” came Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, where he faced 24-year-old Alexander Gustafsson on less than one month’s notice, having stepped in to replace the injured Vladimir Matyushenko. After a relatively even opening round, “The Hammer” was nailed by a left hand from the Swede and brutally pounded out with elbows from mount. It was Hamill’s second consecutive loss, as the Ohio native also dropped a short-notice unanimous decision to Quinton Jackson in May.
Hamill, a lifelong wrestler who was born deaf, entered the UFC after taking part in the third season of Spike TV reality show “The Ultimate Fighter.” It was then, Hamill said, that the troubles which would ultimately cause him to retire began.
UFC FOLLOWING NFL BLUEPRINT, OVEREEM HAS TO PLAY BALL
If there is any football player thinking if he is cut by the NFL there is another place to earn a good living, gain notoriety and possibly parlay this into a job outside the gridiron someday, it ain’t going to happen. Simple as that. And with the United Football League dicey at best to kick off a third season, even marginal players or veterans trying to hang on, know they have to go all out for that last coveted roster spot in these next few precious days after the lockout ended.
Bottom line is just that, the bottom line. The NFL is the example for all pro sports. They rarely suffer foolish behavior– goofy yes, hello Ochocinco and TO– but they don’t have to tolerate prima donna attitudes. Even those with something still to offer like future Hall of Fame receiver Randy Moss, can find themselves looking for a team if they become or are perceived to be difficult and on the decline.
More than baseball, certainly more than the NBA, the UFC seems to have followed an NFL blueprint in setting up their game plan. I don’t know that Zuffa ever discussed these things with say Jerry Jones, and it’s doubtful they would, but look at how they have handled recent situations so, well, NFL-esque.
In the end, Dana White says, the split between the UFC, Strikeforce and its Golden Glory fighters came down to business issues.
Reigning Strikeforce heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem along with fellow Strikeforce fighters Valentijn Overeem and Marloes Coenen and UFC heavyweight Jon Olav Einemo were cut during the last week in a surprising development. Questions arose over what precipitated the move.
On Thursday, UFC president Dana White spoke about the issues that led to the split.
"This is actually a pretty simple explanation," he said. "If you look back throughout history, we haven't had any Golden Glory guys fight with us since Semmy Schilt, right? And the reason is we have very different business practices. It's tough to do business with them. The bottom line is the way they do business is, you have to pay them, not the fighters. We don't work that way. It's not the way we do business. It's not how it works in the United States with the athletic commissions. You don't pay the managers and the managers pay the fighters. You pay the fighters and the fighters pay the managers."
This Saturday July 30th, two giants of mma, champions and former Pride top dogs meet inside the cage to battle for the very first time. Both have many credentials on their resume, have fought alongside each other for many years and are both huge names in the mma world. These huge mma profiles are Fedor "the last emperor" Emilianenko and Dan "Hendo" Henderson and they have now agreed to meet in a heawyweight bout as Hendo doesn´t want it to be a catchweight!
It is not the first time Dan Henderson has fought heavyweight against a top opponent and has beaten Big Nog earlier in his career (Rings King of Kings -tourny semifinal on February 26, 2000), pulling out a split decision win. Fedor won the Pride Heavyweight on March 16, 2003 at Pride 25 (unanimous decision) and dethroned Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (aka: Big Nog) to become the champ. A few years later, Dan Henderson finally dethroned long lasting Pride champ Wanderlei Silva at Pride middleweight Championship February 24, 2007 (Pride 33).
The Haywire trailer video featuring Gina Carano was released over the weekend and it's your early look at the Strikeforce superstar's first Hollywood lead role.
Haywire, directed by Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh, is about a covert operative Mallory Kane played by Carano who is out for revenge after a betrayal by someone within her own agency.
The 29-year-old is in good company in the movie joined by established actors such as Ewan McGregor, Channing Tatum, Bill Paxton, Michael Douglas and Antonio Banderas.
After being bounced out of the UFC for failing to gain proper medical clearance to use testosterone, Nate Marquardt has signed with a new promotion -- one that doesn't have an American TV deal and doesn't have many high-profile opponents for Marquardt to fight.
The promotion, the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts, said on Friday that it has signed Marquardt to an exclusive deal, making Marquardt by far the best fighter in the organization.
The question now is whether BAMMA will be able to find appropriate opponents for Marquardt, a Top 10 middleweight who had been planning to move down to welterweight before the UFC cut him. Almost all of the top talent in the welterweight and middleweight divisions is tied up to North American promotions, and Marquardt may soon find himself fighting unknowns in fights that few American fans will see.
Roger Bowling has been defeated only once as a professional MMA fighter.
The loss came at the hands of Bobby Voelker (23-8 MMA, 3-1 SF) in late 2010, and with the knockout victory, Voelker avenged a decision loss to Bowling (9-1 MMA, 2-1 SF) that took place five months earlier.
It's been nine months since their second meeting, and Bowling now has the opportunity to avenge the loss when the trilogy takes place Friday at in the headliner of Strikeforce Challengers 17.
"Nothing really changes just because I know him," said Bowling, who headlines the Showtime broadcast from The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. "I know what he's going to do. I know what his strengths and weaknesses are, I know what I'm good at against him, and nothing really changes.
"He's got heavy hands, I got heavy hands, and it's going to be a great fight."
There isn't a lot of animosity heading into the rubber match. In fact, it's the opposite. The pair of welterweights gets along quite well, and despite who wins or loses, Bowling said a post-fight tradition has been formed.
Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem has been removed from the promotion’s heavyweight grand prix after declining a September 10 date for his semifinal matchup with Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.
Undefeated prospect Daniel Cormier will replace Overeem and face Silva at the Showtime-televised event, according to Tatame.
The move came just hours after Overeem announced that Zuffa threatened to pull him from the tournament if he didn’t fight in September instead of a planned October return.
The September 10 Strikeforce fight card is also expected to feature the second semifinal between Josh Barnett and Sergei Kharitonov as well as middleweight champ Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Luke Rockhold, which was confirmed with three other bouts earlier today.
They talked about it on twitter, and apparently the UFC liked what they came up with so they went with it. Carlos Condit will face one of the biggest challenges of his career when he faces former UFC welterweight and lightweight champion B.J. Penn at UFC 137. UFC.com announces it:
The title fight between GSP and Nick Diaz won't be the only showcase for elite 170-pounders this fall in Las Vegas. A match between two of the best welterweights in the world has been set as "Natural Born Killer" Carlos Condit will take on BJ "The Prodigy" Penn at UFC 137.
...
Dana White confirmed today that both men have verbally accepted the bout.
Tito Ortiz (16-8-1 MMA, 15-8-1 UFC) has found the will to save the day.
Just hours after telling MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that he wasn't going to fight Rashad Evans (15-1-1 MMA, 10-1-1 UFC) in the interest of making the best career choice, it appears the best career choice is to do it anyway.
UFC president Dana White today confirmed via Twitter that Ortiz and Evans will meet in the headliner of UFC 133, which takes place Aug. 6 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
It's been a roller coaster of a day for the promotion, as Phil Davis was forced to withdraw from the late-summer headliner due to a knee injury, and Ortiz, who earlier this month saved his job with a first-round submission of Ryan Bader at UFC 132, reportedly declined the fight. A rumored replacement pitting Lyoto Machida against Evans in a rematch of their UFC 98 bout never came to fruition, and for a while, speculation was rampant on who would step into the spot.
Rashad Evans (15-1-1 MMA, 10-1-1 UFC) is waiting once again.
Injury has forced Phil Davis (9-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) to withdraw from a planned UFC 133 matchup with former champ Evans, who now waits on a new opponent.
MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) on Tuesday confirmed the unfortunate turn of events that was first reported by MMA Fighting.
Evans was initially expected to face current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones at UFC 133, which takes place Aug. 6 at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center.
Evans had been in line to fight then-champ Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 128 before a knee injury forced "Suga" off the card. As Rua healed from his own knee injury, Evans sat out nearly a year waiting for the title shot rather than taking a non-championship bout and risking his shot at the belt. But when he lost the slot due to injury, UFC officials gave it to Jones following his early-February victory over fellow top prospect Ryan Bader at UFC 126.
The evolution of sponsors in the MMA game can usually only go so far.
Patches on fight shorts, t-shirts, an occasional can of an energy drink, and supplements are the standards in the MMA world of sponsorships.
Well one music group is expanding their reach by sponsoring fighters and providing them with walkout music, while giving them a cut of proceeds for any sales the song might generate.
Coalition Fight Music (CFM) have inked a deal with J. Manly of Team Cesar Gracie to provide walkout music for many of the team’s fighters starting with Nick Diaz for his upcoming fight at UFC 137 against welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.
The world’s premier mixed martial arts promotion announced Wednesday afternoon that Brian Stann will welcome Chael Sonnen back to the Octagon at UFC 136. The event takes place October 8th inside the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
Sonnen hasn’t been seen since tapping out to middleweight king Anderson Silva at UFC 117. Since the August 2010 submission loss, Sonnen has been up to his eyeballs in controversy. Now that his failed drug test, suspension, Testosterone Replacement Therapy disclosure and Federal plea bargain for money laundering are in his rear-view mirror, the controversial wrestler can finally look forward to resuming his fighting career.
The flood gates have been opened, no hassle, no hoops, just a sign up page. The open registrations will not last long, so if you have some friends that were not able to sign up for whatever reason, now is their chance to get a brand spanking new account. Spread the word.
To all our new members I would like to say welcome to BMMAT. This is a community of MMA enthusiasts who come together to share all things MMA, which include but are not limited to boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, conditioning and fitness regiments and even diet books. This is a community and in a community you get out what you put in. So please remember to SEED all torrents for as long as possible and help us grow our community and the sport we all love so much.
It’s been more than a decade since the UFC made a trip to Japan, but it appears the wait for them to go back is over.
On Thursday, UFC President Dana White revealed plans that will see the promotion go to the Land of the Rising Sun in 2011.
“The rumor is true, we’re going to come to Japan and probably very soon,” White said. “This year.”
The UFC hasn’t gone to Japan for an event since 2000 with a card headlined by Tito Ortiz taking on Wanderlei Silva, which was UFC 25.
More than 100 events later, the UFC will be heading back to Japan.
There were more than a few concerns raised about an event being held there after massive earthquakes rocked Japan earlier this year, and at the time White sounded as if the promotion wouldn’t go there for quite some time.
Now he seems ready to forge ahead and bring the UFC back to Japan.
The promotion currently houses several top fighters from Japan, that much like the show coming up in Brazil, could feature many of them on the show. Fighters such as Yushin Okami, Takanori Gomi, as well as recently signed featherweight star Hatsu Hioki could all be a big draw fighting in their home country.
Strikeforce heavyweight Brett Rogers has been arrested on third-degree-assault charges following an alleged altercation with his wife Wednesday in Apple Valley, Minn.
Rogers, who competed in the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix just two weeks ago, allegedly strangled and punched his wife after reportedly admitting to drinking earlier in the night.
In addition to the felony charge, he's also been issued a misdemeanor charge of endangerment of a child. According to the report, Rogers' daughter tried to intervene during the alleged altercation, though Rogers told police his wife struck him first.
According to the report, Rogers' wife reportedly was "strangled, punched repeatedly in the head and face, and lost a tooth in the struggle."
Bail was set at $100,000 during Wednesday's hearing. His next hearing is scheduled for Friday at 11 a.m. CT (local time). More.
direct blows to the ear as experienced in boxing mma bjj wrestling etc. can and will result in a collection of clotted blood. which if not treated will or can become trapped between the surface skin and the supportive cartlidge of the ear. causing the outer skin to become swollen or deformed due to lack of blood flow resulting in a white fibrous cauliflower-like formation
whilst head gear is most effective to preventing the incidence of injury some levels of boxing mma the head gear is impractical.
those are grappling a good sized cauliflower is like a badge of honour to mma boxing fans.
lol take what michael bisping had to say before being the coach of tuf season 9. to when he was a actually a contender on tuf season 3 , and soon to be tuf 14 coach.
never had a cauliflower ear.. then got one during tuf 3 i can tell you. yes it does hurt as much as it looks. it was horrible. i've had ' em a couple of times now and you never get used to em and the agony. it is just the feeling.' treament of a cauliflower is simple.
procedure where the excess fluid is drained as necessary, either by drawing it out using a hypodermic needle, or by making a small laceration and expressing the pocket of fluid. a compressive dressing is then used to sandwich the layers of the ear together to allow healing and prevent infection.
Nate Marquardt remains on suspension from the state of Pennsylvania after failing to receive medical clearance prior to the weekend's UFC on Versus event. In the aftermath of the shocking development, which included Marquardt's firing from the promotion, many questions have arisen.
Which part of the medical review did Marquardt fail to clear? How did six weeks go by without a resolution? And how did Pennsylvania suspend Marquardt when it appeared he'd never been licensed in the first place?
While most of the situation is still shrouded in mystery, at least one of those questions can be answered.
Gregory Sirb, the executive director of the state's athletic commission told MMA Fighting on Monday that Marquardt had indeed been granted a license to fight, pending medical clearance.
"He was licensed. He completed all his paperwork for licensing probably a week before," Sirb said.
PITTSBURGH – Onetime UFC middleweight title challenger Nate Marqaurdt (31-10-2 MMA, 10-4 UFC) had hoped to drop to the welterweight division.
Instead, he's the one who's been dropped.
Less than one hour after the UFC officially announced that Marquardt has been scratched from Sunday's UFC on Versus 4 event, UFC president Dana White informed the world Marquardt also has been released from the organization.
"I'm sure you heard that Nate Marquardt is out," White said in a short video clip posted on his Twitter account. "It's true. He failed his medicals. Not only is he out of this fight, out of the main event on Versus, he will no longer be with the UFC."
Neither White nor Marquardt's management team were immediately available when contacted for comment.
The announcement comes on the heels of a hectic afternoon in which sources told MMAjunkie.com Marquardt "did not receive medical clearance" and was pulled from a planned main-event bout with Rick Story. Charlie Brenneman was quickly tapped as a last-minute replacement, and a heavyweight bout between Cheick Kongo and Pat Barry was promoted to the evening's featured slot.
I’m honest with myself, and when it is time, I will go. At 36, that day when I will walk away is coming. It’s coming soon; I know that and I’ve come to accept that. But it is not yet. I know I could have all kinds of wins if I was fighting different types of opponents, but I am fighting the best opposition in the division… I’m the Last of the Mohicans. Out of the fighters who helped build the UFC from what it was in the 1990s to what it is now in 2011, they’re all gone except for me. Chuck Liddell has retired; Randy Couture has retired. I’m the last man standing, and now everyone thinks Ryan Bader is going to put me down, too… I’ve been stopped due to punches, but I’ve not been knocked cold. But Bader has heavy, heavy hands … I don’t want to go. I’m not going to go. I am going to push the pace and win this fight July 2. My back is right against wall. I’m coming out swinging.
Yep, that’sTito Ortiz “In his own words
Tito, making everything dramatic. I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but he’s absolutely right. His back is against the wall. Most fans don’t think he’ll be beat Ryan Bader on July 2 and I doubt he will either. If he doesn’t, he’s going to be faced with either retirement (something he admits is “coming soon”) or fighting outside the UFC for the very first time in his 25-fight career. Unless he desperately needs the money, I hope he chooses the former. It would be kinda sad to see him fight somewhere else at this point sorta like it was when Michael Jordan came back and played outside Chicago for Washington. Okay, maybe not that sad, but you know what I mean.
In March of 2010, boxing legend James Toney signed a multi-fight contract to join the UFC. Fast forward just five months past his embarrassing submission loss to Randy Couture at UFC 118 and the 42-year-old was promptly let go from the world’s premier mixed martial arts show.
After a brief return to his day job this past February, which produced a unanimous decision win over Damon Reed, it appears Toney is ready to give MMA another go. According to BJPenn.com, Toney will face UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock on September 23rd in El Paso, Texas.
However, MMAFighting spoke with Toney’s manager who claimed the when and the where would likely be determined this Saturday when the two camps gather to discuss the specifics.
“The earliest date as I know it would be late September, and the latest would be late October,” Trever Sherman told Fighting early Friday morning.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is accusing a Nebraska bar of illegally televising a fight without permission from the mixed martial arts promoter.
In a lawsuit filed this week, an attorney for the UFC claims The Edge Bar and Grill in Alda showed a live broadcast of the March 19 event, which featured a fight between Jon Jones and Mauricio Rua.
"It is logical to conclude that (the bar) either used an illegal satellite receiver, misrepresented their business establishment as a residence or removed an authorized receiver from one location to a different business location in order to intercept Plaintiff's broadcast," the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Lincoln says.
Larry Davidson of Elwood, named as The Edge's owner in the lawsuit, did not respond to a message left on the bar's answering machine.
The UFC accuses Davidson and his company of illegally receiving the broadcast, showing the event without distribution rights and violating copyright law.
The promoter is seeking as much as $260,000, plus attorney's fees.
The Cavalcante/Wilcox pick was given and three members picked the seven fight card entirely correct! jmartins, vagyr4 and destructor picked 7/7. primaigna, yuka, JayZiZZ, ghostride, emeliaven, kns, Ruger, denishorvat, turkskurk and saintxombi picked 6/7.
jmartins
10,000
7/7
vagyr4
3,000
7/7
destructor
7/7
primaigna
1,000
6/7
The purse is distributed with pick accuracy priority and then randomly with 10,000 points going to jmartins, 3,000 to vagyr4 and 1,000 to primaigna.
Thanks to everyone who played! Thanks to turkskurk for scoring the contest and saintxombi for getting drunk with redneck girls!
There are more than two months left until UFC 134: Rio takes place at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but the event can already be called an unabashed success.
Ultimate Fighting Championship officials on Saturday issued a statement saying that the event sold out in just one hour and 14 minutes after tickets went on sale. UFC president Dana White on Thursday had stated that there were 16,752 tickets available at the HSBC Arena.
UFC 134 marks the first time the promotion has operated in Brazil since UFC Ultimate Brazil in Sao Paolo in 1998. Ultimate Brazil featured the likes of Frank Shamrock and Pat Miletich defending their UFC titles, as well as the classic showdown between Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort.
None of those fighters will grace the UFC 134 fight card, though several Brazilians will be featured on their home turf. The main event pits UFC middleweight champion and Brazilian Anderson Silva against Japanese fighter Yushin Okami. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, also Brazilians, will be featured on the card as well. Shogun rematches Forrest Griffin, while Nogueira faces rising heavyweight contender Brendan Schaub.
the buff who claims to loose 2 kilos every event. under the bright lights as he twists spins and jumps, and waves his arms as he performs his duty.
reciting names weights records the buff introduces the fighters of the ufc, to the world.
he is the mc of announcers getting you more amped and charged for whats to come next..
breif history on the buff 180 and 360
after accidentally facing the wrong corner one night, while performing his announcing duties. buffer made a quick 180 degree turn to the opposite corner with out missing a beat. the move drew a roar from the crowd.
joe rogan wanted more so buffer said he would try a 360 at ufc 100 so buffer practising in his hotel room slipped twice on the floor. then came fight night ufc 100 the buff hesitated. as he turned from frank mir to brock lesnar. he thought if im gonna do it, ive gotta do it now. the spin at 360 sent the crowd in to a frenzy.
the famous bellowing phrase its time as he introduces the fights with 180 or his 360 turns.
This Saturday is round two of Strikeforce's inaugural World Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament. Two important fights from the gp reinforce SF: Overeem vs. Werdum. After getting doomed to a KO highlight reel for Junior dos Santos, Brazilian Fabricio Werdum has repolished his career by defeating Mike Kyle, Antonio Silva and most memoriably, Fedor Emelianenko. He will rematch an opponent whom he has submitted before in Amsterdam's Alistair Overeem. Alistair has been destroying his MMA competition since then and holds championship belts in Strikeforce and DREAM. Last year he won the K-1 kickboxing World Grand Prix to further add weight to his combative resume. The grand prix allows for either Overeem to avenge his loss by demolishing his opponent or for Werdum to cement his superiority in the MMA world.
The co-main event is an overshadowed fight between Josh Barnett and Brett Rogers. Barnett is a legend in MMA with a sample of wins being over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Pedro Rizzo and Randy Couture. His opponent has been called back to Strikeforce to fill in the grand prix and is an extreme underdog. But Brett Rogers knocks opponents out.
Pick the winners of this card correctly and win points to redeem bandwidth! There's a 14,000 point purse with 1st place: 10,000 pts, 2nd: 3,000 pts and 3rd: 1,000 pts.
The winners will be announced 72 hours after Strikeforce. DO NOT SPOIL IN THIS THREAD.
The natrual looooool he did not earn that respected name in the mma world for losses or aye idle diet and aye idle thorough work effort. to get to the top, of the mma world class food chain.
the natrual making his debut at ufc 13 in 1999 coutoure was "33" tito ortiz debut was ufc 13 as well who was put back to aye alternate and went on to win his debut fight. couture how ever stayed competitive, from his debut in the vast expanse of the new mma evolving sport. right up untill ufc 129. randy managed to win the lhw championship 2wice, the hw championship 3hree times, be the 1st holder of ufc weight divsions in 2wo classes at the same time. and may i add get himself inducted to the ufc hall of fame. at 48 years of age. randy was 43 when he won his 3rd hw title. at 33 the natrual will never forget the format of the tournaments then to how far the ufc has come leading to ufc 131.
only fellow mat hughes has fought in the ufc as many times as the natrual though even with hughes time in the ufc has not been in any where near as many title shot bouts as the natraul. as couture stepped in the octagon at 33.
Several reports have surfaced stating that UFC officials are in talks with Comcast to purchase a controlling interest in the G4 network.
The UFC has long flirted with the idea of starting their own network, but it appears they may be on the cusp of buying one instead.
Reports began surfacing on Wednesday that UFC officials were in talks with Comcast to purchase the G4 network.
Comcast took over NBC Universal in early 2011 with a buyout from GE for $13.8 billion. Since that time, different NBC affiliates have undergone changes under the new ownership and this would be the first major sale since they took over.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, later confirmed by the New York Times, the UFC is in talks to take over the struggling network, which is currently available in approximately 60 million homes.
The New York Times later reported that UFC officials were seeking to purchase 60 percent or more in a controlling interest of the G4 network.
bad blood for sure between tito and ken since 1999, when ortiz disrespected shamrock's lion's den team after defeatning the gun pupil guy mezger at ufc 19 the first match between tito and khennii!!!! took place at ufc 40 in november 2002 with ortiz coming out the the winner shamrocks corner threw the towel in the octagon after the second round later the pair signed as hateing opposing coaches for tuf season 3. though shamrock had no intrest for the fighters growth or future because he was so hell bent on revenge against ortiz. well the history of the ufc at that point in time, was ufc 61 bitter rivals. held at mandalay bay las vegas on july 8 2006. shamrock 42, was on aye loosing streak in recent battles. while tito was on aye hot winning streak tito 31 won by tko in the first round. then in october 2006 tito fought shamrock again to of course defeat him only to leave as the most fiercest rivarly in ufc history.
The hand injury that Quinton "Rampage" Jackson sustained this past Saturday at UFC 130 is serious – but perhaps not serious enough to stall his career.
As light-heavyweight champion Jon "Bones" Jones (13-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) tells it, Jackson (32-8 MMA, 7-2 UFC) will get a shot at his belt.
"I'll be fighting Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson next," Jones said "I'm not allowed to discuss the date because I didn't sign a contract, but yeah, it will be very soon."
Jackson said he first hurt his hand while horsing around with teammates over the holidays and re-injured it in camp. The fight with Hamill did little but aggravate it further. However, it appears that the severity of the injury, which UFC president Dana White said could give machida or evans the next title shot, has been downgraded.
The announcement may come as a surprise to those familiar with Jackson's recent health history. The Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended him this week following his lopsided decision win over Matt Hamill at UFC 130, which took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The former champ had to get his left hand X-rayed and could be suspended until Nov. 25 if an injury was found. He can, however, gain clearance before that from an orthopedic doctor.
UFC President Dana White’s tweet Wednesday afternoon was short and sweet – “U wanted it! U GOT IT!!!”
What the fans wanted was a showdown between UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and the STRIKEFORCE welterweight title holder, Nick Diaz. So on October 29 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, the UFC 137 Superfight becomes a reality.
Unbeaten since 2007, St-Pierre has taken on and beaten all comers, barely losing a round in the process. Since regaining his title from Matt Serra in 2008, he has turned back the challenges of Jon Fitch, BJ Penn, Thiago Alves, Dan Hardy, Josh Koscheck, and Jake Shields. But this fall, he will face off against the man many believe has the style to dethrone him, Shields’ longtime training partner Diaz.
A proud native of Stockton, California, Diaz, like GSP, has not lost since 2007. Along the way, the UFC vet has defeated Frank Shamrock, Scott Smith, Mach Sakurai, KJ Noons, and Paul Daley, and with his world-class striking skills and jiu-jitsu game improving with each fight, he is on track to shock the world on October 29th.
After weeks of debate, rumor, and speculation… “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 14 has found its two coaches. The early candidates for the next season of the popular and long-running ufc reality TV show were the brash Brit Michael Bisping and former UFC Middleweight Championship challenger Chael Sonnen. But due to Sonnen’s many, many legal and professional woes, that’s not going to happen. Instead, Michael Bisping will return to coaching TUF again… but he’ll do it against Jason Miller, a highly controversial and very charismatic goofball that made major waves when he jumped ship to the UFC from Strikeforce. Here are all the details.
The news hit several sources around the internet during the last several days, and as expected, MMA Junkie recently confirmed that Miller’s coaching duties has caused him to pull out of his upcoming scheduled fight with Aaron Simpson, which was supposed to be going down at UFC 132.
Jason “Mayhem” Miller is recognized by the general public as the host of MTV’s “Bully Beatdown” show. Miller’s wise-cracking and spastic attitude have earned him an equal amount of fierce supporters as well as fiery cynics. Miller also became one of the chief participants of the darkest moment in Strikeforce history: the infamous “Nashville” post-fight brawl that was seen on national television.
With three simple but profound words, former EliteXC middleweight champion Murilo “Ninja” Rua embraced retirement from mixed martial arts.
“Life goes on,” he told Sherdog.com.
The decision no fighter wants to make came in wake of Rua’s third-round knockout loss to British Association of Mixed Martial Arts titleholder Tom Watson in the BAMMA 6 main event on Saturday at Wembley Arena in London. Beaten up for the better part of two and a half rounds, he was ultimately cut down by a head kick and follow-up punches from the surging British middleweight.
“I was already giving a lot of thought for a good while, along with my family and my manager, about the right time to quit, and my love for MMA always spoke louder, so I always wanted to try one more time,” Rua said. “The opportunity to try to win a belt like BAMMA’s lightened up the will to close my career well, but time goes on for everybody. I have been on this road for a long time, and I already went into this fight with my mind set that I would stop either after this fight or after the next.
“I tried to do the best possible training,” he added. “I went to the United States, went to Sao Paulo, and with the outcome of the fight, we have to be objective and accept things.”
Now we have a site of our own that is called www.mmachallenge.net
CASH PRIZES
1st Place: $150
2nd Place: $100
3rd Place: $50
COIN PRIZES
This event will pay out 10,000 Coins ... that's our highest ever!
Note: Coins can be used to exchange them for real money on sports betting sites or poker sites, even some forex sites, here's the link where you can exchange the points
LOS ANGELES – One-time UFC middleweight title contender Chael Sonnen will not be competing in the octagon anytime soon.
The California State Athletic Commission today ruled to uphold Sonnen's indefinite suspension, citing both a recent federal money-laundering conviction, as well as some questionable testimony following a positive result in a post-UFC 117 drug screen.
The CSAC made its ruling during today's special meeting, which took place at the Ronald Reagan State Office Building in Los Angeles. The motion passed with a vote of 4-1.
Sonnen's official suspension runs through June 29. However, he cannot reapply for a license in California before June 29, 2012. Should he elect to do so, he'll have to once again appear before the CSAC.
Sonnen is free to apply for a license in other states when his California suspension ends. However, the decision whether or not to issue the license is up to each individual commission.
CORONA, Calif. – The UFC on Saturday, during the UFC Gym grand opening in Corona, announced plans to further expand its brand and partner with B.J. Penn to open another gym in Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Plans are in the preliminary stages for the gym’s opening, but early indications show that the gym will be available to the Waikiki community some time in early to mid 2012.
“Now, it’s going to be the B.J. Penn-UFC Gym. I’m very excited,” Penn said while attending the Corona UFC Gym grand opening. “I got my name on a building in Waikiki. I’m happy.”
With Penn’s name attached to this new gym, one can only wonder if more fighters will follow his lead and partner up with the UFC and its gym brand around the country.
UFC vice president of community relations Reed Harris confirmed that Penn is only the beginning. In the coming years, the UFC and its gym brand plan to partner with other marquee fighters to open more gyms in several communities.
Injuries have sidelined both Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, forcing the cancellation of UFC 130's main event fight, MMA Fighting has learned.
UFC president Dana White confirmed to MMA Fighting that both fighters are out.
According to sources with knowledge of the situation, Edgar had the more serious injury of the two, suffering two broken ribs during training, while Maynard suffered a knee injury.
The bout would have been the last of the trilogy. Maynard won the first bout in April 2008 in a unanimous decision. In January, the rematch ended in an all-time classic, with Maynard nearly knocking out the champion in the first round before Edgar rebounded with a gutsy performance to force a five-round draw.
Maynard-Edgar III is likely to happen in the future, but there is no timetable yet for its scheduling. With the recovery time of both men expected to be in the 6-to-8 week range, White suggested that it could be slotted into an August or September show.
Mark Hominick went into last Saturday’s fight against Jose Aldo at UFC 129 fully expecting to become the new UFC featherweight champion, but unfortunately for him that didn’t happen. Instead, the 30-year-old from London Ontario emerged on the losing side of a unanimous 5-round decision after a see saw battle that saw him and Aldo trade blow for blow for 25 minutes and win Fight of the Night honours in front of 55,000 fans at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.
“I’ve got a lot of feedback for the fight and it’s too bad I didn’t come back with the belt, but I think that everyone was happy with the fight and the performance that I put on.” Hominick told MM-eh on Monday.
Fans everywhere marveled when Hominick sprouted a massive hematoma on his forehead that grew as they were watching, caused by an Aldo elbow to his head in the fourth round.
Many thought that the injury would cause the fight to be stopped, but after a thorough examination from the cageside physician Hominick was cleared to continue, something that he was thankful for.
We got about 100 entries for the UFC 129 full card pick contest. Two members picked the most accurately with 10 out of 12 correctly and thirteen members scored 9 out of 12.
Since we left the scoring ambiguous and did not know what to expect, first place will go to the two top scorers and 3rd place will go to to a member who picked 9/12 and was chosen randomly.
With this unique promo you can earn extra 10gb upload GB, it's like you donate $10 bucks.
All you need to do is to choose BetUS to make your sports bets/picks and remember to use www.bestmmatorrents.com in the referal details.
Then once you signed up and placed your first bet (it must be completed) you just need to send me a Private Message and I'll credit the extra 10 UPLOAD GB.
BetOnFighting is sponsoring Saturday's UFC 129 event on our MMA CHALLENGE! (at InsideNation, sister site)
CASH PRIZES (paid to your BetOnFighting account)
1st Place: $150
2nd Place: $100
3rd Place: $50
COIN PRIZES
This event will pay out 10,000 Coins ... that's our highest ever!
Note: Coins can be used to exchange them for real money on sports betting sites or poker sites, even some forex sites, here's the link where you can exchange the points: The Cashier
ON TOP OF THIS IMPRESSIVE OPPORTUNITY WE HAVE OPENED THE SIGNUPS SO EVERYONE CAN REGISTER TO ALL THE SITES ON THE NETWORK, I BELIEVE THAT THIS UFC MUST BE OPEN FOR EVERYONE!
UFC President Dana White has confirmed rumors that UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie is pressing for a rematch with fellow Octagon legend Matt Hughes at UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro.
“I’ll tell you straight up: [Gracie] thinks that his performance against Matt Hughes wasn’t what it could have been and thinks he can beat Matt Hughes,” White told a group of reporters following Wednesday’s UFC 129 press conference. “He wants that fight again.”
Gracie, who was present at the press conference in Toronto, was the original face of the UFC. Long before Zuffa’s buyout of the promotion, Gracie dominated the Octagon, winning three of the organization’s first four events, each of which required him to win either three or four fights in a single night.
After taking a hiatus from fighting following a 1995 draw with Ken Shamrock, Gracie returned to the ring in 2000 to compete for the now-defunct Pride Fighting Championships. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner made his Octagon return in 2006, squaring off with Hughes at UFC 60. Gracie was dominated in the bout, as Hughes used superior grappling to secure Gracie’s back and finish the fight with punches.
Saturday hosts a large UFC event with two title fights! Georges St. Pierre (No. 1 WW, No. 1 PFP) defends his welterweight title against UFC newcomer Jake Shields (No. 4 WW, No. 6 PFP). Jose Aldo (No. 1 FW, No. 3 PFP) defends his belt against Mark Hominick for the groundbreaking first UFC Featherweight Championship fight. And Randy Couture wants to retire on figuring out and defeating the Lyoto Machida style.
Pick the winners of this historic card correctly and win points to redeem bandwidth! There's a 14,000 point purse with 1st place: 10,000 pts, 2nd: 3,000 pts and 3rd: 1,000 pts.
The winners will be announced 72 hours after UFC 129. DO NOT SPOIL IN THIS THREAD.
Gina Carano is slated to make her return to mixed martial arts on June 18. The question now is, who will be her opponent?
The leading candidate appears to be Sarah D’Alelio, according to MMAWeekly.com sources. If the bout comes to fruition, it will take place on Strikeforce’s main card at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas.
Sources indicated that the promotion is working hard to put this fight together, but not all parties involved have signed off on it at this time.
Carano (7-1) hasn’t seen action since fighting Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos and suffering her first professional loss as a mixed martial artist. The fight ended via TKO in the final moments of the first round. Since then, Carano has focused on a movie career that includes filming for the yet to be released, “Haywire,” which also stars Ewan McGregor.
D’Alelio (4-1) would make her Strikeforce debut against the returning Carano. Her last outing was in a losing effort to Julie Kedzie via unanimous decision in December of last year. Undoubtedly, a fight with the woman whom many have dubbed “the face of women’s MMA” would be the biggest stage D’Alelio has ever been on.
On Thursday, UFC president Dana White announced former middleweight top contender Vitor Belfort will face Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 133 on August 6th.
“Verbal agreements are in for a battle between two of the most exciting fighters in the middleweight division,” White told ESPN. “Coming off three straight Fight of the Night performances, Yoshihiro Akiyama will take on former UFC light-heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort in Philadelphia.”
MMA’s ultimate shot caller did not confirm which arena would host the Octagon’s return to the City of Brotherly Love. On August 8, 2009, UFC 101 took place inside the Wachovia Center in Philly.
Belfort is looking to bounce back from his 1stRound knockout loss to Anderson Silva at UFC 126 in early February. He had won five straight fights prior to executing the face-to-foot defense against the 185-pound king.
LANSING [,Michigan USA]— An amateur mixed martial arts promoter who advocates state regulation of the sport has a fantasy that he admits is a bit twisted.
“I thought about putting out a press release saying someone died at one of my shows, but we weren’t sure who it was,” Greg Ahrens said. “So, when the state showed up, I would say ‘Yeah, the guy died, but since you don’t require us to keep any paperwork, we don’t know who it was, and his guys just hauled him out of there.’
“Think that would get some politicians’ attention?”
The possibility of serious injury or death in an MMA cage already has.
State Rep. Dave Agema (R-Grandville) is sponsoring legislation to create a seven-person commission, under the umbrella of the Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth (DELEG), to regulate amateur MMA.
Professional MMA already is state-regulated by the same body that regulates pro boxing.
House Bill 4295 also would set standards for licensing, require promoters to provide a minimum level of medical insurance for fighters, set training guidelines for becoming a referee or judge and establish criminal penalties for violators.
Fighting and Entertainment Group on Thursday evening announced a long-rumored bantamweight grand prix, which begins on May 29 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
The tournament, which has been titled the DREAM Japan Grand Prix, is expected to feature eight fighters: Keisuke Fujiwara, Masakazu Imanari, Yoshiro Maeda, Kenji Osawa, Takafumi Otsuka, Hideo Tokoro, Darren Uyenoyama and Atsushi Yamamoto.
The first and second rounds of the tournament are expected to take place in May, and the final round is currently scheduled for July. The top three finishers in the tournament secure slots in a planned DREAM world bantamweight grand prix.
The May 29 card is also expected to hose a few non-tournament bouts which could feature such competitors as Shinya Aoki, Joachim Hansen, Mitsuhiro Ishida, Katsunori Kikuno, Akiyo "Wicky" Nishiura and Caol Uno.
With the “if” and “when” of Fedor Emelianenko’s return determined, the question recently had become “who?”
As the majority of Strikeforce’s top heavyweight talent is currently immersed in the company’s high-profile grand prix -- from which Emelianenko was eliminated by Antonio Silva on Feb. 12 -- just who could be a suitable opponent at this crucial juncture in the Russian great’s career?
The answer: current Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Dan Henderson.
Speaking with Sherdog.com on Monday, M-1 Global CEO and Co-Founder Vadim Finkelchtein said that while the bout has yet to be finalized, his fighter has been highly receptive to the idea of returning to the Strikeforce cage against fellow Pride Fighting Championships legend “Hendo” this summer.
“The fight is very welcome, and Fedor and I are very happy to have this fight if it happens,” said Finkelchtein. “The agreement hasn’t been signed yet. It’s being discussed right now. It’s scheduled to be in July, tentatively, but it’s not certain yet.”
LAS VEGAS – UFC light heavyweight Thiago Silva (14-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) had his license revoked through Jan. 1, 2012, and was fined $33,750 following his admission to the Nevada State Athletic Commission that he knowingly used steroids and provided a synthetic urine sample in his pre-UFC 125 drug screen.
The result of his unanimous-decision win over Vera was also overturned to a "no contest."
Silva waived his right for an attorney and additional time to prepare a defense in favor of a speedy ruling at Thursday's NSAC monthly meeting, which took place at the Grant Sawyer State Office Building in Las Vegas.
"I'm here just to tell the truth," Silva said.
In March, Silva was served with a formal NSAC complaint after two separate urinalysis samples revealed a substance that was "inconsistent with human urine," which indicated that he "submitted an adulterated and/or substituted specimen for testing for the urinalysis." Silva's first test was flagged, which prompted further testing by the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory, which is accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
The Brazilian was accompanied to Thursday's hearing by his manager and friend, Eddie Miranda, who also served as an interpreter. However, Silva answered the majority of the commission's questions in English.
Two fighters with the firepower to back up their tough talk will go head-to-head on April 9th. Check out Nick Diaz and Paul Daley hurling fists and trash talk with equal ease.
In a potential candidate for Fight of the Year in the main event, sizzling STRIKEFORCE Welterweight (170 pounds) World Champion Nick Diaz (24-7, 1 NC), of Stockton, Calif., will seek his 10th consecutive victory when he defends against the hard-hitting, notorious British striker, Paul “Semtex” Daley (26-9-2), of Nottingham, England.
Nick Diaz's Bio
Nick Diaz is renowned for his unorthodox striking and skills in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. A black belt under Cesar Gracie, Diaz was the former WEC and IFC Welterweight Champion, Diaz has fought in most of the major MMA promotions, including Pride, UFC, and Elite XC.
I'm letting you know everything about the status of the "already expected to be soon live" Tiers feature
Right now the Tiers Feature has been totally frozen, I must admit that the entire launching was premature and a total failure becouse of my fault.
My Story is that I thought I had discovered the perfect coders for us, I trusted them and we worked together smooth and fast. Problems started when I sent the first payment, they stopped respecting me, they sweared at me and finally told me that the features they coded wasn't really working. I asked paypal for a refund and got it, seems that this dudes are totally marked as a pain in the ass by paypal.
Ok, the most funny part is that the work is ALMOST DONE and I got full refund, so now I'm looking for a developer that knows about TT, our CMS+Tracker. I'll find one and finish the feature completly, on the meanwhile all users that donate at least $20 will also get credited the bronze tier, which means practically nothing now but do have an special usage and Expected Value. The user will earn this tier permanently.
Facts about the Bronze Tier
- The Bronze tier is the lowest of all tiers. Having this tier allows you to download torrents marked as Bronze.
- Anyone can upload a torrent and make it Bronze Tiered, but they can't download them so they won't be able to seed them since you need to re-download to get your passkey each time you upload a torrent at BTN.
Other Facts:
- Regular tier (the most common) can't download the torrents marked as "bronze" but they can see em on the search box (for now)
The plan from Spike TV and UFC for the next season of Ultimate Fighter, which would air September through December, is to have Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping as coaches to build to a PPV match in December. The winner would likely be in line for the first middleweight title match of 2012.
Bisping and Sonnen have already started publicly trash talking. Neither UFC nor Spike can publicly announce this due to Sonnen not being licensed in Nevada. Keith Kizer, Executive Director of the commission has said he would not rubber stamp Sonnen’s license due to his contention that Sonnen lied in his California State Athletic Commission hearing in December when he claimed he and Kizer had spoken and that Kizer had approved his testosterone use exemption for Nevada due to a claimed medical condition.
The decision, rumored for weeks, is controversial and will likely be heavily criticized if it does happen. Some will say Bisping and Sonnen are being rewarded at a time when both should not be rewarded. On the flip side, the belief is that the two, because of their strong personalities and interviews, can create another dynamic similar to Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson, or Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz, which resulted in not only the two highest rated seasons in the history of the show, but also huge PPV numbers in each case.
In another stunning business move after recently purchasing Strikeforce, Zuffa, LLC has ventured into private prison contracting. The sports promotion has bought fifty-one percent of Corplan Corrections, Inc and intends to own one-hundred percent before 2016.
The private prison contracting organization is based out of Texas and specializes in purchasing land, lobbying legislators, overseeing legalities and constructing detainment facilities in economically depressed cities and communities. They also train paramilitary troops and police officers, demonstrate mock police and military scenarios and have their own police force. Their sibling subsidiaries include American Private Police Force.
Corplan has begun setting up institutions in Southern United States with plans for constant prison saturation across the country but have received negative community blowback along with the black eye of legislator bribery. News in 2009 that they wanted to detain illegal immigrants and terrorist prisoners from Guantanomo Bay and other similar facilities has also painted the company in a dark shade. A salesman for the company who intended to convert an empty Hardin, MT prison into a high tech facility was also discovered to be a convicted fraudster.
UFC light heavyweight contender Thiago Silva (15-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) was wrong, and he admits it.
In an era in which professional athletes have gone so far as to lie under oath in regard to their use of performance-enhancing substances, Silva is taking the exact opposite approach.
In a statement delivered to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), Silva admits he cheated for his UFC 125 matchup with Brandon Vera, and he'll accept whatever punishment the Nevada State Athletic Commission recommends. After that, the Brazilian said he'll come back a changed man.
"We make decisions every day of our lives," Silva stated. "Some are good, and some are bad. When you make a bad decision, you can either make the situation worse by trying to cover it up or lie about it, or just stick your head in the sand and refuse to acknowledge it even happened. Or you can own up to it with an honest explanation, accept the consequences of your actions, apologize to the people affected by it, learn from it and move on. I'm choosing the second option.
To sell The Ultimate Fighter 13 reality show to television watching audiences, recently defeated heavyweight Brock Lesnar toured a short circuit of sports and entertainment shows. Watch three interviews including:
► Sells book then chokes out professional idiot Jimmy Fallon.
► Talks losing and inexperience, respects Jon Jones on ESPN SportsCenter.
► Appreciates positive interest in beard, losing and retirement rumors, The Undertaker confrontation and teaching on TUF with Ariel Helwani.
The show's first episode airs Wednesday, March 30 on SPIKE TV at 9PM / 8c.
Spike TV debuts "The Ultimate Fighter 13: Team Lesnar vs. Team Dos Santos" in six days, but fans can watch a sneak peek of the March 30 episode.
The latest installment of the long-running reality show features head coaches Brock Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos, as well as a cast of 14 welterweight fighters.
Now, www.ultimatefighter.com provides a preview of the first five minutes of the season debut.
The video includes some notable moments, including UFC president Dana White revealing to the cast that the elimination round has been axed. Additionally, he announces the return of the "wild-card" fight, which gives a first-round loser a second shot in the quarterfinal round.
The fighters – who include notables such as Shamar Bailey, Nordin Asrih, Myles Jury, Charlie Rader and Chris Cope – also are introduced to Lesnar and Dos Santos for the first time. The two coaches meet in the headliner of a UFC 131 event in June.
Former EliteXC Vice President Jared Shaw says Frank Shamrock offered to work a bout against Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson, but Shamrock denied the allegation as “silly” Monday on the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Savage Dog Show.”
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On Oct. 4, 2008, Slice was scheduled to headline EliteXC “Heat” against Ken Shamrock on CBS. When doctors refused to let Shamrock fight due to a last-minute cut, the promotion scrambled to find a replacement just hours before the event. Frank Shamrock, according to both him and Shaw (Pictured), offered to take the fight.
“Frank Shamrock pulled me in the back of a room, turned the music up and offered to work the fight against Kimbo Slice,” Shaw claimed on the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Rewind” show. “I almost threw up in my own stomach because I had thought for the past six months prior to that, that him and Cung Le had fixed their own fight, unbeknownst to me. Because I just can’t understand why Frank Shamrock didn’t go to the ground on Cung Le. I really don’t. I still don’t, until he said that, and then my stomach made me throw up in my own mouth. I’m like, ‘Frank, I don’t fix fights. I don’t do that.’”
However, Shamrock remembers the conversation differently.
President Obama’s so-called “IP Czar” Victoria Espinel yesterday delivered a 20-page white paper containing her recommendations for future legislation, calling on Congress to make changes in order to make it easier to clamp down on copyright infringement. Among the recommendations are calls to turn streaming into a felony alongside authority to wiretap in copyright cases.
The Obama administration’s IP Enforcement Coordinator, Victoria Espinel, has finally released her list of proposals for changes in intellectual property law. While there is a strong presence in her white paper for action against counterfeit pharmaceuticals, it is likely that readers’ focus will be drawn to suggested measures for cracking down on the streaming of unauthorized media.
While in some cases the former will undoubtedly endanger lives and therefore carries a considerable gravity when considering legislation, the fact that the latter is even mentioned in the same breath is an immediate cause for concern.
UFC 128, which is headlined by the light heavyweight championship bout between Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Jon Jones and the bantamweight battle between Urijah Faber and Eddie Wineland, airs live on Pay-Per-View from Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey at 10pm ET / 7pm PT.
Fans can also tune in to Spike TV at 9pm ET / 6pm PT to see live UFC 128 preliminary bouts, and those who “like” the UFC on Facebook can view two more prelims at 8:00 pm ET / 5:00 pm PT.
Dana White has talked to Ariel Helwani about the verdicts he has passed on the current careers of UFC fighters, Rashad Evans, Georges St. Pierre, Michael Bisping and Chael Sonnen.
He believes title contender, Evans is reluctant about fighting light heavyweight title challenger Jon Jones because they train at the same camp (namely Greg Jackson's) and it is in the financial disinterest for the camp to send one fighter away. This may sound revealing of who White thinks will win between Shogun and Jones on Saturday, but is an issue any organization has to prepare for. Regardless of the winner, he wants Rashad Evans to fight the UFC LH champion next.
About welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre fighting middleweight champion Anderson Silva, he says the fight is a "fantasy". Helwani notes that GSP is slightly hesitant about fighting the larger fighter and White says neither has ever turned down a fight but continues, "Other things have to happen before this fight can even be talked about". Title contender Yushin Okami may still fight Silva before the superfight is arranged.
On LH Michael Bisping's actions including spitting on Jorge Rivera's corner at UFC 127, White says Bisping was penalized his bonus for that night. He believes the illegal knee Bisbing struck Rivera with and the spitting were intentional.
LAS VEGAS -- In a transaction that will forever change the mixed martial arts world, Zuffa, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, has purchased its top competitor, Strikeforce.
UFC president Dana White spoke to MMA Fighting exclusively about why the historic purchase happened, the terms of the deal, what this means for the Strikeforce brand and fighters and much more.
Returning 7-1 Strikeforce fighter, Gina Carano resurfaces in the MMA world in the form of released pictures from Hollywood. She acts in the 2011 film,Haywire (originally titled Knockout) with other well known film actors, Michael Douglas, Channing Tatum, Ewan McGregor, Antonio Banderas and Bill Paxton. In the hands of accomplished director, Steven Soderbergh, the film will most likely not be a sequel to a Hector Echavarria MMA star cameo piece.
The film is described as a Bourne Ultimatum type thriller with spy agency betrayel of a super-soldier, but whatever.
Here's the pictures of Gina wearing a cleavage expressive wetsuit and kicking Obi-Wan Kenobi's ass on the beach.
Three months into the year and still, not one major event has been planned for Japan yet. Not surprisingly, Japanese fighters and staff are growing restless.
In this edition of Nippon Weekly: former Pride FC Vice President Hirouki Kato and Pride FC President Nobuyuki Sakakibara have opened up an office and started work on the "Japan Cup," DREAM fighters and staff head to Strikeforce and kickboxing, and FEG's troubles continue as they have K-1 branding issues in South Korea.
Kato and Sakakibara Open Up Shop. Japan Cup - Bantamweight GP?
The new promotion spearheaded by former Pride FC president Nobuyuki Sakakibara and former Pride FC vice president Hiroyuki Kato is gaining momentum as the pair have moved into an office in Shibuya, Tokyo and have started to flesh out the details of their Spring event.
It has been decided that Kato will be the face of the promotion while Sakakibara will be working behind the scenes due to Sakakibara's past legal issues and the plan at this stage is to have the event at either JCB Hall or Yoyogi No. 2 Gymnasium.
The event will be called something along the lines of "Japan Cup - Bantamweight GP" and will include several fighters that fought under the DREAM banner and obviously a bantamweight tournament. DREAM champions Shinya Aoki and Hiroyuki Takaya and top lightweight Tatsuya Kawajiri were being targeted, but have since been lost to Strikeforce. The loss of Aoki is quite surprising as Kato has personally been paying Aoki for his fights in DREAM.
Before heavyweight contenders Brock Lesnar and Junior dos Santos do battle with one another at UFC 131 on June 11 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, they will match wits as coaches on Season 13 of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series.
Spike TV officials on Monday unveiled the 14-member cast for the show, which features the welterweight division and premieres on March 30 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Strikeforce veteran Shamar Bailey, unbeaten prospect Myles Jury and Bellator Fighting Championships alum Charlie Rader were among those who survived the initial cut. The two finalists will square off for a spot in the UFC and a six-figure contract at “The Ultimate Fighter 13” Finale on June 4 at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.
In 2008, Jose Aldo introduced himself to the WEC promotion by stunning Alexandre Franca Nogueira. In early 2009, he cut short a spirited challenge from Rolando Perez by countering a jab to the body with a superbly timed knee. Six months later, well, he did what he did to Cub Swanson. In mid-2010, he made an absolute mess of Urijah Faber's thigh.
My point is this: through eight bouts under the WEC banner, Jose Aldo tore through competition with the kind of striking that has to excite any fan of mixed martial arts. Of course, injury forced Aldo to withdraw from his first scheduled bout as the newly crowned UFC featherweight champion following the top promotion's incorporation of the WEC.
With a challenge from featherweight contender Mark Hominick on the horizion, it seems that Aldo has taken to the Netherlands to further refine his striking. Per two-time K-1 MAX champion Andy Souwer's Twitter:
Well before a since-scratched match between Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Thiago Silva was made for UFC 130, Duff Holmes, manager and trainer of light-heavyweight contender Matt Hamill, had a chat with UFC matchmaker Joe Silva.
As Holmes told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), he was hoping Jackson would lose to Lyoto Machida at UFC 123 because he believed his protege had the right ingredients to defeat Jackson, a former UFC and PRIDE champion.
Jackson narrowly defeated "The Dragon" via split decision and was scheduled to meet Silva in a contest that may have determined the next challenger to the UFC light-heavyweight crown. Then Silva's status became a point of contention; his drug screen from a UFC 125 win over Brandon Vera triggered the Nevada State Athletic Commission to retest his sample, and the results still are pending.
That compelled UFC officials to begin moving parts. Rashad Evans, forced from his title fight with Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 128, was rumored to have been granted a rematch with Jackson, his hated rival, at UFC 130.
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson did indeed turn down a chance to fight Mauricio "Shogun" Rua for the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 128, Jackson confirmed via his Twitter earlier today, but it's the reason he turned it down that gives us an insight into the current state of his MMA career.
"I turned down the fight cause of short notice,I would have 2 lose 45 lbs n 4 weeks,u would have 2 be a fighter 2 understand,life goes on," Jackson tweeted on Tuesday.
Of course, after he turned down the chance to step in for the injured Rashad Evans, the UFC offered it to Evans' teammate, Jon Jones, who was only too happy to seize the opportunity. So what does that tell us, aside from the fact that Jackson is walking around closer to the heavyweight limit than the light heavyweight one?
For starters, it tells us a little something about how badly he wants to be a champion again. If the UFC offered Jackson the title shot before giving it to Jones, it means he would have had at least six weeks to prepare. While not the ideal time frame, it's also not unheard of. Look how many guys are willing to jump in on two or three weeks notice just to get themselves one step closer to a title shot. You could argue about the wisdom of it from time to time, but the point is, it happens frequently.
The U.S. Homeland Security Department has apparently shut down or seized the domains of many of the most popular streaming websites to watch sporting events such as Atdhe.net, Channelsurfing.net, ilemi.com, and firstrow.net.
These websites streamed live sporting events such as NFL and NBA games as well as UFC pay-per-views.
The UFC recently sued the website Justin.tv and they must be very thrilled about today's news.
UFC commentator Joe Rogan is known to say "You can't stop the internet" but it looks like the UFC and the U.S. Homeland Department are trying to do its best to contain the illegal streams.
I wonder if there will be a bigger buy rate for UFC 126 this Saturday night due to the shutdown of many of these streaming sites.
Other websites will pop up and stream sporting events and the battle waged between the UFC and the websites that continue to host illegal streams will continue to go on.
LAS VEGAS – Just a few short weeks ago, things really didn't seem to be working out for top UFC heavyweight contender Junior Dos Santos (12-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC).
Despite earning a shot at the UFC's heavyweight title, Dos Santos openly expressed his frustration at having that bout delayed when Cain Velasquez was forced to the sidelines following surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff.
But things have quickly changed, and Dos Santos is elated to take a role as coach on "The Ultimate Fighter 13," which debuts in on Spike TV in March. And in fact, he's downright salivating at the looming showdown with his opposing coach, Brock Lesnar (5-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC), a man he thinks provides a very favorable matchup.
"When they told me to come and make 'The Ultimate Fighter 13,' I was very happy," Dos Santos told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "It's a new opportunity for me. I was supposed to fight for the title, but Cain got hurt. When the UFC told me to come [to Las Vegas] and make this show with Brock, I was very happy."
The company has struck a deal with Japanese cable station SkyPerfect to broadcast events from the forthcoming heavyweight grand prix on a pay per view basis, starting with the February 12th show which kicks the tournament off.
How much of a moneymaker the PPV will be remains to be seen but the move is significant as it strengthens Strikeforce’s presence in and ties to the Japanese MMA market at a key juncture. Native promotions DREAM and Sengoku are in apparently terminal decline.
Strikeforce has already hosted fights by Japanese fighters such as Shinya Aoki in the past and we will probably see more of this if the initial pay per view proves to be a success. Josh Barnett is also a key figure of interest to Japanese fans.
Presently he is in limbo, as far as the US is concerned, because of the California State Athletic Commission refusing to license him until he attends a hearing to account for failing a drug test during a previous licensing application over a year ago.
There are a lot of fighters who will take exception to many of the rankings in the world of MMA. One person who is more than happy to let his feelings be known is Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz, who keeps calling out Georges St-Pierre because everyone tries to tell him that St-Pierre is the best fighter at 170 pounds.
Well if that’s what everyone is saying, he is tired of listening to it.
Diaz, who spent several years with the UFC early in his career, has spent the last few working for different organizations including EliteXC and Strikeforce. During that time he’s established himself as one of the toughest competitors at 170 pounds, and thinks it’s high time people recognized his work.
“I think I got here and started fighting before most of them, including Georges St-Pierre in the UFC. I was really mad because they were getting fights and recognition when I was here first. I thought it was first come, first serve. I was working harder and I was here first,” Diaz commented on Thursday.
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UFC heavyweight contender, Junior Dos Santos was expected to fight champion, Cain Velasquez after Cain had defeated Brock Lesnar at UFC 121. During the fight, Velasquez partially tore his rotator cuff punching Lesnar and the belt defense was postponed. But Velasquez's healing period has changed from six weeks to six months as Kevin Iole reported on Pro MMA radio on Dec. 10. And announced by Dana White Dec. 11, Dos Santos will fight Brock Lesnar. The winner will fight Velasquez for the title which Iole says could be up to one year.
The heavyweight matchup also confirms Dos Santos and Lesnar as the coaches for "The Ultimate Fighter 13". The Spike TV series will host welterweights and start on March 30 and the live finale will be on June 4, reports MMA Junkie. The coaches will also fight in June.
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A DREAM and K-1 Hero's veteran, Gill boasts MMA fights with Yves Edwards, Joachim Hansen, Tatsuya Kawajiri and Caol Uno, among others.
