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2010

November
Aloha State BJJ Championships: Final Conflict
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Kaiser H.S. Gym)

10/15-17/10
ETERNAL SUBMISSIONS: 1st Annual BJJ GI/NO-GI tournament
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Kauai Beach Resort, Kauai)

August
Hawaiian Open Championships of BJJ
(BJJ & No Gi)
(Kaiser H.S. Gym)

7/24/10
The Quest for Champions 2010 Martial Arts Tournament
(Sport-Pankration, Submission Grappling & Continuous Sparring)
(St. Louis High School Gym)

7/17/10
Maui Jiu-Jitsu Open
(BJJ & No Gi)
(Maui War Memorial, Wailuku, Maui)

6/26/10
Kauai Cage Match 9
(MMA)
(Kilohana, Gaylords Mansion, Kauai)

6/25-26/10
50th State BJJ Championships
(BJJ)
(50th State Fair,
Aloha Stadium)

6/24/10
Quest for Champions
(Kumite/Grappling)
(St. Louis High School Gym)

6/19/10
Just Scrap
(MMA)
(Hilo Civic Center, Hilo)

6/18-19/10
Select Combat
(Triple Threat)
(50th State Fair,
Aloha Stadium)

6/12/10
Destiny: Fury
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)

6/11-13/10
MMA Hawaii Expo
(Blaisdell Ballroom)

6/11-12/10
3rd Annual Pacific Submission Championships
(BJJ & Submission Grappling)
(Blaisdell Exhibition Hall)

6/11/10
Legacy Combat 1
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Ballroom)

6/4/10
X-1: Nations Collide
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)

6/3-6/10
World Jiu-Jitsu Championships
(BJJ)
(The Pyramid, University of California at Long Beach, Long Beach, CA)

5/22/10
Destiny
(MMA)
(Waiphau Filcom Center)

5/15/10
Scrappla Fest 2
Relson Gracie KTI Jiu-Jitsu Tournament
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Island School, Kauai)

X-1 World Events
(MMA)
(Waipahu HS Gym)

Mad Skills
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center)

Boxing Event
(Boxing)
(Evolution Training Center, Waipio Industrial Court #110)

5/1/10
Galaxy MMA: Worlds Collide
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)

4/23/10
2010 Hawaii State/Regional Junior Olympic Boxing Championships
(Boxing)
(Palolo District Park Gym)

4/17/10
Hawaiian Championships of BJJ
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Kaiser H.S. Gym)

Strikeforce: Shields vs Henderson
(CBS)

4/16/10
808 Battleground
(Waipahu Filcom Center)

4/8-11/10
Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championships
(BJJ)
(University California Irvine, Irvine, CA)

4/3/10
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom Center)

Amateur Boxing Smoker
(Boxing)
(Palolo District Park Gym)

3/27/10
DESTINY: No Ka Oi 2: Oahu vs Maui
(MMA)
(Maui War Memorial Gym, Wailuku, Maui)

3/20/10
X-1: Champions 2
(MMA)
(Blaisdell Arena)

3/20/10
Hawaiian Championships of BJJ
(BJJ & Sub Grappling)
(Kaiser H.S. Gym)

3/14/10
Hawaiian Kimono Combat
(BJJ)
(PCHS Gym)

3/10/10
Sera's Kajukenbo Tournament
(Kumite, Katas, Grappling)
(Maui War Memorial Gym, Wailuku, Maui)

3/6/10
Destiny Fast N Furious
(MMA)
(Level 4 RHSC)

2/19/10
808 Battleground
(MMA)
(Filcom, Waipahu)

2/6/10
UpNUp 6: Unstoppable
(MMA)
(Maui War Memorial Gym, Wailuku, Maui)

2/5/10
Man Up & Stand Up
(Kickboxing)
(Waipahu Filcom)

1/30/10
Destiny
(Level 4,
Royal HI Shopping Ctr)
(MMA)

Quest for Champions
(Pankration/Sub Grappling)
(Kalani HS)

1/23/10
Kauai Knockout Championship Total Domination
(MMA & Kickboxing)
(Kauai War Memorial Convention Center, Lihue, Kauai)

1/17/10
X1: Showdown In Waipahu
(Boxing, Kickboxing, MMA)
(Waipahu H.S. Gym)
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May 2010 News Part 3

Casca Grossa Jiu-Jitsu is now the O2 Martial Arts Academy with 7 days a week training!

We are also offering Kali-Escrima (stick fighting) on Monday nights with Ian Beltran and Kickboxing Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with Kaleo Kwan, PJ Dean, & Chris Slavens!

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Chris, Mark, and I wanted to start an official Onzuka.com forum for a while now. We were searching for the best forum to go with and hit a gold mine! We have known Kirik, who heads the largest and most popular forum on the net, The Underground for years.

He offered us our own forum within the matrix know as MMA.tv. The three of us will be the moderators with of course FCTV808 being the lead since he is on there all day anyway!

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O2 Martial Arts features Relson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu taught by Relson Gracie Black Belts Chris and Mike Onzuka and Shane Agena as well as a number of brown and purple belts.

We also offer a Boxing and Kickboxing classes with a staff that is unmatched. Boxing, Kickboxing, and MMA champions Kaleo Kwan and PJ Dean as well as master boxing instructor Chris Slavens provide incredibly detailed instruction of the sweet science.

To top it off, Ian Beltran & Erwin Legaspi heads our Kali-Escrima classes (Filipino Stickfighting) who were directly trained under the legendary Snookie Sanchez.

Just a beginner with no background? Perfect! We teach you from the ground up!

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If you want to learn martial arts by masters of their trade in a friendly and family environment, O2 Martial Arts Academy is the place for you!


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5/31/10 Happy Memorial Day!

UFC 114 LIVE RESULTS AND PLAY-BY-PLAY

Former UFC light heavyweight champions and “Ultimate Fighter” Season 10 coaches Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and “Suga” Rashad Evans finally get their grudge on Saturday night at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 114 PLAY-BY-PLAY:

RASHAD EVANS VS. QUINTON JACKSON

R1 – Rashad rocks Rampage early with an overhand right and then runs him into for the fence, pressing him against the cage. Rampage chants flood the arena as the two exchange knees. Rampage grabs a Thai plum and drives a knee into Rashad’s body. They go back a clinch and referee Herb Dean separates them. Rashad drives into Rampage and takes him down, landing in side control. Rampage quickly gains half guard, but Rashad lands a few hard punches to the face as Rampage gets back to his feet, the two clinched on the fence. Rashad keeps constant pressure on Rampage, whose back is to the fence, but they are separated once again. Rampage lands a couple punches just before the bell sounds.

MMAWeekly.com scores round one 10-9 for Rashad.

R2 – Rashad is crouching low, using lots of movement to try and keep from giving Rampage a target. They quickly clinch and Rashad again presses Rampage to the fence. They separate and move back to the middle of the Octagon, Rashad again using some rather unorthodox movement to keep Rampage off his game before charging and pressing Rampage to the fence once again. Herb Dean separates them again. Rashad again moves in, landing a short right to the body, before pressing Rampage into the cage again. Rashad goes for the single leg, but Rampage defends. Rashad presses him against the fence and lands a couple short punches as the round ends.

MMAWeekly.com scores the round 10-9 for Rashad.

R3 – Rashad shoots, doesn’t get it, and Rampage lands a hard right. They move back to the center of the cage, each looking for an opening. Rampage moves in and drops Rashad with an uppercut, follows him down and unloads a few punches, but Rashad survives, as the crowd roars for Rampage. Rashad is on his back, Rampage working from half guard, trying to find an opening as the crowd’s chants are thunderous for Rampage. Rashad somehow manages to get back to his feet and starts dancing away from Rampage, recovering his faculties. There’s half a round left in the fight. Rashad shoots and takes Rampage down, putting him on his back, and starts working from half guard himself. He unloads right hands on Rampage, who is trying to tie Rashad up to defend. Rashad presses his weight on Rampage, who is now trying to control Rashad’s right hand. Rashad moves around behind Rampage, unloads a few more shots before Rampage regains his feet. Rashad again takes him down and starts landing punches to the head. Rampage though regains his feet at the end of the round and the crowd erupts at the final bell.

MMAWeekly.com scores the round 10-9 and the fight 30-27 for Rashad

Rashad Evans def. Quinton Jackson by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27), R3

DAN MILLER VS. MICHAEL BISPING

R1 – Miller is content to stand and trade with Bisping to start. Lands a good hard right, but then a low kick that briefly halts the action. Both fighters spend the opening couple minutes trying to find a good range, mostly trading punches. Two minutes left in the round and Bisping lands a solid combination that backs Miller up and follows with a couple more solid shots. Bisping seems to be finding his range, while Miller is about a half-step behind on his strikes, though he’s still holding his own. Miller, bleeding from the nose, lands a good stiff jab, but doesn’t have time to build on it before the round closes with a straight right from Bisping.

MMAWeekly.com scores the round 10-9 for Bisping.

R2 – Good straight right from Bisping to keep the blood flowing from Miller’s nose. But Miller fires back with successive leg kicks and a punch to the body. Miller walks into a hard right punch, backs up, but comes firing back, catching Bisping with a bit of a low blow, but they continue on. Bisping lands a left head kick and follows with a left jab that snaps Miller’s head back. He comes back a brief time later with a straight right that rocks Miller. Bisping’s striking is getting more brutal as the fight wears on and he finds his targets. Miller is now fighting with his mouth gaping open. Bisping keeps the pressure on, easily outstriking Miller for the remainder of the round.

MMAWeekly.com scores the round 10-9 for Bisping.

R3 – Miller clocks Bisping with a right hand, but Bisping returns the favor. Bisping goes high again, landing a head kick and then follows with a right hook. As the round wears on, it’s Bisping landing with more frequency and power. But midway through the round, Miller shoots and scores his first takedown of the fight. Bisping is quick to counter and return to his feet. Bisping is using good movement to make Miller miss frequently, and counter with strong combinations. Miller shoots again, but this time Bisping defends and counter with a right cross. Bisping landing in solid combinations as the round closes and the two immediately hug after a hard fought fight.

MMAWeekly.com scores the round 10-9 and the fight 30-27 for Bisping.

Mike Bisping def. Dan Miller by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28), R3

MIKE RUSSOW VS. TODD DUFFEE

R1 – Russow immediately goes for the takedown, but Duffee shucks him off and starts boxing. Russow moves in and eats a right uppercut from Duffee, followed by a couple more hard shots. He goes down, but gets right back up. Duffee just starts working away on him, landing numerous hard punches. Russow goes for another takedown, but Duffee defends and goes back to boxing. Russow shoots and Duffee gives him the el matador treatment then rocks him with a right hand. Russow is withstanding a lot of punishment, eating numerous punches. Duffee is swinging hard and landing, but Russow won’t go down. Duffee rocks Russow with a right uppercut late in the round, but Russow just takes it and keeps standing.

MMAWeekly.com scores the round 10-9 for Duffee.

R2 – Duffee goes headhunting again, albeit starting off the round at a slower pace, but still landing the uppercut and other hard punches. The uppercut is landing almost at will, but Russow is somehow just shaking them off. He’s mounting little offense, but weathering everything Duffee is throwing at him. Duffee looks a little perplexed, maybe leery of not punching himself out. Russow misses with an arching right hand and takes a hard shot to the body, but keeps his Energizer Bunny act going.

MMAWeekly.com scores the round 10-9 for Duffee.

R3 – (See round two.) Just kidding, although it is much the same. Duffee is still using his uppercut as his main weapon with Russow mounting almost zero offense. He did bull rush Duffee early, but Duffee easily side-stepped him and went right back to the uppercut attack. Then, out of nowhere, Russow lands a right cross, putting Duffee down and out, the referee immediately stepping in.

Mike Russow def. Todd Duffee by KO (Punch) at 2:35, R3

JASON BRILZ VS. ANTONIO ROGERIO NOGUEIRA

R1 – They start off trying to find range before Nogueira lands a driving knee. A few moments later, Nogueira lands a leg kick, but Brilz snags the leg and takes the Brazilian down. Nog immediately starts working for submissions, but Brilz passes to half guard. Nogueira tries to work his way out, Brilz briefly attacking from behind with punches to the head. Nogueira goes to his back, Brilz working from half guard/half mount. Nogueira eventually escapes, wrestling Brilz down from behind and starts punching. Brilz escapes and they’re back on their feet with a minute and a half left. Brilz kicks and shoots, but can’t land the takedown. He scrambles again for a single-leg, but Nogueira fends him off and they separate, Nogueira landing a snappy right jab.

MMAWeekly.com scores the round 10-9 for Nogueira.

R2 – Brilz quickly secures a single-leg takedown. He gets caught in a guillotine, but escapes and starts working from half guard. Nogueira reverses position and Brilz catches him in a guillotine of his own. Nog appears to escape, but Brilz reapplies the guillotine with Nog on his back. Brilz finally has to let it go and starts working from half guard dropping a forearm and punch down on Nogueira before going back to a guillotine. Nogueira escapes and they go to a north-south position on their knees before returning to their feet with two minutes left in the round. Brilz feints a takedown and drives a knee to the body and follows with a straight right. Nogueira uses his reach advantage to pepper Brilz, who fires back with some wild shots of his own. Nog lands a knee to the chin, but Brilz fires back rocking Nogueira with a wild right hand that staggered the Brazilian.

MMAWeekly.com scores the round 10-9 for Brilz.

R3 – They touch gloves, both fighters drenched in sweat, starting out with a little more caution than they ended round two. Brilz scores the single-leg takedown, gets caught in a guillotine, but is quickly out and working from half guard, dropping shoulder punches. Nogueira reverses and starts throwing punches from guard, but Brilz wraps his head up before they return to standing. Brilz goes for the single-leg again, but eats a couple punches for his trouble. They return to standing where Nog lands a knee to the body and another to the head. Brilz again shoots the single-leg, but Nogueira defends, briefly trying to find a choke before they return to their feet and start slugging it out again. Brilz scores the single-leg this time, but they end up in a scramble with Nogueira landing a crucifix position and dropping a couple hammerfists to Brilz’s head. But Brilz quickly reverses and passes to half guard. Nog then sweeps Brilz working from side control and then scrambling to end the round from half guard.

MMAWeekly.com scores the round 10-9 and the fight 29-28 for Nogueira.

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira def. Jason Brilz by Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28), R3

JOHN HATHAWAY VS. DIEGO SANCHEZ

R1 – Sanchez goes for the takedown, but Hathaway does a good job keeping the fight standing. They separate, each fighter trying to find his striking range. Midway into the round, Sanchez shoots and eats a well-timed knee from Hathaway, dropping to the mat. Hathaway follows him down and starts to unload from Sanchez’s guard, but Sanchez manages to survive and latches his arms and legs around Hathaway, trying to defend. Hathaway pulls back and lands forearms and punches that land square in Sanchez’s face. Sanchez again tries to tie up Hathaway, but the undefeated Brit continues to drop hammerfists down on Sanchez. He lands a couple more big punches just before the end of the round.

MMAWeekly.com scores the round 10-8 for Hathaway.

R2 – Hathaway lands a head kick to open the round and follows up with a jarring punch. Hathaway is taking the center of the Octagon, Sanchez’s nose bloodied. Sanchez feints several punches then shoots and scores a double-leg takedown. Hathaway is on his knees, back to the fence, and eventually works his way back to standing. Sanchez is still trying to take him back to the mat, holding a single-leg. They separate, Hathaway landing a forearm on the break and then firing in a straight right. Hathaway jabs a couple times, then feints a jab and drives home another right hand. Sanchez looks a little perplexed. Hathaway drives him back into the cage and then backs off to start striking again, diving in with another hard punch. Sanchez lands a right hook, but takes a jab and straight right on the chin.

MMAWeekly.com scores the round 10-9 for Hathaway.

R3 – Hathaway again is looking to keep this one on the feet and lands a solid punch combination early in the round. Sanchez fires back with a straight right that lands. Sanchez shoots the double-leg, but Hathaway defends and fires back, rocking Sanchez with a punch. Sanchez is throwing bombs now, knowing he’s got to finish the fight to win, but then he shifts gears and goes for the takedown again. Hathaway defends it and drives home a couple knees for Sanchez’s trouble. Hathaway is now bleeding from the nose as well. They exchange a few flurries of punches. Hathaway fires off a double-jab and then lands a head kick. Sanchez walks straight in firing punches, missing most, and eating several in return. Thirty seconds left and Sanchez lands a couple hard left hooks before eating a stiff jab. Hathaway lands a couple more shots before the final bell.

MMAWeekly.com scores the round 10-9 and the fight 30-26 for Hathaway.

John Hathaway def. Diego Sanchez by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26), R3

DONG HYUN KIM VS. AMIR SADOLLAH

R1 – Kim gets Sadollah to the mat and starts working from half guard. Sadollah fights off Kim’s pass attempts, securing his full guard. Kim eventually gives up passing and starts ground and pounding Sadollah, landing a heavy forearm across the face. Kim again starts working for the pass, but Sadollah is doing a good job fighting it. Sadollah scrambles, Kim takes his back, but can’t do anything with it before the bell sounds.

MMAWeekly.com scores the round 10-9 for Kim

R2 – Sadollah lands a couple push kicks before Kim catches a leg and takes him down, quickly passing to side control. Sadollah gets out and up where Kim clinches and starts working for another takedown, which he eventually gets. Sadollah gets right back up. Kim is still clinching and fires off a knee to Sadollah’s face before taking him to the mat once again, landing in full guard. Kim gets to half guard and keeps working to pass with Sadollah doing everything he can to maintain half guard. Kim wraps Sadollah’s left arm around his own neck and lands a couple of punches before letting it go and passing to mount at the end of the round.

MMAWeekly.com scores the round 10-9 for Kim

R3 – They briefly test the waters with their striking before Kim lands another single-leg takedown into full guard. Kim works until finally moving to mount, but Sadollah quickly regains half guard. They continue fighting for position with Kim on top for the next couple of minutes, but eventually regain their feet with a little over a minute left in the round. Kim goes right back to the takedown, but Sadollah fends it off. He fires a jumping knee, but Kim catches it and takes him down. Sadollah gets right back up and they separate with 30 seconds left. Kim lands a couple punches before Sadollah fires back a couple of his own and lands a knee to the chin, staggering Kim.

MMAWeekly.com scores the round 10-9 for Sadollah; the fight 29-28 for Kim

Dong Hyun Kim def. Amir Sadollah by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27), R3

DANY LAUZON VS. EFRAIN ESCUDERO

R1 – Not much action out of the gate as each fighter tries to establish his striking range. Lauzon looks for the takedown, but eats a knee from Escudero. They clinch on the fence and Escudero lands several more knees, including a jumping knee, before Lauzon fires one of his own back. They clinch for a short time after that then separate. Lauzon is firing punches and kicks, but landing little. Escudero, however, is hanging back, looking mainly for the counter strike. Boos rain down on the two as the round closes.

MMAWeekly.com scores round one 10-9 for Escudero.

R2 – Escudero rocks Lauzon early, driving him into the fence, unloading with a fury of punches and knees, but can’t finish him. They move back out to the center of the Octagon. Lauzon shoots, but Escudero fights it off. Escudero starts to work his jab and land some leg kicks. Escudero backs Lauzon to the fence and lands more knees and peppers him with punches. Lauzon tries to fire back, but looks extremely tired. Escudero moves in with punches and Lauzon falls to his backside, but gets stood up by the referee.

MMAWeekly.com scores the round 10-9 for Escudero.

R3 – Round three starts off slow, but Escudero starts landing leg kicks before taking a shot to the groin. They quickly restart. Lauzon looks somewhat rejuvenated, but Escudero is still landing more frequently and landing the harder shots. He backs Lauzon to the cage and drives a knee into his thigh before they separate midway through the round. Escudero throws some hard shots. Lauzon covers and blocks, but he’s looking tired again, slowing down. Neither fighter finds his range for the next couple of minutes. Escudero lands a hard kick straight to the groin with seconds left in the fight. Referee Josh Rosenthal takes a point away from Escudero, firing him up. The two come out guns a blazing for the final moments of the fight, barely stopping as the final bell sounds.

MMAWeekly.com scores the round 10-9 for Escudero, but makes it 9-9 for losing a point. Thus the fight score is 29-27 for Escudero.

Efrain Escudero def. Dany Lauzon by Unanimous Decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27), R3

WAYLON LOWE VS. MELVIN GUILLARD

R1 – After some dancing around, Lowe catches Guillard’s leg and takes him down, but they’re immediately back to their feet. Lowe presses Guillard to the fence, but Guillard lands two jumping knees to Lowe’s face, although Lowe maintains the clinch. Guillard lands a third knee and Lowe drops to his knees, hanging on to Guillard’s legs, but eats several punches before separating. Guillard sprawls out on a Lowe takedown attempt, driving a knee to his sternum, ending the fight.

Melvin Guillard def. Waylon Lowe by TKO (Knee) at 3:28, R1

CYRILLE DIABATE VS. LUIS CANE

R1 – Cane comes out gunning for Diabate’s head with punches, while Diabate fires away with several strong low kicks. Less than a minute in and Cane drops Diabate with a punch and follows him down, but they quickly scramble up to standing, Cane pressing Diabate against the fence. They separate and Diabate starts lighting Cane up with punches, dropping him with a left-right combination. Diabate follows Cane down and lands a couple more shots before referee Herb Dean stops the fight.

Cyrille Diabate def. Luis Cane by TKO (Strikes) at 2:13, R1

JOE BRAMMER VS. AARON RILEY

R1 – Brammer starts slinging right away with a kick-punch combination. Riley quickly fires back with a knee and some punches of his own. They continue sporadic trading kicks and punches, searching for range and an opening. They clinch along the cage and Riley stings Brammer with a sharp knee to the face and continues pressing and driving occasional knees to the body before they separate. They trade a few more kicks and punches before clinching again briefly. Riley catches Brammer with a kick to the groin and the action is halted for a moment. Brammer comes back strong, landing a couple hard shots on Riley. Riley goes head hunting with his kicks, but can’t land the knockout, but does manage a strong body kick just before the bell.

MMAWeekly.com scores the round 10-9 for Riley.

R2 – Brammer avoids a couple kicks from Riley and counters well with his boxing, landing several combinations. Riley lands a hard kick to the ribs on Brammer’s right side. They trade a few more kicks before Brammer lands a knee to Riley’s midsection. Riley presses him against the fence where they battle for a time before Riley scores the takedown, landing in Brammer’s guard. Riley starts a ground and pound attack, focusing heavily on Brammer’s body before they scramble back to their feet. Riley lands an inside kick and left hook, follows with two more low kicks, but misses with the head kick. They clinch to end the round.

MMAWeekly.com scores the round 10-9 for Riley.

R3 – Brammer starts off kicking, but Riley pushes him down. Back on his feet, Brammer eats a head kick from Riley, but takes him to the mat. Riley escapes and they’re back standing. Riley moves in with punches, backing Brammer into the fence again, where he clinches and trips Brammer to the mat. Riley quickly passes to side control, but Brammer gets up to his feet and they’re clinched on the fence once again. Riley drives a knee into Brammer’s face and they separate. Good kick to the body by Brammer, but Riley counters his superman punch with a shot to the body. They trade strikes for a bit before Riley clinches and trips Brammer to the mat again, and starts working half guard, but Brammer again regains his feet. Riley presses Brammer along the fence, kneeing the body before they separate. Brammer lands a straight right, follows with a strong punch combination and a head kick to close out the round.

MMAWeekly.com scores the round 10-9 and the fight 30-27 for Riley.

Aaron Riley def. Joe Brammer by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27), R3

RYAN JENSEN VS. JESSE FORBES

R1 – Jensen scores first with a couple solid straight rights, but Forbes fires back and drops Jensen. Forbes shoots and tackles Jensen to the mat, takes his back, and works for a rear naked choke. Jensen escapes and locks on a guillotine choke causing Forbes to tap out.

Ryan Jensen def. Jesse Forbes by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 1:06, R1

UFC 114 RESULTS:

Main Bouts (On Pay-Per-View):
-Rashad Evans vs. Quinton Jackson
-Mike Bisping def. Dan Miller by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28), R3
-Mike Russow def. Todd Duffee by KO (Punch) at 2:35, R3
-Antonio Rogerio Nogueira def. Jason Brilz by Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28), R3
-John Hathaway def. Diego Sanchez by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26), R3

Preliminary Bouts (On Spike TV):
-Dong Hyun Kim def. Amir Sadollah by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27), R3
-Efrain Escudero def. Dany Lauzon by Unanimous Decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27), R3

Preliminary Bouts (Non-Televised):
-Melvin Guillard def. Waylon Lowe by TKO (Knee) at 3:28, R1
-Cyrille Diabate def. Luis Cane by TKO (Strikes) at 2:13, R1
-Aaron Riley def. Joe Brammer by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27), R3
-Ryan Jensen def. Jesse Forbes by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 1:06, R1

Source: MMA Weekly

ESPN 2 PICKS UP MMA LIVE THROUGH AUGUST 2010

Popular web series turned ESPN 2 show, MMA Live has been picked up through August 2010 according to a press release from the sports' network on Saturday.

MMA Live has been the first of its' kind for programming on ESPN in any form, and the success of the show online translated into being picked up and aired on ESPN 2 starting a few weeks ago on an a provisional basis.

The crew consisting of host Jon Anik, UFC lightweight Kenny Florian, and a cast of guests such as UFC legend Pat Miletich and light heavyweight Stephan Bonnar, the crew of MMA Live made a successful move to ESPN 2 in May and has continued to provide top coverage of the sport.

ESPN picked up the series, which provides a weekly show and then specials like their pre and post show coverage of UFC 113 in Montreal, and this weekend's UFC 114 festivities in Las Vegas.

The show will be picked up and aired on ESPN 2 at least through August 2010, and will continue to air on the network on Thursday nights at 1am EST.

MMA Live launched on ESPN.com in 2008, and continued growth of the show along with the sport of mixed martial arts has given the network incentive to keep the show airing, with a fan base rabid for additional television coverage for the sport.

The show will also continue on ESPN.com with additional content, airing directly after the show on ESPN 2.

Source: MMA Weekly

GUILLARD & DIABATE ROCK THE HOUSE AT UFC 114

Melvin “The Young Assassin” Guillard lived up to his nickname on the preliminary card at UFC 114 on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

When Waylon Lowe clinched and pressed him to the fence, Guillard responded with two jumping knees that landed. Lowe was persistent in pursuing the takedown, but he paid dearly for it.

Following a brief separating, Lowe shot a double-leg, but Guillard sprawled out and drove a knee into Lowe’s sternum, dropping him hard to his knees. The referee stepped in immediately and stopped the bout.

Guillard celebrated, giving much of the credit to his Jackson’s MMA teammates and coaches before calling out who he hopes will be his next challenge.

“How many of you want to see me fight Jeremy Stephens? That’s the fight I want,” he called out before leaving the Octagon.

Viva la France!

Frenchman Cyrille Diabate nearly saw his UFC dreams go up in smoke when Brazilian fighter Luis Cane dropped him to the mat less than a minute into the fight. He battled back, however, and a minute later unloaded on Cane, dropping him to the mat with a left-right combination and finishing him off with strikes.

Joe Brammer and Aaron Riley went toe-to-toe for the better part of their three-round bout, but it was Riley who maintained control for the better part of the fight. He used the stand-up clinch to work on Brammer with knees to the body then, later in the fight, tripped Brammer to the ground several times. It was a close fight with several good stand-up exchanges, but Brammer couldn’t wrest control away long enough, giving up the unanimous decision to Riley.

Ryan Jensen and Jesse Forbes wasted no time getting UFC 114 off to exciting start, despite few fans even having found their seats yet.

Jensen came out fast, backing Forbes up with a couple straight rights, but was soon dropped to his knees from a Forbes right hand. Forbes charged and drove Jensen to the mat, taking his back and looking for a rear naked choke. Jensen quickly reversed position and locked on a fight ending guillotine choke just over a minute into the opening round.

Preliminary Bouts (Non-Televised):
-Melvin Guillard def. Waylon Lowe by TKO (Knee) at 3:28, R1
-Cyrille Diabate def. Luis Cane by TKO (Strikes) at 2:13, R1
-Aaron Riley def. Joe Brammer by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27), R3
-Ryan Jensen def. Jesse Forbes by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 1:06, R1

Source: MMA Weekly

Rashad beats Rampage and faces Shogun

UFC heat up one more time the sin city of Las Vegas. UFC 114 had the Brazilians Rogerio Minotouro and Luiz Banha in action, besides duel between the rivals Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson. Check below the highlights of the event.

MINOTOURO WIN BY POINTS

Jason Brilz surprised the Brazilian and went forward at the very beginning of the fight getting a little vantage on the trade of punches, Minotouro responded firmly and the first round was really tight. On the second, Brilz dominated completely the combat and almost submitted Rogério on a tight guillotine, which he managed to get rid of it, but got tired. On the third and last round, Brilz was the one tired and suddenly the Brazilian was back in the game, regained his confidence and was indeed better. A win for Minotouro on the split decision of the judges under boos.

RASHAD BEATS RAMPAGE AND WILL CONFRONT SHOGUN

After more than a year without fighting, Quinton Jackson lacked rhythm. Rashad dominated the two first rounds with an efficient Wrestling game and did good takedowns. On the third round, Rampage punched Evans hard when he tried the double leg takedown. On the ground, the judge almost interrupted the fight, but Rashad react well and regain the control of the combat. A win by unanimous decision of Rashad, over Rampage, who showed lack of rhythm, besides the usual heavy hand.

BISPING BEATS MILLER ON A BUSY FIGHT

The English Michael Bispin, who was coming from a defeat to Wanderlei Silva, has done a good recover work and did a good combat against the warrior Dan Miller. Even being worse on the trade of punches, Miller went forward and tried to do something. Bisping connected best shots, hurt Dan’s face and got the win on the unanimous decision of the judges.

On the first fight of the main card, John Hathaway was better than Diego Sanchez and dominated the three rounds, giving good shots and almost getting a knockout in some opportunities he end up missing. John got his tenth win, being this the most important win on his career, and yet is unbeaten. Hathayay got it on the unanimous judges round card decision and got it clear that he was a hard one on the lightweight division.

On the third combat on the main card, Todd Duffe was winning with no difficulty on a quiet fight, but on the third round, the chubby Mike Russow surprised Todd with a right-handed punch, who fell uncouncious. Melvin Guillard gave a personal show over Wayne Lowe on the beginning of the fight and with a knee on the stomach, Lowe fell unarmed.

Source: Tatame

Xande and Alejarra train hard for third absolute title

A physical conditioning coach well known in Brazil, Rafael Alejarra is facing a new challenge. At his new gym in California, for the first time in his career he is coaching an athlete specifically for Jiu-Jitsu. The athlete in question is Alexandre Ribeiro, who will try for an unprecedented third world absolute title at the coming Jiu-Jitsu World Championship. Check out some of the photos taken during a session and the an interview with the coach of some of the fight world’s biggest stars.

Is this the first time you prepare someone for Jiu-Jitsu?

I’d never prepared anyone just for Jiu-Jitsu before. My whole life I worked with MMA. But that’s fine. Xande is someone easy to work with, an athlete who offers to do the work. He doesn’t complain and I enjoy working with him. It’s my first time preparing someone for the Jiu-Jitsu Worlds and I was lucky because it’s easy dealing with Xande. I’m really happy about it and I’ll be with him and Saulo at the Worlds. I’ll be really happy to see him win this third absolute title.

So you feel he’ll be running on all cylinders for this competition?

He already is!

How is preparing someone for Jiu-Jitsu different from preparing them for MMA?

One thing I do with the Jiu-Jitsu guys that is different from MMA is isometrics. We don’t use it much in MMA, but in Jiu-Jitsu it’s almost all isometrics. It’s one of the style’s main characteristics. We also work a lot on grip strength.

And what are these preparations like?

We also do a lot of agility work with balls and cones. I tend to address Xande’s own characteristics in training so he can develop his skills better on the mat.

Besides Xande, who else are you working with?

I’ve been heading the physical conditioning work of Junior Cigano, Rogério Minotouro, Demian Maia, Cris Cyborg, KJ Noons and some others here at my gym in San Diego, MMA Conditioning High Performance Training.

Source: Gracie Magazine

Ralek Gracie strips Sakuraba’s “title”

Known as the “Gracie Hunter”, for having beaten four members of Jiu-Jitsu’s royal family, Kazushi Sakuraba might need a new nickname. In 2007, the Japanese idol lost a rematch with Royce. At this Saturday’s Dream 14 event in Japan, it was Ralek Gracie’s turn to avenge his family members.

Ralek didn’t wilt at Sakuraba’s menacing kimura attempt and came close to sinking a fully extended armbar. When all was said and done, Gracie took the win via unanimous decision.

There was more that went on last night, though. Strikeforce champion Nick Diaz submitted Hayato Sakurai via armbar. Another of the evening’s much-anticipated bouts saw Hiroyuki Takaya knock out Joachim Hansen.

Check out the results.

Dream 14
Saitama, Japan
May 29, 2010

Nick Diaz submitted Hayato Sakurai via armbar in R1

Ralek Gracie defeated Kazushi Sakuraba via unanimous decision

Hiroyuki Takaya defeated Joachim Hansen via KO in R1

Kid Yamamoto defeated “Kiko” Lopez via KO in R1

Akiyo Nishiura defeated Hideo Tokoro via TKO in R1

Kazuyuki Miyata defeated Takafumi Otsuka via split decision

Kenji Osawa defeated Yoshiro Maeda via split decision

Ikuhisa Minowa submitted Imani Lee via rear-naked choke in R1

Source: Gracie Magazine

Shinya Aoki vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri Set for DREAM.15

Japan's best lightweights will finally meet in the ring as Tatsuya Kawajiri will get his long awaited title shot against Dream lightweight champion Shinya Aoki at DREAM.15 on July 10.

The pair share many common opponents but notably, Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez.

The hopes of Japan were upon Aoki's shoulders going into Strikeforce: Nashville in April but he failed to offer a challenge to Melendez and easily lost a five round decision.

Kawajiri fared much better however on New Year's Eve 2006 against Melendez, also losing a decision but only by the narrowest of margins with many observes giving the fight to "Crusher".

Source: MMA Fighting

5/30/10

Rashad Evans Wins UFC 114 Grudge Match Over Rampage Jackson
By Mike Chiappetta

Igniting the spark that led to a wild rivalry with Quinton "Rampage" Jackson 14 months ago, Evans had some thinking he bit off more than he could chew. But in a battle of former light heavyweight champions, Evans outworked Jackson with a perfect brew of power striking, clinchwork and takedowns to outpoint him on the way to a unanimous decision win at UFC 114.

Jackson came into the fight as a favorite both on betting lines and with the fans, who roared at every image of Jackson and went to a full howl upon his introduction. But Jackson couldn't really got his offense started until the third round, and by then Evans was in firm control. After withstanding a furious Jackson charge in the third, Evans reasserted his will and closed out the contest in command.

The final scores were 30-27, 29-28, 30-27.

"It's a huge relief," Evans said afterward. "Me and Quinton put on a good show."

"This fight is going to haunt me," added a disappointed Jackson.

Evans surprised onlookers from just after the opening bell, landing his first strike, a powerful overhand right that sent Jackson reeling sideways and against the cage. Time and again, Evans capitalized when Jackson was against the fence, clinching him and gambling that the work would pay off later due to his conditioning.

Despite going from 251 pounds to 205 pounds in eight weeks, Jackson never faded, but his timing was off on his strikes, and he later admitted it was likely due to being rusty after the 14-month layoff.

He did make one late charge in the third though, dropping Evans with an uppercut against the fence. Jackson tried desperately to finish his disoriented opponent, but Evans recovered and closed out the round strong with two takedowns and strong groundwork of his own.

"I'm very surprised he recovered from that," Jackson said afterward. "I put all my eggs in that basket and it didn't work. I guess ring rust is a factor."

Jackson also asked for a rematch, though the winner was promised a title shot, meaning Evans will go on to face Mauricio "Shogun" Rua later this year. In the post-fight press conference, Evans said he came out of the fight injury-free, meaning the UFC will likely go to work to put the match together in short order and he can move past this all-encompassing feud.

"I'm happy I don't have to answer questions about Rampage anymore," a beaming Evans said.

In the co-main event, British middleweight Michael Bisping rebounded from his UFC 110 loss by outlasting the tough New Jersey fighter Dan Miller in a unanimous decision.

Though Miller came in with a wrestling pedigree, he only attempted two takedowns over the course of the 15-minute fight, landing one. The result was a kickboxing-heavy fight that favored Bisping's speed and accuracy.

Miller fought a very close first round until Bisping asserted himself from the early moments of the second. After landing a hard right, his varied attack had Miller off-balance and bloodied from the nose and near the eye.

"Dan Miller is a great guy with some great skills," Bisping said. "He'll go on to a fantastic MMA career. He's tough. I hit him with some big right hands and he was still right there."

Undefeated British welterweight prospect John Hathaway earned the biggest win of his young career, upsetting Diego Sanchez in a lopsided decision.

Hathaway took Sanchez's favorite weapon – the takedown – out of his arsenal, and the former No. 1 lightweight contender had a rough time in the standup against the reach advantage of Hathaway.

Hathaway set the tone of the fight early by knocking Sanchez down with a knee as Sanchez shot in for a takedown. He nearly finished it there but the durable Sanchez weathered the storm. Still, Hathaway's long jab and right hand found their targets repeatedly, bloodying his opponent's face.

Todd Duffee came into the event as one of the must-watch young heavyweights in MMA, and after two-and-a-half rounds of dominance, it seemed the praise was well-deserved. But on his way to seemingly certain victory, he was derailed by a stunning reversal of fortune.

Mike Russow authored one of the most stunning comeback knockouts in recent memory, rebounding from a two-round deficit with a pair of back-to-back right hands that knocked out the surging Duffee.

Duffee seemed to be in cruise control, gliding to a unanimous decision while avoiding Russow's wrestling and takedown game. Scoring with jabs and right hands from distance, Duffee easily captured both of the first two rounds, and was on his way to taking the third in the same fashion before fates quickly changed.

While one young prospect prospered, another floundered.

Russow stepped into an overhand right that landed on the chin. Duffee was already falling backwards as Russow caught him with a follow-up right. Duffee crashed to the mat unconscious for the sudden KO. Amazingly, Russow fought much of the bout with a broken arm after blocking a Nogueira kick, it was reported by the UFC in explaining Russow's absence from the post-fight press conference.

In the most controversial fight of the evening, top 10 light-heavyweight Antonio Rogerio Nogueira avoided a major upset, with the judges handing him a disputed split decision win.

Brilz seemed to control both of the first two rounds with his takedowns and groundwork while Nogueira captured the third in desperation mode. The vast majority of what appeared to be a pro-Nogueira crowd felt Brilz won the fight, but when the decision was read, Nogueira got the nod.

The fight was essentially decided by the pivotal first, which judges Tony Weeks and Marcos Rosales both scored for Nogueira.

The crowd drowned out Nogueira's post-fight comments booing the seeming injustice, though Brilz took it in stride.

"First off, don't boo this guy, he's one heckuva fighter," Brilz said. "Don't boo him. I left it to the decision of the judges. It is what it is, but I had a good performance, and that's what the whole plan was."

On the first fight of the Spike portion of the broadcast, Efrain Escudero defeated Dan Lauzon by unanimous decision, getting the judges' nod by identical scores of 29-27.

Escudero controlled the entire fight with clinchwork that featured a steady diet of knees to the body. He also outstruck Lauzon en route to the win. The odd score came as the result of a point that was deducted for a third-round low blow.

Dong Hyun-Kim followed that with an equally dominant performance, staying unbeaten with a systematic unanimous decision over Amir Sadollah.

Kim (13-0-1) took Sadollah down seemingly at will, and while he wasn't able to finish the fight, he rarely gave up position and scored with well-timed elbows and strikes from the top. Sadollah was never really able to get any offense going until the final moments of the 15-minute fight, when he landed his first power combo of the night.

Sadollah fell to 3-2 with the loss.

In the prelims, Ryan Jensen needed just 1:06 to finish Jesse Forbes via guillotine submission, Aaron Riley outworked Joe Brammer to earn a unanimous decision, Cyrille Diabate KO'd Luiz Cane to win his promotional debut, and Melvin Guillard made it four of his last five, scoring a first-round knockout of Waylon Lowe.

Source: MMA Fighting

50th State Fair “SELECT COMBAT”
Friday, June 18 & Saturday, June 19

ITINERARY:

Friday, June 18th
4:00pm Staff Meeting
5:00-6:00pm SC One Tournament Weigh-ins
6:30-7:00pm Rules Meeting for Tournament and Fight
7:00-9:00pm SC One Tournament
7:00-8:00pm SC One Fight Weigh-ins

Saturday, June 19th
3:00pm Staff Meeting
4:00pm Keiki matches (10) matches

12 & under:
(2 min) Takedowns
(2 min) Positions

13 – 18 yrs old:
(1 min) Kickboxing
(1.5 min) Boxing & Takedowns
(2 min) Jiu Jitsu

5:30pm Adult matches (15) matches
(1 min) Kickboxing
(1.5 min) Boxing & Takedowns
(2 min) Jiu Jitsu
8:00pm End

TICKET PRICES:

Pre-sale tickets (up to June 18th) – $20 per adult / $8 keiki

School Groups of (10) or more – $15 per adult / $6 keiki

Door - $25 adult / $10 keiki

50th State Fair “50th State BJJ Championships”
Friday, June 25 & Saturday, June 26

ITINERARY:

Friday, June 25th

5:00pm Weigh-ins begin
5:30-6:00pm 1st seminar / exhibition
6:15-6:45pm Rules Meeting
7:00-7:30pm 2nd seminar / exhibition
8:00pm End of weigh-ins

Saturday, June 26th
8:00am Staff Meeting
9:00am Keiki matches start
11:00am Women’s matches start
1:00pm Men’s matches start
6:00pm Tournament ends

PRICE:

Pre-registration (before June 18th)
$60 per adult / $35 per keiki (12 & under)

Regular Registration (June 18th-June 25th)
$75 per adult / $50 per keiki (12 & under)

Walk-Up (day of tournament)
$100 per competitor

Door - $10.00

Source: Egan Inoue

Nogueira points “Cigano” as next champion

Former Pride and UFC heavyweight champion, Rodrigo Minotauro Nogueira is a little bit further from the top of the division after his loss to Cain Velasquez, but the athlete believes that the belt of the heavyweight division has a great potential of coming to Brazil in the waste of other tough contender: Junior “Cigano” dos Santos.

“He’s going through a very good time on his career, a very good phase, just I had those moments to become a Champion and other I didn’t. I’m happy for his good moment… He smells the belt, so we’re training him to get there”, analyzes Minotauro, in an interview to May’s edition of TATAME Magazine, betting on his training partner. “His moment is now, it’s everything going just fine so he can dispute the belt… He was trained to become the champion of the world and his time will come. If it’s now, we’ll be glad to be a part of it”.

Source: Tatame

UFC Announces Opening of Canadian Office
Names Former CFL Commissioner Tom Wright Director for Canada
By FCF Staff

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has announced today that the MMA promotion will open an office in Toronto, Ontario, and has hired former Canadian Football League Commissioner Tom Wright, as the new Director of Canadian operations. According to a post on the official UFC site, which accompanied a press conference that was held in Toronto earlier today, Wright’s role will:

“focus on improving and strengthening UFC’s relations within local communities, provincial governments, Canadian businesses and the national and local media. Wright will build upon the efforts to regulate the sport of mixed martial arts in Ontario, and as he stated today, toward implementing a regular UFC events schedule that would include holding up to three UFC events per year in Canada.”

The creation of a Canadian office / division mirrors what the UFC did previously in the United Kingdom, where Marshall Zelaznik is the head of operations. In addition to his previous experience as the CFL Commissioner, Wright has been a President and or CEO with several sports related companies including Adidas Canada LTD and Spalding Canada LTD. He has also been the Director of the Special Olympics Canada Foundation since 2002.

The UFC has held three previous events in Montreal, Quebec, and the promotion’s upcoming June 12th card in Vancouver, British Columbia, was the promotion’s fastest sell out on record. The promotion’s smaller affiliate, World Extreme Cagefighting, will make its Canadian debut on June 20th in Edmonton, Alberta.

Source: Full Contact Fighter

Wand exclusive: “Akiyama is really strong”

Coming from a win over Michael Bisping, Wanderlei Silva will have a great challenge on UFC 116, which will happen on July 3 in Las Vegas, United States: Yoshihiro Akiyama, who suffered one single loss on MMA for the striker Jerome Le Banner, who had over 20kg more than him. With 15 wins in 15 fights against Japanese fighters, Wanderlei knows that Akiyama is tough.

“It’ll be the professor Rafael (Cordeiro) who will deal with it and guide the sparring to do it the way it must be done. Akiyama is really tough, a good guy, who was an athlete for all his life through. He has a good ground game, Akiyama is really strong”, compliments the former Pride champion in an interview he gave on TATAME Magazine #170, believing that the Japanese style, who won all of his fights by knockout or submission, will match his.

“It’ll be an interesting fight, it’s a good fight for me because he goes forward and goes with the flow, he doesn’t run off. I believe the fight will be busy, a big show”, promises, adapting to the new division. “I want to keep on fighting for the next six years, at least until I’m forty. This division change was good, I had to change my diet and I’m feeling just fine”, concluded.

Source: Tatame

The Wackiest Moments in MMA History

As if Liddell in the buff wasn't enough, here are eleven more unforgettable (for better or worse) moments in MMA history.
By Jonathan Snowden

Chuck Liddell's inexplicable naked nautilus left my jaw agape, but set my mind in action. Has their been anything in the history of MMA to match that moment for its oddness? Its creepiness? Its inexplicable ability to draw the eye? In short, are there eleven moments to match it? Of course not. It's one of a kind. But it did give me a chance to think of the top eleven wackiest moments in MMA history.

11. Randleman KO's Himself Before UFC 24 Main Event
Kevin Randleman was a physical specimen and one of the scariest men on the planet. Not only was he the Ultimate Fighting Championship Heavyweight Champion, he was also a complete loose cannon known for explosive rage in and out of the cage. He won some, lost some, but always gave a hell of a fight. Only one opponent was unyielding: some carelessly placed backstage pipes. He slipped, cracked his head and his heavyweight title fight with Pedro Rizzo was canceled right in the middle of the Pay-Per-View.
Credit: WCW

10. Abbott "Goes" Wild at UFC 17
"Tank" Abbott made his reputation in the MMA world with his wild tales of brutal streetfights. He had the prison record to back up his boisterous claims and often created as much chaos outside the Octagon as he did in it. Abbott traveled with a collection of thugs and trouble always followed. At UFC 8, he took things too far. First he went after Jiu Jitsu expert Alan Goes in the stands because Goes had been telling friends how he tapped Abbott out in training. Then he took the verbal battle to Elaine McCarthy, referee Big John's wife and the UFC's travel agent. Abbott ended up suspended with pay for almost a year - clearly the winner, being paid to sit at home while McCarthy chilled out. Tank Abbott was always smarter than he looked.
Credit: Combat Lifestyle

9. JUST BLEED Guy
Before there was Tapout or Affliction to help immediately identify D-Bag MMA fans and wannabe fighters, it was a little harder to tell which fans were raving lunatics. Except for the "Just Bleed" guy. He became a legend among hardcore fans for his brief appearance during introductions at UFC 15. He was shirtless, drunk and flexing his muscles. That was great, but we were just getting started: he also had "UFC" hand painted on his forehead and "Just Bleed" hand painted on his chest. He was clearly an amazing man, an American icon and an inspiration for future fighter Tom Lawlor.
Credit: AP

8. Brock Lesnar Takes on Mir, Mir's Dad, the Crowd and UFC Sponsors
Brock Lesnar was pretty worked up after his UFC 100 win over arch nemesis Frank Mir. It wasn't enough to have pounded Mir into what Mike Tyson called "the state of Bolivian." He also felt compelled to rub it in. He tossed spittle all over Mir and his dad, pointing and taunting his vanquished foe and throwing up a double bird salute to the booing crowd. The UFC has pulled the video from YouTube but Brock's words will live forever. He claimed he was going home to drink a Coors Lite because the UFC's largest sponsor, Bud Light "won't pay me nothing." He then told a horrified audience he was going home to "get on top of my wife." America, meet the sport of MMA!
Credit: Pride

7. Royce Gracie and Kazushi Sakuraba Go 90 Minutes
Royce Gracie was the sport's most enduring legend. He had never truly been defeated in his first UFC tenure and after sitting out for several years, was returning to the ring to compete with a new generation of MMA stars. First among them was Kazushi Sakuraba, who had defeated Gracie's brother Royler in an earlier bout. Because the Gracie family believed Royler had been cheated in his fight, they requested special rules for Royce's fight with Sakuraba, that included unlimited 15 minute rounds. The two battled for six rounds, a total of 90 minutes, before Royce's brother Rorion (the founder of the UFC) threw in the towel. It was an amazing performance, especially when you consider how many fighters get tired after a single five minute round.
Credit: UFC

6. The Buffer 360
Bruce Buffer is an enduring and important part of the UFC show. For probably the only time in his life, in the Octagon he is "The Buffer," not just the younger, goofier brother of boxing and pro wrestling stalwart Michael "Are You Ready to Rumble" Buffer. Although the production crew always seems to miss it, Buffer is famous in the arena for the "Buffer 180." He will begin introducing a fighter while looking across the ring at his opponent, before dramatically turning around to point at the fighter in question at the last moment. For UFC 100, Buffer took the "Buffer 180" to a new level. Who better to receive the first and only Buffer 360 than UFC champion Brock Lesnar? It was a breathtaking moment, immortalized, like all things in this wacky modern world, by cell phone camera.

5. Chuck Liddell Knocked Unconscious in Atlanta
This one was more eerie than wacky. At UFC 88, the Octagon traveled back to the southeast for the first time in years. Like in most cities, light heavyweight legend Chuck Liddell was by far the crowd favorite. He had lost his title to Quinton Jackson, but wowed the MMA world with a rock-em-sock-em robots type fight with rival Wanderlei Silva at UFC 79. He was expected to make short work of the former Ultimate Fighter winner Rashad Evans and earn a rubber match with Jackson. Instead, Liddell was left quivering and drooling in the cage after an Evans punch ended his night. What makes this such a memorable moment was the crowd. The 15,000 people in the Phillips Arena turned on a dime from typically raucous UFC fans to mourners at the world's creepiest funeral.
Credit: Chuck Liddell

4. Chuck Liddell's Cry for Help
Chuck Liddell's bizarre naked workout video was hardly his first foray into controversy. Liddell, known for his partying, attracted plenty of attention for his incoherent appearance on Good Morning Texas while promoting the movie 300. Liddell slurred his words and at one point appeared to fall asleep. He also claimed his next fight would be with HIV infected boxer Tommy Morrison. The performance concerned the Nevada Athletic Commission enough for them to bring the fighter in for a drug test days later. He passed.
Credit: Shonie Carter

3. Shonie Carter Refs a Double KO
A double knockout is inherently exciting. Both men (Shaun Parker and Tyler Bryan) land on the button, both fall, both are out like a light. Having it all go down in eight seconds takes it to the next level. Having the immortal Shonie Carter as the third man in the cage makes it priceless. Carter is one of MMA's great characters. He's fought some of the very best and made the fourth season of The Ultimate Fighter watchable with non-stop hijinks. He's at his campy best here, making a great moment even better.
Credit: Esther Lin

2. Cyborg Leaps on Cage to Celebrate: While Fight Goes On!
You could forgive Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos for believing her fight with an overmatched Shayna Baszler was all over. She had landed more than ten unanswered blows and dropped her opponent. Referee Steve Mazzagatti moved in like he was stopping the fight and Cyborg sprinted across the cage and leaped to the top to celebrate. The problem? Mazzagatti didn't actually stop the fight. "After I saw her on the mat, I thought I won and then the referee told me to come back," Cyborg said. The notorious masochist made Cyborg leap down and pound on Shayna a little bit more, dropping her again, before he finally called a stop to the contest.
Credit: Full Contact Fighter

1. Newton Pays For His Own Triangle Choke
Matt Hughes was desperate to avenge his teacher Pat Miletich. Carlos Newton had choked him out with an old school playground move and claimed his belt. Hughes wanted to bring the title home to the Miletich family. His desire almost cost him: he got sloppy and Newton caught him in a triangle choke, wrapping his legs around Hughes' head and squeezing like a python. Hughes responded the only way he could think of, by picking Newton up over his head. As Newton hung precariously over the mat, Hughes lost consciousness, slamming Newton to the mat. Newton was knocked out and lost his grip. A groggy Hughes was declared the winner, in one of the UFC's most memorable moments.

Source: UGO

The end of Tito Ortiz in UFC?
By Zach Arnold

So it was revealed that he needs neck surgery for disc issues. I thought the surgery from NuVasive was supposed to fix a lot of his problems? It would seem like a real injury as opposed to the “skull” issues he claimed he had going into the Forrest Griffin fight (and Forrest went in with a broken foot). Truthfully, Tito is physically shot and it’s time for either UFC or a major athletic commission to step in and end his career — you can’t come back from all those surgeries and expect to even compete against middle-of-the-road Light Heavyweights at this point. Meanwhile, Chuck Liddell is pissed that Tito “didn’t ever want to fight him”, but Chuck should thank Tito because this season’s TUF has been a very positive development for keeping Chuck’s career alive.

Kotaku has a report on UFC’s online use-code mishaps. At least you can be Shaq in the UFC game if you want.

Mike Russow, police officer. A surge in MMA fighters donning the badge?

Nick Diaz says Hayato Sakurai is better than Takanori Gomi and Shinya Aoki. I guess he has to try to justify that main event for DREAM’s show coming up at Saitama Super Arena. In terms of drawing power, it’s as ridiculous of a main event for a major building in Japan as I’ve seen for a long time (excluding anything Sengoku has done).

Showdown Joe Ferraro described today’s UFC press conference as an awkward atmosphere. You think? The media bandwagon of picking Rashad Evans to beat Rampage Jackson continues to grow. Rampage was all business at the presser. A serious Rampage is a winning Rampage.

I noted in an interview that Reed Harris did on Tapout radio that Reed called the Leonard Garcia/Korean Zombie fight the best fight he’s ever seen in MMA. Leonard might agree with him and also thinks he hasn’t reached the prime of his career, yet.

Source: Fight Opinion

More Bouts Confirmed for UFC on Versus 2
By FCF Staff

Only hours after the UFC officially confirmed that a light-heavyweight tilt between Jon Jones (10-1) and Vladimir Matyushenko (24-4) would headline its upcoming August 1st, UFC on Versus 2 event in Salt Lake City, the promotion has announced several more bouts for the card. The event, which will be broadcast live on the Versus network, will be hosted by Salt Lake City’s EnergySolutions Arena.

In addition to a previously confirmed middleweight bout between Yushin Okami (25-5) and Mark Munoz (8-1), the UFC has confirmed that a welterweight fight between Jake Ellenberger (22-5) and John Howard (14-4), as well as, a lightweight clash between Tanakori Gomi (31-6) and Joe Stevenson (36-11), is scheduled for the main card.

The line-up for the event’s preliminary card includes: at welterweight, Matt Ridddle (4-1) vs. DaMarques Johnson (16-7), at light-heavyweight, James Irvin (14-6-0 I NC) vs. Igor Pokrajac (21-7), at middleweight, Rob Kimmons (22-5) vs. Steve Steinbess (4-3), and in another 185lb. tilt, Brian Stann (8-3) vs. Mike Massenzio (11-3).

Source: Full Contact Fighter

Pedro Rizzo
By Guilherme Cruz

One of the greatest names in Brazilian’s MMA history, Pedro Rizzo came with a win in his hands from American’s stages. Back to Brazil after beating Gay Goodrigde using his strong point, which is the low kicks, the heavyweight talked to TATAME and celebrated the win over the American, talked about the expectations for the fight he will do against Ken Shamrock, in June, and his wish to confront Josh Barnett, who will fight in the same event in Australia. Check below the exclusive interview with Pedro Rizzo.

What did you think about your win over Gary Goodridge?

It was nice, not because of the win, because I think I didn’t fight well. I have to improve some things to get to the level I’m hoping to get. I think I have to improve my speed, my conditioning… In fact, a lot of conditioning, but I think I’ll get there with a good sequence of fights. There were two mistakes, so I have to improve. I thought I could end that fight sooner, but it was good for the win and for realizing I have a lot of things to work on.

Do you think that your time off, because of an injury, disturbed your performance on your last fight?

Yes, since I fought with Jeff (Monson) and, before that fight, I was a year without a fight. These two years I’ve been irregular on my fights. I have to improve my conditioning with two, three or four fights in a roll. That really gets in my way. I have another fight now, against Ken Shamrock and, with the help of God, I’ll be back to be the fighter I used to be.

Were you surprised that he did not come back for the third round after all injuries you caused him?

No. I think he handled a lot the pain in his leg, I kicked his legs too much and, as I kept on kicking him, I thought the fight would end even sooner. I think I did not make the right tactic. In fact, I had one and then I did other thing inside the octagon, I end up bringing him down. If I had stood from the beginning, I think the fight would have been shorter. He was not ok, I knew he could come back or not, but I really wasn’t hoping that he did come back and, if he had, he would be in real pain.

In July you will fight Shamrock… What are your expectations for that fight?

It’s fine, man. It’s a good thing to have a scheduled fight, but that’s not my only focus. I’m taking a week off and next week I’ll be back to the trainings, so let’s see. I’ll try to improve everything, because it’s easier to train after a fight, you are already conditioned. Now I have to work on the things I didn’t do for this fight. I have to improve fitness, my air conditioning was good, but it can be better… I was slow and I also have to work on my support… I have to work a lot on my timing, reaction speed. I can get it all once I get my rhythm back and at least it’ll be easier now that I have fought, so it’s easier than starting out of nowhere.

What do you think it would be a good strategy to beat him? To bet on your low kicks?

Can be… As in all fights, I like to start it standing. I think that I’m better than him on that part of the game. I’ll go with the flow. He has a good fall technique, but I think that the best thing to do would be to fight standing and, if we go to the ground, I have to try to fall on the top of him and punching him. I didn’t think about it very much, but I think that what I’m already doing will be enough to beat him.

You have signed with Impact FC, which is a good three card event, and Josh Barnett is on it, a guy you beat once, but lost on the last time you confronted each other… Do you think about a rematch?

It’d be a good thing. I’ll have my second fight now, against a tough guy. It would be a good fight, because Josh is also off for a while. I think it’s time to fight a respected guy, a guy who has been fighting in a high level for several years, a tough guy. It would really be a possible next step after this next fight, for me it would be great to fight him again. But I think there are a lot of events other than this one. The guys are fighting and the athletes, thanks God, are having a hard time (laughs). I intend to fight twice, for sure, this year and be in a good rhythm and then I’ll see if I can fight in a high level like I used to, with ranked fights and try to fight in a big event like UFC or Strikeforce… these are things that, for me to achieve, first I have to win three or four fights more, but I think it’s a possibility. It’s great that we are having all of these events. I heard that, last weekend, on May 15, when I fought, there were 15 fight events happening in the United States, so it’s a growing thing.

Are you going to your farm to rest a bit and then come back to the hard trainings?

Yes, man. I can’t rest too much because next week Glover Teixeira and Vitor Miranda will fight… Two days ago I arrived at the airport, went home quickly and then went to the gym to help the guys that help me. They will fight against tough guys, so I’ll just go to the farm in the weekend. Until Friday I’ll be here training with them and, thanks God, I only have a hurt hand and next week I’ll fight them, because they have scheduled fights. On the next Friday maybe I travel for three or four days so I can come back to the hard trainings on the first week of June.

Source: Tatame

5/29/10

UFC 114 Preview: The Main Card
by Tomas Rios

Hawaii Air Times:
UFC 114 Countdown 12:30 - 1:30PM Channel 559
UFC 114: Preliminaries 3:00 - 4:00PM Channel 559
UFC 114: Rampage vs. Evans 4:00 - 7:00PM Channel 701

The UFC 114 pay-per-view violence-fest Saturday will be a defining day in the lives of Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson. Former UFC light heavyweight champions, this may be the last time the loser even sniffs a title shot given the army of light heavyweight prospects coming down the pike. Meanwhile the winner will finally get the chance to regain the title he so briefly held.

Rampage-Evans won’t be the only bit of fistic intrigue at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, though. Tony Robbins disciple Diego Sanchez makes his return to the welterweight division, man-mountain Todd Duffee looks to continue his “Hard Work Tour” and Michael Bisping just wants everyone to forget the flying forearm Dan Henderson dropped on his dome.

In other words, read the preview and make sure you have your Saturday night clear of any possible distractions. For example, I filed a false death report on myself to make sure no one bothers me -- works like a charm every time.

Quinton Jackson vs. Rashad Evans

After months of trash-talk that gradually turned into repulsive race baiting and bizarrely homoerotic threats, Jackson and Evans will finally settle their super-charged feud. Adding some fuel to the raging firestorm is the light heavyweight title shot against Mauricio Rua awaiting the winner of this fight.

Who gets the marbles, pogs and all other available play pieces depends largely on what sort of strategy Evans shows up with and what kind of shape Jackson is in. Fresh off shooting the completely unnecessary movie adaptation of “The A-Team,” Jackson’s focus on fighting has been justifiably questioned, especially since he has a long history of distractions outside the cage and inconsistent performances. While no one is questioning Evans’ commitment to the sport, he is an undersized light heavyweight who has repeatedly shown an utter lack of strategy inside the cage.

One need only look at Evans’ most recent fights for proof that he doesn’t seem to fight with a game plan in mind. He gassed himself out trying to muscle around Thiago Silva and played right into Lyoto Machida’s game by stepping inside the pocket with badly telegraphed power punches. Even Evans’ win over Forrest Griffin saw him lose the first two rounds before lucking into top control and rightly capitalizing on the opportunity. In those first two rounds, however, Evans was soundly out-boxed and relied far too much on landing single power punches.

That won’t work against Jackson, who is the far more fundamentally sound boxer and one of the division’s best counterpunchers. At least he is when he bothers to show up for fights, a fact driven home by his wildly uneven performance against Keith Jardine at UFC 96. Still, Jackson has the chin to take Evans’ punches and he is far more accurate with his own strikes.

The way Evans can win this fight is by using his movement to stay outside the pocket and whip leg kicks at Jackson’s lead leg. For whatever reason Jackson refuses to check leg kicks despite the fact that he’s been ravaged by them several times before. Attacking with kicks, though, might require a level of strategic savvy that has long been missing from Evans’ game.

What really puts this fight beyond Evans’ reach, however, is his perplexing insistence on going for takedowns against physically stronger opponents. Not only does this tax his gas tank, but it also exposes his weak base, which everyone from Thiago Silva to Michael Bisping has exposed several times over. Jackson certainly has the wrestling to stuff Evans’ shot, especially since Evans tends to shoot in from way outside the pocket instead of setting up his level change with strikes.

All in all there really isn’t a clear path to victory for Evans unless Jackson enters this fight with his mind going in a million different directions. Given the stakes at hand and the utter disdain these two have for each other, it’s hard to imagine either fighter showing up with anything less than an alpha game. That scenario not only favors Jackson, but practically guarantees Evans will get laid out.

Michael Bisping vs. Dan Miller

Coming off consecutive losses to Demian Maia and Chael Sonnen, Miller probably has a good feel for what it’s like to be Michael Bisping -- that is, a quality middleweight stuck in the gray area between gatekeepers and title contenders. If either man is going to shed that distinction, it’s going to require a resolution to the stylistic issues created by their one-dimensional fighting styles.

Not an altogether realistic goal for two veteran fighters. That leaves the question of whether or not Bisping can stuff Miller’s takedowns and work his punch-and-judy boxing style. That right there is Bisping’s main problem, as he actually has solid takedown defense and, more importantly, knows how to clear his hips after getting taken down and escape back to the feet. Yet Bisping doesn’t have the KO power to keep opponents from simply getting right back in his face and restarting the cycle.

This is where the fight gets complicated. Miller has the wrestling to get Bisping down but not the grappling or ground-and-pound to overwhelm him from there. This is key, as Bisping’s ability to escape to the feet means Miller has to try and get past Bisping’s guard before he can clear his hips. The limitations of Miller’s game will become apparent here, though, because Bisping excels at controlling his opponent’s posture from the guard.

That is the polar opposite of what Miller wants. His game is at its best in scrambles where he can advance position and make better use of his grappling as opposed to relying on his substandard ground-and-pound inside the guard. It should also be noted that Bisping showed incredible savvy in his bout with Denis Kang, managing to survive multiple threatening positions against a well-respected grappler. The flipside of that is Bisping ultimately had to rely on Kang self-destructing like Chernobyl in order to pull off a win.

Miller has the conditioning and focus to assure that he won’t end up like Kang. His uncoordinated striking is a serious liability in this fight, however. While Bisping isn’t going to KO anyone with a halfway decent chin, he does know how to rack up points by throwing strikes in volume. If Miller chooses to stand his ground on the feet, he’ll certainly get outpointed, but it doesn’t make any sense for him to do so.

Against Maia, Miller clearly felt that his opponent posed too much of a threat with submissions to take him down. Against Sonnen, he was simply outwrestled. Bisping doesn’t pose the same threats, but his takedown defense and busy punching style should be just enough to eke out a decision win.

Todd Duffee vs. Mike Russow

Childhood fans of He-Man have finally found their MMA avatar in the walking muscle magazine advertisement known as Todd Duffee, an undefeated heavyweight whose knack for first-round stoppages already has the UFC building him into its next homegrown superstar. No such hype accompanies Mike Russow to the cage, but he’s long been a quality heavyweight gatekeeper with the caliber of wrestling to give excessively hyped prospects issues.

Duffee, a real-life Prince Adam, isn’t a product of careful marketing machinations, however. He’s genuinely mutant cobra venom to one-dimensional wrestlers like Russow. No knock on Russow, but beyond a solid single-leg takedown and some good secondary techniques, he doesn’t have much to offer Duffee. Even scoring a takedown will be problematic because he doesn’t set up his level changes at all and often relies on pressing opponents against the cage to finish takedowns.

It’s going to take an explosive first step that Russow doesn’t have to successfully attack Duffee’s legs. Getting into tie-ups with Duffee against the cage does the Chicago native no favors. Those physical battles that Russow is accustomed to winning actually favor Duffee’s superior athleticism and underrated Greco-Roman clinch skills. Considering Russow’s tendency to overcommit to leg attacks, Duffee will have plenty of time to counter by grabbing the over/under control he favors and working the grinding, close-quarters game he used to pelt Assuerio Silva.

This all assumes Russow will get close enough to affect the pace of the fight, which ignores his ineffective striking and telegraphed takedowns. If Duffee gets the timing down on Russow’s attacks, it’s a matter of time before he catches him in the same fashion that led to his record-breaking seven-second KO of Tim Hague.

That instant addition to the highlight canon has created the misconception that Duffee is a supreme striker, but he actually uses his striking more to set up level changes and clinch tie-ups. While Duffee doesn’t have the wrestling background of Russow, he makes up the difference with an alchemical combination of quick feet and brute strength that most heavyweights are unaccustomed to dealing with. Russow just isn’t the sort of fundamentally astute wrestler that will give Duffee problems, and he lacks the finishing skill to maximize any takedowns he does score. Ignore his high percentage of finishes: Russow’s ground-and-pound is more a nuisance than anything, and his submission transitions are equal parts sloppy and rehearsed.

Still, a solid wrestler with some offensive skills is going to be a tough match for most -- just not for Duffee, who has Russow beat in every facet of the game. Expect to see a more realistic representation of Duffee’s style, as he moves in and out on Russow with power punches before slamming him down and finishing with a ground-and-pound siege. Whether or not this fight will be a suitable meal for Duffee or a mere appetizer is anyone’s guess.

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Jason Brilz

After he starched Luis Arthur Cane at UFC 106, the list of fighters willing to fight Nogueira had to shrink considerably. When Forrest Griffin was forced to pull out of this fight less than a month ago, it was hard to imagine who would be brave and/or crazy enough to take on “Minotoro” on such short notice. That distinction belongs to Brilz, who will make a Scott Bakula-level quantum leap against arguably the most underappreciated fighter of the past decade.

Finally in the UFC after several years of bouncing around promotions in search of quality opponents, Nogueira put the world on notice when he effortlessly dismantled Cane. However, his 2009 fight with Vladimir Matyushenko should worry Brilz more. Much like Matyushenko, Brilz’s wrestling chops may be overstated, and he has developed into more of a dirty boxer than anything else. In his fight with Nogueira, Matyushenko tried to close the pocket and rough up the Brazilian but instead repeatedly ran into punching combinations and knees to the body.

Nogueira has proven adept at catching opponents coming in and using his movement to evade the clinch. That strategy will be especially effective against Brilz, who fights flat-footed and has been vulnerable to rangy fighters who can pick at him from afar. Even if Brilz manages to collapse the pocket, Nogueira’s hand speed and smooth hooking combinations can carry him there.

Never mind the possibility of this fight hitting the ground, where Nogueira remains arguably the best guard player in the division. Brilz seemed hesitant to take down Eric Schafer, and it seems unlikely he would try his luck against a next-level grappler like Nogueira. Again, this assumes Brilz can even get him to the ground, which depends more on Nogueira’s willingness to pull guard.

For whatever reason, Brilz seems to lack urgency and has oftentimes looked content to ride out decisions inside the clinch. As a result, he has been ineffective when he cannot get to the clinch, and Nogueira possesses the reach and boxing to keep the pocket open. There are not many light heavyweights out there who have any chance of beating Nogueira in a long-range boxing match.

Nogueira has proven a stylistic nightmare for anyone dependant on fighting at a specific range. Brilz fits that bill perfectly and lacks the secondary skills to give Nogueira a different look and keep him guessing. The difference in pure technical ability will manifest itself in particularly violent fashion, as Brilz ends up as the latest addition to Nogueira’s ever-growing collection of finishes.

Diego Sanchez vs. John Hathaway

Sanchez’s ongoing quest for a UFC title picks up where it started, as he returns to the welterweight ranks after a lightweight run ended in a one-sided loss to B.J. Penn. The deluge of dominating wrestlers populating the welterweight ranks were a constant roadblock for Sanchez the first time around, and he faces the same challenges in Hathaway.

A converted rugby player, Hathaway has developed the sort of rugged ground-and-pound style that Jon Fitch used to edge Sanchez at UFC 76. However, Hathaway is not an elite wrestler and does not have the base to stuff Sanchez’s guard. Because Hathaway does not hold position well, he can be easily swept, as evidenced by his bout with Rick Story. There, he squandered multiple dominant positions.

Sanchez presents an entirely different challenge, as his slashing elbows and offensive guard work make him difficult to contain. Beyond that, Sanchez will be at least as good a wrestler as Hathaway and actually has more explosion on his leg attacks. The clinch could prove a virtual stalemate since both fighters rely more on brute strength than technique to score takedowns from the Greco-Roman tie-up.

Should the wrestling reach a standstill, the fight turns significantly in Sanchez’s favor, as his striking, albeit rehearsed, remains far more refined than Hathaway’s. Known mostly for his left high kick and one-two boxing combinations, Sanchez has added knees and a slick uppercut to his inside game, which gives him more options than Hathaway on the feet. Save for some straight punches and the occasional lead knee, Hathaway does not have much standing offense to offer, and his defense looks wide open in comparison to Sanchez, who keeps his hands high and tight.

While Sanchez remains vulnerable to counterpunches because of his predictable striking, Hathaway lacks the technique and hand speed to parry his offense. Want a good example of how this fight shapes up? Check out Sanchez’s fight with Clay Guida, as he was able to step inside with strikes because he did not have to worry about getting countered. Sanchez is at his best when he can cut loose with strikes without regard for takedowns from someone who can neutralize his grappling.

At just 22, Hathaway will eventually develop into a top-flight welterweight; his natural talent for combining Brazilian jiu-jitsu with ground-and-pound is too great to expect anything less. Still, this does not look like a particularly winnable fight for him, as Sanchez has the better offensive skills and a significant grappling advantage that will make Hathaway’s usual ground-and-pound approach far more difficult. Like any proper rugby player, Hathaway has proven tougher than the Texas penal system, but that will only keep him in the fight long enough to end up on the short end of a unanimous decision.

Source: Sherdog

Gracies Hope to Land Reality Show on New Oprah Channel
by John Chandler

Taking the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to new heights is nothing new for the Gracies. Nearly 17 years after bringing their talents to the masses through the UFC, MMA’s first family is hoping to conquer a new outlet that could increase their exposure even further.

Rener Gracie and his siblings, children of UFC co-founder Rorion Gracie, are spearheading efforts to start a reality television show on the debuting Oprah Winfrey Network, scheduled to start airing programming in January 2011. The concept of the show will revolve around “bullyproofing,” the Gracie family’s attempt to curb the epidemic of bullying involving children and teenagers around the world, and an issue that Winfrey herself has focused on heavily in the past.

“We came up with the idea about a year ago,” Rener Gracie told Sherdog.com. “We’ve had kids coming to our academy that have been tormented by bullies. They’ve been afraid to go to school. Some have even been suicidal. Training them (in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) and working with them helped build their confidence and it has basically inspired us to want to do something on a much larger scale.”

If the show comes to fruition, Rener envisions a camp-like atmosphere at the Gracie Academy in Torrance, Calif., that will have kids learn self defense through jiu-jitsu all while having their self-esteem built up through a variety of activities inspired by the "Big Brother" program.

“The plan is to reach out to these kids and take them under our wings,” Gracie said. “We want to teach them how to defend themselves, but more importantly, we want to build up their confidence and give them the motivation to want to go to school. Bullying is one of the top factors behind suicide in young kids. They don’t need to be the victims anymore. We want to find those who are on the borderline and bring them back. Let’s show them that there is hope and that they have a bright future.”

Support from MMA enthusiasts and interested voters alike has resulted in nearly 1 million votes for the Gracie’s idea already. Voting for the contest, which is unlimited, is set to continue through July 3. Those interested in watching and voting for the Gracie’s idea can watch Rener’s audition tape at the OWN’s official website.

“If you’re watching TV, vote. If you’re eating dinner, vote. Please lend us your support,” Gracie said. “The outpouring of support so far has been nothing short of amazing. If this happens, it’s going to be another shot in the arm for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It was my grandfather Helio’s dream to empower the weak and my family would love nothing more than to continue to make that a reality. We’ve achieved the mount so far with this contest. Now let’s go for the submission.”

To vote for the Gracies’ “Bullyproof” show, go to the Oprah Winfrey Network site.

Source: Sherdog

Good old-fashioned yakuza scandal hits Sumo business
By Zach Arnold

Remember Enson Inoue’s interview with Jordan Breen last week (See below) where he said that the next big stars in MMA would come from yakuza fighters fighting in outlaw promotions? What he didn’t note is that being associated with the yakuza in Japan is still a no-no in terms of public image. Ask the people who worked for PRIDE about how Shukan Gendai’s negative campaign against them went.

Mainichi Daily News has a report that two sumo coaches got busted for selling ring side seats to members of Yamaguchi-gumi, the largest crime family. Their power base is in Osaka & Nagoya, but the turf wars over the last several years has caused major fighting between Yamaguchi-gumi and Inagawa-kai, the big boys in the Kanto area.

Every year, there is a Sumo tournament at Aichi Prefectural Gym in Nagoya (9,000 seat building) and the Mainichi report claims that members of Kodo-kai, Yamaguchi-gumi’s clan in Nagoya, was the beneficiary of the ring side tickets being sold to them.

Take note of this paragraph in the Mainichi report:

Investigators believe the gang members sought to show themselves on live broadcasts of the tournament and give their compatriots watching in prison courage as they serve out their terms.

I point this out because this is a major reason why the Tokyo Metropolitian Police, who don’t have the same kind of criminal powers to go after the bad guys like American authorities do with racketeering laws, get furious when they see big shots in yakuza gangs mugging it up at sporting events on TV. It’s a recruiting tool and a powerful one at that.

It’s something that has also been commonplace in the Japanese fight game for a long, long time. It was a critical part to the storyline about the yakuza scandal that destroyed PRIDE. Seiya Kawamata, who was the yakuza fixer that took care of gangsters at MMA events, claimed that he was ordered to take gangsters from front row seating and put them backstage into VIP rooms. This activity, according to Kawamata, allegedly occurred during the days when PRIDE & K-1 were co-promoting with each other.

Remember when former gangster Hiromichi Momose used to be at ringside for all the PRIDE events and after every fight the winner would go to him at ringside and shake his hand? (He was the one in a black ball cap and black glasses).

The idea of “yakuza special seating” at fighting events is nothing new. It’s why when you saw ticket prices for ring side seats go for 30,000Y and “royal ringside seats” go for 100,000Y a pop that there was always some snickering about the VIP seating.

The more things change, the more they stay the same in the Japanese fight game.


Enson Inoue: 50/50 chance I’ll fight again in MMA. Right now, yakuza MMA is very hot.
By Zach Arnold

In a pretty remarkable radio interview last Thursday, Jordan Breen interviewed Enson Inoue. Any time Enson speaks, he is always bound to say something that catches your attention and makes you think. If you’re a veteran fan of Mixed Martial Arts, you know what the history of Enson Inoue’s career is and you respect what he has accomplished. He’s an old-school name with old-school ways.

It’s been a tough couple of years for Enson. After he got arrested for possession of marijuana, he found himself in big trouble. In Japan, marijuana is a no-no. While their laws aren’t as draconian as Singapore (execution), Japan is a place where the average citizen is likely to get a few years probation and some jail time.

Able to avoid a long prison sentence, Enson ended up taking a fight booking from J-ROCK for Hidehiko Yoshida’s retirement show on April 25th at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. He won his fight and ever since that point, there’s been a curious interest in Japan as to whether or not he will return full-time to active MMA competition.

With that background information in place, here are some notes from Jordan’s interview with Enson.

What is Enson up to these days?

“My whole life is about the people around me which I call family. To show an example for them to go on with their lives whether it’s their work lives or raising their families to make a right example and in the process of that I’m in the process of making a documentary and writing a book.”

“I’ve actually started about a year-and-a-half ago so it’s been in the works for a while but I’m just really picky about getting what I want, you know, I want to really get a good product out so it’s been taking a while.”

“It’s going to be self-written, it’s going to be all written in my words. The documentary as well will be produced by me, it’s the same thing… you know to have everyone understand that Yamato Damashii way that I’ve learned in Japan and the Yamato Damashii way of taking care of your family, living your life, holding your values, and keeping your honor.”

How did the fight against Antz Nansen come about?

“Well, there’s a lot of reasons for that. One was when I had legal problems here, of course you know I’m an American so I had a green card and they actually canceled my green card and almost deported me out of the country. The only thing that stopped me from being deported was I had over 9,000 petitions sent in from fans all over Japan saying they don’t want to leave Japan so I felt it was a good way to tell the fans ‘thank you.’ I’ve heard a lot of fans saying, Enson Inoue we want to see you fight in the ring after so many years, but you know I didn’t feel like that was justified for me to go risk everything I have and put everything on the line to get in the ring but you know Japan is my home and I love Japan and I don’t want to live anywhere else so when the fans gave me enough power to stay here in Japan I felt it was justified for me to go in the ring and put everything on the line for them again just so they could see the Yamato Damashii in the ring.”

What happened when you got busted for marijuana in your car and got thrown in jail?

“Well, I was very careless, I’m being honest, I really liked the effects of marijuana, not only the high, not only the good feeling you get, the fact that you sleep, I slept really good, I calmed down a lot, I relaxed a lot so I really liked it but I ignored the fact that it was against the law and I got no complaints, you know, I screwed up, I got arrested and did what they did to put me inside, you know I deserved it all because I did take that chance but you know the whole jail experience was overall a good experience for me. I mean, it made me a better person, it gave me a better outlook on life and I think it made me twice the better people that I’ve ever would have been if I didn’t get put in jail.”

“One, I started reading the Bible. Two is I’ve realized how much I need my freedom, how much I cherish my freedom and how [many] things I would sacrifice to keep my freedom. The third thing that I’ve learned was how to appreciate a lot of simple things, you know, there’s a lot of things in life that I overlooked but when you put inside all of a sudden with no notice or no warning, then you know the simplest things like feeling rain on your face, looking outside realizing what the weather is like, being able to decide where you go, what you’re going to do today, even if it’s just sitting in traffic you got the choice to sit in traffic, you got the choice to drive back home, you know you got the choice to do everything you know, I appreciate so many things. My life has been 100% more happy since I’ve been in [prison].” (He’s trying to say that his life is happier after the prison stay.)

There were 9,000 fans who signed a petition and had it sent to immigration. What did you know about it?

“It wasn’t something that I asked for, that’s what really got me excited was I never got on my blog or went to you know MySpace and said, ‘please write into immigration, I want to stay in Japan, write in and help me out’ — it just happened and I didn’t realize it was happening until one day I went in for an interview with the immigration one of the guys that interviewed me was a fan and he looked at me and said, ‘Enson, hey, check this out’ and he flipped through like a whole like maybe 3 inches of papers and I was like, ‘whoa, what is that’ he goes ‘that’s people that want to see you stay in Japan, they’re writing into immigration, this is unbelievable, it’s really going to benefit your investigation’ and I kind of freaked out and I didn’t know how it started, I don’t know who started it, I don’t know what they were writing, I couldn’t even see the papers so I don’t even know what they writing, but the petitions the guy told me that it’s no [expletive] because these guys got to write their names, addresses, phone numbers, everything, so it’s not just where you sign a name.”

How long was your prison stay and how long did the investigation go?

“Well, the prison term that I served was only 28 days, I mean people laugh at it and say, ‘28 days? What a [expletive],’ you know, I know some people that have been in for six years. But you know what? Whether you are in one days or two days it’s just a fact that I lost everything. Whether it’s even if it’s for one day, you lose everything. I mean, zero, you got all your appointments, all the things you’re planning to do, I mean I always thought I was too busy to do stuff but when I went to prison I realize, ‘whoa, when you want to make the time you can actually make the time,’ because everything was canceled, you know so that was only 28 days. The investigation took about 10 months, almost a year, and that was long. That was a trying process that was really stressful because I didn’t know whether I was going to be staying here in Japan or I had a house, a car, I had an ichizoku, a family a following that I created in the last 19 years, I didn’t know if I had to go pick up and start all over somewhere else. It was stressful that 10 months.”

Was your fight on Hidehiko Yoshida’s retirement show a one-off match or are you planning a comeback?

“Yeah, the fight, I took the fight because one it was a good financial offer. Two, I wanted to say thank you to my fans and three I was also to let everyone know that Enson Inoue is back on track, he’s not a druggie, he’s not a pothead, he’s learned from his experiences and he’s back, you know, that’s the basic reasons why I wanted to fight and I was thinking, one fight that’s it, I’m 43, six years out, I don’t know if I want to go through this again, but I felt really good, I felt the most relaxed I’ve ever felt in a fight. I didn’t do exactly what I wanted to do but basically I felt really relaxed and I moved really well for an old man so everyone was asking me if there was any chance of another chance, oh hell yeah there’s a chance at another fight. I’m not looking for another fight, I’m not planning to fight again but I’m still in shape, I only gained 1 kg since the fight, I’m still been running, I’m training, I’m training out with my fighters, I’m being more active with the training, more [involved] to the sparring, so if I get the right offer and I feel like it’s the type of opponent that I want to fight, I’ll even be back. It’s not a no, but I’m not telling you that I’m going to fight for sure again.”

You said you would fight for the right offer. What is the right offer?

“OK, the right offer would be a fair offer and how much is a fair offer? There wouldn’t be a number value on it. For example if it’s like the people from DREAM the people that I know just use fighters and take advantage of fighters, they’re going to have to pay me well-over six figures. On the other hand, if it’s a place that shows me loyalty, five-figures, you know it doesn’t really determine the figure itself… determine whether it’s a good offer or not. The opponent would have to be someone that would be willing to go and stand toe-to-toe and try to come and finish me, you know, not try to survive, not just try to win the fight but try to win convincingly, try to knock me out, try to hurt me, that’s the type of people that I want to fight. I don’t want to fight another fight like I fought with Mark Kerr. I don’t want to fight another fight I wrestled Mario Sperry in Abu Dhabi, I want to fight another Antz Nansen, I want to fight another Igor (Vovchanchyn), I want to fight another Frank Shamrock.”

You have a very successful network of Purebred gyms. What is your schedule like?

“The Purebred Gyms, I think a lot of the reasons for the success of Purebred Gyms is because when I meet people and I make ties with people it’s always about true loyalty, you know loyalty that will never die and these people that are running the gyms, I got guys in Guam, Saipan, Thailand, that’s running the gyms are people that understand what true loyalty is and they are holding the fort and keeping it real and alive, but I used to leave Japan twice a month, I used to travel over 150,000 miles a year, going to Guam, Hawaii, going to my other brother gyms in San Diego, the Undisputed San Diego, the Fisticuffs in Washington, go to Thailand a lot, Saipan you know I used to travel all over my gyms and I used to actually visit my gyms once every two, three months, but right now because of my legal problems up until May 2012 I cannot leave the country so until then my boys got to hold it up and hold the fort but as soon as I can travel I’ll be at every gym that I’m affiliated with at least once every two or three months.”

“I really looked at it like, you know, I’m an island boy I’m from Hawaii. Whether it’s Guam, Saipan, or Hawaii I’m an island boy all together and I believe island boys, you know they have a hot blood in them that they like to fight, they have that fighting spirit. When I went to Guam I almost felt like I was in Hawaii because the Guam boys are almost like Hawaii boys and when they asked me to help them with their training you know I didn’t talk any money, I went to their gym or they were training in their garage actually and I went there for free, just worked with them and you know it was the best thing I ever did in my life because I’ve got a lot of brothers now in Guam that you know would die for each other.”

How would you describe the state of Japanese MMA?

“I’d say when PRIDE was up and arriving it was at 100%. With the problems with UFC buying PRIDE and the fighters all going to UFC, I think it actually got knocked off for a while and I think right now it’s back in the comeback so I don’t think it’s near 100% yet but I think right now the fighting in Japan is probably at 40%. It’s making a comeback definitely and it probably will be back, Japan is on a comeback on the fighting and it the home of the Samurai spirit and it will be back. It’s still in the comeback though, I think it’s really hurting right now yet.”

Japan seems to have a lot of boom-bust cycles. How can this be fixed or repaired?

“Well, right now the most popular of events here is now the gangster events that they have here, they have over a dozen gangster events that’s happening all over Japan and this is an event, I say gangster event because they let the yakuza, they let the gangsters, they let anyone fight. They actually have guys on that day calling out people out into the ring who wants to try, like a Toughman competition but it’s an organized Toughman competition and a lot of fighters who get into that they really train but there’s a lot of gangsters that just think they’re tough on the street, they get in the ring and they get worked really bad but I think in the next two years the stars that’s going to help Mixed Martial Arts in Japan is going to be from there because these guys, I mean if you walk in there thinking you are going to see a K-1 type of kick or a perfect punch, you’re going to walk out very disappointed. But if you walk in there trying to see the deeper part of the MMA fight the fact that these guys are fighting for peanuts, they’re not coming out there because they’re going to be put on TV or PPV, they’re not coming out there because they’re going to get a six-figure pay day, they’re coming out there to fight for their pride, their family, their honor. And it’s a whole different level — I mean, when you walk in there and you see these guys fight and you guys see looking at each other across the ring you know these guys aren’t looking at how much they’re going to get paid after the fight, they’re not looking at how much attention they’re going to get if they win, they’re just in there doing it for their honor to be in a ring, man to man, one man against one man, and see who’s going to come on top. It’s a really different feeling in there, and I think we’re going to get the biggest stars from there because these guys are hot, exciting, go out for the kill from the beginning bell to the end bell.”

Yakuza MMA — like The Outsider?

“Yeah, you know it’s a good thing both ways because not only you are helping the MMA world but you are helping these gangsters realize that you can be proper, you can have values and you know you don’t need to react on your feeling all the time. When we first started these gangster fights there were riots like three or four riots at one event, it was like ridiculous because these guys were still gangsters on the street and that’s all they had is that mentality so when their guy lost they’re running in the ring trying to beat up the other guy, they had no idea what a sport was about, but you know I go to the gangster events, I have to go to one next week, I have to go one the following week, I go to one every two weeks to be a guest and I haven’t seen a riot in the past year about and you know these guys are learning how to control their behavior, they’re learning to understand how the world isn’t about the gangster life and you know if you don’t like something you go get it, if you don’t like something you go put it away, if you really like something you just go get it no matter what if you got to steal it, you know these guys are learning values and you know understanding a lot of things so I think it’s working really, really good both ways because gangsters have a lot of good things to offer to people because you know they’re in the news for stealing or beating up people or doing stuff but what is not shown is the honor that they have for each other, the loyalty they feel for their families, those kinds of things are kind of put in the back so these guys can start learning values and start learning to abide by rules that society has man these guys are going to have a lot to offer for the people.”

What is in store for your future?

“Well, I’m definitely going to be more in the fighting scene, train my fighters, the book and the documentary, I’m back you know I’m going to be back in the spotlight, I mean if there’s a fight, there’s a good chance, I say 50/50 I’ll be back in the ring again but the big thing for me now is I hope you have understood that you know I’m not just talking out of my ass or it’s not a thing trying to play a theme about dying in the ring, it’s something that I really feel and I believe that if you ever get a chance to come to Japan, you look me up and we hang out. If you hang out with me and see the people around me and see the way I hold myself and value the things that I do and get to talk to me more on a personal basis, I think you will understand it.”

Source: Fight Opinion

RAMPAGE VS. EVANS: THE BIRTH OF A RIVALRY
by Damon Martin

The birth of a rivalry can come from many places. Interstate rivalries are commonplace in college and pro sports, sometimes it's a curse handed down from a trade that spurned on the Yankees and Red Sox. Sometimes it's as simple as the right place and the right time, and that's exactly what brought Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Rashad Evans to the boiling point of UFC 114.

The scene was set March 7, 2009.

Quinton Jackson defeated Keith Jardine and was in line to face then champion Rashad Evans for his 205-pound divisional title. The UFC brought Evans into the cage to face off with Jackson as the next logical fight, but the heat got turned up when the former Michigan State wrestler got right in the face of Jackson, after he had defeated his teammate Jardine just moments prior.

While some rivalries may be pushed into the spotlight, UFC president Dana White says nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to these two.

"Nothing was manufactured," he said.

The culmination of the build-up will come on Saturday night, but it all started over a year ago in Columbus, Ohio, and it's been burning ever since.

"You've seen the story a million times," White said. "You bring the other guy in the Octagon and this is who you're going to fight next. We did it with Brock (Lesnar) and Shane (Carwin) and they had a little exchange, theirs is more funny and respectful.

"Well Rashad got right up in (Jackson’s) face cause he just beat Keith Jardine and it was all downhill from there. (Rampage) didn’t like that, and nothing was manufactured about it."

White says that bringing fighters in to "challenge" their next opponent a common practice, but there was no coaching ever given to either one of these guys, and what Jackson and Evans say about each other is exactly how they feel.

"We told them to go in there, this is going to be the next fight, Rogan will interview them both, and they just went nose to nose and this is where we are," White commented.

The birth of the rivalry holds roots to last year, but in 2010 it's finally time to settle the score as Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson square off at UFC 114 in Las Vegas.

Source: MMA Weekly

Rampage Jackson Breaks Out Serious Side for UFC 114: 'I Trained to Destroy'
By Mike Chiappetta

LAS VEGAS -- Fourteen months later, there are few signs of the playfulness and humor that often mark the presence of Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.

It's been that long since the former UFC light-heavyweight champion has been gone from the octagon, and if there was any joy about making his return, he did well in hiding it, instead illustrating a stoic, businesslike demeanor during Wednesday's UFC 114 press conference.

From the time he took his seat at the MGM Grand's Hollywood Theatre to the time he exited stage left -- total time elapsed: just over one hour -- the often-jovial and wisecracking Jackson rarely flashed a smile. Even the one-liners that he's famous for delivering were few and far between, leading many to wonder what exactly is going on behind his eyes this time around.

While most of the time he spent talking was specifically about the fight and opponent Rashad Evans, Jackson did peel back at least one layer into his psyche when he interjected his thoughts into the discussion. UFC President Dana White had just finished answering a question regarding the tension between Jackson and Evans on stage, and whether he thought it might possibly boil over right then. It was then that Jackson showed a glimpse into his current frame of mind.

"I'm done with the all the trash talk now," he said. "I'm done with it. I do all my talking in the cage. Let the record be known I didn't start the trash talk. If people come up to you, what are you going to do? Back down? I've been a fighter my whole life. I had to fight for everything my whole life. This is what I do and what I know how to do.

"Yeah I like to entertain people and make jokes and laugh. I always do that," Jackson continued. "I like to be that way and to entertain. But I'm done with talking. I'm done with everything. I'm just gonna show up on Saturday a whole different man and do my thing. That's what I do."

Seated next to his Wolfslair teammate Michael Bisping on the stage, Jackson was the undisputed star of the show, speaking about his short split from the UFC, the race issue in the fight, his upcoming star turn in The A-Team, his Evans feud and more. Evans was effectively a supporting character on stage and co-main event participants Bisping and Dan Miller were essentially role players in the drama unfolding before them.

One of the few times Jackson betrayed any hint of emotion came when Evans discussed how he envisioned the fight playing out.

"It goes different ways every time except for how it ends," he said. "For me, it's just the look in his eyes when he knows he's defeated. That moment when he knows he got his ass whooped."

Jackson, separated from Evans by White at the stage podium, let out a sarcastic smile and shook his head.

"I been in a lot of street fights, I grew up fighting," Jackson said. "I done pretty well in street fights not knowing the guy, not studying the guy, just my rage and the will to survive. I'm taking this fight back to those days."

His voice lowered eerily as he continued speaking about his ability to harness his temper in the fight, closing with a short summation: "I'm just ready to destroy. I trained to destroy."

Another time, when he was asked about his motivation. Jackson cracked a small smile while answering.

"If I lose a fight, my family makes fun of me real bad," he said. "When I go back to Memphis, it's bad. I got cousins, you can't believe it. They'll find every part of the fight to make fun of me, so it's more motivation to win."

Jackson's motivation though, doesn't need to go that far. The tension between he and Evans was real and obvious and has outlived the usual shelf life.

In a recent episode of "UFC Primetime," chronicling the lead-up to the fight, Evans said that he was going to send Jackson a Snuggie that he could wear after being knocked out. Jackson revealed that the half-clothing/half-blanket was indeed sent, though not received.

"The day it came, it was a real bad day," he said. "I was training so hard and I was so focused. I hate training, I ain't going to lie and it ain't no secret. So sometimes I'll be in a real bad mood. My people know me really well, and they knew I didn't need to see no Snuggie that day."

For most of the afternoon, the two were no closer than 10-12 feet until finally squaring off for a photo opportunity at the conclusion of the press conference. Jackson, wearing a red t-shirt and jeans, and Evans, wearing a custom gray suit, walked towards each other, both with hands in pockets, and went nose-to-nose.

No words were exchanged but the staredown was atypically icy until they pulled away, with Evans holding the stare an extra second as they turned to pose for the crowd.

A handful of interviews later and they were both done, Evans leaving first and Jackson following shortly, a serious look still on his face.

"I don't think he's having fun right now," Dana White said. "He's mad about this. He's pissed off. I've been to plenty of fights with him where he's having fun. This one isn't fun. To be honest, I think he's got a lot of pressure on him right now. All the smack talk that's gone on between these two leading up to this fight, the A-Team movie releases right after this fight. I think he's in the pressure-cooker right now."

Source: MMA Fighting

Antônio Silva
By Guilherme Cruz

Before last Saturday (15), most of American critics bet in a win of Andrei Arlovski over Antônio “Bigfoot” Silva on Strikeforce, but the Brazilian heavyweight proved them wrong. After the win by unanimous decision on Strikeforce, Bigfoot talked to TATAME about his win why he left American Top Team and also analyzed his division on Strikeforce. Check below the exclusive interview with Strikeforce’s giant.

It all went out the way you expected on the fight against Arlovski?

Yeah, it’s true, it all went out just as I planed, as I trained hard along with my coaches. I didn’t lose my focus, which was to do the fight standing and, thanks God, my strategy worked. I set a strategy for this fight and managed to use it. Usually we train one thing, then when you get there, everything changes and goes to a different way inside the octagon.

There was a moment when Arlovski tried to keep you on the grid, stuck the fight for a while. Did you considered working on your Jiu-Jitsu or did you really wanted to fight standing?

Man, as I said, my game plan was standing, because I’m doing that just fine, improving every day, correcting my defects… two months ago, my exchanging coach, Muhamed Ouali solved his issue with the immigration and came back here, after Werdum’s fight and I decided to do my own camp. I spoke to everyone at American Top Team and I decided to get off there to do my own camp, I’m feeling fine, at ease. A lot of people said Arlovski is not the same fighter he used to be… It’s not that he’s not that same good athlete, it’s me that am changing my game plan and improving each day, thanks God.

Why did you decided to leave ATT?

Well, American Top Team is one of the best gyms in the United Stated. I get along with master (Ricardo) Libório, with (Marcos) Parrumpinha, it’s just that, in order to do my own camp, to bring my own sparring and my friends to train with me and do a more specific training, I can’t stay there. Nowadays you get to ATT’s mat and there are about 40, 50 guys, so it’s very complicated to get an specific training. There are three people on ATT I appreciate a lot, that are Parrumpinha, Katel (Kubis), who is a wonderful person as a coach, and master Libório.

Every place has its problems, its disagreements. Everywhere you go, all team has. I didn’t have any issue when I left there. I still go there all Saturdays, watch the trainings of my friends, then everybody goes out to lunch together. I left there with everything right, I just wanted to focus more in me. I wanted to invest more in myself and have a bigger attention from the coaches, to have a training more focused on my fights and I was not having that on ATT. I want to fight for four or five years more. These years will be very important and decisive for me, I intend to feel like it was a accomplished mission. That’s why I decided to leave.

I told master Libório that it was not a goodbye, I said ‘see you soon’. I love American Top Team, it’s just that, at this moment, I need to be alone, change the airs, so I decided to do my own training and, thank God, it worked. Everyone could tell I improved, I fought standing and I fought for three rounds… I would fight another round on that same rhythm, for sure. I’m very glad with my trainings with (Luiz) Banha, Jorge Santiago, Ouali and Marcos Aurélio… But, as said, ATT is one of the bests teams in the world.

We heard that Banha also left ATT…

Man, I can only talk for myself, I don’t know about other people. Banha indeed left ATT and has joined IMF… It’s just that I’m not in any team right now, I’m a ‘freelancer’. I want to keep the doors opened for me anywhere I go, I want to train with my best man Minotauro in San Diego, with Minotouro and Anderson, Feijão, but I’m not in any team. From the moment I have an opponent, I’ll train Jiu-Jitsu, try to make it a part of my training and try to bring good people to train with me. I just brought Guto Inocente from Brasília for this fight, who is a five-time Muay Thai champion, a monster of 110, 112kg, who has a heavy hand, a boy with only 24 years, with a fast leg and a fast arm… That is so that Arlovski kept on moving and I always managed to get off his mileage, because I had trained with a very good guy, Guto, and I’d like to congratulate and thank him. You’ll hear from him on MMA. The good thing is that all of them are good on the trade of punches and Jorge Santiago also helped me to get lighter so I could keep moving.

How do you see yourself within the division?

Man, it’s all great, it’s a great division and there are only good people like Arlovski, Fedor, Werdum, Overeem, who came back with all his strength. I fought on Saturday, got home on Sunday and yesterday I trained five rounds with Banha. I had promised him that, independently if I win or lose, I’d help him on his preparation for his fight (UFC 114) and yesterday we did a five rounds preparation on the gym. After his fight I’ll take two weeks off, which is normal. I’ll way for the Strikeforce, because now it’s complicated, since Overeem said he wants to fight against Fedor, and he’s the current champion, and Fedor has a commitment with Werdum. As I said to Werdum, I’ll be on his side, I want him to win, because he is a Brazilian coming on that ring. I told him that there’s always a favorite for any fight. The favorite is Fedor, without any doubts, but a fight is a fight. He will train a lot and I’m sure he will be focused. We don’t know what will happen in the future. The winner of this fight is the guy that will fight against Overeem, but I don’t know if they’ll do another fight before this one or not. I’m waiting. I want to end this training with Banha and hold on. Strikeforce is very exciting, is feels very good to be in there. I’m very happy, thanks God.

Do you want to leave a message?

I’d like to thank all Brazilians that watch MMA, all my fans, who believe in my potential, my family, specially my parents, wife and two daughters. I’d also like to thank my coaches who supported me for this fight. Quali, Marcos Aurélio and my training partners, who are Jorge Santiago, Banha, Danillo Índio and Guto, who was the key for that win.

Source: Tatame

Manager comments on Jeff Monson’s absence
by Carlos Eduardo Ozório

For the third time, Jeff Monson was expected to face Glover Teixeira at Bitetti Combat and pulled out. Jeff’s manager Alex Davis addresses the matter.

“Jeff sustained injuries in his match in Abu Dhabi and is unable to face an opponent of Glover’s caliber so soon,” says the manager, who plays down the organization’s responsibility in Monson dropping out.

“The situation with Jeff really is complicated. I’ve tried talking to him by email, but he doesn’t reply. I have to take action. He has to face Glover, if just because part of his purse was deposited ever since the event in Brasilia,” he adds.

Source: Gracie Magazine

Anderson: “I’m focused on my division”
By Guilherme Cruz

UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Silva is sovereign on the division. After defending his belt six times, besides two massacres on the division above, Anderson is training hard for his belt defense against Chael Sonne, on UFC 117.

“The trainings are great… I’m training in the United States and we’ve been working a lot. I hope I manage to do a good fight and keep my belt, of course”, affirmed the champion to TATAME, after a short season on Thailand, where he trained to improve his Muay Thai. “It’ was nice… It was a short period, but a great one”, said.

Expert on the standing game, Anderson tells he is working on some trump cards to escape from the efficient ground and pound game of the American. “I’m training with Mark Muñoz, he is helping a lot on that part. I’m only hoping to do a good fight against Sonnen, independently of the result”, guarantees the athlete who is a black belt on Jiu-Jitsu.

Sovereign within the middleweights, Anderson saw his name being quoted to definitively change to a heavier division, the light heavyweight. According to Dana White, if Anderson beats Sonnen and Vitor Belfort, he would do anything to convince the athlete to change divisions and leave a vacancy on the dispute of the middleweight belt.

Training in the USA, the champion follows closely the trainings of Rogério Minotouro, who is preparing himself to confront Jason Brilz on UFC 104, which will happen next Saturday. “I believe Minotouro is on his best phase ever”, compliments Anderson, confident that his friend will win. “I believe he will win because of what I saw on his trainings, he’s really strong and well prepared”, concluded.

Source: Tatame

Talk Radio: How would Matt Lindland do in an 8-man Strikeforce Middleweight tournament?
By Zach Arnold

Let’s set the stage here for how this discussion came about:

¦Jake Shields is likely going to sign with the UFC and it means the Strikeforce Middleweight title would be vacated. One of the hot booking ideas floated around is having an 8-man Middleweight tournament.

¦Matt Lindland, who just turned 40 years old, beat Kevin Casey in a one-sided affair last Friday night at the Rose Garden in Portland on Showtime. He has said that he wouldn’t mind a re-match with Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and feels that he made one (big) mistake in the fight that cost him, so he would like to atone for that loss. Lindland would also be the most experienced fighter in such an 8-man tournament, which would feature a mixture of younger names for the most part.
With that scenario painted for you, would you book Matt Lindland for the 8-man tournament? If so, what kind of seeding would you give him and who would you match him up against? (Lay out a theoretical SF 8-man Middleweight tournament on paper and tell us what kind of match-ups you envision happening.)

Robbie Lawler, who’s fought at 185 for the promotion, has the 195-pound catch weight fight against Renato Babalu on June 16th in Los Angeles. Lawler has been disgruntled in the past with the promotion, so he could conceivably bail to UFC in the future. There’s Lawler (if he stays), Mousasi (maybe), Babalu, Lindland, Jacare, Mayhem, Rockhold (maybe), and one more slot open (Villasenor?).

Now, the discussion from talk radio:

“There’s a big difference between guys who are done and guys who are title contenders and Lindland falls in between there. What this win does is basically allow him to enter into that 8-man Middleweight tournament that may or may not be set up if Jake Shields does end up bouncing to the UFC and I think he’s a big-enough name to be able to enter into something like that and I think that works perfectly for what Strikeforce wants to do. How far will he go? Probably not far. I question whether or not how well he could do against a Luke Rockhold let’s say, but h has certainly right now put himself into a position with the Casey win to where he’ll get bigger fights.”

“I don’t think that Matt Lindland was in a place where he needed to get a fight like this with Kevin Casey to get into bigger fights. I mean, yeah, he’s coming off a couple of losses, the (Vitor) Belfort loss was bad, he really had nothing for Jacare. However, the man was really a Top 5 Middleweight his entire career. It wasn’t that long ago when he arguably won a fight in the WFA against Quinton Jackson. He… I mean, this fight, even though it was a more competitive that I think a lot of people thought … It’s still a weird meaningless fight I think for Matt Lindland. He beat a guy who’s 2-1 and you know I mean I don’t think that he should be in there with, say… you know… a Jacare any time soon but if the tournament happens, I think he has a place in there and honestly, I wuold like to see him fight a guy like Gegard Mousasi if Mousasi moved down to Middleweight again.

“I don’t think [Mousasi would beat him], not after what Mo did. I think Matt Lindland would steal a fight against Gegard Mousasi. He takes him down, he sits in his guard, Mousasi… it’s a carbon copy of the Mo Lawal fight.”

“That’s why it gets made, though. I mean basically, what Lindland did with this fight.”

“I don’t think Mousasi’s moving down to 185, though.”

“They have enough at 185 for an 8-man tournament with Mousasi but even if he does go in, what Lindland did with this fight, now you said it didn’t do a whole lot for him. Yeah, you’re right, it didn’t. Basically what it did is if they do this 8-man tournament, Lindland comes in as the 8-seed, let’s say, takes on the #1, whoever they decide the #1, whoever they decide the #1 is. If it does end up Jacare then Jacare goes through him and that’s it.”

“They’re not going to match him up with Jacare. I think, I mean, I think Matt Lindland wipes the floor with a guy like Joey Villasenor. Let’s throw some names at me, you’re Richard Chou.”

“I mean, first name that I threw out was Luke Rockhold.”

“That would be an interesting fight.”

“Yeah. I certainly think so and I mean if you look through the rest of the potential bracket, I mean, how’s he do against Mayhem (Miller)?”

“I think he beats Mayhem.”

“See… at this point in Lindland’s career, I question that. Good bout, I think it would be interesting, but I think Mayhem…”

“I think, I think… Lindland I think is just too gritty of a fighter to get caught by Mayhem. I think on the feet there’s a liability, I agree with Greg Savage, I don’t think that Matt Lindland’s chin is very good, I think it’s suspect when he gets ht hard, he pretty much melts. I think on the feet with Mayhem he’s in a little bit of trouble, but I think he gets the takedowns, I think he frustrates Mayhem on the floor, I don’t think he gets submitted, he might… I just don’t think it’s likely. I mean I really think that Matt Lindland has what it takes to beat a guy like Jason Miller probably pretty easily… I mean not easy, but pretty definitely.”

“Well then I mean from the sounds of it, with the potential competitors in this tournament… I mean, you’re picking Lindland as maybe the 3rd, 4th, worst 5th guy to pick to win.”

“I think Lindland comes in at a #4 or #5 seed.”

Source: Fight Opinion

Benji Radach Healing Faster Than Expected,
Eyeing Fall Return
By Kelsey Mowatt

Although they say adversity builds character, it’s likely that Benji Radach would trade some of that character for a few years without getting injured, as the Strikeforce middleweight continues to sit on the sidelines while recovering from a torn pectoral muscle and follow-up staph infection. Although once again injuries will force Radach to go months without competing, the good news is that according to the 31 year-old-fighter, he will be back sooner than expected.

“September, October or November; that’s when I’ll probably be back,” said Radach, who after having surgery to repair his torn pectoral muscle in January had a staph infection to battle soon after. “They were telling me six months before I could do anything but I’m already back to doing what I was before; I just have to get some of my strength back. It’s coming back fast so I’m ahead of schedule. Instead of just getting back to training in 6 months I’ll be back to fighting in 6 to 7 months. It looks good.”

After returning from rash of injuries in 2007, which kept Radach out of the ring for nearly 3 years, the veteran had a successful 5-1 run while competing in the International Fight League. After the promotion’s demise, Radach (19-5) signed with Elite XC and then more recently Strikeforce, and despite incurring a TKO loss to Scott Smith last April, Radach’s career has been on the upswing.

“It was actually worse this time,” said Radach while discussing how he reacted to this latest setback. “I was getting ready for a fight, I’d been feeling really good, feeling really good on my feet and my timing was fast, my strength was better. It was just a really bad time to get injured. I want to be out there competing, to get on top, and I’m stuck being injured.”

“I have one more fight with them (Strikeforce),” Radach added, who stopped Murilo Rua at an Elite XC event in October, 2008, before signing with Strikeforce. “Then I’ll renegotiate; that’s my plan. I don’t really have plans to go anywhere else. Strikeforce has such great competition at 185, but I’m not against going to the UFC or somewhere else like Japan. I’m pretty happy where I’m at with Strikeforce though.”

Strikeforce has been an often discussed topic in the world of mixed-martial-arts lately, from the highly publicized post-fight brawl at its Nashville event in April, continued speculation as to whether the promotion’s middleweight champ and free agent Shields will leave the organization, to ongoing questions regarding the organization’s relationship with CBS or Fedor Emelianenko.

“I think things are looking up,” said Radach when asked for his thoughts regarding the future of Strikeforce. “I don’t think the incident at the last event (in April), that happens in MMA; it was unfortunate that it had to happen to Strikeforce because they were really getting on their feet and all these big things were going on. They’re making huge leaps and bounds and I hope they continue to stay on top. They’ve been around for a long time and I don’t think they’re making any huge decisions that are going to end Strikeforce. I don’t think they’re planning on going anywhere.”

Source: Full Contact Fighter

Miesha Tate Puts Effort Towards Rape Prevention
By Ray Hui

Before Miesha Tate steps foot inside the Strikeforce cage again this summer, her martial arts and wrestling background will be put to use in a DVD to educate women on rape prevention techniques.

Tate is heading a new instructional co-starring Frank Shamrock which will be taped Friday in Los Angeles.

"It's not going to be your basic self-defense DVD," Tate told MMAFighting.com Wednesday. "We really want to get down to how these moves are done. it's not just going to be like, 'Oh wham, bam, here you go this is how you do it.' It's really going to be in detail, it's going to be intricate, with different angles for every different situation. We're also going to have stories of women that have worked through this before and the rape victims are going to share with us their experiences and I'm going to help train them as well, one-on-one."

The project originated through Ariel Penn, a Tate fan with experience in Gracie jiu-jitsu -- and a former rape victim. After befriending Tate, Penn approached Tate with the idea of an instructional and asked if Tate would be the spokesperson. Penn and two other former victims will share their experiences in the video.

For the instructional aspect, Tate will demonstrate techniques with former UFC middleweight champion Shamrock playing the attacker. Tate recruited Shamrock for his Strikeforce affiliation and her respect for what Shamrock has accomplished in the sport. Another reason was that Tate, who fights at 135 pounds, would be able to display the techniques would be effective against a larger fighter.

"It's kind of the whole theory behind jiu-jitsu," Tate said. "It was really designed for smaller, weaker people to be able to use leverage rather than strength, redirecting people's motion and momentum against them and basically that's the whole idea behind that you don't have to be the bigger, stronger person to win the battle. You can use technique, leverage and your smarts and basically beat someone who will basically just come at you with brute strength."

Tate took techniques she learned in MMA and incorporated them with research conducted by talking with friends who have done self-defense DVDs as well as former rape victims.

The project will be produced in part through Tate's Take Down Enterprises, At first "Takedown" Tate started Take Down Enterprises to protect her trademark, but in the future would like to manage female fighters and open her own gym. Take Down Enterprises is Tate's way to stay involved with the sport after her competitive career is over.

The release of the DVD is targeted for sometime in the late fall.

As for her fight career, Tate (9-2) is coming off a March 26 win on Showtime against Zoila Frausto at Strikeforce Challengers 7. She's still waiting on an opponent, but says her goal remains the same.

"Obviously still gunning for that belt, still gunning for that rematch with [Sarah] Kaufman," Tate said. "That's my long term goal at this point in MMA is to capture that and whoever [Strikeforce] deems appropriate to fight along the way to prove that, that's where I'm going."

Source: MMA Fighting

Belcher Wants Promotional Push from UFC
by Lotfi Sariahmed

Alan Belcher has won six of his last eight fights in the UFC and holds victories against former title contender Patrick Cote, 2006 Pride Fighting Championships welterweight grand prix finalist Denis Kang, “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 3 runner-up Ed Herman and reigning Sengoku middleweight champion Jorge Santiago.

The Jonesboro, Ark., native wants a bigger piece of the UFC middleweight action and has begun to press those who pull the strings for a more prominent role in the division. Following his submission victory over Cote at UFC 113, Belcher openly requested a crack at UFC middleweight king Anderson Silva.

“[UFC President] Dana White is more interested in it,” Belcher told the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Savage Dog Show” on Friday. “I don’t know what [UFC matchmaker] Joe Silva’s deal is. Through my career, I’ve pushed for certain fights, and I don’t know if it’s Joe’s personality or what, but I think he’s not an Alan Belcher fan.”

While a blockbuster bout has eluded Belcher during his 11-fight run in the UFC, he recognizes the value in staying patient and waiting his turn.

“They haven’t brought me in to lose any fights,” Belcher said. “They haven’t tried to set me up or anything. [Joe Silva is] cool and everything; it’s just … I don’t know. It seems like I’m sitting there screaming: ‘The fans want to see me fight big fights.’ I’ve got a big following, and I’ve got not just a flashy style; I have an explosive striking style. The fans want to see it, but he’s not hearing it, man. It doesn’t matter. As time goes by and I keep winning fights, they have to give me the big fights.”

The mother of all matchups -- a date with Silva -- remains out of reach for now. The embattled Brazilian will fight Chael Sonnen in the UFC 117 main event in August. Still, options remain for Belcher, who said he would welcome a shot at Vitor Belfort.

Belcher wants the 185-pound king.“I’m down,” Belcher said. “I’d love that fight. Vitor Belfort’s a legend. I haven’t fought anyone with that kind of name yet. It’d be an awesome fight for me. It’d definitely tell us who the next number one contender is.”

Belfort -- who defeated Rich Franklin in September -- was positioned to meet Silva at UFC 112 in April, but an injury forced him to withdraw and opened the door for Demian Maia. Many have since wondered what the immediate future holds for Belfort once he returns. Will he get the showdown with Silva he was originally promised?

“I think it may be something with Belfort’s contract,” Belcher said. “Probably said if he beats Rich Franklin, he gets a title shot or something. It’s probably something like that, because have you ever heard of someone getting a title shot after someone else gets a title shot? Chael gets this, [and] then after he loses, Vitor gets the next one? I never heard of that before.”

Belfort’s lone victory since returning to the UFC was at a catchweight, and his position in the middleweight division leaves Belcher yearning for more clarity.

“It’s all a mess, man,” Belcher said. “All the best guys in our division have all been losing. It’s just weird. The ranking system in the middleweight division … it’s all jumbled up. You’ve got Belfort trying to get better. It just sucks, man. I just wish there was a little bit more of a clear path to know who I [have] got to beat to get where I want to go. Even if I’ve got to fight two or three more fights, I wish there was just an easier way of ranking us and moving us along that way.”

Most importantly, Belcher wants to see his career furthered.

“What do I have to do to get on a poster? What do I have to do to get on a ‘Primetime’ show or when Spike TV comes to your school and stuff?” Belcher asked. “I need to put a lot of work into this, and I feel like I’m on top of the game and there [are] a lot of fans out there that haven’t gotten the opportunity to know who I am yet. I just feel like I should be pushed a little bit more, and I feel like I should be making more money.”

Even at 26, Belcher can hear the clock ticking.

“The part of my career where I’m at right now I just feel like I’m one of the top guys,” he said. “I just want to get the reward from it, and I don’t want to miss out on it. And if it’s going to take more work or more wins or whatever, that’s cool. I don’t want to be here two or three fights from now in the same situation.”

Source: Sherdog

Arona: “I hope I can talk to Dana White”
By Guilherme Cruz

One of the greatest stars of Pride, Ricardo Arona was deprecated by the organization of UFC and did not head for the American event. Three years after the end of the Japanese event, Arona wants to speak with the president Dana White, president of the biggest MMA event of the world. Focused on the recovery of an injured knee, the Brazilian hopes to go to Las Vegas this week, where he will meet the team of Rogério Minotouro, who will fight Saturday on UFC 114.

“I’m going for other reasons, to give a support to Minotouro, merchandising… Being there, I hope I can talk to Dana White, but we don’t have nothing settled or scheduled”, revealed Ricardo to TATAME, joining the former team mate against Jason Brilz. “I’m going to meet the guys… I don’t know if I’ll get there right on time, but I’ll do what I can to help him”, tells the fighter, who recently came back to the trainings. “I just came back to train now, on a calm way because of my knee, but this recovery part is almost done. I’m training so I can be at my best and can come back to business”.

NO SURPRISES WITH SHOGUN’S KNOCKOUT

Despite being out of UFC, Arona keeps tuned on the big fights of the event, especially when it comes to a title dispute on his division. After a very tight first fight, Maurício Shogun won the rematch, knocking Lyoto Machida out on the first round. Arona guarantees he was not surprised. “Because they are both champions, you can hope for a tough fight, but exactly because both are champions the fight has a decisive factor, it can end after the whole 25 minutes or on a lucky or ability moment, and that’s what happened”, analyzes.

Source: Tatame

LASHLEY INJURED; KENNEDY VS PRANGLEY ADDED
by Damon Martin

Fans of Bobby Lashley will have to wait a little longer to see him compete again as the former WWE superstar has been forced to withdraw from his upcoming fight in June against Ron Sparks due to a knee injury. A fight between middleweights Tim Kennedy and Trevor Prangley will occupy the spot instead at the Los Angeles show.

Lashley was set to return for the first time since a TKO win over Wes Sims in January, but injuries have plagued the Colorado based fighter, and he will be sidelined once again for an undetermined amount of time.

Stepping in on just over two weeks notice to fill the slot vacated by Lashley and Sparks will be a middleweight showdown between former Army ranger Tim Kennedy and Trevor Prangley.

A winner of three fights in a row, Kennedy has now dedicated himself as a full-time fighter after a very successful start to his career when he was doubling between his active military duty and MMA. A dedicated Special Force sniper, Kennedy has been just as sharp in his fighting lately, winning in impressive fashion with three consecutive stoppages.

"I want to keep winning,'' Kennedy said about his fight. "Strikeforce has a bunch of guys in my weight class who I match up very well with. I want to fight all of these guys and put on a good show for Showtime and Strikeforce."

Opposing Kennedy will be American Kickboxing Academy fighter Trevor Prangley, who may not get the credit he deserves for being one of the toughest 185lb fighters in the sport.

Prangley was on a 5-fight win streak when he returned to Strikeforce in February, but an accidental thumb to his opponent's eye resulted in a stop to the fight, and having it declared a draw.

Wanting to leave no doubt this time, Prangley will face a very tough test in Tim Kennedy, as the two fighters both try to inch closer to contender's status in the middleweight division.

Source: MMA Weekly

Discussing the future of women’s MMA and whether or not UFC or Strikeforce has the desire or responsibility to help grow it
By Zach Arnold

This originally was going to be one of our ‘talk radio’ segments on the site, but there are so many questions and so many issues raised here when you bring up this subject that I think we’ll take some time to go over some quotes from a recent radio discussion on the topic and break down the bigger points on a case-by-case basis.

To paint a picture here for those of you who don’t follow women’s MMA, right now the perception is largely that it’s a division with two notable names, Gina Carano and Cris Cyborg, and everyone else is beneath them. Dana White as UFC President had a chance to bring in Gina Carano either to the UFC or even the WEC (as Zuffa owns WEC) and he didn’t do it. He’s not a fan of women’s MMA and I don’t think he will be a fan of women’s MMA even if he does see women’s MMA draw some big-money fights. In many respects, I think he views women’s MMA the same way Vince McMahon views women’s wrestling. WWE had a chance to build a legitimate women’s division and instead McMahon promotes his vision of what women’s wrestling is, which is that most of the girls look like barbie dolls and are more or less toys for the boys. No matter what women like Trish Stratus did, Vince has always had this mindset on what women’s wrestling should be versus what it could be. I think Dana White respects the fact that women want to fight in MMA, but he doesn’t particularly care to watch it nor does he feel the need to promote it or help build it up.

The last point is a major question to focus on — does UFC have a responsibility to build up women’s Mixed Martial Arts? Depending on how you answer that question, let’s re-phrase it: Is UFC the only vehicle in Mixed Martial Arts that can make women’s MMA “legitimate” in the eyes of casual MMA fans around the world?

With that as your set-up, let’s take a look at some of the passages from Monday’s Sherdog radio show on this topic.

Should Zuffa promote women’s MMA? Is Strikeforce in a position to make women’s MMA bigger than it is?

“Are you a big fan of female Mixed Martial Arts? I mean we talk about it with our listeners from time to time, but where do you stand on you know the girls side of thing in the sport?”

“In terms of what?”

“Do you pay attention more to it besides it being your job? I mean, do you think that these girls should be showcased in the UFC? I mean, what’s your stance on it? Obviously, Dana White has been outspoken against it. I mean, do you think that the UFC needs to adopt a women’s division at some point?”

“At some point, yes, but at the same time I completely agree with what Dana’s saying with the stance that he takes that outside of Gina (Carano), I mean what is there really? And what do you do…”

“I think there’s a lot of good girls that fight.”

“Yes, but are there enough… you can’t really just make a division for Gina (Carano) and make a division for Tara (LaRosa), make a division for Roxanne (Modafferi), I mean you need more than just the one or two big fighters in each of these divisions because that’s also a problem. Women’s MMA right now has some names but those names are separated through three or four divisions.”

“Right, but I mean, you can make catch-weight bouts. You can, I don’t think you necessarily need to have a belt but I mean I think you know there are girls that obviously should be fighting in the lower 115 pounds like Megumi Fujii and whatnot but I mean she can go up and fight at 125 and still be successful. You know, I think that… you can make catch weight fights at 135, 130, you can make these fights happen. I really honestly think that there is maybe more of a need in my opinion for there to be a Zuffa female division than a Zuffa 125-pound men’s division.”

“I don’t know if I’d go that far. I really wouldn’t, I mean maybe in Strikeforce because Strikeforce and these lesser promotions can certainly use the fights, can certainly put on the big fights but Zuffa’s very much dictated by divisions and putting on and having those titles as much as they don’t necessarily matter but look at what the UFC’s business model is. WEC’s business model, same thing. They work based off of, all right, all these fights are leading towards to an eventual title shot for X, Y, Z fighter and every single fight from the ones in the prelims to the main event have some sort of play in terms of all right, who’s going to fight who next and it all leads up to an eventual title shot. They’re not just going to put in, bring in women whether it’s 125, 145, whatever, just for the sake of putting on these one-off big fights that may or may not draw that well because I mean to be completely honest, it’s not as popular as maybe a lot of the hardcores think it is right now.”

“Yeah, that’s a fair statement. I mean, as it goes on, I think we’re going to see these girls showcased in Strikeforce. I don’t know if Dana will ever pick up the female division and put them in the UFC. I thought when Pro Elite was folding it would have been really smart for the WEC to pick up Gina and try to make you know fights there. However, it’s something they passed on. Strikeforce is getting it. How big can the female division get in Strikeforce? I mean… the fight’s I think are good but it is a lesser promotion than the UFC at least brand-wise, at least exposure-wise. I know they have CBS but can female Mixed Martial Arts get to a higher level being on Showtime and CBS under the Strikeforce banner?”

“It could if it were done correctly. And I think that’s the big question. I think you have divisions right now that are I mean good enough to where you can move forward and I think Strikeforce is an organization right now where they’re just fine putting on Modafferi/LaRosa III with there not necessarily being an end game to it. Obviously the trilogy’s there and you want to try to see, all right who’s going to win the third bout, but unlike Zuffa with the UFC and the WEC where there is the end game is eventually a title shot, Strikeforce doesn’t necessarily have to have that. Now that’s also a fault of Strikeforce that we’ve been talking about for a while, but when you’re talking about women’s MMA the biggest platform for women’s MMA right now I think is going to be Strikeforce just because it’s something that they’ve shown they’re willing to do before and if you have big enough names willing to take on each other, well then I think you can get somewhere, it’s just an issue whether or not these women whether it’s Gina, whether’s it Cyborg, whether it’s whomeever, are willing to do these one-off bouts where there isn’t a title. You have 145, you have 135, but right now even with Sarah Kaufman, you wonder when exactly is she going to fight next.”

“Sure, well that’s half the problem with a good chunk of Strikeforce fighters. They sign them and then they sit them on the shelf for 7-8 months. Yeah, we’ll see what happens. I think that there’s still a lot of growing to do but I think five years from now we have a real… you know strong division for female fighters and whether it be Strikeforce or the UFC but I think you know we have the 25 the 35 you know maybe even 45 I don’t know how they would work out, it’s so hard to really sit down and figure out where these girls are going to fit because a lot of the talent is spaced apart by weight you know pretty good chunk of weight for some of the best fighters in the world that are fighting in the female division.”

Some of the points highlighted in that passage are 100% accurate. Strikeforce likes to dabble with the women’s MMA bouts, but they are one-offs and nothing consistent is built with a women’s division. Hell, their champion Sarah Kaufman can’t get booked. At the same token, consistency has been a major issue for Strikeforce since day one. The only MMA promotion right now with any sort of consistent booking and discipline is UFC and it’s not even close.

Which brings us to a bigger question — do these major promotions have a responsibility to help grow MMA? The NBA has desperately tried to build up women’s basketball through the WNBA and the image of the WNBA is atrocious as far as broad-based appeal is concerned. Female boxing has gone nowhere on a national stage because promoters don’t seem interested in growing the prospects long-term. Even in bowling, for goodness sakes, you don’t see the female bowlers get the air time like the male bowlers do on ESPN and their different media platforms. (Unless it’s a woman like Kelly Kulick beating a guy like Chris Barnes.)

Steve Cofield of Yahoo Sports has been brutal in his assessment of Tara LaRosa since he loss to Roxanne Modafferi last Friday for the Moosin PPV in Worcester, MA. Most people recognize what Steve was doing for what it was, which was stirring the pot, and he got the reaction he was looking for.

“I think that there are things that slide in women’s Mixed Martial Arts that don’t usually happen in a guy’s bout. Say I think it happened, Tara went for like a headlock throw and that happens you know way more in female Mixed Martial Arts and it doesn’t happen in Men’s Mixed Martial Arts but the bottom line is the girls are built different, the way they do things are different, the way they transition on the floor, they’re just afforded other things that guy’s aren’t, you can get away with things that you can’t on the men’s side of things. And I don’t think that’s bad. Watching female Mixed Martial Arts is like watching softball in my opinion, it’s technically the same game as baseball but transitions, things are a little bit different than you normally see when watching the men’s version of things. Either you like it or you don’t, but I have a hard time with someone saying ‘oh it’s not as good’ because it really it is. Female fights in my opinion tend to be almost more exciting than guy’s fights because the girls they seem to take more than the other guys, they seem to you know engage in a war quicker than some men, they seem to really put on almost a more I mean most real good fights in Mixed Martial Arts go the distance and you get a lot more distance fights with girls which makes it more dramatic, I mean I really I don’t think that if you’re a fight fan you can realistically look at a good, high-quality female Mixed Martial Arts fight and say, ‘oh Kimbo’s better’ because that’s just foolery.”

“That’s just dumb. No, that’s dumb.”

“I’m not going to sit here and say that women’s MMA is without its flaws. It absolutely does have it.”

“Men’s MMA is not without its flaws, either.”

“And you’re absolutely right and I do think there’s something to be said about a lot of the allure to women’s MMA coming in the newness of it I guess if that makes sense for a lot of people. But this idea that you’d rather watch Kimbo fight 25 more times than Modafferi/LaRosa is just dumb.”

“There was not a moment in the Modafferi/LaRosa fight where I was bored.”

“No, absolutely not.”

“I can’t say that about Kimbo and Houston Alexander. That fight was horrendous.”

“There was not a moment in that fight where I was entertained.”

“You know and I was entertained in the Mitrione/Kimbo fight but that’s really because one fighter was really outclassing the other and basically doing whatever he wanted.”

What does Strikeforce do with booking women’s fights? Where’s the consistency?

“The problem with (Sarah) Kaufman/Modafferi is Modafferi just lost in Strikeforce to Marloes Coenen. So you can’t really just have her even for Strikeforce you can’t have the Coenen loss on her record in Strikeforce on one of the recent cards and all of a sudden be fighting for a title at 135 against Kaufman. I don’t think you should make it a non-title either because it’s a slight on Modafferi which you really shouldn’t be doing. I think if you want Kaufman in action like Strikeforce has been saying, you bring in somebody else and there are other fighters out there but you don’t take Modafferi who just recently was in your organization, loss to Marloes Coenen, I mean it doesn’t really make any sense even for what Strikeforce is doing.”

“You talk about these divisions and developing them. You’re not going to be able to do that almost without just running all female fight cards, you’re not.”

“Yes.”

“When we get a female fight on a Strikeforce card, it’s one. It’s not two, it’s not three, it’s one. And it’s usually one every other card. I think if they go with a tournament-style format and really you know hash out who’s the best in two divisions then that helps but really need a card with more than one, I mean that’s the thing. I talk about acceptance, these female fights even though that Strikeforce is doing it still seems like sideshow-ish attractions because they’re one-off here and there. ‘Oh, there’s a female fight on this card, yay!’ It’s like your shooting star.”

“That’s completely fair. That you’re right, that I’m 100% behind you with.”

“I mean, I don’t know what the end game is for female Mixed Martial Arts but it should be… I don’t want that it should be say accepted like female boxing because I think female boxers are still sort of novelty acts…”

“To me it’s each his own. … But here’s something actually pretty interesting… Strikeforce is filling up all of its undercards with all amateur fights, with the exception of one big undercard bout. You mean to tell me they can’t put the women’s bouts on there?” I don’t know.”

“Yeah. I know what you’re saying. I get it. I get it. And I’m looking at our chat, John from Montreal is saying that this is a pointless discussion. I don’t really think that people sit down and look at female Mixed Martial Arts the way they should. I think it’s something, again, is just a novelty act for most people because like I said, it’s like a shooting star. You see one-off female fights that are on Strikeforce cards and why should anybody care when most of the time it’s ‘oh I remember seeing her fight six months ago, that’s cool, let’s watch her again’ but it’s not ‘let’s develop somebody.’ Like a fighter like Roxanne Modffari should be developed. She got the Coenen fight that you know she lost obviously but again I don’t think it was on television. It’s a fight that should have been on television. It had you know it didn’t go Roxanne’s way but it had a very interesting ending, it was exciting, and you know Roxanne’s a fighter that can take a loss and come back and win in exciting fashion. I mean, it’s just, it frustrates me that they’re not getting showcased nearly enough.”

I will end this article with an anecdote from a promoter (not who you think) who I know very well who has promoted women before and has been involved in helping out girls getting booked. He’s had experience before promoting cards with all men, all women, and a mixture of both. He told me the best formula is a mixture of both, followed by all male cards, and all female cards a distant last. When I asked him why the all female cards were money losers for him, he pointed out that the fight fans that went to his all male or mixed cards just didn’t show up to watch the all-female shows. The promoter noted that the audiences to watch the all-female shows were entirely different and they were not fans that went to see his other cards and vice versa. The promoter’s heart was in the right place as he wanted to help build the girls up and really believed in it, but just as we’ve seen with women’s sports in general, they draw an entirely different audience than the men do — and unfortunately it’s often a smaller audience as well.

Strikeforce right now is the only player in MMA that can make women’s MMA “legitimate” in the eyes of more and more MMA fans. But in order to do it, they have to be willing to invest some real estate on their fight cards, at least three or four fights on the undercard, to make it happen. You have to book often, book consistently, and do it over a long enough period of time so that younger people who watch it are conditioned over time to really enjoy it, enjoy the storylines, get into the grudges, and also to encourage new talent to come into the business. Without putting in the resources and just booking women’s fights as one-off deals, all you are going to end up doing is stagnating a division in Mixed Martial Arts that could really grow and really do some big business if properly promoted.

Source: Fight Opinion

5/28/10

FOR RASHAD EVANS, RAMPAGE IS JUST ANOTHER FIGHT
by Jeff Cain

Former UFC light heavyweight titleholders Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and “Sugar” Rashad Evans stand in each other’s way of getting a title shot against champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua when they step into the Octagon at UFC 114 on May 29, but for Evans it’s just another fight.

The UFC had offered each the match up before and they both turned it down for their own reasons, mostly timing.

A bout was scheduled to follow their opposing coaching roles on “The Ultimate Fighter 10: Heavyweights” headlining UFC 107 in Jackson’s hometown of Memphis in December of 2009, but Jackson pulled out of the fight to film the movie version of the 80’s television series “The A-Team.”

The decision to pull out of the fight left Jackson on the outside looking in with the Las Vegas-based promotion who sunk a lot of time and effort, not to mention money, into promoting the event.

Upon criticism from UFC president Dana White for pulling out of the UFC 107 main event, Jackson announced his retirement from the sport, but later decided to fulfill his contractual obligations with the UFC and return to combat, but there was a time when Evans didn’t think the two would ever fight.

“Things got kind of heated between him and Dana (White), and sometimes if you offend the bosses too much you may never come back no matter what you bring to the table,” Evans told MMAWeekly content partner TapouT Radio. “I was hoping that the situation didn’t go there, but I was thinking it was starting to go there. Luckily it didn’t. Luckily he decided that he wanted to come back and have a piece.”

Jackson hasn’t competed in over a year, defeating Evans’ teammate Keith Jardine at UFC 96 in March of 2009, but Evans isn’t expecting ring rust to be a factor in the fight.

“I‘m not going to be underestimating him. You know what I‘m saying? I think I‘m probably going to be fighting the best Quinton,” Evans commented to the media in a pre-fight conference call.

From the beginning, Evans has said that Jackson isn’t fast enough to defeat him, and believes his speed will be a deciding factor at UFC 114.

“I plan to go in there and use all of my tools, and hopefully that day my speed is, I’m on top of things. Like I’m super-fast that day and I believe I will be,” said the 30-year old athlete. “I’ve been training really good. I’ve had some really good training partners. I’ve been bringing in some great people for this camp.”

Evans brought in Strikeforce light heavyweight titleholder “King” Mo Lawal to help him prepare to face Jackson.

“Me and Mo have been cool since college, but you know one thing he does - he does a good Rampage. And at the same time he helped me with my takedown,” said Evans. “He’s got the best takedowns in the game. He’s got the best wrestling, so I’ve been working with him.”

The Greg Jackson trained fighter also stepped up his cardiovascular training for this fight.

“I did a lot more because I kind of got tired in my last fight,” said the Michigan resident. “I wanted to make sure I was in good shape the whole time because I wanted to make sure I could go and do my game plan. If I want to take him down 100 times, I can take him down 100 times and not get tired.”

White has called Jackson vs. Evans the biggest grudge match in UFC history and the two admittedly dislike each other. They’ve been jawing back and forth since Jackson's UFC 96 win over Jardine, throughout “The Ultimate Fighter 10,” and they’ll be throwing verbal jabs in the other’s direction all the way up until the rivalry’s conclusion at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 29.

“He always says ‘Rashad, you talk too much. You talk too much.’ Let’s be honest, we’re both talking a lot. We’re both talking trash a lot and it’s a little bit fun,” said Jackson about the pre-fight banter. “We’ve both got a little big mouth. It’s part of the game, but don’t talk about me talking trash while you’re talking trash too.”

Emotions are riding high heading into this one, but Evans says it’s not going to affect his approach.

“I do want to go out dangerous and just start throwing punches at him and just seeing where they land, but at the same time I know there’s a strategy involved so I’ve got to stick to the strategy,” said Evans.

And while the two dislike each other personally, there’s always going to be a mutual respect for one another as fighters.

“You always got to respect somebody you fight. When you go in there and you fight you give it all you got you kind of exchange something with that person you fight. You kind of leave your spirit on them a little bit and that’s something you can always respect,” stated Evans.

“I don’t like him and I’ll never like him. You know what I’m saying? I’m sure we’ll probably, if he whoops me or I whoop him, I’m sure we’ll probably fight again and we’ll probably pick up right were we left off. But for the most part after the fight’s over, we’ll probably be cool for a minute.”

“The fight is going to take care of itself,” he added. “It’s just another fight.”

Source: MMA Weekly

Coach: Minotouro with full tank at UFC 104
By Guilherme Cruz

Physical trainer of names such as Demian Maia, Cris Cyborg and Junior dos Santos, Rafael Alejarra is now focused on the preparation of Rogério Minotouro Nogueira, who will come back to the cage next Saturday (29) against Jason Brilz, one of the fights of UFC 114. Following closely the preparation, Alejandro compliments the development of the athletes. “Rogério is doing a great job, we’re working on the preparation in San Diego with Minotauro, Cigano, everybody is helping… He’s on his best, strong, doing a lot of strength work… His strength surprised me, he’s doing great on the anaerobic training”, tells the coach, showing some confidence for the duel. “We’re very confident… He has been working on his Wrestling, the trade of punches… The expectations are of a good show and that he knocks this guy out”, bets Alejarra, who worked with Minotouro on his debut on UFC, when he knocked Luiz Banha out. Rogério has plenty conditions to become UFC’s champion and he’s pretty close to get it”, concluded Alejarra, who is launching his website: www.mmaconditioning.tv.

Source: Tatame

Life After MMA
By Ben Fowlkes

You probably wouldn't recognize Christian Wellisch. Even if you vaguely recognize his name, even if you remember him as the guy who got knocked out by some UFC rookie named Shane Carwin back in 2008, chances are you'd walk right by him as he sits behind the American Kickboxing Academy's booth at this weekend's UFC Expo and never know you were looking at a former UFC fighter.

That dream is over now for Wellisch. After an 8-5 career that spanned a little over seven years, he said goodbye to his fighting life.

"I do sometimes miss it, but I don't wish I was still fighting," says the 34 year-old Wellisch, who now runs his own law practice outside San Jose, Calif. He knows it means that he'll never see his face on a UFC fight poster, never get to hoist the championship belt in front of a throng of cheering fans. And he's perfectly fine with that.

It's a sentiment that might seem foreign to fans who tend to see MMA fighters as people whose identity consists only of what happens in the cage. Once a fighter gets dropped from the UFC and doesn't get picked up by another organization, he drops off the public's radar screen. Once he hangs up his gloves, it's like he stops existing altogether.

But he doesn't, of course. He goes on like anybody else. In Wellisch's case, he doesn't even regard the end of his career as a bad thing.

"I never got into fighting with a specific goal of only doing that for the rest of my life. I got into it I guess because I wanted to see what it was like and I wanted to test myself. I did that, and I got to fight on the biggest stage in the world, which few people can do. I don't really have any regrets."

The turning point for Wellisch came following his split decision loss to Jake O'Brien at UFC 94. It was an extremely close fight that easily could have gone Wellisch's way if just one more judge had scored the final round in his favor. That's not what happened, and the loss was his second in a row. It proved to be all the motivation the UFC needed to release him from his contract.

"I told myself when I got into this sport that I wasn't going to take any steps backwards," he says. "I'm not going to go fight in the small shows. I think I made the right decision."

Unlike some fighters, Wellisch had options. He had earned his law degree from Pacific University's McGeorge School of Law in 2007, even while simultaneously pursuing a career in the UFC. He decided to put it to use, and now he works with many MMA fighters, helping them structure contracts and sponsorship deals, among other things.

Fighting for a living was fun, he admits, but this is fun too. It's just a different kind of fun.

"I don't get the pleasure of punching someone in the face and getting paid for it, and there is something to be said for that, but in the legal world you get to inflict more pain," he chuckles.

Wellisch's path is a useful reminder that fighters are more than just the people we see on fight night. Every athlete may start out trying to reach the top, but the reality is that only a precious few will get there. Once you find out that it's not going to be you, sometimes pursuing other interests is the best way to go.

"I think if he wants to retire, then he should," says longtime friend Mike Swick, who started his training at AKA at around the same time Wellisch did. "This sport is so tough, mentally and physically, that if someone is even considering other options, it's probably best to go do that."

One of the frustrating things, Swick adds, is that many fans might look at a guy like Wellisch and not appreciate the things he accomplished.

"He was a good fighter. He fought in the UFC all through law school. That's no small thing. I don't think people realize how tough that is."

Wellisch, too, says it's slightly irksome to encounter fans who think a five-fight run in the UFC followed by an early retirement is tantamount to failure.

"There's still that attitude that I find surprising, and which has no corollary in any other pro sport, where a fan will think, 'Oh, I could beat you. You're not that good.' Nobody in their right mind would say that about any other sport. You don't even have to look at the stars of those sports; you wouldn't even be able to hang in a one-on-one game with the worst player in the NBA. But with fighting there's that lingering attitude where some people still think that anyone can do it."

The truth is very few people can do it, and even fewer can do it at the highest level. Maybe Wellisch couldn't. And maybe that's okay.

"I think I saw every aspect of MMA," he says. "I fought on small shows on a day's notice. I've fought overseas, on different continents. I traveled everywhere on someone else's dime, which is always nice. I walked out in front of crowds of thousands. I fought on pay-per-view. I think I got a full taste and I had the best seat in the house."

Source: MMA Fighting

Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney: I want to talk to Scott Coker and make a fight happen between Eddie Alvarez & Gilbert Melendez, and the money split should not be “disproportionate”
By Zach Arnold

During an interview on Wednesday afternoon on Sherdog radio, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney made it very clear that he wants to talk to Scott Coker and get an interpromotional Lightweight fight booked between Bellator FC Lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez and Strikeforce Lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez. Talk came to a head when Melendez, on Inside MMA, called out Eddie Alvarez and said he wanted to see the fight happen.

“Well you know I mean, as a fan I responded to it immediately,” exclaimed Mr. Rebney after watching the Inside MMA show. “I watched the same show that you guys did and Eddie did and we saw Gilbert call out Eddie Alvarez because he’s got you know the heart of a champion, he wants to fight the best of the best, they’re two guys ranked probably in the Top 5 world at 155 and I think it’s a great fight. I would love to make this fight happen. I said it immediately, Eddie and I talked about it probably six minutes after Gilbert made the call out. It’s a great fight, it would be a heck of a fun fight to watch and there really shouldn’t be any reason that it can’t be made. We should be able to make that fight.”

Rebney believes that both Bellator and Strikeforce would be on equal footing during negotiations to make the fight happen.

“Yeah, I mean, here’s the reality — this situation is easier than most. You got from a Q score perspective in terms of recognition with our endemic market, Gilbert Melendez and Eddie Alvarez are very comparable. If you’d ask the normal MMA fan on the street, do you know Gilbert Melendez, they’d say yes. Do you know Eddie Alvarez, they’d say yes. And if you asked them next who’s the bigger superstar, there wouldn’t be a big dichotomy, they’d go “I don’t know, Gilbert’s pretty big, I’ve seen him on TV, Eddie’s pretty big, I’ve seen him on TV, they’ve beaten really good guys, you know Gilbert coming off the (Shinya) Aoki demolition and Eddie coming off of his Josh (Neer) win in great fashion, so you’re not in one of those situations where you got an established Q score superstar here in the US and some phenom out of Brazil, you got two guys who are on equal footing, you got two guys who are equally well-known. It should be a situation where two heads of two companies can come together and make the fight. There shouldn’t be a disproportionate grab for economic benefit on any either side, it should be an equal deal, we should be able to go into it share revenues, share the opportunity and put on a great fight for the fans.”

When asked how likely he thinks a fight between Alvarez and Melendez could be booked, Mr. Rebney thinks the chances of it getting booked are very good — as long as the lines of communication are open.

“Yeah, you know, I’m not just from a PR perspective interested in talking about it. I’m actually very interested in making the fight happen. We’ve been trying to get a hold of Scott literally since Gilbert made the call-out and we put the press release out immediately. You know, we haven’t yet been able to make that connection and I know Scott’s running a business and he’s crazy busy and I surely respect that. I would love to talk to him about it. I have not yet had the chance to speak to him about it, my office has trying to get a hold of him and he hasn’t yet gotten back to us, but I have seen some comments he made and he seemed to be receptive to the concept and the idea of making it work and again I don’t think it’s a particularly different fight to make and you know my hope is we can get it done, but obviously I got to get on the phone with him or sit down and have lunch with him before I got any kind of a idea if it can be really made to happen.”

In a UFC-dominated MMA world, co-promotion is rarely done because UFC has such a huge roster of fighters that they can immediately book 11-fight cards on big shows. Mr. Rebney was asked on Sherdog radio if UFC was to blame for a lack of co-promotional deals in the industry.

“I mean I don’t know if it’s really a matter of saying that the UFC is to blame, I mean the UFC has you know a wide collection of hugely talented fighters that fight underneath that banner and they’ve been able to keep that confined and do what they do. You know I just, there’s as we’ve discussed many times, there’s room for a #2 and a #3 in the space and you know when there’s an opportunity like this to make a great fight like this it should be made, there shouldn’t be a promoter or a network executive that stands in the way of something like this. I should be able to sit down, have a burger and a Diet Coke with Scott Coker, spend you know an hour and a half talking through the dynamics and make the fight work. It’s a great fight and it should happen, two guys in their prime, so… you know I don’t know why it hasn’t happened in the past, but it can be made to happen and I can’t really for the life of me figure out a reason why it shouldn’t be made.”

Mr. Rebney admitted that it wouldn’t make much business sense (at the moment) for UFC to work with other promoters to book fights since they have so much top talent on their roster.

“Yeah, I mean you know you guys are on radio so I mean there’s an old axiom in radio and it’s at the top of the list of the radio axioms and that is when you’re #1 you never talk about #2 or #3. When you’re #2 and you’re #3 you always bark about #1, so the reality is is that the UFC doesn’t have a strong motivation or a strong driving force behind needing to do it. Their numbers are strong, their ratings are great, their PPV buy rates are significant, they pack arenas everywhere they go. So it’s not at the top of their list of things needed to do, but the reality is I happen to believe and there may be a lot of people who agree with me, maybe they don’t, but I happen to agree that Eddie Alvarez if not the best is one of the Top 2 Lightweights in the world today, that’s my feeling and those who share it can join in. I think Gilbert’s way up there as well and so I mean the reality is we should be doing these kind of things. We should give this kind of a show to fans to ultimately determine who is the best and then maybe you know BJ (Penn) and Frankie (Edgar) fight again and whoever wins that fight you know then you can have the good faith argument, you have can an objective argument and go ‘wow, Eddie beat Gilbert or Gilbert beat Eddie, that puts them as #2 and the winner of the BJ fight versus Frankie, that’s going to determine #1? or maybe it isn’t but that should be put into play.”

When asked if he would be saying the same things about co-promotional fights if he was in the same shoes as UFC, Mr. Rebney hedged his bets.

“It’s a very interesting dynamic and it’s a great question, I mean you know the UFC is the 800-pound gorilla in the space and have become synonymous with amongst general market consumers the sport in of itself. A lot of people call MMA “ultimate fighting” so it’s an interesting question. I’d like to think that I could maintain the position of having my fan hat more often than I have my CEO hat on and if I were in a position if I had the #1 guy in the world, which a position that BJ has held for a long period of time up until his most recent fight, that I would look at it very seriously and say, ‘hey, you know, if Eddie Alvarez or Gilbert Melendez or whoever that fighter might be at the time is a really viable test, let’s see if we can make it work.’ But again, it’s always difficult to make those calls until you actually sit in that position, it’s always neat to talk about being King until you’re King and then you got a different perspective on things, so my gut’s reaction is that I’d like to think that I have the same perception that I do now and that is, it’s a great fight, it should be made, it shouldn’t be impossible to get made, and if I can just get Scott Coker on the phone we should able to make it work and I’d hope I’d have the same perception of it if I were in a different spot or if our organization were in a different spot some time in the future.”

Mr. Rebney believes that his professional sports-style business model allows Bellator to be able to do co-promotional fights better than the pro-wrestling style business model used by UFC.

“It’s a sport business model that cognizant of the fact that our demographic is young, that there needs to be big music and big lighting and great feature pieces and you know super slow-mo shots in terms of what you’re seeing on screen promotionally but ours is a real sport model, it’s objectivity, it’s fighters controlling their own destiny, it’s a tournament format that’s very analogous to what you see in other sports, so we have shied away to date from some of the more kind of marquee names that maybe haven’t established that marquee Vis-à-vis what they’ve done in the cage but more so what they’ve done with their mouth or Youtube or other places, so it doesn’t mean that that’s wrong, it doesn’t that I mean begrudge, I mean watch you know I watched every single of the heavyweights in The Ultimate Fighter and part-in-parcel it was because of Kimbo (Slice), but it’s not our model, it’s not what we do. We’re much more kind of focused on that competition that would take places purely in the cage and you know shying away from those elements of it just because we don’t have the time, the staff, or the ability to do it and it’s just doesn’t, it doesn’t fit into what we’re about but so you know I would say we’re more of a sports business model and less of a kind of a WWE/WWF modeling in terms of ratings and those kinds of issues.”

Would Kimbo Slice be invited to participate in Bellator’s upcoming heavyweight title tournament?

“Not a very high likelihood, no.”

Source: Fight Opinion

UFC Confirms Jones vs. Matyushenko for August 1st
Okami to Face Munoz in Second Versus Card
By FCF Staff

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has confirmed, that as expected, rising light-heavyweight prospect Jon “Bones” Jones will face accomplished veteran Vladimir Matyushenko at the promotion’s upcoming August 1st, UFC on Versus 2 event in Salt Lake City. The card, which will be hosted by the EnergySolutions Arena, will also feature a middleweight bout between Yushin Okami and Mark Munoz.

Jones (10-1) is coming off a dominant, first round, TKO stoppage over Brandon Vera at the first UFC on Versus event in March, after being disqualified for utilizing illegal elbow strikes in his bout with Matt Hamill last December.

Matyushenko (24-4) has won back-to-back fights over Igor Pokrajac and Eliot Marshall since returning to the Octagon for the first time in 6 years. The decorated Belarusian wrestler lost just once in his time away from the UFC; at an Affliction card last January he was KO’d by Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

Okami (24-5) recently returned to winning form in March, when he stopped Lucio Linhares in the second round at UFC Fight Night 21. Prior to that, Okami dropped a Unanimous Decision loss to Chael Sonnen at UFC 104 in October, handing the Japanese fighter just his second loss in 10 UFC bouts.

Munoz (8-1) continues to impress after he was KO’d in his UFC debut by Matt Hamill last March. Since the loss Munoz has won 3 straight, and most recently at UFC 112 in April, he stopped Kendall Grove in the second round with strikes.

The UFC on Versus 2 will be broadcast on the Versus Network. No other bouts have yet been confirmed.

Source: Full Contact Fighter

Fighters at Work
by Matt Beardmore

Face it, your job sucks. Well, at least for many of us it does some of the time. If given the chance, we’d all change something about our workplaces. It could be that idiot that spends more time e-mailing us porn than working on the project that’s due this afternoon, or it could be our overbearing boss we’d like to tap out with an anaconda choke. And who wouldn’t like to see a couple extra zeroes on their paycheck?

But while many of us broom and paper pushers daydream about a pro athlete lifestyle and the endless supply of money and fame that would surely free us from these daily occupational hazards, we need to snap out of it.

Our favorite MMA stars face the same workplace frustrations that we do.

The daily grind

Waking up to the not-so-soothing sounds of an ear-piercing alarm clock then sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic isn’t the best way to start the day, but millions of us keep spinning our wheels in this never ending rat race. Now imagine that same a.m. routine that leads you to the most unforgiving office.

Former WEC featherweight champ Mike Thomas Brown loves his job and he’s enjoying the most productive training sessions of his career, but he’s not wearing a smile to work every day.

“There are days when you don’t want to go to work at any job,” Brown says. “But in my job, when I don’t want to go to work, I go in and get punched in the face.

“It’s a lot of wear and tear on the body. Sometimes I wish I could get a time machine.”

Payday blues

Time travel sounds fun. But so does a tree that sprouts 100-dollar bills. With the uncertainty of today’s economy, working for the rest of our lives sadly doesn’t seem like the exception. A delayed retirement isn’t a fun prospect, but neither is having a career with such a short lifespan.

Couture's longevity is amazing.“I’m making good money right now, but I can’t keep fighting for another 10 or 15 years,” says Brown, 34. “A fighter’s career is very short, unless you’re a freak of nature like Randy Couture.”

Lightweight Aaron Riley is under contract with the UFC, but with the sometimes huge dollar differences between winning and losing, there’s still a financial uncertainty.

“You don’t know how to budget or think ahead on certain things,” Riley says. “That’s tough not to know. When you work another job, you have a good idea of your earning potential.”

The irritating co-worker

Whether you’re living comfortably off a six-figure salary or squeezing by ‘til your next payday, nobody can tolerate an annoying co-worker. The office gossip. The loud cell phone talker. The person that’s perpetually sick and/or late. When you’re trapped with people for eight hours a day, they’re bound to get on your nerves.

Fighters can feel the same animosity toward their workplace peers, but unlike us, they’re allowed to punch and kick these rude assholes.

“I have a humungous chip on my shoulder for people that got into the sport for the wrong reasons -- the girls, the TV time,” says lightweight Jorge Gurgel. “The growth of the sport provides a great lifestyle for some, but the bad part is the integrity of martial arts has been completely forgotten and watered down. It’s sad.”

While “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show has been home to some of the most immature and embarrassing behavior you can find on TV, Matt Serra kicked the door off the hinges when the UFC opened it for him in the fourth season of the program.

“TUF is an awesome opportunity for anyone to seize,” he says. “I seized that opportunity to the fullest.”

Yet as we’ve seen with the show’s alcohol meltdowns and limousine punches, not everyone that’s appeared on TUF has been committed to MMA.

“You’re gonna have knuckleheads anywhere,” Serra says.

Rules, rules and more rules

It’s OK to dislike or disagree with a co-worker, but we have to follow the rules to keep our jobs. As much as some of them would like free rein to let their fists and feet fly, fighters also face workplace restrictions.

“I love the idea of throwing two guys in a room and seeing who comes out,” Brown says. “That’s how I fell in love with the sport.”

But gone are the days of groin punches and throwing a 600-pound sumo wrestler against a man one-third his size. Middleweight Frank Shamrock says he wouldn't shy away from such a David-Goliath matchup.

“I could do without weigh-ins,” he says. “You’re there to fight, right? The whole weigh-in thing is weird to me. To me, cutting weight is a problem.”

Riley can relate. He makes his living at 155, but just getting to that number can be a battle.

“Cutting weight sucks,” he says.

Job satisfaction

While we’d all like to change something about our jobs, that doesn’t mean we don’t gain some level of satisfaction out of a good day at work.

“I love the hours. I love the way the job is,” Gurgel says.

“I really love what I do,” Brown agrees.

But how would you pay your bills if you weren’t fighting?

“I really don’t know,” Brown says, “but I guess I’d probably be punching the clock somewhere and working for the weekend.”

Aren’t we all?

Source: Sherdog

glory

Source: MMA Fighting

glory

Source: MMA Fighting

The Doggy Bag: Kimbo Sliced?

Everyone answers to somebody, so we, the staff at Sherdog.com, have decided to defer to our readers.

“The Doggy Bag” gives you the opportunity to speak about what’s on your mind from time to time.

Our reporters, columnists, radio hosts, and editors will chime in with our answers and thoughts, so keep the emails coming.

This week, readers weigh in on the future of Kimbo Slice, the boxing of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, UFC’s plans on promoting an event in Brazil and a change for the way mixed martial arts bouts are scored by judges.

In regards to Kimbo Slice. My personal prediction, I bet Dream gets him in Japan for a “Super Hulk” style tournament, and pits him against Bob Sapp -- for name's sake. That's just my gut feeling.
-- Anthony

Loretta Hunt, news editor: Anthony, before you pack Mr. Ferguson’s bags and ship him off to Japan, I’d like to review some data with you. Since signing on with the UFC last summer, Kimbo Slice has been a focal point of all of these:

• Highest-rated debut episode, Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter 10” -- 4.1 million viewers (September 2009)

• Highest-rated debut episode replay, Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter 10” -- 1.1 million viewers (September 2009)

• Highest-rated single episode, Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter 10” -- 5.3 million viewers (October 2009)

• Most-watched single bout (live or taped), Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter 10” -- 6.1 million viewers (October 2009)

• Highest-rated season, Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter 10” -- 2.2 million average viewers (September-December 2009)

• Most-watched live UFC cable-televised event in 2009, Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter 10” Finale -- 3.7 million viewers (December 2009)

• Most-watched live UFC cable-televised single bout in 2009, Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter 10” Finale (December 2009) -- 5.2 million viewers

And we don’t even know how May’s UFC 113, which marked Slice’s UFC pay-per-view debut, faired yet. Will the promotion see at least a small spike in its buys due to the bearded Bahamian-born fighter’s magnetizing aura?

I just can’t see Zuffa releasing, and subsequently hand-delivering, such a ratings goldmine to a competing promotion whether it is foreign or stateside, perceived as a threat or not.

And even if they did, I’m not sure any of the Japanese promotions -- Dream, Sengoku, or otherwise -- have either the dough or mojo to surpass the salary (sponsorships included) and exposure boosts Slice has enjoyed since joining the No. 1 promotion in the world.

Though I respect the UFC acknowledging that the weathered and worn-down 36-year-old Slice might not have lived up to the high standards a fighter must meet to stay afloat in the Octagon, my gut tells me Slice isn’t going anywhere. I know one UFC broadcast partner that is probably chomping at the bit to get Slice back on its network, and for all they’ve down for the promotion, Zuffa should be delivering Slice to them on a silver platter.

Send Slice back down to the UFC Fight Night circuit, where he’ll continue to draw eyeballs, old and new. Lightening rods like this are few and far-between in this sport and Zuffa has a savvy track record of capitalizing on them. For a guy with only five professional bouts in two years, there’s no shame in being the one who draws the horse to water.

Source: Sherdog

Demian Maia: “I’m crazy to get back”
By Guilherme Cruz

A little more than one month after losing in the title fight against middleweight champion Anderson Silva, UFC fighter Demian Maia is back to the trainings. After a short season in Hawaii, he is focused and thirsty for a comeback to UFC’s octagon. “It’s great there. I spent four wonderful days, but everything has come back to normal. I came back to the light trainings two weeks ago. On this week I already got a new training schedule, as if I had a fight coming”, said the black belt to TATAME, excited about the return. “I’m crazy to get back”.

Demian still does not know his new opponent, but analyzes probable candidates. “The division is mixed, there are five or six top fighters. Between those guys, they have to see who has a scheduled fight and who doesn’t, so that they can arrange a fight for me. This math is complicated, it always takes a while”, explains Demain, believing his next opponent can be Alan Belcher, Michael Bisping, Yoshihiro Akyiama or Vitor Belfort. “They didn’t say a thing, but all of those are great and top athletes. I believe Vitor will recover from the (shoulder) injury and fight Anderson, but they are all likely to fight against me”, concluded.

Source: Tatame

UFC WANTS TO MAKE CANADA TUF
by Jeff Cain

UFC president Dana White has talked about filming “The Ultimate Fighter” internationally, taking the series to places such as the Middle East and Australia. At the UFC press conference on Tuesday announcing offices in Toronto, White included Canada as a place he’d like to take the popular Spike TV reality show.

“I want to shoot a show up here. I want to do a full Canadian Ultimate Fighter,” White told MMAWeekly.com following the press conference.

“I want to do a Canadian. I want to do a Middle East. I want to do Europe. I want to do England. I want to take it everywhere.”

What White isn’t interested in doing is a Canada vs. USA themed “Ultimate Fighter” or pay-per-view card like they did at UFC 58 back in March of 2006.

“I’m not a big fan of Canada versus the U.S. I don’t hate Canada. I love Canada. We did that one time. We did a Canada versus USA card and I hated it,” said White. “I even openly, admittedly smashed it before we did it. I don’t like it.”

The goal is to get a UFC pay-per-view in Toronto, but Canada might have to settle for events in Montreal and a Canadian specific “The Ultimate Fighter” until Toronto decides to sanction the fastest growing sport in the world.

Source: MMA Weekly

Ninja to fight in Australia too
by Carlos Eduardo Ozório

Set to fight at Shine Fights, Murilo Ninja saw the event go under on the day of the fight, when he was already in the United States. After a period of exhaustive training, he saw his frustration turn to joy. Ninja was called up for Bitetti Combat 7, to take place this Friday at Rio de Janeiro’s Fundição Progresso concert arena. This will be his third appearance for the promotion.

“I’ve trained well and it will be a great show. I don’t know much about my opponent, but I’m ready to put in a great performance. I was really happy about his opportunity because I’d trained so much,” said the Curitiba native who will face Arturo “Tutu” Arcemendes, a fighter as of yet undefeated in his six-fight career.

Besides Ninja, his brother and UFC champion Mauricio Shogun should appear at BC 7. While happy about his opportunity to put his training to use this Friday, Ninja has another obligation coming up over in Australia.

“I’ll fight over there in July, I think on the 13th. I’ll be up against an American fighter,” he told GRACIEMAG.com.

Source: Gracie Magazine

Talk Radio: Why don’t we see 10-10 rounds scored by MMA judges?
By Zach Arnold

From last night’s Observer radio show. There are some bombs in here that could get a rise or two out of readers.

“What happened was… seven/eight years ago there was a judge in New Jersey who scored a couple of rounds 10-10 and he’s never been seen again and every judge knows that story because they’ve all repeated it to me and so therefore they don’t judge 10-10 rounds very often.

“What was the fight, the fight in St. Louis with Shaolin Ribeiro and Lyle Beerbohm, Fancy Pants… that first round like absolutely nothing happened, for five minutes. They were in a fricking clinch against the cage and nothing happened and it was like, this was a 10-10 round and like every single judge gave it to Beerbohm because, you know… he was initiating the takedown that he didn’t get for five straight minutes, you know what I mean, whereas the other guy was defending the takedown that he didn’t get for five straight minutes WHILE NOTHING HAPPENED. No damage, no nothing. You know, it’s like… and that’s worth the same as like you know the next round where you know you lock a guy in a near submission after near submission, you know what I mean?

That’s part of the problems with the judging, but I mean… it’s not the judges. I mean, I’m not saying like, there are judges who probably shouldn’t be judging, I mean that is true. But the big problem with the judging in MMA is not the judges — it’s the system of judging. And people go ‘oh if you got the right judges who understood the sport,’ F***! That’s a bunch, whenever I read that I go, ‘you’re fricking retarded saying that’ because the way the system works, unless you have a thing where you give out a lot of 10-10’s and a lot of 10-8’s, OK, neither of which any judge does, if you do that the 10-point must system can work. But it doesn’t work because you’re discouraged, you know, you got to practically kill a guy to get a 10-8. I mean I’ve seen some one-sided you know beatdowns and then the judges give it 10-9 and it’s like, what the hell? And you know again, 10-10 doesn’t exist for all intents and purposes I mean every now and then a judge will kind of get gutsy and do one, but it takes, you know what I mean? The system is very flawed right now and you know, generally speaking, at least most of the judged fights are not so close to where the system screws it up but you know every couple of shows you know like Tim Hague and Chris Tuchscherer, the judges got it the way it should have been but the wrong guy won because that was the way the system works where one guy won a round big and the other two rounds were close but the other guy did win both of those rounds so he wins the fight even though they got the hell beat out of him and he lost the fight, he still gets the decisions and everyone booed but the judges were right even though they were wrong and the judges would probably tell you that themselves, that like the wrong guy won but our score said this guy won and to me whenever you have a situation, and again you know it’s probably once on every other show, where… where I’ll have, you know, I’ll judge a fight and go, ‘there’s my point, this guy won by my points,’ and that’s usually the guy who wins, but I’ll tell you right now the other guy beat the other guy up in the fight, he won the fight but the scores don’t say that.”

Source: Fight Opinion

5/27/10

'The Ultimate Fighter' recap: Two, two, two fights in one!

By Maggie Hendricks

There wasn't a great image to go with this week's recap, so here is a picture of Chuck Liddell dancing.

According to my menu on digital cable, Dana White is going to make a shocking announcement. Maybe he's going to turn the Octagon into a hexagon. Maybe he's going to give up promoting fights for a life in a yurt. We'll soon find out on tonight's episode of "The Ultimate Fighter."

The first thing we find out is that Kyacey Uscola is more than the proud recipient of a wild card. He's also a proud papa, as he gets a call that his son, Charles Champ Uscola, was born. Kris McCray, his opponent in the wild card match, has no problem congratulating Uscola, despite the inherent awkwardness in facing a teammate. Tito Ortiz, their coach, will stay on the bleachers when his two fighters duke it out.

Wild card bout: Kyacey Uscola (Team Punishment) vs. Kris McCray (Team Punishment)

Round 1: After feeling each other out with stand-up, Uscola delivers a kick to McCray's knee that makes McCray wince. Uscola doesn't pounce immediately, but waits a second to try to take McCray down, and McCray gets the advantage when they go to the ground. They get back to their feet and clinch against the fence. McCray delivers a low blow and Uscola is given time to recover. In that time, we can overhear Dana White say, "His knee is hurting him." If that's true, we can't see it, because McCray continues to dominate, slamming Uscola down and controlling the bout until the round ends.

Round 2: McCray starts with another big takedown and moves to side control. McCray secures a kimura, twists it and Uscola submits.

With all of the quarterfinalists decided, White, Ortiz and Chuck Liddell get together to decide matchups. Unshockingly, Ortiz and Liddell squabble over it. Both Ortiz and Liddell whine that Dana will show preference to the other one.

The quarterfinal matchups are:

Nick Ring vs. Court McGee

Kyle Noke vs. Kris McCray

Brad Tavares vs. Seth Baczynski

Jamie Yager vs. Josh Bryant

Liddell asks that if his team wins every one of their fights, can they send Tito home?

Back at the house, Forrest Griffin pops in to film an extended commercial for play UFC: Undisputed 2010 with the cast. The happiness is short-lived, as we cut to Nick Ring's visit to the doctor. His knee is severely screwed up (yes, that's a technical term) and needs another ACL reconstruction. The doctor says that he may be able to hold on for another fight or two, but that's the best-case scenario. Ring has a decision to make.

White shows up at the house to talk it over with Ring, and the fighters realize something is up. Ring doesn't think he could win a fight right now, so he is going to pull out of the fight. That means that a spot is open for another fighter.

Before White leaves, Hammortree runs after Dana to say, "I want that fight." Clearly, Hammortree knows what Dana likes, as he turns right back around to tell the fighters that Hammortree has Ring's spot. Joe Henle, who lost a close fight last week, seems annoyed that White made the decision that quickly, but anyone who has watched the UFC at all should know that nothing makes White a happier man than a fighter showing that they will do anything to make it to the UFC.

James Hammortree (Team Punishment) vs. Court McGree (Team Liddell)

Round 1: Hammortree is successful with kicks until McGee catches a kick to take Hammortree down. Unfortunately for McGee, Hammortree doesn't stay down for long. The fighters return to their feet, with both fighters trying to work a jab. McGee turns a clinch into a takedown, but again can't keep the bout on the ground. After they stand up for a few seconds, Hammortree goes for the takedown. He tries to take McGee's back, but McGee turns, faces Hammortree and gets a double leg to get control. The round ends with McGee in control.

Round 2: Hammortree shoots in for a takedown, McGee catches him in a guillotine, and Hammortree taps out. With that win, McGee is a semifinalist.

Next week, we finally get to see what takes Ortiz out of his UFC 115 bout with Chuck Liddell.

Source: Yahoo Sports

Xande: “Pressure? Pressure’s what my opponents will feel”

He’s back. And he wants his third absolute title. More than that, he wants to be the first three-time absolute black belt champion of the world.

In 2009 a knee injury kept him out, but now he’s 100%.

Xande Ribeiro is back. Direct from San Diego, California, the two-time champion spoke with the GRACIEMAG at the Worlds Blog. During the conversation Xande spoke of Roger, his prep-work, the pressure of attempting to win a third title, his 2006 and 2008 titles and much more.

Check out the interview:

Demanding respect from GB

How’s training going and what will it be like to go back to competing in the gi after nearly two years away?
Training is going full blast. I was already in shape from doing MMA and when I decided to compete at the Worlds I put on the gi again. I’ve been training since the end of April. Truth is I never stopped training because I incorporate the gi in my MMA training as well, but now I’m serious about it, getting my grip-strength and precision in carrying out the techniques back.

Speaking of the absolute black belt division and looking back in time, what was more exciting: winning your first or second title? What makes each of them unique?
There was a special flavor to each of them. The 2006 one was the last one in Brazil and my first. In 2007 I lost, so in 2008 I went into that final with a lot of drive. It was also good because his [Roger’s] cheering section was cursing me and I ended up winning in the end.

In the years you won, do you remember the physical, technical, tactical or motivational factors that helped you overcome your adversaries?
I’ve always been confident in my technique, strategy and heart. With time I learned to strengthen my head. I’ve always had a good head on my shoulders because I never get put off by anything, and with time I learned to add psychology as a weapon of imposition. Beyond that, I know how to sense what my opponent is feeling, when he’s tired, when he’s excited. There was an interesting case in 2008. I was sitting down and concentrating, even a bit sulky, when a friend came up to me and asked: “Why are you scowling like that? You trained so hard to be here. You should be happy that everything you trained to make happen happened.” So I got up with a smile and went into the final really happy.

Does competing in the absolute up until the semifinal on Saturday and having to make weight for your weight division create any difficulties?
Truth is that it even helps because you lose weight in the absolute. The adrenaline of fighting in a championship takes weight off you and you still have four matches, causing you to shed at least 3kg. The biggest challenge is getting past the muscle soreness the next day.

If the two of you make it to the final in 2010, you or Roger will become the first three-time absolute champions in history. Does that cost you any sleep? How do you deal with the pressure?
I lose no sleep; first because I get tired from training and want to rest to be able to train the next day. Beyond that, I’m happy to have the chance to win a third and it will be really exciting if I or Roger win it, but there are a lot of good guys in the way. As for the pressure, I don’t feel any anymore. I’ve proven what I had to prove. Now I’m on a personal endeavor to see what I’m capable of. Pressure? Pressure’s what my opponents will feel when I impose my game on them.

Mental fortitude

Besides Roger, who out there will give you a hard time in the absolute? Have you been following the other competitors?
One certainly has to keep up to date. These days there are a lot of good guys and a lot of guys coming up with titles. I’ve been living in the United States for 10 years, but I read and keep up with the championships on youtube, websites and, of course, in GRACIEMAG.

Source: Gracie Magazine

Jiu-Jitsu Worlds: 15 years of timeless phrases

It’s not just submissions, takedowns, guard passes and sweeps that make up the history of the Jiu-Jitsu Worlds. The mat wizards who inhabit the pantheon of the stars of the last 14 installments of the greatest gentle art competition show they are black belts even when they open their mouths to speak.

Ever since the first edition in 1996, our stars have filled the web pages of GRACIEMAG.com with timeless utterances. Words of disgust, bursts of joy, good cheer, relief and humility spill from their lips.

The GRACIEMAG at the Worlds Blog dove into the past 14 years of the Worlds to rescue the best phrases uttered by the dynamos of the mats. And, of course, if you remember something once said that didn’t make it on here, don’t hesitate to post in the comments section.

A lot of folks called me crazy for creating the Jiu-Jitsu World Championship in 1996. They’d say the sport was still just crawling and need to grow a lot before there could be such a competition, but I knew the Worlds was going to lead Jiu-Jitsu to growth – Carlos Gracie Jr, CBJJ / IBJJF president.

Finally! – Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro in 2000, upon beating Leo Vieira after three losses in three matches

I’m wearing my underwear and it’s not my fault he’s not wearing his – Daniel Simões in 2000, commenting on his controversial loss to Saulo Ribeiro in the super heavyweight division.

I got to beat on my chest. I’m the only five-time world champion. At least until next year – Robson Moura in 2000, upon winning his fifth gold medal in five world championships.

I’m stoked! Tonight there’s going to be a party in the favela! – Fernando Tererê in 2000, after winning the middleweight division with his victory over Nino Schembri.

To keep them from saying I’m running away, I decided to go out on a limb, but I fought with a twisted ankle – Márcio Pé de Pan in 2001, after dropping out of the absolute in the semifinal.

I’m a heck of a salesman! – Vitor Shaolin in 2001, after winning his second world title and selling his gi to a Japanese spectator for 200 dollars.

There’s still one more coming! – Saulo Ribeiro in 2001, after losing the medium heavyweight final to Margarida, warning that the two would meet again in the open weight final.

I scored my two points and hung on, which doesn’t go over too well in a final – Fredson Paixão in 2001, confessing that he stalled in the featherweight final.

I watched his matches so many times that the tape broke – Fredson Paixão in 2002, with reverence for Ricardo De La Riva, who he beat in the featherweight final.

Jacaré squashes his opponents, submits them and walks off wearing the same expression he bore when he went in, without even sweat on his face. Look at that – Ryan Gracie in 2002, impressed by then-brown belt Ronaldo Souza.

He carries a lot of weight and big old legs! – Saulo Ribeiro in 2002, explaining what Pé de Pano’s weapons were, after the absolute final.

I was 30% in shape, but that’s enough for today’s Jiu-Jitsu – Márcio Pé de Pano in 2003, after winning his second absolute title in a row.

Look at that, now he’s in the mix, too! – Márcio Pé de Pano in 2003, after seeing Jacaré get his black belt, on the podium.

I still want Pé de Pano. He’s the best and I want to be the best by beating him – Fabrício Werdum in 2003, after winning the ultraheavyweight division.

I hit a big old plate of rice, beans and chicken at Tererê’s house. It was so good and was stuffed when I fought – Ronaldo Jacaré in 2003, explaining why he started off slow in his showing at brown belt.

At least I lost to the champ. Or do you think someone’s going to beat that monster? – Roberto Traven in 2003, predicting Jefferson Moura’s opponents in the heavyweight division wouldn’t stand a chance.

The poor are used to sleeping under a fan. I got hit with a nasty air conditioner on the bus from São Paulo to Rio and caught an awful cold – Fernando Tererê in 2003, on the rough ride he had before winning his second middleweight title.

Once it was over, I felt like crying and hugging everyone in the stands, I was so happy – Felipe Costa in 2003, after winning the roosterweight title.

I never had a knack for it, but I train a lot – Felipe Costa, em 2003.

The score stands at 1 to 1, but I took an arm in advantage – Roger Gracie in 2004, after losing to Jacaré in the most controversial absolute final of Worlds history.

I regret nothing! – Ronaldo Jacaré in 2004, on not having tapped to Roger’s armbar.

I’m not stopping! I’m not stopping! – Jacaré in 2004, after escaping Roger’s armbar.

He didn’t give me any room, all I could move were my eyes! – Fernando Tererê in 2004, on his loss to Roger in the absolute.

He has no arms or neck; makes it hard to attack him – Marcelo Uirapuru in 2004, in praise of Marcelinho after losing in the absolute.

I wanted to show how the ant can beat the cockroach – Fernando Tererê in 2004, after entering the ultraheavyweight division weighing just 80 kg.

Just because I’ve fought in all the Worlds’ folks call me old. But I’m 30 – Cássio Werneck in 2004.

If they don’t watch out, I’ll submit a lot of purple belt men. I’m strong as hell – Mirella Cortes in 2004.

I didn’t get on the stand because I didn’t lose. To pick up the silver medal would be to recognize defeat – Roger Gracie in 2005, after more controversy with Jacaré.

If I’d lost, no one on my team would have questioned the result – Jacaré in 2005, complaining about Roger’s team whining.

Jacaré only fired off one shot, but it was a bull’s eye! – Saulo Ribeiro in 2005, on Jacaré’s strategy against Roger.

I wanted to submit Roger and he wanted to submit me. That’s why the match was so good – Xande Ribeiro in 2006, on the absolute final.

I don’t even know what I did. I just used my grandfather’s and father’s Jiu-Jitsu, which I’ve been practicing since I was a kid – Kron Gracie in 2006, at 18 years of age, already drawing attention as a purple belt.

You see my fight? I got taken on a carousel ride! – Marcinho Feitosa in 2006, cheerful even after losing to Cobrinha.

It was worthy of Rocky Balboa. He got beat up the whole time, and then in the end: pow! – Saulo Ribeiro in 2006, commenting on Xande’s strategy in the absolute final.

Seems like there’s a car on top of you – Robert Drysdale in 2006, regarding the pressure of Roger Gracie

Get your hands off me! – Luiz Theodoro “Big Mac” in 2007, still disgusted with the close decision favoring Rafael Lovato Jr in the ultraheavyweight division.

Triangle defense and standing! – Saulo Ribeiro in 2007, teaching how he avoided tapping out to Rômulo Barral in the medium heavyweight division.

That’s seven! – Robson Moura in 2007, on winning his seventh title.

This medal takes four years of weight off my back – Roger Gracie in 2007, relieved for winning the absolute gold medal.

I’m going to stop being the nice guy! – Xande Ribeiro in 2008, complaining about a controversial move by Gabriel Vella, who denied tapping to an armbar.

You need a ladder to fight him – André Galvão in 2008, after facing Roger in the absolute.

Pull guard, Roger! – Renzo Gracie in 2008, foreseeing that playing the standup game would not end well for his nephew in the absolute against Xande.

This win goes to respect in Jiu-Jitsu. The Gracie Barra crowd offended me! – Xande Ribeiro in 2008, shortly after becoming two-time absolute champion.

There isn’t a name for that takedown yet, so we’ll call it xandeguruma! – Xande Ribeiro in 2008, dubbing the takedown that yielded him the two-time absolute title.

Japanese fighters are always tough. They don’t tap! – Samuel Braga, light featherweight champion in 2008.

I came here to be champion! – Mário Reis in 2008, complaining of the refereeing.

I tapped! – Kron Gracie in 2008, still in disbelief over the outcome of his black belt debut against Sérgio Moraes.

By training a lot, I’m getting to Tererê’s level, but he was a natural – André Galvão in 2008, in tribute to his eternal master after winning the medium heavyweight division.

I moved up in weight to escape Roger and when I look at the bracket, who do I see? Roger – Eduardo Telles in 2008, laughing as he saw the pairings in the ultra heavyweight division.

I never imagined he was that much better than the rest – Guy Richie in 2009, on his teacher Roger Gracie.

That’s the so-called invisible Jiu-Jitsu – Saulo Ribeiro in 2009, referring to Roger’s performance.

Oooh, there goes the blanket! – Gracie Barra cheering section in 2009, during Roger Gracie’s matches.

It even spoils the fun when I don’t get taken down – Roger Gracie in 2009, joking about his “weak point”.

Next year I’ll be back for us to put on that show again – Xande Ribeiro in 2009, saluting Roger for his second absolute title.

I felt like crying from training so much – Bruno Malfacine in 2009, on his prep work at Alliance

We’re bothering some people! – Guilherme Mendes in 2009, to the Alliance cheering section.
The snake had two heads! – Rubens Charles Cobrinha in 2009, responding to provocations from the Mendes brothera in Abu Dhabi one month earlier.

I only beat Kyra because I’m big – Lana Stefanac in 2009, after being crowned champion of the absolute black belt division.

Source: Gracie Magazine

For the blog opener, an X-ray of the black belt division

Unafraid to stir up controversy, the very first GRACIEMAG.com at the Worlds Blog puts each men’s black belt division under the microscope.

In an exercise of futurology, I disentangled how the main players in each category will show up in Long Beach. On June 6, we will find out where I went wrong and where I went right. As a proviso, the bets were made based on how each athlete performed in his respective division at recent competitions.

Calasans and Cavaca, a couple of the beasts who'll be there in Long Beach

I split the names from each weight group into three divisions.

In “The Champion”, I examined how each of 2009’s winners will show up to try for a double. Being champion doesn’t mean they are the favorites, but assures an isolated analysis.

In “The Challengers” I speak of each champion’s main adversaries, often just as favored to win as the 2009 gold medalist.

In “The Underdogs” I examine the other tough competitors who will give the favorites a hard time and who have what it takes to surprise and take the title.

And so as not to say I sat on the fence, after the analyses, I predict the final and champion of each weight group! But chill, they’re just predictions and not who I’m rooting for. And for those who might fear the ladies are being forgotten, they’re coming up soon, once sign-ups have been finalized.

Let the predictions begin!

Roosterweight

The Champion: Bruno Malfacine (Alliance) is the man to beat. Ever since last year, the Carioca has kept up the pace in competition and come up with amazing results. So far in 2010, he has won the European, Pan-American and Brazilian championships. He enters this year’s championship as hands-down favorite.

Malfa wants to have another party in Long Beach

The Challengers: Felipe Costa (Brasa) was runner-up at the 2010 Pan and wants revenge. Besides him, Bernardo Pitel (Nova União) is also in the mix.

The Underdogs: The lighter divisions are always suffering kamikaze attacks from Japanese fighters who don’t tap out and often surprise.

Prediction for final: Bruno Malfacine vs Felipe Costa

Champion: Bruno Malfacine

Light featherweight

The champion: Guilherme Mendes (Atos JJ) confesses that he suffers to make weight in the division, but his opponents suffer even more, as victims of the hard work and creativity of the Mendes brothers and the entire Atos team. He’s the hands-down favorite to win.

Even under duress, Gui wants his second at light featherweight

The challengers: Caio Terra (Brasa) is already signed up and, after taking second at the 2010 Pan, he wants to erase the memory of controversy by taking the title. Disqualified after an altercation in the 2009 final, two-time champion Samuel Braga (GB) is another who wants to clear the bad impression he left. To round out the list, Carlos “Esquisito” Holanda Vieira wants to show his Pan title was no fluke and is confident in the effectiveness of his guard to do so. Ah, sorry, there’s also Pablo Silva (GB).

Underdogs: There are five Japanese competitors signed up. Are there any doubts one of them can cause some damage? Dai Yoshioka (Tokyo Yellowmans) is a good bet.

Predictions for final: Guilherme Mendes vs Caio Terra

Champion: Guilherme Mendes

Featherweight

The Champion: Rubens Charles Maciel (Alliance), a four-time winner, wants to set an unprecedented record of five straight titles in the same black belt division. On the year announced as his farewell to competition, Cobrinha will have to prove he still owns the division. There’s no lack of obstacles and the Brazilian Nationals 2010 is solid proof of that.

The pyramid will rumble with another meeting between Cobrinha and Rafael

The challengers: Rafael Mendes (Atos JJ) shows up at Long Beach as co-favorite. His credentials as the prodigy in the division include his brilliant performance at the 2009 ADCC, when he submitted Leo Vieira and beat Cobrinha. The 4-to-2 score over Cobrinha at the Brazilian Nationals provides further credentials. In the gi, in his weight group, he hasn’t lost since the 2009 semifinal in Long Beach, against his rival from Alliance.

Underdogs: Two-time world champion Mário Reis (GB) is always a hard nut to crack and is heading to California to once again give the favorites more than they can chew. Another who should show up in fine form for the division is crowd-favorite veteran Wellington “Megaton” Dias (GH), newbie Renan Borges (BTT) and Marcelino Freitas (NU).

Prediction for final: Rafael Mendes vs Rubens Charles Cobrinha

Champion: Rafael Mendes

Lightweight

The Champion: Michael Langhi (Alliance) wants to become twice-winner of the championship and hopes to do so by closing out the division with his dear friend Lucas Lepri (Alliance). That’s what the two did at the European Championship and the Pan.

Durinho wants revenge, Langhi his second

The Challengers: If Alliance has its duo, Atos JJ does too. In 2009, Gilbert Burns caught Lepri by surprise, but stopped at Langhi, taking silver. In the Brazilian Nationals, once again he overcame Lepri (this time with the finish) and took the title. This year in Long Beach, Durinho will have the help of Bruno Frazatto. Besides the duo, we can’t forget about the always-game Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes (Soul Fighters)

Underdogs: The USA’s Jonathan Torres (Lloyd Irvin) is one of the athletes to keep a keen eye on. Recently he dominated the NY Open, winning at weight and the absolute. Besides Torres, Phillipe “Furão” Della Monica (GB) may cause some problems for the favorites.

Prediction for final: Michael Langhi vs Gilbert Durinho

Champion: Michael Langhi

Middleweight

The Champion: Marcelo Garcia (Alliance) is shooting for his fourth championship win. There’s not much needing to be said about Marcelinho. He’s one of the legends of the sport, and is by far the favorite in a stacked division.

Last year it was decided by odds or evens, but 2010 promises excitement at middleweight

The challengers: When was the last time a black belt division at a Jiu-Jitsu World Championship gathered members of the Gracie family? The middleweight division will probably bring together Kron Gracie (GH) and Kayron Gracie (GB). Kayron comes in on a high after capturing gold at the Pan. The champions from 2007, Lucas Leite (Check Mat), and 2008, Sergio Moraes (Alliance), round out the list of main challengers to Marcelinho’s throne.

Underdogs: William Cooper (Alliance) and Allan “Finfou” Nascimento (Check Mat) should also do well. Absolute champion of Europe Guto Campos (Atos JJ) is in the fight. And why not mention Abmar Barbosa (Drysdale), who had a brilliant Pan.

Prediction for the final: Marcelo Garcia vs Kayron Gracie

Champion: Marcelo Garcia

Medium heavyweight

The Champion: If Rômulo Barral (GB) fights the way he did in 2009, no one stands a chance. However, the champion has been plagued by injuries and the shape Rominho will be in going into the Worlds is an unknown.

Rominho shooting for his third, but will have his work cut out for him

The Challengers: Tarsis Humphreys (Alliance) has shown himself to be consistent in competition. Since the last Worlds, when he was runner-up to Rominho, he won the European, Pan-American and Brazilian National championships. Thus the São Paulo native comes in as the main challenger. Also São Paulo native Cláudio Calasans (Atos JJ) is in the running, too. Both have the credentials to surprise.

The Underdogs: GP teammates Otávio Souza and Victor Estima are also in the mix. It’s also worth mentioning Eduardo Telles (Nine Nine), who dropped weight.

Prediction for final: Rômulo Barral vs Cláudio Calasans

Champion: Cláudio Calasans

Heavyweight

The Champion: Bráulio Estima (GB) is in pursuit of his fourth championship-title win and hopes the frustration of the event where he was to make his MMA debut being canceled doesn’t hinder his efforts. Carcará will have two weeks to bring his grip strength and guard up to par to show his recent losses in Abu Dhabi didn’t faze him.

Bráulio could face Xande in the final, like at the ADCC

The Challengers: With the look and CV of a favorite, Xande Ribeiro (GH) returns to the Worlds with his mind on winning his third absolute title and fifth at weight. As is the case with Bráulio, Saulo’s brother has dedicated himself to MMA lately, but guarantees he didn’t put off wearing his gi. Another serious challenger will be the man of the moment from Alliance, Bernardo Faria, who won the absolute divisions of the Pan-American and Brazilian Nationals.

The Underdogs: Rafael Lovato Jr (GH), 2007’s world champion, wants to prove his title was no fluke. Lighter than the rest, the American may surprise. Leonard Nogueira (Alliance), Alexandre Souza (Gracie Floripa) and Alexandre Cecconi (Rillion) also guarantee excitement in the division.

Prediction for final: Bráulio Estima vs Xande Ribeiro

Champion: Xande Ribeiro

Super heavyweight

The Champion: Roger Gracie (GB) will show up at Long Beach excited about the rear-naked choke he used to dispatch Kevin Randleman at Strikeforce. On the other hand, he’ll have to beat the ghost haunting him since 2008, when the same dedication to MMA days from the Worlds left him with weakened grips and unable to put on much pressure. The six-time weight-group champion is the definitive man to beat.

Another final from 2009 could repeat itself: Roger vs Demente

The Challengers: Ricardo Gonzalez (Nova União), runner-up in 2009, wants revenge. 2010?s European Champion, Demente wants to be the one to oust Roger at weight, which has never happened before. 2008’s winner Antônio Braga Neto (Gordo JJ) will also be chasing Roger to erase the memory of his poor performance in 2009.

The Underdogs: Thiago Gaia (NU), Marcel Fortuna (Ralph Gracie) and Roberto “Tussa” Alencar (GB) should do well at weight, too.

Prediction for final: Roger Gracie vs Ricardo Demente

Champion: Roger Gracie

Ultraheavyweight

The Champion: On a new team, Gabriel Vella (Ryan Gracie) wants to win his third championship title to cap the new direction his career has taken. The São Paulo native started off well at the 2010 Pan and has what it takes to continue his march.

Vella will bring on the pressure in trying for his third

The Challengers: Rodrigo Cavaca (Check Mat) carries on in pursuit of his first world title as a black belt. The gold medals he won at the European Championship and the Brazilian Nationals and the silver from the Pan are excellent credentials. Another who wants a first World title on his CV is Luiz Felipe Theodoro (Tozi). Big Mac has faith in his sharp judo and the awe-inspiring pressure he applies when playing on top.

The Underdogs: Antônio Peinado (Alliance) makes it to his second World Championship as a black belt looking to definitively carve his name into the list of greats in the division.

Prediction for the final: Gabriel Vella vs Rodrigo Cavaca

Champion: Gabriel Vella

Absolute

The Champion: Roger Gracie again wants to show that he is the best Jiu-Jitsu fighter of all times. A third open weight title would be a good argument for putting a string of second-places behind him. Even if he doesn’t admit it himself, the Gracie also wants to win his first title over an adversary who is not from his gym. A final against Xande Ribeiro for a third title must be in every one of Roger’s dreams.

Who can stop Roger Gracie?

The Challengers: Xande Ribeiro is back after his absence in 2009 and wants a third absolute title, too. The 2006 and 2008 finals proved Saulo’s brother has the tools to beat favored-to-win Roger. Rômulo Barral is another serious candidate for the title. Rômulo edged Xande out of the 2007 final and stopped at Roger in 2009. Who can doubt him?

The Underdogs: The list is immense and will depend on who the teams sign up Saturday morning. There can be two per team. For example, Alliance may go in with Bernardo Faria, Tarsis Humphreys or Antônio Peinado. GB will have to decide between Bráulio and Rominho. Ralph Gracie will have Braga Neto and Marcel Fortuna. Aside from them, there’s also Rodrigo Cavaca, Ricardo Demente, Rafael Lovato Jr, Gabriel Vella, Alexandre Souza, Cláudio Calasans, etc, etc, etc… We’ll just have to wait and see.

Prediction for final: Roger Gracie vs Xande Ribeiro

Champion: Roger Gracie

Source: Gracie Magazine

SENGOKU 13: TITLE FIGHT & WELTERWEIGHT TOURNEY

World Victory Road’s Sengoku Raiden Championships 13 is set for June 20 at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, and the fight card is starting to fill out.

The promotion on Friday announced the addition of two bouts that are part of its eight-man Sengoku Welterweight Grand Prix. The opening round of the tournament will feature two quarterfinal bouts at Sengoku 13 with the other two at Sengoku 14.

Keita “K-Taro” Nakamura faces Omar de la Cruz in one of the quarterfinal bouts at Sengoku 13. Takuya Wada faces Jan Sun Lee in the other quarterfinal bout on the same night.

Sengoku 13 will also feature a featherweight title bout between current champion Masanori Kanehara and challenger Marlon Sandro.

Sengoku Featherweight Championship:
-Masanori Kanehara (16-7-5) vs. Marlon Sandro (16-1)

Sengoku Welterweight Grand Prix:
-Keita "K-Taro" Nakamura (18-4-2) vs. Omar de la Cruz (6-2)
-Takuya Wada (19-8-10) vs. Jae Sun Lee (5-5)

-Hiroshi Izumi (1-1) vs. Chang Seob Lee (3-4)
-Maximo "Maxi" Blanco (5-2-1) vs. Rodrigo Damm (9-3)
-Shigeki Osawa (5-1) vs. Katsuya Toida (12-9-3)
-Ikuo Usuda (6-0) vs. Kyung Ho Kang (5-3)
-Sanae Kikuta (28-6-3) vs. Yasubey Enomoto (3-1)
-Ryo Kawamura (11-5-2) vs. Hidetada Irie (7-3-2)

Source: MMA Weekly

PAUL BUENTELLO BOUNCES BACK AT SHARK FIGHTS 11

Paul Buentello bounced back on Saturday night with a unanimous decision victory over Bryan Humes in the main event of Shark Fights 11. The fight took place at the Ector County Coliseum in Odessa, Texas.

Buentello had been on a two-fight skid coming into the fight, losing back-to-back efforts to Stefan Struve and Cheick Kongo in the UFC. It was the Texan’s second tour of duty in the UFC and, at age 36 if he doesn’t come back strong quickly, it could be his last. Both the Struve and Kongo fights were highly entertaining and competitive, but on the overflowing UFC roster wins are still a big part of the equation.

Official Shark Fights 11 Results:

-Paul Buentello def. Bryan Humes by Unanimous Decision, R3
-Derek Campos def. Luis Luna by Unanimous Decision, R3
-Clinton Holcomb def. Lance Bartholomew by KO at 1:42, R3
-Tony Castillo def. Chris Golden by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 2:47, R2
-Joseph Sandoval def. Derrick Carter by KO at 1:36, R1
-Armando Herrera def. Chase Watson by Unanimous Decision, R3
-Jason Sampson def. Jeremiah Castillo by TKO at 1:33, R1
-Mark Martinez def. Bryan Valdez by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 2:36, R1

Source: MMA Weekly

Another hit to this year’s event.

Three-time world champion Bráulio Estima just announced via Twitter that he will be unable to dispute the 2010 event.

According to Estima, an old and recurring injury in his lower back will put him on ice for a week, the very week the Brazilian was going to use to get his gi game up to speed.

Braulio celebrates in 2009

Added to the injury is Bráulio’s professional commitment to MMA, as his debut is set for July.

Also over Twitter, the Zé Radiola student remarked on the bad news: “I’m really sad, but there’s not much I can do. I’ll be there to support my teammates and hope to be in shape for my MMA debut in July.”

Thus the heavyweight division is left without its champion.

Source: Gracie Magazine

KRAUSS CAPTURES TITLE AT CAGE WARRIORS

The Cage Warriors promotion rose from the ashes on Saturday night in Birmingham, England, with a show that mixed European and British talent to great effect. They are still in rebuild mode, but the hallmark of quality fights remains and the future looks promising.

In the headline bout of the evening, Pascal Krauss secured victory over John Quinn with a tight rear naked choke, marking the eighth stoppage of the night, and picking up the Cage Warriors welterweight title to boot.

The first round started with both fighters picking up where the previous fight had left off, exchanging hands without hesitation, Quinn landed a couple of nice crosses with the exchanges, but it was Krauss who appeared to be crisper with his strikes and flowing freely with the combinations. Krauss made the most of the first trip to the mat, reversing position on his adversary before dropping a series of short elbows.

Krauss started to gain confidence in the second stanza and turned on the pressure, controlling Quinn’s upper body and dragging the fight to the canvas in search of an Anaconda choke. He wasn’t successful with the attempt, but managed to sink in a rear naked choke with 13 seconds to spare in the round.

Greg Loughran and Kenneth Rosfort took a while during the opening round to feel each other out and assess their timing. Loughran was the first to crack the code and seized the center of the cage, forcing his Norwegian adversary to work hard on his movement around the outside.

Loughran started to have success throwing a double jab/cross combination that landed frequently through the defense of his opponent, but towards the end of the second round Rosfort had found his own opening, dropping the Ulsterman with a big overhand right.

Following the same path into the third, Loughran tried tagging a hook on the end of his sequence, but Rosfort invariably countered with the overhand and managed to put Loughran down again.

During the fourth round, both were landing frequently, but it was Loughran who ended up bowing out of the bout with a huge split in his lip that will require surgery to fix. Rosfort becomes the new Cage Warriors lightweight champion.

Excellent bout between Peter Irving and Nordin Ashri as the latter made the 10th Legion champion work very hard to retain his title. The first round saw Ashri land some good shots standing as he countered Irving's kicks. On the mat Irving appeared to have the edge and wasted nothing with his punishing attacks. He threw elbows and punches intermittently throughout the bout, but usually landed, including a sharp elbow in the second that opened a cut on the top of Ashri's head.

Irving looked to emulate the opening rounds by grounding the fight and working hard to secure mount. Ashri threatened briefly with a Kimura, but ended up eating a few more hard punches for his efforts. Paying props to his adversary’s toughness after the bout, Irving was all class in victory.

A frantic battle erupted between Daniel Thomas and Ali McClean as both looked to trade early, tagging each other in the exchanges, but it wasn't until they hit the mat that the experience of the former played a part, staying calm under pressure and looking for a submission. McClean defended himself well, but left his head in when attempting to get back to the feet, allowing Thomas to drive him down into a mounted guillotine that stopped the bout.

A left hook from Louis Chapman separated Jay Gilbey from consciousness in the opening seconds of the bout as he came crashing down to the canvas. Gilbey never knew what hit him.

Mick Sinclair came under fire early as opponent Josh Dennis let loose with a very impressive show of hands, tagging the lightweight early and frequently. It wasn't long before Sinclair had enough and scooped Dennis up before hauling him over to the other side of the cage and dumping him on the mat. With a clear edge in grappling experience, Sinclair dominated position and swarmed the young fighter who just covered up, forcing referee Marc Goddard to halt the bout.

Sarah Moras overcame a tough striking offense from Helena Martin and muscled her way to a win via ground and pound in the second round, dominating the clinch with solid upper body control before grounding the fight, sheer brutality putting her opponent out under a barrage of strikes from mount.

James Bateman and Ronan McKay engaged in a grueling 15 minutes of action as both scored a round apiece before heading into the third. Ultimately, Bateman's suffocating control of the top position earned him a nod from the judges.

Jimmy Wallhead wasted no time in his middleweight outing, dragging Shaun Lomas straight down to the ground and into his guard. Working to pass first to side control, where he applied some stiff hammerfists, before transitioning to mount. Lomas didn't want to be a static target and rolled, allowing Wallhead to sink in the hooks and clamp on a tight rear naked choke.

Tom Breese and Ramon Silva looked pretty handy early on with their exchanges, but it was Breese who managed to land a crisp right hand to drop his opponent before capitalizing fast and trying to setup an arm triangle. Sensing danger, Silva rolled, but Breese followed and dropped the hooks in along with a rear naked choke at the 2:13 mark.

Pro
- Pascal Krauss def. John Quinn by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 4:47, R2
- Kenneth Rosfort def. Greg Loughran by Doctor Stoppage (Cut Lip) at 3:58, R4
- Mick Sinclair def. Josh Dennis by TKO (Strikes) at 1:44, R1
- Pete Irving def. Nordin Asrih by Unanimous Decision, R3
- Daniel Thomas def. Ali McClean by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 3:32, R1
- Jim Wallhead def. Shaun Lomas by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 2:34, R1
- Louis Chapman def. Jay Gilbey by KO at 0:26, R1
- Sarah Moras def. Helena Martin by TKO (Strikes) at 3:40, R2
- James Bateman def. Ronan McKay by Unanimous Decision, R3

Semi Pro
- Tom Breese def. Ramon Silva by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 2:13, R1

Source: MMA Weekly

5/26/10

OVEREEM MAKING STRIKEFORCE TOP PRIORITY IN 2010

Taking two and a half years away from a promotion while still holding onto a title belt tends to raise a few questions when the fighter finally returns. The questions immediately arise if they plan on being away that long again.

Alistair Overeem successfully defending his belt on Saturday night, defeating Brett Rogers by first round TKO, and while he has never denied a desire to go back to K-1 for more fights this year, he plans on returning to the Strikeforce cage as well.

Nothing is set in stone at this point, but Overeem is confident that things can be worked out to bring him back to the U.S. for another fight in the near future, as he plans on putting Strikeforce first in 2010.

"You definitely won't have to wait that long anymore as I've decided to focus and put America and Strikeforce as a priority," said Overeem. "I'm hoping to fight this year again in Strikeforce, maybe twice. We're just going to have to sit back and see what happens in the Fedor fight and sit down with Scott and make the planning, but my intentions are fighting more."

The heavyweight division in Strikeforce has grown since Overeem left, and beyond the obvious name of Fedor Emelianenko, other fighters have stepped up as well, including Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva who was successful in his fight on the same night.

Overeem plans on examining the division and seeing other fighters, and then he'll understand what threats are out there to his heavyweight title. One thing is for sure though, anybody that plans on facing him better be ready for a war.

"I think I can beat anybody in the shape that I am now. Still I think they're all good fights. I think that people will want to see those fights. I want to see those fights. Basically I'm going to be ready for anybody that the promotion will put in front of me," he said following his dismantling of Rogers.

Of course the giant elephant in the middle of the room when talking about fights with Overeem is his undying desire to face top heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko. The Dutchman admits that it's frustrating to not get that fight, and his only wish is to become the best by beating the best.

"Fedor is a legend and if you want to become a legend you have to fight a legend and you have to beat the legend. So I was hoping that he ask for him to be a legend by his management and want to fight the champ because he'd need to in Strikeforce. He's not the champion in Strikeforce," said Overeem.

"So I was thinking, hoping that he would like to have that fight, but his management declined. And of course it's sort of a disappointment, but may be for the better reason, I don't know. It gave me a good comeback with Brett Rogers and some cage experience that I didn't have for two and a half years. So it may be for the better."

At this point Overeem doesn't care under what terms he has to fight Fedor to get him in the cage, he doesn't even need the belt to be on the line. He just wants see if the "Last Emperor" can hang with the "Demolition Man."

"I would love to fight him. If it's for a title or not, that doesn't matter to me," said Overeem.

The Strikeforce heavyweight champion has stated that he plans on competing in K-1 as well later this year, at least on their New Year's Eve show. As far as his Strikeforce commitments, look for him to keep a watchful eye on the upcoming June 26 fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Fabricio Werdum.

Source: MMA Weekly

DOS SANTOS VS. NELSON AGREED TO FOR UFC 117

Roy Nelson has won back-to-back fights in the UFC, including winning Season 10 of “The Ultimate Fighter.” Now he wants to take a step up in competition, facing a heavyweight contender.

It appears that Nelson will get his wish.

Junior dos Santos, one of the leading contenders for a shot at the heavyweight title, Tweeted on Saturday, “Fight confirmed, Roy Nelson is my next opponent. I hope to have support from all my fans.”

Independent sources confirmed to MMAWeekly.com on Saturday that both sides have agreed to the fight.

The fight is expected to take place at UFC 117 on Aug. 7 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif.

"That might be a fight that might happen,” Nelson told MMAWeekly.com earlier this month when asked about a possible fight with dos Santos.

"If you think about who's out there fighting for the belt, or getting ready to fight for the belt it would be Brock (Lesnar) of course and Shane (Carwin), and then right underneath them it's Dos Santos and Velasquez. So those are the four guys I'm looking for that can kind of catapult me right into belt contention."

UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva is expected to defend his title against Chael Sonnen in the UFC 117 main event, despite Silva recently falling out of favor with UFC president Dana White.

Source: MMA Weekly

After Meeting His Immovable Object, What's Next For Mariusz Pudzianowski?

WORCESTER, Mass. -- Mariusz Pudzianowski has always had the same philosophy: whatever is in front of you, pick it up and get it out of the way. He's never gone around, he's never gone through, he simply moves obstacles aside.

He's made a career of picking up things that didn't want to be picked up, but even the World's Strongest Man is eventually going to come across his immovable object, and for Pudzianowski, it was Tim Sylvia.

The bigger question is, What does it mean for his MMA career?

Pudzianowski is no fool. He knew from the beginning that he was taking a gamble by facing a two-time former UFC champion in only his third match, and after only less than a year of MMA training. He knew it was a risk, but at 33 years old, he felt it was one worth taking.

Pudzianowski's goal -- like many others -- is to fight for a major promotion, but major promotions are rarely on the lookout for 33-year-olds with only a few months of MMA experience, so despite his popularity and ridiculous physique, he knew he needed to bring something else to the table, something like a notable win over a former UFC champ.

Few people get to take the Brock Lesnar express lane into the UFC or into major MMA, but Pudzianowski had his EZ Pass in hand.

It was not to be for the Polish powerhouse, who only had a few good moments in a fight that lasted just 1:43 into the second round.

"The difference was obvious," he said. "I've been training for seven months, he's been training for 13 years. The difference was very visible. It's just a stepping stone. I have to learn new things."

Everything was set up to make a homefield advantage for the Pudzianowski. The area surrounding Worcester has a huge Polish population, and they came out in force to root on a national hero.

They serenaded him with chants. They waved flags. They greeted his arrival with a standing ovation and sung the Polish national anthem. It was like a World Cup soccer match broke out during the Moosin event at the DCU Center.

But once the fight started, there was little to cheer. Apart from a brief Pudzianowski takedown in the early part of the first round, it was all Sylvia, who chopped Pudzianowski down with leg kicks, punished him from the clinch and scored with straight rights.

"His longer reach was difficult," Pudzianowski said. "Obviously I wasn't able to exchange punches with him. It was really tough, almost impossible to put him down."

On the ground, the experience gap was vast. Sylvia earned a dominant position into side control simply by pushing his legs aside. It was guard-passing 101. He moved to north-south and then switched for side control on the opposite side, so he could throw right hands instead of lefts. Within seconds, he locked Pudzianowski in the crucifix, and seconds later, it was over.

Pudzianowski tapped to the strikes, then walked dejectedly out of the cage and to the back.

"It was a great atmosphere," he said later. "I want to thank the Polish fans. They were absolutely great. I want to tell them and you guys, you're going to hear about me for sure. I've never given up at anything, and I won't give up here."

So what's next for Pudzianowski? First things first, he said he'd be taking a two-week vacation. Despite the loss, he'll still be in demand as a fighter based on his name alone. Moosin co-promoter Eric "Butterbean" Esch (yes, that Butterbean - is there any other?) told MMA Fighting that the promotion would love to bring him back for another fight. Pudzianowski fought each of his first two fights in Poland's KSW promotion, and he can certainly return there and make some decent paydays. Frankly, it's where he belongs at this stage of his career. He's not ready for bigtime talent. Not yet.

The fact of the matter is that while Pudzianowski did not embarrass himself against Sylvia, he showed plenty of holes in his game. He has no super skill to fall back on, no wrestling credentials, boxing prowess or jiu-jitsu mastery. In the end, he's just a big, strong guy trying to figure it all out as he goes along. It's difficult to see a major organization beating down his door for anything aside from his name value, and with less than a year of MMA training, that shouldn't come as a surprise.

Pudzianowski has nothing to be ashamed of. He's chasing his newest passion, and he simply tried to skip a few steps in the logical progression. He has the heart, the drive and the desire to get where he wants to go, but the skills are just too raw and the holes are too many.

It just goes to show: Even when you're the World's Strongest Man, there are some things in life you can't power your way through.

Source: MMA Fighting

The Doggy Bag: Kimbo Sliced?

Kimbo Sliced

Everyone answers to somebody, so we, the staff at Sherdog.com, have decided to defer to our readers.

“The Doggy Bag” gives you the opportunity to speak about what’s on your mind from time to time.

Our reporters, columnists, radio hosts, and editors will chime in with our answers and thoughts, so keep the emails coming.

This week, readers weigh in on the future of Kimbo Slice, the boxing of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, UFC’s plans on promoting an event in Brazil and a change for the way mixed martial arts bouts are scored by judges.

In regards to Kimbo Slice. My personal prediction, I bet Dream gets him in Japan for a “Super Hulk” style tournament, and pits him against Bob Sapp -- for name's sake. That's just my gut feeling.
-- Anthony

Loretta Hunt, news editor: Anthony, before you pack Mr. Ferguson’s bags and ship him off to Japan, I’d like to review some data with you. Since signing on with the UFC last summer, Kimbo Slice has been a focal point of all of these:

• Highest-rated debut episode, Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter 10” -- 4.1 million viewers (September 2009)

• Highest-rated debut episode replay, Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter 10” -- 1.1 million viewers (September 2009)

• Highest-rated single episode, Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter 10” -- 5.3 million viewers (October 2009)

• Most-watched single bout (live or taped), Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter 10” -- 6.1 million viewers (October 2009)

• Highest-rated season, Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter 10” -- 2.2 million average viewers (September-December 2009)

• Most-watched live UFC cable-televised event in 2009, Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter 10” Finale -- 3.7 million viewers (December 2010)

• Most-watched live UFC cable-televised single bout in 2009, Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter 10” Finale (December 2010) -- 5.2 million viewers

And we don’t even know how May’s UFC 113, which marked Slice’s UFC pay-per-view debut, faired yet. Will the promotion see at least a small spike in its buys due to the bearded Bahamian-born fighter’s magnetizing aura?

I just can’t see Zuffa releasing, and subsequently hand-delivering, such a ratings goldmine to a competing promotion whether it is foreign or stateside, perceived as a threat or not.

And even if they did, I’m not sure any of the Japanese promotions -- Dream, Sengoku, or otherwise -- have either the dough or mojo to surpass the salary (sponsorships included) and exposure boosts Slice has enjoyed since joining the No. 1 promotion in the world.

Though I respect the UFC acknowledging that the weathered and worn-down 36-year-old Slice might not have lived up to the high standards a fighter must meet to stay afloat in the Octagon, my gut tells me Slice isn’t going anywhere. I know one UFC broadcast partner that is probably chomping at the bit to get Slice back on its network, and for all they’ve down for the promotion, Zuffa should be delivering Slice to them on a silver platter.

Send Slice back down to the UFC Fight Night circuit, where he’ll continue to draw eyeballs, old and new. Lightening rods like this are few and far-between in this sport and Zuffa has a savvy track record of capitalizing on them. For a guy with only five professional bouts in two years, there’s no shame in being the one who draws the horse to water.

Source: Sherdog

Greg Jackson Breaks Down Rampage-Evans

When Rashad Evans steps into the cage to settle the score against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson on Saturday in Las Vegas, he’ll have the usual familiar faces in his corner. One will be Greg Jackson, who has the task, along with Trevor Wittman, of guiding the one-time “Ultimate Fighter” winner into his most personal battle to date.

While Jackson has been noticeably absent on the last two “UFC Primetime” specials, he assures everyone that he has been molding Evans’ game plan for the past few months. He’s also witnessed the tremendous amount of borderline trash-talking that has been flung around by both Evans and Jackson in recent weeks. As for the level of sincerity behind Evans’ harsh words, you’ll have to ask the former champ himself.

“You would have to ask Rashad that,” Jackson said when questioned on last Friday’s “Beatdown” show about Evans’ level of legitimate hatred toward Rampage. “I do know that [trash-talking] is a tool that has been used by a lot of people before. You have Muhammad Ali calling Floyd Patterson an “Uncle Tom” before their fight for example. How fighters conduct themselves is nothing new. They have the responsibility of selling fights, but you’d have to ask Rashad how personal that is.

“I don’t think it’s that serious. I think it’s just a tool to get in [Rampage’s] head. It has nothing to do with race. Again, you have a tradition of that kind of stuff -- people claiming that their opponents aren’t true Mexicans or stuff like that. It’s been going on for years. Rashad is so smart. People don’t really understand how smart this guy is. He knows better than to get emotional or heated about it. I think he’s going to be all business at fight time. I’m not worried at all about him getting drawn in and trying to knock Rampage out in 15 seconds. He’s a real sharp and careful guy.”

Jackson uses TV as a tool.
Jackson admits that “UFC Primetime” gives not only the fans but also coaches and the fighters themselves a unique look inside a training camp. Careful editing prevents any important strategies from being leaked, but that doesn’t mean Jackson and company haven’t been watching regardless.

“You do it just to see what they are working on,” Jackson said of watching the show. “Of course, it’s edited so you can’t get a lot, but you can see the timing and the type of training that’s going on. You’re trying to use any kind of resource you can.

“We’re very careful about it though. The cameramen know when to film and when not to film. We can say, ‘Listen, this is game plan stuff’ and they know to walk away. Usually it’s pretty straightforward -- most of these guys are really good. They’re looking for more of the drama for the most part. They aren’t going to give all of your secrets away and then let you get your butt kicked in the fight. That’s just not going to happen.”

Evans and his camp have made no secret about the fact they are preparing to face the best Rampage they could possibly go up against. Despite being out of action for over a year now, Jackson and his associates believe that ring rust may not affect Rampage, who has shown a high-level of dedication to training as of late.

“You can’t go in thinking about that. It’s pointless,” Jackson said of Rampage’s layoff. “If he’s not the best Rampage ever, that will make our strategy that much better. If he’s Rampage as usual, then it’ll be business as usual. As soon as you can go in there and say, ‘Oh, Rampage had a year off,’ you get yourself in trouble. I think we’re going to run into the best Rampage we’ve ever seen and I hope that’s the case, because we have the best Rashad anyone has ever seen.

“We want to make sure that we’ve addressed all of the contingencies that can happen. Rampage is a powerful striker. He’s a pretty good wrestler. He’s a savvy veteran who knows when to relax a bit and then come right back. I have a lot of respect for him. However, I’m pretty confident in Rashad’s kickboxing ability. Rampage is an excellent boxer, it’s true, but Rashad is good as well and I’m always going to bet on my guy.”

Source: Sherdog

Fighters at Work

Face it, your job sucks. Well, at least for many of us it does some of the time. If given the chance, we’d all change something about our workplaces. It could be that idiot that spends more time e-mailing us porn than working on the project that’s due this afternoon, or it could be our overbearing boss we’d like to tap out with an anaconda choke. And who wouldn’t like to see a couple extra zeroes on their paycheck?

But while many of us broom and paper pushers daydream about a pro athlete lifestyle and the endless supply of money and fame that would surely free us from these daily occupational hazards, we need to snap out of it.

Our favorite MMA stars face the same workplace frustrations that we do.

The daily grind

Waking up to the not-so-soothing sounds of an ear-piercing alarm clock then sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic isn’t the best way to start the day, but millions of us keep spinning our wheels in this never ending rat race. Now imagine that same a.m. routine that leads you to the most unforgiving office.

Former WEC featherweight champ Mike Thomas Brown loves his job and he’s enjoying the most productive training sessions of his career, but he’s not wearing a smile to work every day.

“There are days when you don’t want to go to work at any job,” Brown says. “But in my job, when I don’t want to go to work, I go in and get punched in the face.

“It’s a lot of wear and tear on the body. Sometimes I wish I could get a time machine.”

Payday blues

Time travel sounds fun. But so does a tree that sprouts 100-dollar bills. With the uncertainty of today’s economy, working for the rest of our lives sadly doesn’t seem like the exception. A delayed retirement isn’t a fun prospect, but neither is having a career with such a short lifespan.

Couture's longevity is amazing.
“I’m making good money right now, but I can’t keep fighting for another 10 or 15 years,” says Brown, 34. “A fighter’s career is very short, unless you’re a freak of nature like Randy Couture.”

Lightweight Aaron Riley is under contract with the UFC, but with the sometimes huge dollar differences between winning and losing, there’s still a financial uncertainty.

“You don’t know how to budget or think ahead on certain things,” Riley says. “That’s tough not to know. When you work another job, you have a good idea of your earning potential.”

The irritating co-worker

Whether you’re living comfortably off a six-figure salary or squeezing by ‘til your next payday, nobody can tolerate an annoying co-worker. The office gossip. The loud cell phone talker. The person that’s perpetually sick and/or late. When you’re trapped with people for eight hours a day, they’re bound to get on your nerves.

Fighters can feel the same animosity toward their workplace peers, but unlike us, they’re allowed to punch and kick these rude assholes.

“I have a humungous chip on my shoulder for people that got into the sport for the wrong reasons -- the girls, the TV time,” says lightweight Jorge Gurgel. “The growth of the sport provides a great lifestyle for some, but the bad part is the integrity of martial arts has been completely forgotten and watered down. It’s sad.”

While “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show has been home to some of the most immature and embarrassing behavior you can find on TV, Matt Serra kicked the door off the hinges when the UFC opened it for him in the fourth season of the program.

“TUF is an awesome opportunity for anyone to seize,” he says. “I seized that opportunity to the fullest.”

Yet as we’ve seen with the show’s alcohol meltdowns and limousine punches, not everyone that’s appeared on TUF has been committed to MMA.

“You’re gonna have knuckleheads anywhere,” Serra says.

Rules, rules and more rules

It’s OK to dislike or disagree with a co-worker, but we have to follow the rules to keep our jobs. As much as some of them would like free rein to let their fists and feet fly, fighters also face workplace restrictions.

“I love the idea of throwing two guys in a room and seeing who comes out,” Brown says. “That’s how I fell in love with the sport.”

But gone are the days of groin punches and throwing a 600-pound sumo wrestler against a man one-third his size. Middleweight Frank Shamrock says he wouldn't shy away from such a David-Goliath matchup.

“I could do without weigh-ins,” he says. “You’re there to fight, right? The whole weigh-in thing is weird to me. To me, cutting weight is a problem.”

Riley can relate. He makes his living at 155, but just getting to that number can be a battle.

“Cutting weight sucks,” he says.

Job satisfaction

While we’d all like to change something about our jobs, that doesn’t mean we don’t gain some level of satisfaction out of a good day at work.

“I love the hours. I love the way the job is,” Gurgel says.

“I really love what I do,” Brown agrees.

But how would you pay your bills if you weren’t fighting?

“I really don’t know,” Brown says, “but I guess I’d probably be punching the clock somewhere and working for the weekend.”

Aren’t we all?

Source: Sherdog

WC FITNESS: WHAT'S BETTER, AEROBIC OR ANAEROBIC?

Strength coaches and fighters are always looking for workouts that will help them be better in the cage, ring, and on the mat. One of the main things fighters look for is a way to constantly improve their cardio. The worst feeling a fighter can feel is getting tired. Nobody wants to "gas."

There are several elements as to what could cause a fighter to "gas." One is adrenaline dump. Another is muscular fatigue. Another is a lack of strength/power-endurance. But most common is just plain lack of good old cardiovascular conditioning.

How a fighter should improve their cardio is a widely debated topic, depending on whom you talk to. Common sense would indicate that since fighting has many anaerobic elements to it (the brief periods of intense action coupled with slower periods of action, and even rest between rounds), that anaerobic training would make sense. However, fighting is also largely an aerobic activity, so maybe aerobic training should be done?

(For the record, anaerobic training would consist of shorter, more intense periods of work, followed up by periods of rest – think interval training or sprinting. Aerobic training would consist of long, slower activity – think jogging.)

Let's keep looking at it though. Aerobic training takes a lot longer to perform, therefore, taking time away from skills training and dedicated strength work. Aerobic training (depending on what you end up doing) can also cause overuse injuries due to the long, repetitive nature of the activity. Jogging for miles on end on pavement, no matter what anybody says (or how good of shoes you buy) just isn't a good idea. But aerobic training alone will not get you in shape for intense fighting, sparring, grappling, etc. It's just a much more intense activity. And aerobic training has shown to have little to no effect on anaerobic capabilities.

Anaerobic training, on the other hand, not only increases anaerobic capabilities, but aerobic capabilities as well. It's shorter in duration, and can get you "in shape" over a much wider spectrum of intensity for your given activities. However, anaerobic training can also be very hard on the central nervous system, meaning that you can "burn out" (what's commonly called "overtraining") much easier. And unless you use intervals that are longer in duration (and therefore have to be done at easier intensity), there's just no substitute for the long-term work capacity that aerobic training can build.

And then there's plain old anecdotal evidence. If basic aerobic training – i.e., roadwork – was so ineffective, how come so many fighters and combat athletes for so long have used it with great results?

Personally, I believe it depends on the skills work.

I could go into a long diatribe about the whole thing, but let's just cut to the chase here.

You need to develop an aerobic base before you can build an anaerobic base. So that insinuates that you need aerobic training (because although anaerobic training will increase your aerobic capabilities, it's still not as effective as plain old aerobic training is). You do the aerobic training to build your work capacity, build that gas tank.

Now let's look at skills work: hitting the mitts or bag, drilling, grappling/sparring, etc. While these all are skills activities, they all have a very real conditioning element they tax, especially when done at intense levels. And these are all anaerobic activities. In fact, they are specific anaerobic activities. (In other words, they're specific because they are actually what you'll be doing in a fight as opposed to running sprints or doing intervals on a cardio machine.)

The harder you work in your skills training, the more you'll develop your anaerobic capabilities.

So you can focus aerobic work in your workouts, and anaerobic work in your skills training.

However, this is all predicated on the fact that you do a lot of skills training, and the skills training you do is very intense. If MMA is a hobby, and you only train a couple times/week, or if your training is "easier" (say a Brazilian jiu-jitsu class where you're spending more time drilling and learning submissions than you are intense grappling), then the time you're spending improving your anaerobic capabilities is greatly diminished, and therefore, has to be picked up in your workouts.

However, the more skills work (especially if it's intense work) you do, the more you can focus on aerobic work, as well as other areas of conditioning (mentioned above).

Train Hard, Rest Hard, Play Hard.

Matt "Wiggy" Wiggins has been a Strength & Conditioning contributor to MMA Weekly.com since 2003. Click Here to see more about his MMA Workouts and get info on how to improve your MMA training. Click Here to see more about his cardio workout and workout plans that don't use stupid gym machines or make you do any running.

Source: MMA Weekly

World Victory Road Announces Welterweight GP Starting at SRC 13

Sengoku Raiden Championship promoter World Victory Road unveiled "SRC Welterweight GP Series 2010", an eight-man welterweight tournament to get underway at SRC 13 with two quarterfinal matches on June 20th with the remaining two quarterfinal matches at SRC 14 in late August.

As we have seen with Sengoku's other tournaments, rather than using fighters that are already established within the promotion, the tournament will be drawing from second tier promotions in Japan and abroad, ultimately leading to a welterweight title match in 2011.

The second tournament bout at SRC 13 will see the former welterweight King of Pancrase, Takuya Wada, make his promotional debut against Jae Sun Lee. Wada has been undefeated since February 2007, only surrending his Pancrase crown after refusing to grant a rematch to Kengo Ura. Jae Sun Lee is looking to rebound after a loss in his first Sengoku bout - a spirited competitive decision to judoka Makoto Takimoto.

Kengo Ura is now set to face Kei Yamamiya on June 5th for the now vacant welterweight Pancrase title. The winner will go on to a welterweight tournament quarter final bout at SRC 14 where they will face a yet to be named foreign opponent. Also at SRC 14 Shooto mainstay Taisuke Okuno will take on Purebred's Kenta Takagi at SRC 14.

The tournament semifinals will take place at SRC15 to be held towards the end of October and the final will be held at SRC 16 close to New Year's Eve.

Earlier this month, Sengoku also announced an Asian bantamweight tournament to get underway on July 4th. A welterweight tournament reserve fight will take place at this event but the particpants are yet to be named.

Along with the Asian bantamweight series, this is the second tournament that World Victory Road has announced this month with the winner of the welterweight GP going on to face an already established top welterweight for the first SRC welterweight title in 2011.

Sengoku Raiden Championship 13 - June 20th at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo
FW Championship Match: Masanori Kanehara vs. Marlon Sandro
LHW: Hiroshi Izumi vs. Lee Chang Seob
LW: Maximo Blanco vs. Rodrigo Damm
FW: Shigeki Osawa vs. Katsuya Toida
FW: Ikuo Usuda vs. Kang Kyong Ho
WW Tournament Quarter Final: Keita "K-Taro" Nakamura vs. Omar De La Cruz
WW Tournament Quarter Final: Takuya Wada vs. Lee Jae Sun
WW: Sanae Kikuta vs. Yusabey Enomoto
LHW: Ryo Kawamura vs. Hidetada Irie
Sengoku Raiden Championship 14 - Late August
WW Tournament Quarter Final: Kenta Takagi vs. Taisuke Okuno

Source: MMA Fighting

5/25/10

PAC Sub Returns!


For more info, click
here!

ULTIMATE FIGHTER FLAVORS UFC 116 LIVE PRELIMS

UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin, slated for July 3 in Las Vegas, features one of the biggest main events in the promotion’s history. Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar and interim titleholder Shane Carwin will lock horns to unify their belts.

As has become standard operating procedure for most U.S. based UFC pay-per-view events, UFC 116 will have a lead-in show on Spike TV. “UFC 116 Prelims Live” will air at least two preliminary fights.

MMAWeekly.com sources indicated that the two bouts to be telecast live on Spike are a heavyweight showdown pitting Brendan Schaub against Chris Tuchscherer and a middleweight contest featuring Kendall Grove versus Goran Reljic.

As is the norm for most of the live prelim fights telecast on Spike TV, each of the bouts features a former “Ultimate Fighter” competitor. Schaub made it all the way to the Season 10 finals before losing to Roy Nelson, while Grove bested Ed Herman in the Season 3 finale to win the middleweight competition that season.

The Spike TV telecasts of live UFC preliminary bouts has averaged more than 1.4 viewers per telecast since its inception with UFC 103.

Source: MMA Weekly

Strikeforce Has a Star It Can Build in Roger Bowling

Strikeforce's "Challengers" cards are supposed to be the shows that promote mixed martial arts stars of the future. Whether the Challengers cards actually accomplish that is open to debate, but the card Strikeforce put on Friday night in Portland certainly produced one fighter who looks like a star in the making: Roger Bowling.

Bowling, a welterweight from Ohio who had previously fought only on small cards in the Midwest, took a step up in competition and looked very impressive in defeating Bobby Voelker Friday night. If Strikeforce is smart, we'll be hearing a lot about Bowling as the promotion continues to put him in bigger fights against better opponents.

From the outset against Voelker, Bowling was an animal. He has talked about working on his wrestling, and it was impressive to see how quickly he took Voelker down, less than 10 seconds into the first round. Voelker was the bigger man, but Bowling had no trouble at all throwing him around.

But it's on his feet where Bowling is at his best. He can connect effectively with his punches and his kicks, has a powerful left hook and likes to use his right leg to kick to the body. He also moves his head well enough that even when he's standing in front of his opponent and trading shots, he's not getting tagged nearly as often as he's connecting himself.

Bowling was absolutely swarming Voelker for much of the fight, and it was just impressive that Voelker was able to stay in it. Unfortunately, Bowling wasn't able to finish it, and the fight ended in an unsatisfying way, with Voelker accidentally poking Bowling in the eye while the referee was separating them during a clinch.

That eye poke led to a long delay, and the referee and ringside doctor took forever determining what caused Bowling's eye injury and what to do about it. Eventually they correctly ruled that it was an accidental eye poke that Bowling couldn't recover from and that the fight would go to the judges, but during the long delay the fans got restless and began to boo.

They booed some more when it was announced that the judges had given the fight to Bowling by unanimous decision, and that led Bowling to apologize for the result during his post-fight interview. The whole thing had a negative vibe: We had just seen an undefeated prospect win another fight, and he ended up sheepishly telling the fans he was sorry they weren't happy with the ending.

Bowling had nothing to apologize for, though. He's now 8-0, and he's dominated everyone he's ever faced. Bowling isn't ready for the very top of Strikeforce's welterweight division -- he'll need at least another year of seasoning before I'd give him any chance against Nick Diaz -- but he's ready for almost every welterweight on the Strikeforce roster other than its champion. Whether they put him on their Challengers cards or on their bigger Saturday night cards, Strikeforce needs to keep putting Bowling in the cage and on TV. Bowling may be a star in the making.

Source: MMA Fighting

Focused on Worlds, Nova União hard at work in Dallas

Part of team Nova União is gathered in the United States, where they prepare for the Jiu-Jitsu World Championship. During this first week of their training camp, the team is camped out at Octagon MMA in Dallas, where Bruno Bastos teaches.

“I’m all beat up. Marcelino Freitas, Rodrigo Feijão and Daniel Garcia are all here. We’re also training at Travis Lutter’s gym, where there’s a really tough crew getting ready for the Worlds, and also Gustavo Dantas’s gang, which is prime for the championship,” says Bastos.

Nova União is restructuring its Jiu-Jitsu department and the first results are beginning to show through. At this year’s Brazilian National Championship the team took third place.

“We did really well during the first weekend of the Brazilian Nationals and were in second place, but it was hard to keep up as we didn’t have a lot of black belts. Even so we took third. This Worlds our goal is to manage at least 10 medals in all the belts. We still won’t be able to win, but the idea is that next year we’ll go in with a bigger team. Right now we’re holding camps for the big events and we’ll continue to organize ourselves. We’re going to grow,” remarks Rodrigo Feijão, one of the leaders of this reformulation effort.

Among those NU’s hopes ride on are the Broadnax twins, with Christian having won his weight group and the absolute at the Pan as a juvenile blue belt. This time the duo will debut in the adult competition. Nor can we forget about Steven Rosenberg, third place at the last Worlds as a lightweight brown belt, but who will fight as a black belt this time, and the new stalwart at black belt Daniel Garcia, and already established members of the team, Ricardo Demente, Bruno Bastos and Marcelino Freitas.

“Training is going really good. We started last Sunday and we have a lot of tough training partners. Bruno will be in fine form and me too,” warns Marcelino, who will have a rocky road ahead of him in the featherweight division.

Source: Gracie Magazine

Notes: Red-hot heat for ‘Rampage,’ Evans

Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson are barely a week away from what is likely to be the biggest non-championship match in UFC history, in terms of fan interest.

Evans and Jackson added fuel to the already blazing fire on Tuesday, when they engaged in the most heated media teleconference in company history.

People have already witnessed the two former UFC light heavyweight champions trash talk each other more than any two fighters since the heyday of the Tito Ortiz-Ken Shamrock feud.

Last fall’s Season 10 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” in which Evans and Jackson were rival coaches, was the highest rated season in the series’ history. The two were scheduled to end the season with a match on Dec. 12 in Jackson’s hometown of Memphis, the time everyone figured interest in the fight would be at its peak.

But Jackson got the opportunity to play B.A. Baracus in “The A-Team” movie, which debuts in theaters next month, and pulled out. Any thoughts that the time lapse would let hostilities die down, though, were destroyed Tuesday. It was clear, just as on the show, that there is something about Evans that gets under Jackson’s skin. Evans knows it and seemingly enjoys pushing those buttons.

When Jackson was asked if he’s ever fought anyone he dislikes more than Evans, it was a one word answer: “No.”

“I just don’t like the way he talks to me,” Jackson said. “He’s just real fake, and real cocky, you know what I’m saying. For someone who really, he ain’t really done much in this sport, what I’m saying is I don’t … “

Jackson didn’t finish the sentence before Evans broke in, noting that he was a former light heavyweight champion.

“That belt, where’s your belt at?” Jackson said.

And the two were off to the races.

Evans: “I got the belt from the guy that beat you.”

Jackson: “Hey, Forrest [Griffin] didn’t beat me, I beat myself.”

Evans: “You defended the title one time [a match with Dan Henderson], and that fight was horrible.”

Jackson: “Your fight with [Lyoto] Machida was horrible. You couldn’t defend your belt.”

When Evans said the two were at the same level, both as former champions, Jackson wouldn’t accept it.

“Nowhere near the same,” he said.

Apparently, to get under his skin, Evans sent Jackson two packages in the mail, the contents of which neither would discuss.

“I’m a grown-ass man and you’re playing these little boy games, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jackson said.

The best indication of public interest in the UFC 114 main event was the first of three “Countdown” shows building up the fight on Spike TV, which aired on May 12 and did 1.2 million viewers. That number broke the series’ record that was set last July for the Brock Lesnar-Frank Mir fight, which ended up with approximately 1.6 million buys, by far the biggest pay-per-view numbers in MMA history.

Evans got to Jackson by calling him the “Tin Man,” saying he had no heart, and used Jackson’s 2005 loss to current light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua as an example.

“Hey, I got enough heart, at least I won’t quit,” Evans said. “At least I won’t quit like you did when you were going against ‘Shogun’ … You just laid there like a little sucker in the corner, just holding your ribs, talking about how my ribs hurt. Nothing was wrong with your ribs … You’re the Tin Man, go see Oz.”

Jackson countered by blowing Evans off, acting as if Evans is just a stepping stone to get a rematch with Rua. The winner of the UFC 114 main event has been promised the next shot at Rua’s title.

“This is a tune-up fight,” he said.

UFC officials first wanted the Jackson-Evans match early last year, but Evans had asked for time off because his wife was going to have a baby.

Jackson did a favor to the company because it had a pay-per-view event scheduled in March 2009, and with no obvious main event in sight, Jackson agreed to risk his title shot to fight Keith Jardine, Evans’ best friend and training partner. Jackson said he went into the fight banged up from a hard training camp before his previous fight with Wanderlei Silva.

Jackson won a decision from Jardine. UFC officials set up the tension by sending Evans into the cage for a post-fight interview. The two went nose to nose, with words flying. This heightened interest for what figured to be then-champion Evans’ first title defense. But Jackson pulled out of that fight due to a jaw injury, so instead Evans faced Machida and was knocked out.

There was a near-altercation between Jackson and Evans during a photo shoot at the UFC offices last year. Then came TUF, where they jawed back and forth on a weekly basis.

White said he recognized the animosity from the moment the two walked out on the set together.

“You know there was some back and forth with them after Rampage’s fight [with Jardine], but I didn’t know it was going to be what it ended up being on the season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ ” he said. “I think it just sort of escalated. The first minute they walked on set, it escalated from there.”

Heavy thoughts

The way Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem walked through Brett Rogers on Saturday night added a new layer of frustration for hardcore MMA fans who want to see the issue of who is the world’s best 265-pounder settled in the cage.

Right now, the division has its own version of the Super Six, with Overeem and Fedor Emelianenko from Strikeforce; and Brock Lesnar, Shane Carwin, Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos in UFC. But unlike in boxing, the matches to determine who is really the best aren’t on the verge of happening, due to promotional barriers.

What makes all those matches so intriguing is the questions about every one of them.

Overeem looks the part, and has destroyed everyone in his path as a heavyweight, but lost frequently as a light heavyweight and has yet to beat a championship-level fighter.

Emelianenko is the best of all-time, but that doesn’t make him the best today because the sport has changed greatly since 2005, and the current top heavyweights are a different breed as those Emelianenko ran through years ago.

Lesnar is still untested against someone near his size and someone he can’t physically overpower. His success in starting out in the sport late and going against far more experienced fighters is a testament to his freakish athleticism. Plus, no matter what is said, a year between fights and a near-death experience battling diverticulitis raises questions about his physical condition.

Carwin has run through opponents, but no matter what his camp says about his stamina, he’s never been in the fourth minute of a fight in his career, and at 35, he’s not a young man in this sport.

Velasquez and Dos Santos, who are 27 and 25 respectively, also have passed every test thrown at them. Velasquez is the best conditioned heavyweight and has great wrestling, but there are questions regarding his punch defense. Dos Santos, a great stand-up fighter, has yet to be tested by a powerhouse wrestler.

Still, the way Overeem so handily beat a solid foe in Rogers makes him the most intriguing opponent fighting in the same company as Emelianenko in years.

Emelianenko has generally been considered No. 1 since 2003, when the best heavyweights were in PRIDE, and he won that group’s world title. Since then, he’s never lost.

Overeem, both before and after the Rogers fight, implied that Emelianenko’s management doesn’t want the fight but made sure not to pin the rap on Emelianenko himself.

The truth is, one of the reasons the fight hasn’t happened yet is because Strikeforce promoter Scott Coker had always looked on that matchup as his company’s biggest potential fight. But he won’t be able to maximize the match’s potential box-office value until more fans have been exposed to Overeem, who before this past weekend, had only appeared live on U.S. television on the low-clearance HDNet in fights from Japan.

But if Emelianenko beats Fabricio Werdum on June 26, there are no logical business reasons to delay the fight any longer.

Source: Yahoo Sports

JOHN DODSON WINS IN NEW UWC 8 MAIN EVENT

Ultimate Warrior Challenge lost Saturday night’s main event when Ryan Diaz, who was planning to challenge UWC bantamweight champion Mike East, was diagnosed with parotitis, an infection that blocks the salivary glands causing swelling and pain, UWC CEO S. Marcello Foran announced on Friday.

That didn’t stop UWC 8: Judgment Day, a nine-bout fight card at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va., from drawing 3,822 fans, according to the promotion.

Greg Jackson-trained John Dodson improved his professional record to 13-4 with a victory over Jesse Riggleman in the newly minted main event.

Jason Frank, formerly the Green Power Ranger, continued to shuck his TV persona with a 24-second armbar to defeat Carlos Horn. The victory – in an amateur bout – moved Frank’s record to 4-0 in mixed martial arts.

Full Results:

-John Dodson def. Jesse Riggleman by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27), R3
-Timothy Woods def. Mike Seal by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 3:35, R2
-Ururahy Rodrigues def. Diego Brandoa by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27), R3
-Ron Stallings def. Joey Kirwan by Submission (Choke) at 0:52, R2
-Dustin Pague def. Justin Hickey by TKO at 0:54, R1
-Valerie Coolbaugh def. Iman Achhal by Split Decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28), R3
-Jason Frank def. Carlos Horn by Submission (Armbar) at 0:24, R1
-Jeremy Carper def. Caleb Macalister by Submission (Armbar) at 3:00, R2
-Scott Heckman def. Matt Brannon by Submission (Anaconda Choke) at 1:36, R2

Source: MMA Weekly

JOHN CHOLISH SHINES AT UCC 2

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – It was all about the rising stars at the Urban Conflict Championship 2: “Strikedown” event, with John Cholish taking top honors with a fourth-round TKO victory that earned him the promotion’s lightweight championship belt.

Taking on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt and American Top Team rep Hitalo Machado, Cholish had his hands full at first as Machado fed him leather on the feet and forced him to dodge submissions on the ground. But by Round 3 Cholish had found a home for his kicks – squarely against Machado’s thigh – and by Round 4 the Team Renzo Gracie exponent was a lumberjack chopping down the American Top Team tree. Remember the name John Cholish: as rising stars go, he appears to be the Northeast’s next big thing.

Nebraskan flyweight Josh Rave took AMA Fight Club stud Sean Santella the distance in a spirited, grappling-heavy affair that saw Santella threaten with armbars, kneebars, and triangles, but more often than not have to defend Rave’s tenacious control of his back. Santella fought hard, but there was no question Rave had earned the unanimous decision when time ran out.

In other action, TUF veteran Dante Rivera was large and in charge in his middleweight championship bout against Ryan Contaldi, controlling the wrestler on the ground and putting him away with a choke in Round 2. Team Link fighter Alexandre Moreno avoided Carlos Brooks’ best tools – his kicks and punches – and put the TS-MMA rep through the submission ringer, catching him with an arm-in guillotine late in the first. And welterweight bruiser Mike Medrano gutted out a decision against upstart Sam Jackson in a back-and-forth bout that was closer than the scorecards indicated.

Urban Conflict Championship II: “Strikedown” Results:

-Dante Rivera def. Ryan Contaldi by Submission (North-South Choke) at 3:20, R2
-John Cholish def. Hitalo Machado by TKO (Punches) at 2:25, R4
-Josh Rave def. Sean Santella by Unanimous Decision
-Alexandre Moreno def. Carlos Brooks by Submission (Arm-In Guillotine) at 4:48, R1
-Mike Medrano def. Sam Jackson by Unanimous Decision
-Jason McLean def. James Meals by Unanimous Decision
-Willie Johnson def. Mike Dunaj by TKO (Punches) at 2:27, R1

Source: MMA Weekly

5/24/10

Destiny Uprising: A Night of Finishes
O2 Martial Arts Academy's Kaleo Kwan Finishes Tim Moon After the First Round!

From start to finish there is only one thing to say about Destiny Uprising. . WOW. Almost every single fight ended with a submission or some form of knockout. Right from the very beginning the energy was high. From the undercard to the main event, there were stars on display. Sorry if I leave anyone out, but there was a lot to behold. So let me begin by saying, I was impressed with EVERY SINGLE FIGHT tonight. And even more impressed with each fighter that participated.

Jamin Tayaba once again solidified the fact that he is one of the most entertaining fighters in the world to watch. There is no real way to describe the things he can do other than to say it seems as if he wrote the book on unique submissions. The ease in which he executes his strategy is scary. Though the story of the win may go down as an armbar. . . . It didn't exactly go down that way. His control on the ground and vision for submissions is so outstanding that he took advantage of a move that most people would have never imagined. Very impressive yet again. Look for this guy to do big things.

Kalani Ramos began his fight with Lawrence Kaeo very strongly. His strikes were a split second faster and little more precise. The two swung it out for roughly a minute, and that is when Lawrence, off of a kick, threw a punch to end the fight. He landed directly on the button of Kalani Ramos and down he went. This could not be classified as a tko. This was a pure flash knockout. Great fight by both fighters. The scrap leading up to the knockout was worth the sudden end. Fantastic job by both fighters and look out for Lawrence Kaeo.

After taking the fight short notice, Justin Babbs made the most of what he had. In this case, he had the makings of a fast victory. Ernest Mercado came into the cage with the intent of beating Justin to a pulp. After a few hand gestures and a tense face to face, the bell sounded and it was underway. Mercado looked to attack but Justin evaded and threw some stiff jabs. Then as Mercado came in close, Justin literally threw him to the ground and finished the job with a few hard hits. In the end, I would love to say that Justin looked better than I have ever seen him, but he ended the fight too fast to make that call.

Coming off of losses, Edie Manu and Zach Close both came away with outstanding victories. In both cases the fighters were outsized, but that made no difference to their performance. They both took on their opponents head to head and scored amazing TKO victories due to some fantastic GNP. Another honorable mention would have to be Isaac Uaisele who took his opponent out in the first round with a brutal KO. The fight seemed to slow as Isaac was pushed into the cage, yet he still managed to inflict some major damage. But once the fight was back in the center, Isaac landed the final blows in fantastic fashion ending the fight in the first round.

Ryan Clay took on Seth Britton in a math that could have easily been one of the most slept on of the night. Ryan comes in with a great record and Seth is a powerful force. I was thinking that Ryan should try to weather the storm, but he was letting go of some thunder of his own. The two traded some hard shots in the first with the round ending with Ryan on top of Seth unloading some ground strikes. In the start of round two, both fighters seemed a little tired, but Ryan appeared to be a little more fluid. He dropped his hands low and threw some weak jabs. Then the weak jabs set up a spinning backfist. Which then set up a couple of hard shots that put Seth on the mat. FANTASTIC knockout.

I would love to describe this next fight in great detail, but there is only a few words that need to be said. . .
Daniel Bachman IS A BEAST!!! That pretty much sums it up. He is one of the most natural and well rounded fighters in the state at this point. He is very fluid and can turn any situation into his situation. I have seen him brawl. I have seen him Ground and Pound. Now I have seen him Submit. Watch this kid. I cannot be more serious. Another MAJOR talent that just needs a little more time and opportunity.

Max Holloway and Travis Beyer had their rematch. This time it was for the interim 145 lb title. Lets just say that this match up could stand to see a rubber match. After his last loss to Travis, Max became a man on a mission. He began dispatching opponents left and right as if he were on a mission to get the rematch. Travis and Max both entered the fight looking prepared. Travis controlled the first round. After a small exchange on the feet, the fight found its way to the ground via a beautiful takedown by Beyer. From there, Travis worked his ground game. He was very methodical in the way that he dominated positions. He thought two steps ahead of Max and landed himself on the back with a Rear Naked Choke within reach. But Max kept his wits and masterfully managed to stay alive until the bell. When the two stood, a small cut became noticeable on the face of Beyer. When the bell rang for round two, you could hear Colin Mackenzie screaming to Max what to do. He did exactly what he was told and caught Travis early in an exchange. Travis seemed to be on the brink. He was dazed for sure. His knees went out and he struggled to stay on his feet, that is the moment when Max smelled the blood in the water and pounced. He sank in a standing guillotine then on the ground transitioned to a Rear Naked Choke of his own. Beyer had to tap and the match was over. A suspenseful fight came to a climactic ending. Great job by both!! Max Holloway is a whole new breed of fighter.

In the main event of the evening, Kaleo Kwan took on the always entertaining Tim Moon. As many expected, this was your classic Striker vs. Grappler match up. Kaleo started the fight with nice head movement and good angles. Tim was hesitant to follow Kaleo when he would back up. When Tim did chase Kwan with a punch, he would not get away clean. Kaleo used his hand speed to land whenever he could. The turning point of the fight came when Tim tried for a takedown and did not get it. He ended up on the mat reaching. That is not a good situation for anybody when Kaleo Kwan is throwing bombs. He was caught by several powerful shots that had him shook. It was only a matter of time at that point. When he managed to get back to his feet, Kaleo just picked him apart with shot after shot. After the first round it was clear that Tim could take no more. But you have to give Tim props for having the heart that he does. Many would have just tapped to strikes but he hung it out throughout the entire first round. Kaleo defended his title and keeps his nickname relevant!

As I said before, great fights from top to bottom. Thanks to Destiny for putting on such a great show once again. Thank you to all the fighters and all of the fans who came out and made the atmosphere what it was. I cannot stress enough that I wish there was enough space and time to outline every single fight because of how many stars shined. Next Destiny event, everyone needs to come out in support and see it first hand. Amazing night with fantastic fights.

Source: MMA Hawaii

SYLVIA FACES WORLD'S STRONG MAN, TARGETS UFC

Tim Sylvia has held the UFC heavyweight championship, tried his luck against the No. 1 heavyweight in the world, and on Friday night faces the world’s strongest man.

Actually, his opponent, Mariusz Pudzianowski, is the five-time winner of the World’s Strongest Man competition. The Polish behemoth has won the honor more than any other competitor. But he’s new to mixed martial arts, although he has won the two fights he has competed in thus far, one was a two-round decision, the other a first round submission to strikes.

Sylvia isn’t impressed.

“I'm not surprised (he took the fight). He's got the mentality that he's gonna use me as a steppingstone,” said the former UFC champion, who has seen one of Pudzianowski’s fights. “I wasn't impressed at all.”

He knows what to expect from his muscle-bound foe, and has a plan to deal with it.

“He's gonna try and get me up against the cage, try and take me down, throw some heaters, stuff like that,” said Sylvia. “I'll just come out and establish the jab real early and dictate the pace, see if we can't run his gas tank real low, real quick.”

He doesn’t seem concerned with what the strong man brings to the ring. If anything, Sylvia seems to see Pudzianowski as a sort of steppingstone, one that leads back to the upper echelon of the sport.

He’d like to string a few wins together and make another run at the UFC, his home before bolting for an $800,000 payday to fight Fedor Emelianenko. Sylvia believes that he still belongs in the Octagon, and he even has targets on a couple current UFC fighters.

“I think I'm just as good as any (UFC heavyweight),” he told MMAWeekly Radio. “There's some fights in the UFC that I want real bad, (Antonio Rodrigo) Nogueira and Frank Mir. Get those fights and if the cards fall right, I get those two guys and I'll get a shot at fighting one of the top contenders and the heavyweight champ, whoever it is at that time.”

For now, however, he knows he has to take care of the guys he is matched up against, and Friday night that’s Mariusz Pudzianowski on the Moosin: God of Martial Arts pay-per-view.

“I want to fight tough guys. I'd love to be back in the UFC, but that offer hasn't come down yet. So I'm just gonna do what I can.”

TIM SYLVIA CRUSHES THE WORLD'S STRONGEST MAN

Moosin made its promotional debut and former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia put his career back on track Friday night.

Yes, Sylvia was fighting a man, Mariusz Pudzianowski, who is more well known for pulling buses than throwing punches. Yes, Sylvia didn’t look to be in as good of shape as his hay day in the UFC. But that’s the point. If Sylvia had lost this fight, to this man, he might have wanted to consider taking his part-time position as a police officer full-time.

Sylvia lost four out of five bouts over a two-year span that started with the loss of his UFC heavyweight title and ended with a nine-second knockout out the hands of former professional boxer Ray Mercer in Mercer’s first official mixed martial arts bout.

Pudzianowski’s credentials as five-time World’s Strongest Man winner with only two MMA fights on his record doesn’t exactly make him an impressive win on Sylvia’s record, but it does make him an important win at this stage of Sylvia’s career.

Sylvia pummeled, punched, and kneed Pudzianowski into an oxygen-deprived zone the strong man had likely never experienced before. After Sylvia brutalized Pudzianowski throughout round one, the Polish fighter fell to his backside early in round two, visibly exhausted from the punishment.

Sylvia quickly followed him down and finished the job, dropping elbows and punches down on Pudzianowski until he tapped out.

“What’s up now? What’s up now?” Sylvia proclaimed after the fight before thanking Pudzianowski, who survived some hard shots before succumbing.

“I want to thank Moosin for providing me the opportunity for this fight and I want to thank Mariusz Pudzianowski for being such a tough guy.”

Josh Barnes stepped in on short notice for Friday night’s fight with Travis Wiuff, but Wiuff gave him immediate notice that it wasn’t going to be his night. One left hook and several right hands later and Barnes was sprawled out on the mat, Wiuff raising his hands in victory at 34 seconds into the fight.

“That’s okay, I don’t get paid by the hour,” Wiuff commented on the brevity of the bout.

In a battle between two of the better grapplers in mixed martial arts, someone forgot to tell Rafael Natal that he was supposed to go to the ground with Travis Lutter.

Lutter tried and tried to take Natal down, but Natal sprawled out on Lutter and punished him with well-timed front kicks to the body. Late in the opening round, Natal followed up one of those kicks with an uppercut that dropped Lutter to the mat, followed him down, and pounded him out with hammerfists for the win... no jiu-jitsu required.

Yves Edwards’ experience eclipsed that of Sityodtong’s Mike Campbell, but you wouldn’t know it by the effort that Campbell put forth in the cage. He peppered Edwards with kicks to the legs and body throughout their fight and scored several takedowns.

Edwards dished out as much as he was fed however, outboxing Campbell and making up for quantity with the power in his takedowns, slamming Campbell to the mat on two occasions.

It was a close fight, but in the end, all three judges saw it in favor of Campbell, who was nothing but appreciative of his opponent.

“I was fighting Yves Edwards, one the best fighters in the world. I was scared (expletive),” Campbell said about the American Top Teamer. “I’ve been training my whole life for this one time. I beat a legend tonight. Yves Edwards is no joke, and I’m no joke.”

Roxanne Modafferi and Tara LaRosa, widely regarded as two of the best women fighters on the planet, showed why with a back and forth battle that lasted all three rounds.

The two met once before, four years ago, with LaRosa the winner by decision. Modafferi admittedly had little if no stand-up game then, but she showed substantial improvements on Friday night. Usually known more for her tremendous submissions, Modafferi went toe-to-toe with LaRosa, even dropping her with a superman – err, superwoman – punch in the opening round.

Although she had trouble taking Modafferi down, LaRosa had her moments as well, rocking Modafferi with punches on several occasions. Modafferi locked up the fight with a near submission in the final round, moving from triangle choke to armbar to triangle choke, and then closing the fight with hammerfists and elbows to LaRosa’s head as LaRosa kept trying for the takedown.

“I’m very grateful for Moosin to put this fight on and for Tara. Now we’re even Tara,” said Modafferi after the split decision went in her favor. “So we gotta do it again sometime soon.”

-Tim Sylvia def. Mariusz Pudzianowski by Submission (Strikes) at 1:43, R2
-Travis Wiuff def. Josh Barnes at TKO (Strikes) at 0:34, R1
-Rafael Natal def. Travis Lutter by TKO (Strikes) at 4:12, R1
-Mike Campbell def. Yves Edwards by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28), R3
-Roxanne Modafferi def. Tara LaRosa by Split Decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28), R3
-Lukasz Jurkowski def. Ho Jin Kim by TKO (Elbows) 2:22, R1
-Forrest Petz def. Ralph Johnson by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28), R3
-Matt Lee def. Brett Oteri by TKO at 1:46, R2
-Stipe Miocic def. Paul Barry by TKO at 1:32, R2
-Anthony Lapsley def. Fred Belleton by Submission (Kneebar) at 0:59, R1

Source: MMA Weekly

ALMEIDA VS. HUGHES SIGNED FOR UFC 117

Matt Hughes and Ricardo Almeida are signed, sealed, and soon to be delivered to mixed martial arts fans in Oakland, Calif. The two have inked bout agreements to fight at the as yet unannounced UFC 117 at the Oracle Arena in the Bay Area city.

Almeida, during a recent guest appearance on Versus’ “The Daily Line,” announced he had signed his bout agreement for the fight. Hughes confirmed his end of the deal in a recent blog post on his website.

“The UFC hasn’t told me I can release this yet, but I’m going to go ahead and say that I’ve done my paperwork to fight Ricardo Almeida on August 7th, in Oakland, CA,” he wrote. “A lot of you know my history with the UFC, I’ve never turned down a fight and this is who they asked me to fight next.”

One of the most decorated champions in UFC history, Hughes (44-7) is fresh off of a victory over Renzo Gracie at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi. The Gracies haven’t fared well against Hughes. Not only did he defeat Renzo, but he has also defeated Renzo’s cousin, Royce, and Renzo’s first American black belt, Matt Serra.

Almeida (12-3) is also a disciple of Renzo Gracie. He returned to MMA in February 2008 after a three and a half year hiatus. He has gone 4-1 since returning, his only loss being a split decision to Patrick Cote. Fighting most of his career at 185 pounds, Almeida made the move down to 170 pounds in his last fight, submitting Matt Brown at UFC 111.

Anderson Silva is expected to defend his middleweight title against Chael Sonnen in the UFC 117 main event with a rematch between Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves also on the main card.

Source: MMA Weekly

LINDLAND WINS, WOODLEY GETS SPLIT AT SHOMMA 8

Matt “The Law” Lindland snapped a two-fight losing streak with a technical knockout win over Kevin Casey in the main event of “ShoMMA 8: Lindland vs. Casey” at the Rose Garden in Portland, Ore., on Friday.

Casey was no pushover. He took the Olympic silver medalist wrestler down in the first round where he was able to take Lindland’s back, slap on a body triangle, and work for a rear naked choke. MMAWeekly.com scored Casey winning the opening stanza.

The rest of the bout was all Matt Lindland in classic Lindland style. He was able to secure takedowns early in both the second and third rounds where he pounded his opponent with punches. Lindland came close to a finish in the closing seconds of round two when he had Casey trapped in the crucifix position and landed several punches to the Californian’s unguarded head.

The end came at 3:41 of the final round where Lindland was smothering Casey against the fence and landing clean shots until referee Shawn Gregory called a halt to the contest.

“I’m just going to train and fortunately I’m in the right division in Strikeforce. They have so many talented fighters at that division,” said the 40-year-old when asked about his fighting future. “There’s a lot of tough middleweights in this division. Outside of Chael (Sonnen) and Anderson (Silva), I think all the best middleweights are here right now.

“As soon as Scott (Coker) will give me another bout agreement I’m ready to get back in there.”

In the co-main event, Tyron Woodley barely escaped with his undefeated record intact facing Portland’s own Nathan Coy, pulling out a split decision win.

The 28-year-old athlete had only been out of the first round once.

Woodley looked like his usual self for the first half of round one, using his wrestling to get the fight to the ground and take Coy’s back. The second half of the round saw Coy in control with the clinch where he battered Woodley’s legs with knees.

Coy was having his way in the second round landing combinations and winning the striking exchanges, but slipped while throwing a roundhouse kick aimed at his opponent’s head. Woodley took advantage of the situation seizing the opportunity to keep Coy on the canvas.

Woodley mounted, took Coy’s back, and as the round ended, applied an arm bar, but the bell kept him from a potential finish.

Coy was able to work leg kicks and executed a high-crotch takedown in the third round and landed punches while Woodley was unable to get out from the bottom for the bulk of the time frame.

The judges rendered their decision and the scorecards read: 29-28, 27-30, and 29-28 for Woodley.

“I thought I did good. He’s a tough guy, so I couldn’t throw a lot. I used my counter punching,” said Woodley in his post-fight interview. “I thought it was a good fight.”

With boos coming down from Coy’s hometown crowd, Woodley was open to a rematch.

“I would want a rematch, but I also want to move forward with my career,” said Woodley. “This is the first fight that I went to the distance in full, so yeah.”

Roger Bowling put on an impressive performance in his welterweight match-up with Bobby Voelker.

Voelker displayed his toughness, eating right hands throughout the fight, and enduring a cut opened above his left eye in the first round.

Bowling dropped Voelker early in the second, but Voelker survived. Bowling put on a clinic through the first 10 minutes.

Voelker came out aggressive in round three, knowing he needed a finish to win, but an unintentional eye poke forced an end to the fight when Bowling was unable to continue.

The judges decided the outcome and all three agreed that Bowling was the victor.

In the lone knockout of the night, Belgian Tarac Saffiedine landed a straight right hand ending the night for Nate Moore. Saffiedine had sent Moore crashing to the canvas briefly with a right hand before the end came at 1:12 of the second round.

Pat Healy and Bryan Travers kicked off the Showtime broadcast in a back and forth, fast paced bout. Healy landed the better punches in the opening round and controlled the second with wrestling while Travers battled back in the third.

OFFICIAL RESULTS:

- Lindland def. Casey by TKO (punches) at 3:41, R3
- Woodley def. Coy by split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
- Bowling def. Voelker by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29–28, 29–28)
- Saffiedine def. Moore by KO at 1:21, R2
- Healy def. Travers by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29–28, 30–27)
Source: MMA Weekly

Mendes wants to be two-time world champ

After winning the Brazilian Championship of Jiu-Jitsu, which happened last weekend in Rio de Janeiro, the light featherweight Guilherme Mendes commented about his performance on the finale against Gabriel Moras, when he won by a 4x0 score. “I was a good fight, I tried to submit him all the time. He defended his back a lot, but I could get to his side and made him turn so that I could go to his back… It worked, thanks God”, celebrates Gui, who will try to became two-time champion of World, which will happen in two weeks in California. “I’m the current champion on my division and I intend to go there and defend my title”, concluded Mendes.

Source: Tatame

Gracie brothers’ reality show leads in votes on Oprah’s channel

As previously announced by GRACIEMAG, television talk show host Oprah Winfrey launched a competition to pick a new reality show for her channel Oprah Network TV. Brothers Ryron and Rener Gracie put together a pilot for a program that could popularize Jiu-Jitsu even more and are close to winning the dispute against other proposals being voted on over the internet.

The Gracies’ idea leads the voting with 737,000.

“Every day, hundreds of thousands of kids are terrified to go to school out of fear of bullies. These kids are depressed, have no self-confidence, and unfortunately, many of them are borderline suicidal.

“On our TV show, the Gracie Brothers will sweep the nation’s schools to find the children who are most victimized by bullies. These children will be brought to the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy where, over the period of several weeks, they will be “bullyproofed” from the inside out, and have a greater chance of being successful adults. With our show on the air, we’ll also have a chance to share our methods with thousands of people,” says the teacher.

Source: Gracie Magazine

Interview: Marcelo Siriema and the evolution of the Worlds

First, a brief tale.

We’re in 2008, the Jiu-Jitsu World Championship’s second year in the Long Beach pyramid in California, USA.

Vice-president of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Confederation (CBJJ) and director of the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) Marcelo Araújo returns from eating lunch. By his side, a black belt world champion.

From the top of the stands, the two marvel the slightly scene of eight match areas and a large crowd scattered across the gymnasium. After a few seconds of silence, the black belt turns to Marcelo and says: “Siriema, is there any way the Worlds will ever return to Tijuca [Tennis Club]

A worthy stage for the Worlds

Siriema (a nickname given for his long legs, like the South American bird) responds politely by taking a deep breath and smiling.

Now the GRACIEMAG at the Worlds blog will answer for him.

No. No there isn’t. Jiu-Jitsu is now a worldwide sport and needs a stage worthy of the success it is seeing around the globe.

The Worlds’ move to the United States is one of the topics addressed in this interview Siriema conceded to the GRACIEMAG at the Worlds Blog on the evolution of the noblest competition on the gentle art’s calendar.

A relentless warrior in the battle for the sport’s evolution, Siriema announces news, gives his assessment of the last 15 years and reveals he has even competed in the championship that is now his greatest challenge of the year.

First off, is it true you competed at a World Championship? When was it? Did you win?
I competed in 1996, the very first one.
I took third in the absolute blue belt division and lost my first match against Egan Inoue in the medium heavyweight division. He caught me in a footlock!

Tell us a bit about how the Worlds came to be, in 1996. Whose idea was it to put together the championship?
The idea was Carlinhos’ (Carlos Gracie Jr, president of the CBJJ and IBJJF]. At the time, I remember how a lot of folks thought that, one, Jiu-Jitsu needed to be spread around the world in order to have a world championship, but Carlinhos realized that the championship would be a great launching pad with which to spread the sport around the planet. The first event presented a lot of challenges, as a lot of things were happening for the first time. It was the first time we had a live TV broadcast and the first time we received athletes from abroad.

From then till now 15 years and 14 events have gone by. What most strikes you from this trajectory?
The Worlds has evolved in every way. These 15 years have proven how Carlinhos was right. The World Championship remains an important tool in divulging and developing the gentle art.
Was the championship’s permanent move to the USA, in 2007, something thought out or did it happen by chance?
We always had the idea that the Worlds would be held in other countries and figured we would start with the USA. One day, in 2007, we were in a meeting discussing the difficulty of holding the Worlds on the same day as the Pan-American Games in Rio’s marathon and closing ceremony and whether it was time to change countries. Amid a lot of doubt, Carlinhos made the decision and said the USA was ready to receive the Jiu-Jitsu World Championship.

What news is there for the 2010 event?
For the first time there will be a live internet broadcast. Besides that, for the first time we’ll allow teachers to enter the competition area to instruct their black belts on Sunday. In a broader plan, we will require black belts from around the world to be affiliated. That’s part of the project of the CBJJ/IBJJF to put together a single database with all the national federations we have registered and control promotions of Jiu-Jitsu practitioners the world over.

What is in store for the Worlds’ future?
Down the road we want to maintain the Worlds as an open championship, but we want there to be a ranking whereby the better ranked in each division will have fewer matches. They will wait for the lower-ranked athletes further into the bracket.

In closing, some information and a call-up. Sign-ups for the 2010 World Championship are in full swing. The deadline is 11:59pm on May 26. Siriema announced that the CBJJ/IBJJF expects, as always, a large volume of last-minute sign-ups. So avoid the rush and secure your spot now.

Source: Gracie Magazine

Quick KO-wonder Duffee: ‘I’ve been overhyped’

NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Anyone who has spent more than a few seconds training with Todd Duffee raves about his potential.

Frank Mir, the former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion, can’t stop singing Duffee’s praises. Veteran heavyweight Carmelo Marrero calls Duffee one of the biggest, fastest and strongest heavyweights he’s rolled with. UFC president Dana White was touting Duffee’s talent before Duffee debuted in the UFC last year.

It’s a struggle to keep those who are familiar with his talent from gushing. Nearly everyone who’s around him for any length of time comes away impressed. He’s become a fan favorite because of his record-setting, seven-second stoppage of Tim Hague at UFC 102 last August – but he can’t understand the fuss.

Duffee is preparing to fight veteran Mike Russow (12-1) on May 29 at UFC 114 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. “This definitely feels like my debut,” Duffee said. “I don’t feel like I’ve fought in a year-and-a-half. It’s hard.”

There has been a lot of hoopla surrounding Duffee (6-0) since he signed with the UFC last year, but the one-time college football player at Southern Illinois isn’t sure why. He landed a jab that knocked a surprised Hague down, then dropped eight punches on the ground, including a crushing left on the sixth blow, that caused referee Mario Yamasaki to stop it in just seven seconds.

It turned out to be the quickest win in UFC history. But Duffee, the textbook definition of level-headed, isn’t gloating, even though he became an Internet sensation with the short work he made of Hague.

“The way I see my situation is that right now, I have a job,” he said. “I’m looking for a career. If I win this fight, yeah, maybe I’ll make a career of this. But I’m only six deep [into my career]. Yeah, I have one impressive win on my record, with Assuerio [Silva, in a 2008 match in Brazil]. but people don’t respect me because, frankly, I’ve been overhyped.”

There were days when Duffee trained with Mir when he believed he was on the verge of something. The next day, he said, he felt like it was his first day in the cage.

“I can compete at that level in the gym, but it’s different when they turn the lights on and they close the door behind you,” Duffee said. “You have to remember to breathe. It’s way more mental. I’ve competed my whole life, but I’m not saying that I’m above and beyond making that simple mistake. Mentally, that’s one thing I’m really preparing myself to not do.”

Duffee came out of the American Top Team camp, where he regularly sparred with UFC light heavyweight Thiago Silva and Strikeforce heavyweight Antonio “Big Foot” Silva. Part of his reputation was built on coming from the famous camp, which is among the sport’s best but isn’t known for its heavyweights.

Duffee is one of the game’s most analytic athletes and he questions himself constantly. It’s why he spends his days working on the most minute details, so it will be natural in a fight.

“I know I’m at the level where I can compete with guys like that, but it’s not more about ‘Well, can I go out and do it?’ ” Duffee said. “It’s a game of chance a lot of times. You’re often milliseconds and inches from winning or losing. How many opportunities I get and how often I can capitalize on those opportunities is what I’m talking about.

“In the gym, I’ve done it and I’ve repeatedly done it for the last three years, competing at that level with those guys. I’ve done it. I’m there. It’s just now I have to go out and show the world.”

Duffee’s a banger who wouldn’t mind firing hands and taking his chances, but against Russow, a Chicago police officer, it may not be the pure toe-to-toe battle he’d prefer. Russow is a wrestler who would like nothing better than to take Duffee down to the ground and maul him.

Duffee isn’t particularly concerned with how the fight looks. He chuckles at fighters like Tito Ortiz, who predict they’ll inflict all sorts of harm upon their opponent before a fight only to go out and grind out a boring win. To Duffee, as he’s trying to transition from job to career, a boring win is a lot better than a thrilling loss.

There’s a lot of money to be made for the top stars who sell plenty of tickets and pay-per-views. Duffee’s not at that point yet. He’s not even worried about title contention at this stage. He’s just concerned with establishing himself and earning his keep.

“I’m not too concerned with, ‘Oh, I want to fight Brock,” he said. “‘I want to fight the champ.’ It’s a belt, dude. Anyone who knows anything about this sport knows it’s about matchups. You don’t see champions holding belts for a long time for that reason. This isn’t boxing. There are too many variables. So I don’t really care about the extraneous stuff. I want to establish myself as a professional as opposed to a prospect for the belt.”

A seven-second knockout in your debut might be a good way to establish yourself, but Duffee had a little piece of advice for fans who saw his quick wins and are already expecting big things.

“Don’t believe the hype,” Duffee said. “It’s all about performing night after night out there. That’s the only thing that is real, getting in there and performing when it’s time to go. I’d be the first to tell you I still have a lot left to prove.”

Source: Yahoo Sports

5/23/10

Fistic Medicine: The Importance of Mouthguards
by Matt Pitt

Late on May 3, five days before his fight against Lyoto Machida, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua realized he had a problem. A big problem.

Frantic calls were placed to Las Vegas. Contact was made with his supplier. The lab verified they had Rua’s bio-statistics on file, a rush order was placed and within 48 hours the custom-made product was dispatched. To mitigate the risk of interception by Canadian customs, a UFC staffer snuck the package into Montreal sequestered in his luggage; before nightfall the delivery was made. The title fight could go on -- Rua had his mouthguard.

The importance of mouthguards has not been debated among fighters since 1927, when boxer Mike McTigue, well on his way to winning his bout for a shot at the heavyweight title, was stopped by a punch to the mouth that caused a fight-ending upper lip laceration. By that time mouthguards, known as gum shields, had been in existence for 40 years.

Originally made of gum rubber, the devices served to protect a fighter’s upper lip from being torn open from punches to the maxilla. These lip lacerations not only stopped fights, they led to scarring that affected speech and appearance. Nevertheless, until the 1927 Sharkey-McTigue bout, when their value was demonstrated inescapably, mouthguards were illegal in professional boxing. Ten years later they were required.

Over time, technology led to improved mouthguard design. Non-malleable mouthguards have been done away with: They were held in place by biting down, interfered with breathing and had the rare but troublesome tendency to fall into and block the airway of an unconscious fighter. Devices made of thermoplastic rubber -- the popular and cheap Boil and Bite models -- mark a substantial design improvement. They marginally conform to the upper teeth and fit the occlusal surface of the lower teeth, offering improvements in passive retention and mandible fixation. The drawbacks of these guards are that they may become too thin during the “bite” fitting process, and the thermoplastic material does not have ideal protective properties of cushioning and rigidity.

The current state-of-the-art in dental protection is a dentist-fit, custom-made mouthguard. These guards hold themselves in place on the maxillary teeth and have appropriate thickness anteriorly (4-6 mm) and along the occlusal surfaces (3-5 mm). Importantly, they are more comfortable to wear: The worst mouthguard is one left in the gear bag because the fighter views its use as a burden. A custom guard is more expensive, but not excessively so -- less than $100.

Advances in mouthguard technology have been matched, perhaps overtaken, by claims of their pluripotent utility. Over the past 30 years, published studies -- and Internet marketing come-on’s -- have claimed, with wildly disparate levels of certainty and supporting evidence, that mouthguards enhance strength, speed auditory and visual reaction times, improve balance, sharpen concentration, modulate the stress response, treat spinal injuries, improve endurance and mitigate the risks of concussion and chronic traumatic brain injury.

The majority of these reported benefits fall in the realm of bad science, ethically suspect marketing and outright myth. The fact that some of these exorbitant claims are used to promote $2,000 mouthguards does nothing to lower the threshold of disbelief. There are, however, two claims -- that mouthguard use might improve endurance and minimize brain injury -- that bear further scrutiny: They are supported by both legitimate proposed mechanisms and intriguing supportive science.

A recent study used CAT scans to show mouthguards produce significant widening of the oropharynx: an average diameter of 28.3 mm with guards, 25.9mm without. As resistance to fluid flow is proportional to the inverse fourth power of radius (Poiseuille's Equation), a widening of 2.4 mm represents -- theoretically -- an almost 40 percent decrease in airway resistance. Muscles of respiration require approximately 10 percent of a maximally active athlete’s oxygen demands, therefore a decrease in the work of breathing might translate into better endurance and faster recovery. Clinical studies designed to see this effect in vivo, measuring athlete’s blood lactate levels during exertion in the lab, have been ambiguous. At best the studies show use of a fitted guard does not decrease cardiovascular performance -- the winded fighter who spits his mouthguard out is not helping himself anymore than if he threw away his cup.

Science and research also suggest that modern mouthguards may protect the brain from injury. The only connection between the jaw and the cranium in which the brain resides are the temporomandibular joints, where the mandibular condyles sit in their cranial fossae, and the contact of lower mandibular teeth on upper maxillary teeth. A recent study in Dental Traumatology posits that mal-alignment of these condyles may increase transmission of punch force and skull torque. This may be the physiologic cause of “glass jaw syndrome” and, excitingly, the article suggests that the infamous glass jaw can be corrected by dental orthotics -- an extremely specialized form of mouthguard. The preliminary study is intriguing, but a larger study on dental orthotics is needed.

A more well-studied mechanism of brain protection involves the innate elasticity of rubber. Wearing even a simple mouthguard pulls the condyles out of place and separates the teeth; this insures that any force applied to the jaw is cushioned by the mouthguard before affecting skull and brain. The extent of this cushioning has been assessed in a number of studies using cadavers or models: They have shown decreases in cranial force after a blow to the jaw of as much as 50 percent.

The ideal in vivo confirmatory study -- taking a large cohort of football players and fighters at a young age, depriving them of mouthguards for many years and measuring the number and severity of injuries they sustain -- cannot ethically be done. The in vivo studies that have been done, often methodologically compromised, show intriguing evidence supporting the neuro-protective benefits of mouthguards. It bears explicit statement that none of the “higher end” mouthguards being marketed have demonstrated clinical superiority over the standard dental fit guard.

Certainly the UFC finds the data regarding the benefits of mouthguards convincing. For the last two years they have hired the FightDentist, Dr. Adam Persky, a world expert in the field, to make custom mouthguards for all of their fighters. For the known and potential benefit -- certainly when balanced against the risks -- the UFC’s money could not be better spent.

(Author's Note: In the Fistic Medicine article published April 29, I wrote, “Technique may trump muscle, but technique plus steroids trumps everything.” Unfortunately, this was, understandably, interpreted by many readers as a suggestion that Matt Hughes was a steroid user. The error is mine. No such implication was intended.)

Matt Pitt is a physician with degrees in biophysics and medicine. He is board-certified in emergency medicine and has post-graduate training in head injuries and multi-system trauma. To ask a question that could be answered in a future article, e-mail him at mpitt@sherdog.com.

Source: Sherdog

LINDLAND PLANS TO TEST CASEY'S WILL TO FIGHT
by Ken Pishna

Just four days removed from his 40th birthday, Matt Lindland looks to rekindle a career that once saw him ranked as the top middleweight fighter in the world.

After becoming an All American wrestler at the University of Nebraska, Lindland began his mixed martial arts career in 1997. Wrestling still beckoned, so he took time out from the sport to focus on Olympic competition, earning a silver medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

Lindland went on a tear upon his return to the sport, winning fights against Yoji Anjo, Ricardo Almeida, Phil Baroni, and Pat Miletich, before losing the first fight of his career. Lindland lost to Murilo Bustamante in a battle for the UFC middleweight championship.

He bounced back, still winning the majority of his fights, including wins over the likes of Travis Lutter, Joe Doerksen, Carlos Newton, and Jeremy Horn, but Lindland has dropped three of his last four bouts. One of those losses was well out of his weight class against No. 1 heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, but his last two bouts he faltered against Ronaldo “Jacare” de Souza and Vitor Belfort, two fighters streaking towards title shots.

He’ll try to right the ship on Friday night in the Strikeforce Challengers 8 main event on Showtime fighting Gracie jiu-jitsu protégé Kevin Casey. The bout takes place at the Rose Garden Arena in Portland, Ore., on Lindland’s home turf.

There’s no added pressure for him. Lindland told MMAWeekly.com that he likes fighting in front of the fans in Portland, despite the everyday distractions of being at home.

Most people think that Lindland is being set up for a win in his backyard, but he doesn’t take it that way. Losing three out of four, he knows that he can’t afford to take Casey for granted, despite not having known much about him prior to preparing for this fight.

“I was trying to find film on the guy and there he is rapping with Spencer Pratt dancing on the beach or something,” said Lindland, who did do the necessary recon on Casey.

“He’s a jiu-jitsu player, big strong guy. He wants to grab guys and throw them down on the ground and try to submit them or punch them. He’s a lousy striker.”

Lindland’s not really known for his striking proficiency either, but Casey’s jiu-jitsu threat doesn’t throw the Olympian off.

“You’ve got to prepare and get your game plan ready and you can only base you game plan on your strengths. It’s not like I’m gonna go out and develop a whole skill set and start striking like Anderson (Silva)... I’m gonna have to make it a dirty, ugly fight and probably put him on the ground and pound him away,” says the Team Quest elder.

“I start pounding away and they make a mistake and give me a choke or some sort of hold. I finish a lot of black belts with chokes and submission holds. I’m not really adverse to going to the ground with a jiu-jitsu guy, especially if I’m in the dominant position on top.”

And that’s the approach he’ll take into the fight with Casey. Lindland plans to push 27-year-old and see if he can hang. Remember 40 is the new 30.

“I’m gonna go out there and create a high pace and just be in his face and put a lot of pressure on him and make him fight me the whole time, every minute of every round, really test his will to fight."

Source: MMA Weekly

'Shaolin' Ribeiro Plans Appeal, Should Ask for Rematch Instead
By Ben Fowlkes

Vitor 'Shaolin' Ribeiro has a reason to be upset about his split decision loss to Lyle Beerbohm at last weekend's Strikeforce event in St. Louis. As bad decisions in MMA go, this one was particularly baffling.

Ribeiro spent most of the fight tying Beerbohm up in one submission after another. A game Beerbohm escaped again and again, but never managed to mount much offense of his own. When two of the three judges gave him every round on their scorecards, it was difficult not to wonder how simply surviving warranted such a clear victory.

But in an interview with Brazilian website Tatame, Nova União's Andre Pederneiras said that the team plans to file an appeal with the Missouri Office of Athletics with the hope of getting the fight changed to a no contest.

"They can't do that, is absurd, it's not right. Even if I have to ask the help of a lawyer, I will change this outcome," said Pederneiras.

American Top Team's Alex Davis, who said he isn't Ribeiro's manager, but rather a friend of the young Brazilian who wants to help out, told MMA Fighting, "It was a stupid decision. Nothing against the other kid, he's tough and all that, but 'Shaolin' definitely won the fight. Tell me how Beerbohm won? Please. I just don't understand it."

As someone who was in the arena that night and scored the bout 30-28 for Ribeiro, I don't understand it either. What I have even more trouble comprehending, however, is exactly what Ribeiro and his team think they'll accomplish with this appeal.

Getting an athletic commission to admit error and reverse the outcome of a bout is hard enough when you've got an airtight complaint. If there was a foul or referee error involved (such as in the Mike Aina-Billy Evangelista fight, which was eventually changed from a DQ win for Aina to a no contest), then maybe – maybe – you'd have a chance.

But a judges' decision is essentially a matter of opinion. It's three separate people all looking at something and trying to come to a conclusion about what it is they're seeing. As far as methods for deciding the winner of a fight go, it's a lot like that old saw about democracy: it's the worst system, except for every other system.

If athletic commissions were to start overturning judges' decisions simply because one fighter felt like he got the short end of the stick, they'd be setting a very dangerous precedent. Pretty soon they'd be inundated with appeals, and the decisions announced on fight night would start to feel like preliminary rulings.

When a fight goes to a decision after fifteen full minutes of action, it's usually because the bout was pretty close. It's somewhat unusual to find a fighter who thinks the judges made the right call by raising the other guy's hand.

Ribeiro has a legitimate gripe, and anyone who saw the fight knows it, but it's not the worst robbery we've ever seen. It's less a travesty of justice than it is an honest, but still surprisingly bad error in judgment.

Instead of looking backwards with an appeal that is dead before it even begins, he should look to the future. Ask Strikeforce for the chance to make it right. Tell Scott Coker you want a rematch. And then finish the fight yourself so that the judges don't ever have the chance to get it so wrong.

Source: MMA Fighting

WWE legend Steve Austin: If MMA existed a generation ago, a lot of guys in pro-wrestling would have done MMA instead.
By Zach Arnold

Bruce Buffer had a great interview with Steve Austin on Tuesday, talking about Hollywood and pro-wrestling and MMA. During the course of the interview, Bruce mentioned the stories about Steve Austin ‘breaking’ Sylvester Stallone’s neck during filming of the movie The Expendables. While filming scenes for a movie in Brazil, Austin mentioned that he and Stallone hung out with several MMA fighters:

“He’s a big pro-wrestling fan, he’s a huge MMA fan and you know we filmed part of the movie in Brazil and we got to meet the Nogueira Brothers, I met Vitor Belfort, of course you know between takes a lot of times we were filming into the wee hours of the night and I sit there one time and asked Randy Couture questions about fighting and everything else that went on in his career for three hours straight. Finally I looked at Randy and said, ‘all right, Randy, one more question,’ and he looked at me and goes, ‘I know you’re going to ask me more than one more question.’”

While discussing professional wrestling on the Sherdog interview, the topic of The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott Steiner) came up, which led to Austin pontificating that a lot of the big stars over the last generation in professional wrestling would have considered doing MMA had MMA existed on such a high-level like it is now:

“There’s a lot of guys in the business that could go. You know back in the day you know as MMA has evolved and has turned into what it is now, so many of the guys I think would have been tremendous in that sport if they had started sooner. I remember growing up in South Texas that if it had been around a long time ago you know it’d be something that I would have been really interested in because I always liked individual competition. I’m not sitting here talking to you saying I would have been a UFC World Champion, I’m just saying that I have the mentality and the mindset that I would have liked to go down that road had I been exposed to it sooner in my life and that’s why I’m such a huge fan of the UFC and MMA in general. But going back to those Steiner Brothers, they were double-tough but don’t mistake them for being mean, they were just cantankerous and funny guys and probably some of the best guys you’d ever want to meet on the road and if you did ever want to get in a fight you damn sure want The Steiner Brothers on your side.”

It’s also not just pro-wrestlers but also pro-wrestling announcers who are very big into MMA. Steve Austin discussed the prospects of Jim Ross as a future MMA announcer:

“Yeah, I really do because I know Jim is an MMA fan, I know he watches as much as he can and you know he’s one of my best friends and you know that’s what he does and I think he knows a lot of transitions of psychology and at the end of the day you know you’re telling a story about what’s happening to you right there in front of your eyes and you know the story’s true is because it’s happening, it doesn’t matter whether it’s professional wrestling or MMA, the story’s the same, you have this guy and that guy and they’re fighting each other and so you call it as see it, so in that regard as far as maybe a few terminology pickups and stuff like that he would maybe learn, I think the guy would be outstanding.”

The Austin interview was a big score in what has turned out to be a very good month for Bruce Buffer. This weekend, he will be celebrating his birthday (it’s on 5/21) in Las Vegas when The Luxor Hotel & Casino will open The Bruce Buffer Poker Room.

On the weekend of UFC 114 on 5/29 in Las Vegas with Rampage Jackson vs. Rashad Evans, there will be a UFC Fan Expo in Vegas and part of the festivities will be a “Buffer 180? contest hosted by Silver Star. When Silver Star got their first shipment in of Buffer shirts, they sold them out. As for the “Buffer 180? contest, there will be tryouts on the Friday of the UFC 114 weekend and then the finalists will compete on Saturday for Silver Star prize packages.

Here’s how Buffermania describes the contest:

“There’s going to be some foolishness. I hope they have them sign disclaimers before they go up on stage. I guarantee you that there’s going to be one or two people in the bunch that are going to try to pull off a 360. God bless you. Be careful, that’s all I can tell you.”

And here is Bruce describing what goes through his mind before he goes the “Buffer 180? and the “Buffer 360? moves:

“I’m getting my head into the game, I’m getting my blood flowing, I’m getting in there to announce the greatest warriors in the world but at the same time I’m limbering up my body because I just don’t stand stiff and announce like most every other announcer does with all respect, so I recommend that if you’re going to enter the 180 contest which starts on Friday the PR’s at UFCFanExpo.com and you can go there and you can see what’s involved, you’ll be signing up at the Silver Star Booth you’ll have to try a 180, show how you announce in the Silver Star Booth, and I think the way it works is the the Top 30 people, they’re expecting a lot of people, the Top 30 people will come back on Saturday and compete for prize packages put together by Silver Star which will not be cheap prize packages, trust me, there’ll be a lot of gear in there.”

Source: Fight Opinion

Report: GSP and NHL Enforcer Georges Laraque to Have Grappling Match
By FCF Staff

According to a report on the official site of Canada’s TSN Network, UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre will square off with former Montreal Canadian’s forward Georges Laraque, in a friendly grappling match at Montreal’s Tri-Star Gym. The two reportedly agreed to the match while appearing on TSN’s “Off the Record” program yesterday and it will be broadcast on the Friday edition of the show (6:00 PM PST / 3:00 EST).

The 33 year-old, 260lb. plus Laraque has long been regarded as one of the National Hockey League’s best fighters, and has played for the Edmonton Oilers, Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins and most recently the Canadians, during his decade plus career. In January, the Canadians announced that they were buying out the contract of Laraque, who had signed with the club in 2008.

Laraque was quoted saying in the TSN report that "I think because of the weight difference he's going to have a hard time,” while St. Pierre responded "On the ice I would never go against him, he's going to beat me and I agree with that 100 percent, but on the floor I have no problem."

St. Pierre is scheduled to coach on the next season of “The Ultimate Fighter” after dominating Dan Hardy en route to a Unanimous Decision victory at UFC 111 in March. St.Pierre will coach opposite Josh Koscheck, who will challenge the Canadian for this title later in the year.

Source: Full Contact Fighter

Bas Rutten on Overeem v. Fedor
by Fraser Coffeen

If you're any sort of old school MMA fan, or a fan of PRIDE, you probably have the same soft spot in your heart for "El Guapo" Bas Rutten as I do. The former King of Pancrase, UFC Heavyweight champion, and all around MMA ambassador keeps a somewhat lower profile these days (well lower profile for Bas), but over at Mixfight.nl he made some comments on Overeem v. Rogers that were worth sharing. Please note that these comments are translated into English.

What an evening yesterday huh? What an incredible brute Alistair is. He just threw Rogers around the ring, even the commentators said "Rogers thrown like a rag doll", haha, what a force.

I must also just say that he looked really good, you could see he was much quicker in his movements, so the weight is much better for him, and he has added power.

Hey Alistair, congratulations my friend, I wonder if Fedor's camp will let him fight you. I think you have shown them how dangerous you really are. I mean, Fedor struggled with Rogers, but he did nothing to you!

So let's hope they do it. It's very easy, if he wants to be the champion, then it MUST happen! "To be the man, you have to beat the man!"

Godspeed and party on!

Bas

It will be interesting to see how much the Fedor v. Overeem talks heat up at this point. It's obvious that this is the fight people want out of Fedor (aside from the logistically difficult UFC fights), but what's intriguing here is that I think this is the first time since the death of PRIDE that a fighter outside the UFC has really gained such support to face Fedor. People were excited about both Arlovski and Barnett (and, to a lesser extent, Sylvia), but there was not this same level of "this fight must happen." Of course, the dangerous downside of this is that it will surely encourage M-1 to drive Fedor's price and their demands even higher, so it's definitely a long way from happening. But for now, I'm with Bas. Let's see this.

Source: Head Kick Legend

Palhares: “Dana White gave me a gift”
By Guilherme Cruz

With four wins and three submissions on UFC, Rousimar “Toquinho” Palhares keeps going for the top of his division. Despite his last win was very polemical, the athlete from Brazilian Top Team revealed to TATAME.com that the UFC president, Dana White, approved his 45s victory over Tomasz Drwal on UFC 111.

“Dana did not pull my ear, in fact he gave me a gift… Who punished me was the Athletic Commission, he didn’t say a thing. He gave me a gift (laughs)”, jokes, complaining about the punishment. “I thought it was unfair, the guy (referee) wasn’t paying attention… I think both of us (me and the referee) made a mistake, but I just got to a position, didn’t spin, I just hold that position until the referee interfere”, explains.

The win over Drwal is in the past, and Toquinho is focused on Nate Marquardt, his opponent on UFC 118. “The expectations are high, we’re training hard, working to make it happen all the time… We’ll do our best to win”, guarantees the nice guy from Minas Gerais, who trains along with Murilo Bustamante in Rio de Janeiro. “We’ll get there and make a good fight. Both of us are used to fight there and will get there and do our best”, promises Palhares.

Source: Tatame

Vitali Klitschko Speaks from Training Camp

Going/Austria (May 19, 2010) – Vitali Klitschko (41-2, 37 KOs), of Kiev (Ukraine) and Hamburg (Germany), participated yesterday in a media work out in his training camp in Austria. He discussed his upcoming WBC heavyweight title defense against former European Champion Albert Sosnowski (45-2-1, 27 KOs), of Warsaw (Poland) and Brentwood (UK). The eagerly anticipated heavyweight championship will take place on Saturday, May 29, at VELTINS-Arena Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

Tickets, starting at € 20, can be purchased online at www.eventim.de or by phone +49-1805-57 00 70.

The fight presented by K2 Promotions and Klitschko Management Group, is being distributed in North America by Integrated Sports Media for live viewing at 3 PM/ET – 12 PM/PT on both cable and satellite pay-per-view via iN Demand, DIRECTV, TVN and DISH Network in the United States, as well as Bell TV, Shaw PPV and Viewer’s Choice in Canada, for a suggested retail price of only $24.95.

VITALI KLITSCHKO:

About Albert Sosnowski

“I expect Albert Sosnowski to be in the best shape of his life. I am sure that he will not run and hide like my last opponent Kevin Johnson. He said that he will give his all to get my belt, but I am well prepared and will not underestimate him.”

“Albert Sosnwoski is not a big name and not so famous in boxing so far. But that does not count at all. He will be very powerful and will always go forward. He will do anything to get my title.”

About his preparation

“I have trained very hard and I am in a very good condition. I am prepared to go 12 rounds if I have to.”

About the fight in the soccer stadium in Gelsenkirchen, Germany

“I am looking forward to fighting in a big arena as my brother Wladimir did in Schalke and recently in Düsseldorf. The Schalke stadium is great and I am really looking forward to going there in a couple of days. I know from Wladimir’s fight and from soccer matches I have attended in the arena that the fans and the atmosphere are terrific.”

About future fights

“Fights against David Haye and Nikolay Valuev are interesting fights, but I am not sure if they dare to step in the ring with me or my brother. Anyway, I am not thinking of any other opponents than Albert Sosnowski right now. ”

About being a professional sport man and a politician

“Right now I am able to handle both sides well, like Manny Pacquiao in the Philipines. I want to implement western standards in the Ukraine, my country has so much potential and I want to help to make things better.”

FRITZ SDUNEK, Vitali’s trainer

“Vitali is in an extraordinary shape. Once again, he improved his boxing skills. We have worked a lot on his footwork and he went through more than 110 rounds of sparring.”

Source: The Fight Network

Gegard Mousasi Hoping for King Mo Rematch on New Year's Eve
By Daniel Herbertson

Gegard Mousasi, who will likely fight at DREAM.15 in the light heavyweight tournament, expressed an interest in a rematch with Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal during a DREAM press conference Thursday.

"I don't have a specific opponent that I want to fight," Mousasi said. "I don't know who is going to participate in the tournament but I would love to fight King Mo again. I hope on New Year's Eve I will get my shot at him."

The former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion also gave his thoughts on surrendering his strap to "King Mo."

"I think it wasn't my takedown defense," Mousasi said. "I was, in my life, somewhere else maybe. I fought his fight. I didn't sprawl, I wasn't sharp. maybe my condition should have been better. So, there are a lot of things that I could say that went wrong but basically it comes to: he fought his fight and he won. I didn't fight my fight. It wasn't that my wrestling wasn't good enough or my sprawl wasn't good enough, I think I just fought stupid."

DREAM.14 will be the only cage event for the year and it is still a hot topic in Japan as of late. Mousasi also commented on if he thinks there is a significant difference between fighting in the cage and the ring.

"Yes there is," he responded. "The cage is bigger so you have more space. For a wrestler, I think it is much better to fight in the ring than in the cage. The cage has more advantage for the stand up fighter. Maybe I should have trained the cage to stand up but those are new things that I have to learn and I think that I didn't train that good enough. But there is definitely a big difference."

Source: MMA Fighting

KOSCHECK PLANS TO KO ST-PIERRE IN REMATCH
by Jeff Cain

Josh Koscheck has been scratching and clawing his way into title contention since his arrival in the Ultimate Fighting Championship via “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show’s debut season.

He’s been on the cusp of a title shot on a few occasions, but untimely losses to Georges St-Pierre, Thiago Alves, and Paulo Thiago derailed his track to fighting for the championship.

The American Kickboxing Academy trained athlete knew for “a long time” before stepping in the Octagon with Paul Daley at UFC 113 on May 8 that a win would garner him a title bout and a rematch with St-Pierre, only this time it would be a five-round contest.

“This time it is everything. This is going to be it man,” Koscheck told MMAWeekly.com. “This is my run to the title and I’m going to get it. I’m close. I’ve got to be focused. I’ve got to train and I’m coming out of this fight with a victory.”

Following his win over Daley in Montreal, Koscheck let it be known that he’d like for the rematch to take place near his hometown of Waynesburg, Penn., in Pittsburg.

“I think the city of Pittsburg needs something like that. I’m from the area and it would be great to come home and have the support of all of my fans that have been backing me all the way since I was in college wrestling all the way up to now fighting for the title,” said Koscheck. “Pittsburg would be a great, great city to have the UFC.”

Pittsburg is just the 32-year-old fighter’s first choice, and anticipates a good event no matter what city plays host.

“Bringing the UFC to Pittsburg would be awesome, but regardless where it is it’s going to be a great event and me and St-Pierre are going to put on a good show.”

St-Pierre was able to out-wrestle the four-time NCAA Division I All-American wrestler when they first met at UFC 74 in August of 2007, but Koscheck refuses to let that happen in the rematch.

“Georges, you better work on your power because I’m going to force you to stand up with me when we fight and I’m going to knock you out.”

Source: MMA Weekly

Tim Sylvia: When I fought Ray Mercer, I didn’t think it would hurt my record because it was a boxing match
By Zach Arnold

Where do I start with some of what Big Tim said during his interview with Josh Gross? After getting a big one-time pay day from Affliction to fight Fedor, Tim Sylvia has found himself out in the wilderness of the current MMA scene. He has a fight coming up this Friday night against World’s Strongest Man Mariusz Pudzianowski. This fight takes place after Tim lost to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (in UFC), to Fedor (in Affliction), and Ray Mercer (in a bizarre Monte Cox-promoted show in Alabama). During the radio interview with Josh, Tim admitted that his options are running out in terms of getting bookings in promotions not named Strikeforce or UFC and that’s why he took this fight on Friday night:

“Basically I just wanted to fight and this was put in front of us and we took the fight. Nothing else, I played with Japan and they said they’re going to use me and use me and use me and they’ve talked to three different fights with them and they’ve all fell through so you know we finally just said you know whoever wants me to fight we’re going to get a retainer and if they don’t let me fight at least they’re going to be out $10,000 and if they do then so be it, you know.”

Sylvia indicated during the interview that DREAM was the promotion that was courting him, but that they would give him offers on two-week notice against “Top 5? guys. (Probably against Josh Barnett.)

As for an assessment about his opponent on Friday, he did try to put over Mariusz in his own unique way.

“I think he’s still very new to the sport. If this is the career he wants to pursue now I mean he really has to work hard at it. I mean he’s got a great work ethic you know he knows what it takes to become a world champion in one sport so he’s got a good drive and a good work ethic where he could possibly do well with this sport if he gets the right crew behind him and stuff but taking fights like this isn’t a good decision for his management team, I don’t believe.”

“Supposedly he was a good boxer, a good kick boxer, good wrestler, and we haven’t seen any of that out of him yet.”

The promotion that is hosting the fight is called Moosin and it’s got ex-Toughman and ex-Art Dore associates all over it, including Eric “Butterbean” Esch and Corey Fischer, who was investigated by a watchdog group linked to the Ohio Athletic Commission for having fighter Forrest Petz allegedly work amateur fights when he was a professional fighter.

“You know I met those guys (Moosin) during the press conference when we did the press conference in Boston and New York. Great guys… Butterbean’s involved so you know he’s a funny, funny character and a great guy so it’s definitely legit and for real and I’m looking forward to fighting for them Friday.”

Sylvia is still trying to recover from the loss to Fedor. The fight became a circus for so many different reasons — Affliction paid a reported $800,000 to Sylvia for the fight booking and then Tim lost in a little over 30 seconds. When Josh Gross asked Tim if he suffered from the same disease that guys who fight Fedor suffer from which is “they’re never the same,” Big Tim dismissed that notion out of hand.

“No, not at all. I would have been right back at it if they allowed me to. You know if Afflliction had me fight right after I lost to him I would have fought the next show but we were having contract problems and it didn’t happen but I don’t believe any of that. But you could also look at that and say that whenever anybody fights me they kind of problems, too, like Gan McGee, Ricco Rodriguez, Tra Telligman, Brandon Vera, many of those guys have fought me haven’t been the same either.”

“I didn’t perform. I trained my ass off at a great training camp, went injury-free you know I had minor ones but everybody has minor injuries but nothing serious, I just got out there and didn’t perform the best of my ability. I got caught early and he just kept the ball rolling and finished me quickly.”

After intimating that he wants to face Fedor in a re-match, Tim was asked about the fight with Ray Mercer. Remember, this fight was promoted in Birmingham, Alabama in a state that usually relies on Mississippi’s lenient athletic commission to regulate activities. Then, on top of that, the fight was booked as a boxing fight inside of an MMA cage. Tim Lueckenhoff, head of the ABC (Association of Boxing Commissions), put a stop to the fight as a boxing contest and it was switched to an MMA fight at the last minute.

So, naturally, Tim stood up like a boxing fight instead of going for the take down and fell down like a redwood tree when Mercer knocked him out in 10 seconds.

“That was my stupidity. It was the dumbest thing that I could have ever done. As soon as it was switched to Mixed Martial Arts I should have went in there and took him down and ended the fight in 30 seconds but I listened to his mouth run and I thought I could stand with a heavyweight boxer with four ounce gloves. Obviously, it didn’t work out the way I wanted it to but I did fight in September and that went well against a pretty decent up-and-comer (Jason Riley).”

When asked if the Mercer loss compounded on losses to Nogueira and Fedor in terms of emotional distress, Big Tim was introspective about it all.

“No, not really, I mean, the Nogueira one I made a small mistake and I was winning the fight in the first, you know all the way up to where I made that little stupid dumb mistake, so it was just a learning lesson for me on that one. Fedor, I just did not get a chance to get off and perform, so I was like ’shit you know can I get a re-match’ can I earn my way back up to fight this guy because you know that’s what I kind of felt happened the first time I fought Arlovski, I went out there and I was still timid with the whole breaking my arm and you know he dropped me and jumped on my leg and I just tapped out immediately just because I was like freaked out and then you know when I came back and fought him you saw what happened the second time. So, you know I really truly believe that I could, I still think I can beat Fedor it’s just, I need the opportunity to prove myself again. The whole Mercer thing I was it was a [unintelligible] boxing match and I was like, ‘well, so what, boxing, again that doesn’t hurt my record at all, if I lose I lose to you know a US Gold Medalist and a very seasoned veteran and then all of a sudden it was changed to MMA and he was running his mouth and he talked me right into fighting the he way wanted to fight me.”

If Tim Sylvia is able to beat Mariusz Pudzianowski on Friday night, he has an idea of how he would like the rest of 2010 to be laid out on paper to help get back into the mid-major Strikeforce or major UFC promotion.

“I’d like it go you know win a few more fights and either go to Strikeforce or UFC. There’s guys in Strikeforce that I want to fight and there’s guys in the UFC that I want to fight. Obviously I want a re-match with Nogueira and Frank Mir and then I’d like to see what happened if I fought one of the top three or four being Dos Santos, Velasquez, Carwin, Brock you know one of those guys and you know with Alistair getting back into the States finally you know I might get a chance to fight him or put some wins together and fight Fedor again.”

Source: Fight opinion

5/22/10

Destiny Featuring Kaleo Kwan Defending His State Title Today!!!
Waipahu Filcom
Doors open 5:30 pm. Fights start at 6:00 pm
$25 presale, $35 at the door!


Main Event:
-155lbs (state title match)
Kaleo "Lights Out" Kwan (O2 Martial Arts Academy) vs Tim "Majik" Moon

-145lbs (interim amateur title)
Max "Lil Evil" Holloway (Gods Army) vs Travis Beyer (808 FF)

-155lbs
Ben "Da King" Santiago (Gods Army) vs Tyler Pavao (freelance)

-185lbs
Jon Lucius (freelance) vs Charles Hazlewood (Combat 50)

-Heavyweights
Nalu Lavela (UCS) vs Terrance Taanoa (High Intensity)

-145lbs
Daniel Bachman (Boars Nest) vs Jason Racamara (UCS)

-170lbs
Jason Morinaga (freelance) vs Jon "4real" Ferrell (Hawaiian MMA, Hilo)

-165lbs
Kenney Dewey (Pain Train) vs Zackory Lavarias-Dumlao (freelance)

-145lbs
Randy Rivera (HMC) vs Treven Mukai (Hawaiian MMA, Hilo)

-Heavyweights
Isaac Uaisele (Kurrupt Ambitionz) vs Joe Noa (All Nu)

-210lbs
Mo (Pain Train) vs Christian Dayondun (All Nu)

-170lbs
Daniel Manpusian (freelance) vs Justin Torres (All Nu)

-140lbs
AJ Pang (HMC) vs Larson Tokeshi (Hawaiian MMA, Hilo)

-125lbs
Josh Kolii (C-Side Soljahz) vs Westly Mossan (freelance)

-150lbs
Aaron Terry (HMC Wahiawa) vs Mikey Wabinga (Team Stand Alone)

-185lbs
Kala Sapla (freelance) vs Joe Enaena(All Nu)

-160lbs
Dean Ramiro (Team Equal Knockz) vs David Carter (freelance)

-160lbs
Ethan Rista (Kurrupt Ambitionz) vs Nick Pait (freelance)

-155lbs
Sebastion Mariconda (HMC) vs Steven Garcia (All Nu)

-145lbs
Zach Close (Boars Nest) vs Charles Matias (freelance)

-170lbs
Lawrence Kaeo (Papakolea BJJ) vs Kalani Ramos (All Nu)

-155lbs
Ryan Clay (HMC) vs Bradley Arakaki(freelance)

-165lbs
Eddie Manu (High Intensity) vs Peda Delacruz (All Nu)

-135lbs
Kelii Palencia (HMC) vs Lawrence Lucius (freelance)

-185lbs
Ernest "Irie Warrior" Mercado (freelance) vs Tyrone Stovall (All Nu)

-170lbs
Lawrence Matias (freelance) vs Tony Irvin (High Intensity)

-Heavyweights
Olo (freelance) vs Lester Figueroa (All Nu)

-145lbs (pankration)
Robert Aguirre (freelance)vs Mikela Texeira (All Nu)

-170lbs
Kalau Awong (C-Side Soljahz) vs George Felix (freelance)

-Super Heavyweight
Keoni Kalepa (freelance) vs Andrew Miram (High Intensity)

-180lbs
Dwayne Uyeda (Team Outlaw) vs Micah Ige (freelance)

-135lbs (pankration)
Joeseph Eiman (Team Hardheads) vs Thomas Burkett (High Intensity)

-145lbs
Shawn Burroughs (CJ's Gym) vs TBA

Sherdog.com’s Pound-for-Pound Top 10

Welcome back, Mr. Rua. We weren’t expecting your arrival, but we do have a spot open for you.

Though the vast majority of the mixed martial arts world believed Mauricio “Shogun” Rua won his UFC title bout with Lyoto Machida in October, Machida remained the favorite when the Brazilian pair met again on May 8 in Montreal. Instead, Rua looked like the man who was MMA’s consensus 2005 “Fighter of the Year,” as he walloped Machida in less than four minutes, taking the UFC light heavyweight crown, the 205-pound mantle and a spot on this list.

When Sherdog.com began publishing its pound-for-pound rankings in August 2007, Rua appeared as high as number two on the list, due mostly to his outstanding 2005 run in which he trampled four top 10 opponents in a little more than six months and won the Pride Fighting Championships 205-pound grand prix. Rua remains a long way away from having a resume that strong again. However, he will certainly have the chance to climb, with a healthy list of potential bouts against well-accomplished fighters: Rashad Evans and respective rematches with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira or Forrest Griffin.

On the topic of sequels, second tilts will be formative for these rankings in the coming months. Four entrants on this list are now lined up for rematches -- five if one includes the edged-out Thiago Alves, who falls to the figurative 11th spot with Rua’s re-entry.

1. Anderson Silva (26-4)
A month after the fact, the hysteria that surrounded Silva following his dubious domination of Demian Maia in Abu Dhabi has subsided. Attention has now turned to the next fight for the middleweight kingpin, as “The Spider” will risk his 185-pound mantle against outspoken Republican-stroke-fighter Chael Sonnen at UFC 117 on Aug. 7 in Oakland, Calif. With his recent string of victories over Dan Miller, Yushin Okami and Nate Marquardt, Sonnen has emerged as an accomplished, deserving challenger. However, the biggest factor in making the fight a blockbuster will center on Sonnen’s infamous trash talking and whether it can inspire Silva to fight from bell to bell.

2. Georges St. Pierre (20-2)
The story remains the same for St. Pierre. Coming off a dominant title performance against Dan Hardy in March, he has been positioned for a rematch with yet another elite welterweight in Josh Koscheck, courtesy of the former NCAA national wrestling champion’s May 8 win over Paul Daley. They met previously in August 2007, with St. Pierre winning a unanimous decision. Now, when they collide three-plus years later, it will be on the heels of the 12th season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” which figures to build the second GSP-Koscheck bout with an easy and obvious face-heel dynamic.

3. Fedor Emelianenko (31-1, 1 NC)
The good news: Emelianenko’s Strikeforce contract has, at least for now, been ameliorated, allowing “The Last Emperor” to meet Fabricio Werdum on June 26 when the promotion returns to San Jose, Calif. The bad news: many MMA observers have grown skeptical of Emelianenko’s run of opponents, and following Alistair Overeem’s May 15 destruction of Brett Rogers, Werdum appears far from the most appealing non-UFC heavyweight opponent for Emelianenko. A showdown with “The Demolition Man” has quickly become the premier fight for Emelianenko heading into the second half of 2010.

4. Jose Aldo (17-1)
Aldo entered his April 24 showdown with Urijah Faber as a favorite, but many expected “The California Kid” to offer the Brazilian dynamo a real test. Instead, Aldo crushed and demoralized Faber in front of his fans in Sacramento, Calif. For five lopsided rounds, Aldo smashed Faber with low kicks, hobbling him into helplessness inside the cage. With the victory, Aldo appears all but untouchable in the featherweight division, despite only two outstanding wins -- Mike Thomas Brown and Faber -- on his docket. With the perception of his dominance reinforced, Aldo figures to be a considerable favorite over likely next challenger Manny Gamburyan whenever they meet later this year.

5. Jon Fitch (22-3, 1 NC)
With a straightforward and prosaic fighting style, Fitch does not appear to be as close to another crack at the UFC welterweight title as he would like. However, the former Purdue University wrestling captain still sports a staggering 12-1 record in the UFC, having compiled it in one of MMA’s greatest divisions. Unfortunately, Fitch’s rematch with Thiago Alves has been canceled twice already, and the third iteration of the bout was hit with another delay. Zuffa officials pushed the date from UFC 115 on June 12 to UFC 117 on Aug. 7 to ensure Alves’ full health. Let us hope it happens this time. Holding the title of the undisputed second banana at 170 pounds remains a great MMA accomplishment.

6. Frankie Edgar (12-1)
At UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Edgar scored one of the most significant wins of 2010, as he dethroned lightweight kingpin B.J. Penn and took the UFC 155-pound title. Though it was not exactly a popular decision, Edgar took all three judges’ scorecards on the back of his aggressive combination punching and stellar movement. However, the surprise champion will have to replicate his feat in order to earn unanimous consideration as the sport’s top lightweight, as he has signed on for an August rematch with Penn in Boston.

7. B.J. Penn (15-6-1)
From one controversy to another, Penn lost his UFC lightweight title and MMA’s 155-pound mantle on April 12 with his shocking upset to Frankie Edgar. While debate still rages over the bout’s outcome, Penn has started his book tour to promote his eye-opening biography. The book has drawn the particular ire of UFC President Dana White over its anecdotes on the Hawaiian’s past dealings with the company. Brouhahas notwithstanding, “The Prodigy” will get his chance for redemption and the opportunity to regain top status at 155 pounds in August, when he meets Edgar for a second time at UFC 118 in Boston.

8. Mauricio Rua (19-4)
With questions swirling about what would happen if his rematch with Lyoto Machida went to the judges, Rua made sure the script played out differently from their controversial first bout, as he clobbered “The Dragon” less than four minutes into their May 8 meeting. Rua’s current resume remains a far cry from where it was in 2005, when he tore through four top 10 opponents in half a year. However, with a forthcoming title eliminator between Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Rashad Evans and the UFC’s strong grip on elite 205-pound talent, Rua will have the opportunity to carve out a brilliant hit list in a strong division -- the backbone of any pound-for-pound resume.

9. Jake Shields (25-4-1)
There was a time just a few short years ago when Shields was reviled for being one of MMA’s most loathsome fighters to watch. However, during the last five years, the Cesar Gracie protégé has transformed himself from a drab, peripheral contender to one of the sport’s elite fighters. With his dominant April 17 upset over Dan Henderson, the Strikeforce middleweight champion now boasts a 14-bout winning streak and top-five credentials in two separate divisions. The serious question surrounding Shields now centers on whether he will remain a Strikeforce commodity or choose a future in the Octagon against a deeper roster of competition.

10. Lyoto Machida (16-1)
The majority of the MMA world felt Mauricio “Shogun” Rua was the better man in his first meeting with Machida in October. In their May 8 rematch, Machida certainly looked like the lesser man. The Belem, Brazil, native was polished off in less than four minutes -- a far cry from the supposedly untouchable fighter who took the title from Rashad Evans just a year earlier. However, criticisms at this point seem too sharp. Lost in the post-fight absolutes was the fact that it was not that long ago when Machida blew away strong competition in a deep division, crushing both Evans and Thiago Silva in his 2009 campaign.

* With the entry of Mauricio Rua, previously 10th-ranked Thiago Alves falls outside the pound-for-pound top-10.

Source: Sherdog

DREAM ANNOUNCES LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT GRAND PRIX

Dream on Thursday held a press conference announcing Dream 15 for July 10 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Dream 15 will include a reduced field of four for the promotion’s Light Heavyweight Grand Prix, originally scheduled for Dream 14. Tournament participants were not announced, although former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi is expected to participate.

The winners of the Grand Prix will then fight in the finals at Dream 16 in September.

Aside from Mousasi, Dream announced that fighters competing at Dream 15 would include Dream lightweight champion Shinya Aoki, Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem, Deep lightweight champion Katsunori Kikuno, Tatsuya Kawajiri, and Melvin Manhoef.

No specific match-ups were announced, but Kawajiri, currently riding a four-fight winning streak, has been on a collision course with Aoki. So don’t be surprised if an Aoki versus Kawajiri match-up materializes at the main event.

Source: MMA Weekly

Din Thomas stands up for Shine fights promoter in whole cancellation mess
By Zach Arnold

Din Thomas, who was scheduled to fight boxer Ricardo Mayorga in an MMA bout in Fayetteville, North Carolina last Saturday night, ended up getting the raw end of the deal with his fight being canceled. The state athletic commission said that there wasn’t a doctor in place for the show and also had a dispute about the promoter (Devin Price) having the sufficient funds to pay everyone what they would be owed. Dave Meltzer reported on Sunday night that the commission allegedly gave fighters the option to sign a waiver indemnifying the NC athletic commission if the fighters would allow the promoter (Shine Fights) to pay by check instead of cash. The commission reportedly wanted nothing to do with checks being used to pay fighters because of the track record of promoters in the fight game who gave fighters checks that bounce.

Josh Gross invited Din Thomas on his radio show this week and was asked to give his thoughts on what happened. Surprisingly, Thomas was not angry at the event promoter for what happened.

“Man, I tell you the truth, man, you know, a lot of people are giving the promotion and Shine a hard time but I really legitimately you know stand behind these guys. I really don’t think it was their fault and I really think they did everything they could to try to keep this card together. You know, I just think that things got out of their hands and they didn’t have the manpower or the resources to keep it together, but I mean I’ve watched these guys for months you know try to make this fight go down and then at the last you know the last possible hour, up until like an hour before the show started, they were still trying and trying and trying and then when the commission said something’s not going to happen, man there’s nothing you can do about it.”

In regards to whether there was enough funds to pay the fighters, Thomas said that all he heard was speculation and nothing concrete.

“I’m not 100% sure, I mean that’s what kind of the speculation was around the hotel and at the venue was that they didn’t have the funds there. You know I can’t say that’s what it was for sure but that’s kind of what the speculation was. But also there were saying that Devin Price was the one you know the President of the company was the one who had the funds and if he was the one who had the funds he was in court trying to keep the fight alive so I mean if he was the one with the money you know he was in court, so I mean it was impossible for you know for the funds to be there, Devin was in court.”

When asked if it was worse getting no pay day or not being able to fight Mayorga, Din almost sounded melancholy about not getting able to beat up the boxer.

“I think really, I mean kind of both. I mean I think what everybody was kind of looking forward to was seeing you know Mayorga get beat up, so I mean I think in that perspective I think everybody was robbed of that. You know as far as you know not getting a pay day, I mean that sucks but it wasn’t like… I mean, yeah, I lost money, I mean you lose money in the fact right because if you take time to train and you know you sacrifice so much to train and then you expect to get paid and it doesn’t happen, you know, that kind of sucks. However, you know, I did talk to them, well I didn’t talk to them personally but my management did talk to them and they did say they were going to be, you know I didn’t really get to talk to my management too much on the details on it but they just kind of gave me the thumbs up that everything was OK and that they were going to square up with me, so hopefully by tomorrow I’ll be squared away and I’ll get paid so I mean, so then if we do this interview again I’ll be telling you the worst part was that you guys didn’t get to see Mayorga get beat up.”

Source: Fight Opinion

STRIKEFORCE UPDATE
Matt Lindland, Pat Healy, and Nathan Coy Talk Friday's Fights
By FCF Staff

MMA fans in Portland, Oregon, will have an opportunity Friday to watch one of the State’s more accomplished fighters, when Eagle Creek’s Matt Lindland (21-7) takes on California jiu-jitsu instructor Kevin Casey (3-1), at the city’s Rose Garden Arena. The middleweight tilt will headline Strikeforce’s latest Challengers event, which will also feature welterweight Tyrone Woodley (6-0) vs. Nathan Coy (6-2) and lightweight vet Pat Healy (22-15) vs. Bryan Travers (13-1).

The card will be broadcast on Showtime Friday beginning at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).

Oregon fighters Lindland, Coy and Healy held an open work out for the media at Portland’s Team Quest facility earlier in the week; here are some of their comments from the session:

Matt Lindland

“I’d love to see signs and the fans getting into it. The louder it is and the more excited people are the better."

“I think there are a lot of gyms around and it’s an incredibly competitive market but I’d really love to see more fans come out and experience a live event. Until you’ve been there you really can’t make a decision about it. You might find that’s it’s truly something that you might enjoy or at least appreciate it for what it is.”

Nathan Coy

“We’re excited about this fight. It’s like a dream come true; fighting in our hometown. We’ve been fighting here for some time and it’s just an honor for us."

“I think I was considered a prospect when I got into the sport. I’m established now and ready to prove to the fans of MMA that I’m one of the top-notch fighters. I think I’m worthy for a shot at the belt and I want to fight for a title."

Pat Healy

“It’s funny because my friends were just asking me about two weeks before they announced the fight when I was going to be fighting here next. I told them, ‘Man, just don’t count on it anytime soon.’ And then at practice one day Matt just said ‘They’re having a Strikeforce fight here and you’re on it so spread the word.’

“I haven’t been able to find too much on my opponent. It should be an interesting bout. I think his style matches up with mine so I’m just going to push the pace on him and see what he’s really made of."

Source: Full Contact Fighter

Famed Trainer Freddie Roach Headed to Casino Rama

RAMA, ON (Wednesday, May 19, 2010) – Two-time world champion Ana “The Hurricane” Julaton (6-2-1, 1 KO) doesn’t need help turning fight fans’ heads. The radiant super bantamweight is not only beautiful, but fights with a ferocity and passion rarely seen in the sport. However, in order to swivel her opponents’ heads more frequently, Julaton has reunited with boxing’s top trainer, Freddie Roach, for her June 30th bout for the WBO 122 lb. world title at Casino Rama, in Rama, Ontario. Roach has trained Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao into one of the greatest fighters of all-time, and has become the foremost boxing mind on the planet. “Freddie’s record speaks for itself,” said Allan Tremblay, Julaton’s promoter. “She’s trained with Freddie before, and having him back in the fold will boost her confidence into the stratosphere.” For Tremblay, having Roach in Julaton’s corner is not only a boon to his fighter (who he recently signed to a worldwide promotional contract), but to the prospect of broadening her already considerable appeal amongst Filipino fight fans, and the general public as a whole. “Freddie alone will drum up interest and credibility in boxing in Ontario,” Tremblay said. “Now, couple the fact that Ana’s already loved in the Filipino community, with the frenzied admiration for Pacquiao, and by extension, Roach, amongst Filipinos around the world, and Ana’s popularity should go through the roof.” Rumble at Rama XII will be promoted by Orion Sports Management, in association with Casino Rama. Tickets for Rumble at Rama XII are $125, $75, $50 and $25 and are available in-person at the Casino Rama Box Office, and at all TicketMaster locations, by calling (416) 870-8000 and online at www.casinorama.com. Ticket prices do not include applicable taxes or service charges. ABOUT ORION SPORTS MANAGEMENT Orion Sports Management is an Ontario based promotional company known for staging first class boxing events. Run by former Canadian Airline executive Allan Tremblay, Orion is the force behind Ontario’s biggest match ups, from their launch event at The Air Canada Centre ("The Night Of The Hurricane") to a series of televised events in the Niagara region featuring "Baby Joe" Mesi, Razor Ruddock, Egerton Marcus, Chad Brisson, and Steve Molitor.

Source: The Fight Network

GSP: 'You Can't Always Win by Knockout or Submission'
By Michael David Smith

People disagree about the order, but just about everyone who follows mixed martial arts agrees that the top three pound-for-pound fighters in the sport are Fedor Emelianenko, Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre. Which order you put them in is more a matter of personal preference than anything else.

I put them in that order -- Fedor first, then Silva, then GSP -- mostly because I prefer fighters who finish fights, and Fedor has finished everyone he's fought for more than four years running. Silva usually finishes opponents -- except when he deems his opponents beneath him, as he did in his last two middleweight title fights. And then there's St. Pierre, who is a brilliant fighter in the way he methodically dominates his opponents, but who always seems content to win decisions.

I mention all this because St. Pierre was a guest on the Jim Rome show on Thursday, and Rome asked St. Pierre a great question about whether it's enough simply to win, or whether St. Pierre needs to win fights a certain way.

"I fight smart," St. Pierre said (audio here). "I'm not going to take a chance if I don't have to. If I know I'm going to win I'm going to do it and my goal is to win and take my opponent out and that's what I'm going to do every time."

Rome followed up with St. Pierre and noted that there are high expectations among fans, and that some fans will come away disappointed by a decision, even if it's the kind of dominant decision that St. Pierre delivered against Jon Fitch, Thiago Alves and Dan Hardy.

"The expectations are always very high but you can't always win by knockout or submission," St. Pierre said. "I came very close last time, but sometimes it's very hard."

In theory I agree with St. Pierre -- in MMA or any other sport, the object is simply to win the competition. There are no style points. In football you can win with the T-formation or you can win with the spread offense. In basketball you can win with the Paul Westhead fast break or you can win with the Dean Smith four corners. And in MMA you can win by knocking your opponent out in under a minute, or you can win by taking your opponent down and controlling him on the ground for 25 minutes.

And yet in practice, I must confess that I wish I could see just a little bit more of a killer instinct from St. Pierre. As great a fighter as GSP already is, becoming more of a finisher is what could make him the greatest fighter of them all.

Source: MMA Fighting

BELLATOR ANNOUNCES SEXTON & WOMEN'S TOURNEY
by Ken Pishna

Bellator Fighting Championships on Thursday night announced two bits of news related to the promotion moving into the realm of women’s mixed martial arts.

Rosi Sexton, widely regarded as one of, if not thee top 125-pound female fighter in the world, has signed an exclusive contract with Bellator. Details of the contract were not disclosed.

The promotion also confirmed that it will move forward with plans for a 115-pound women’s tournament as part of Season 3, which begins on Aug. 12.

Bellator did not clarify whether or not Sexton would be part of the tournament. She recently made the move to 115 pounds, so it is likely that Sexton would be in the tournament.

Sexton currently holds a 10-1 record in professional mixed martial arts, a loss to former Strikeforce champion Gina Carano her only blemish. She counts Debi Purcell and Carina Damm among the fighters she has defeated, Purcell being the only fighter she has gone to a decision with.

Sexton also has a very interesting background outside of fighting. She has mathematics degree from Cambridge University and a PhD in theoretical computer science from Manchester. She is currently a final year osteopathy student at Oxford Brookes University. She is also a classically trained pianist, does “some work as a sports therapist,” and writes a regular column for Fighters Only magazine.

Source: MMA Weekly

Women – Independent World MMA Rankings
(May 18, 2010)
By Zach Arnold

From the office of the Independent World MMA Rankings

May 18, 2010: The May 2010 Women’s Independent World MMA Rankings have been released. These rankings are independent of any single MMA media outlet or sanctioning body, and are published on multiple MMA web sites, as well as www.IndependentWorldMMARankings.com.

The members of the voting panel for the Women’s Independent World MMA Rankings are, in alphabetical order: Nicholas Bailey (MMA Ratings); Jim Genia (Full Contact Fighter and MMA Journalist Blog); Yael Grauer (MMA HQ); Jesse Holland (MMA Mania); Robert Joyner (Freelance); Zac Robinson (Sports by the Numbers MMA); Leland Roling (Bloody Elbow); Michael David Smith (AOL Fanhouse); Joshua Stein (MMA Opinion); and Ivan Trembow (Freelance).

Note: Erin Toughill is temporarily ineligible to be ranked, due to the fact that she has not fought in over 12 full months, and she will regain her eligibility the next time she fights.

May 2010 Women’s Independent World MMA Rankings
Ballots collected on May 18, 2010

Featherweight Rankings (136 to 145 lbs.)
1. Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos (9-1)
2. Marloes Coenen (17-4)
3. Gina Carano (7-1)
4. Yuko “Hiroko” Yamanaka (8-1-1)
5. Cindy Dandois (3-0)
6. Shana Olsen (4-0)
7. Amanda Nunes (5-1)
8. Jamie Seaton (2-1)
9. Emily Thompson (3-2)
10. Hitomi Akano (15-7)

Bantamweight Rankings (126 to 135 lbs.)
1. Sarah Kaufman (11-0)
2. Tara LaRosa (18-1)
3. Roxanne Modafferi (14-5)
4. Hitomi Akano (15-7)
5. Takayo Hashi (12-2)
6. Shayna Baszler (11-6)
7. Miesha Tate (9-2)
8. Vanessa Porto (10-4)
9. Jennifer Tate (6-1)
10. Julie Kedzie (13-8)

Flyweight Rankings (116 to 125 lbs.)
1. Rosi Sexton (10-1)
2. Tara LaRosa (18-1)
3. Aisling Daly (9-0)
4. Rin Nakai (6-0)
5. Sally Krumdiack (7-3)
6. Lena Ovchynnikova (6-0)
7. Monica Lovato (4-1)
8. Jeri Sitzes (3-1)
9. Mutsumi Kasai (4-1)
10. Anita Rodriguez (3-1)

Junior Flyweight Rankings (106 to 115 lbs.)
1. Megumi Fujii (19-0)
2. Yuka Tsuji (22-2)
3. Lisa Ward (12-5)
4. Mei “V Hajime” Yamaguchi (6-2)
5. Jessica Pene (7-0)
6. Kyoko Takabayashi (11-4)
7. Jessica Aguilar (7-3)
8. Angela Magana (8-4)
9. Saori Ishioka (8-4)
10. Emi Fujino (8-4)

The Women’s Independent World MMA Rankings are tabulated and published on a monthly basis, with fighters receiving ten points for a first-place vote, nine points for a second-place vote, and so on.

The rankings are based purely on the votes of the members of the voting panel, with nobody’s vote counting more than anybody else’s vote, and no computerized voting.

The voters are instructed to vote primarily based on fighters’ actual accomplishments in the cage/ring (the quality of opposition that they’ve actually beaten), not based on a broad, subjective perception of which fighters would theoretically win hypothetical match-ups.

Inactivity: Fighters who have not fought in the past 12 months are not eligible to be ranked, and will regain their eligibility the next time they fight.

Disciplinary Suspensions: Fighters who are currently serving disciplinary suspensions, or who have been denied a license for drug test or disciplinary reasons, are not eligible to be ranked.

Changing Weight Classes: When a fighter announces that she is leaving one weight class in order to fight in another weight class, the fighter is not eligible to be ranked in the new weight class until her first fight in the new weight class has taken place.

Catch Weight Fights: When fights are contested at weights that are in between the limits of the various weight classes, they are considered to be in the higher weight class. The weight limits for each weight class are listed at the top of the rankings for each weight class.

Special thanks to Eric Kamander, Joshua Stein, and Yael Grauer for their invaluable help with this project, and special thanks to Garrett Bailey for designing our logo.

Source: Fight Opinion

Jackson Questions White on Plan to Fight Evans
by John Chandler

Prior to their stint on the tenth season of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show, former UFC light heavyweight champions Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Rashad Evans were already attempting to fight each other.

During a teleconference promoting UFC 114 “Rampage vs. Evans” on Tuesday, Jackson stated that the UFC attempted to match him up against Evans for UFC 96 last March, but Evans turned down the fight. Jackson faced Evans’ training partner, Keith Jardine, instead, winning a unanimous decision. Following the bout, Evans confronted Jackson in the cage and a rivalry was born.

Although the aforementioned plan is common knowledge to some fans, Jackson claims that UFC President Dana White informed him that Evans turned down a clash last March in order to keep his newly-won belt around his waist for a longer period of time.

“When you called me right after the (expletive) Wanderlei (Silva) fight, and you asked me to fight Rashad, what did I say?” Jackson asked White. “I said yes. So you called me back and said what afterwards? When I ended up fighting Jardine, what did you say? You said that Rashad didn’t take the fight because he wanted to keep his belt longer.

“The first time you called me I said I didn’t want to fight because it was right after my other fight, but then you pushed me and I said ‘Aw, you hyped me up, I’m doing push-ups right here in the parking lot’. You said alright and then you called Rashad and he turned it down. It was right after his fight with Forrest (Griffin).”

Evans took it upon himself to clear things up.

“I had a baby in November (2008) and I was in training camp then and didn’t get to see him, that’s why I said no to March,” Evans said. “Are you sure you want to fight? You mean like the last time you wanted to fight? Or are you going to call Dana next week and tell him you can’t fight?”

In questioning Jackson’s commitment, Evans referred to UFC 98 last May, which saw Evans fall in his first title defense to Lyoto Machida. The UFC brass had hoped to match Evans and Jackson up at the event, but Jackson opted to take some time off after fighting twice in three months and recover from an existing jaw injury.

While White said he didn’t remember exactly what he told Jackson, he did acknowledge having the conversation with the Pride Fighting Championships veteran following his victory over Silva. Having come to the realization that both fighters have inadvertently avoided fighting each other until now, Evans called things “even” between the two.

“You didn’t take the fight either, so now we’re even then, right?” Evans asked Jackson. “I didn’t turn down the fight. But let me tell you something, if the fight was in my hometown, I would have never turned down that fight, that’s all I’m saying. But that’s you, so don’t worry about it.”

Source: Sherdog

Bellator CEO still wants Filho vs. Lombard

Last Thursday (13), Bellator FC would put its middlewieght champion, Hector Lombard, on a super fight against Paulo Filho, but Paulo had to withdrawal due to some visa problems. In a interview to MMAJunkie radio, the CEO of the organization, Bjorn Rebney, said he understood Filho’s problem, and revealed he still wishes to match the duel.

“I consider Héctor Lombard one of the most dangerous middleweights on Earth. He is complete in every single aspect of his game, I can’t wait to put him in television so people can see what a big monster he really is”, compliments the director, excited with the win by knockout of Jay Silva, who replaced Filho, at 6s of the fight. “I still want this fight (between Hector and Paulão), and I hope it happened eventually. It would have been a great fight”.

Source: Tatame

DESPITE LATE CHANGE, WIUFF READY FOR MOOSIN
by Mick Hammond

Over the course of a career that has spanned more than 70 fights, former UFC fighter Travis “Diesel” Wiuff has seen just about everything the sport can throw at someone.

So it came as no big shock to him that just under a week prior to his May 21 appearance on the Moosin: God of War show his originally scheduled opponent, Mu Bae Choi, was forced to drop out of the fight.

While he’s dealt with the situation before, it is no less frustrating, as Wiuff told MMAWeekly.com, “I’m a little bit disappointed.

“I wanted to fight Mu Bae Choi because he has some decent wins; he’s fought over in Japan in Sengoku a couple times and is a known name. I was excited for that fight, but stuff happens, and I’ve experienced it before and I’m accustomed to.”

According to Wiuff, the change from Mu Bae Choi to Josh Barnes is not one that will alter his game plan, as he enters every fight with the same mentality.

“That’s the way it goes in the fight game; you have to be ready for anything, and I’m ready regardless of opponent,” he said. “I’m a firm believer in that I only worry about the things that I can control.

“Basically my opponent, what he’s going to do, and his game plan are all out of my control. If I worried about that stuff it’s a waste of my energy and my time. So I just concentrate on my game plan and make sure I’m prepared to fight and everything else will take care of itself.”

Wiuff is just happy to still be on the card and is appreciative of Barnes for stepping up and taking the fight on short notice.

“I know a lot of guys who wouldn’t do that; and we tried a lot of guys; so I’m just happy to be fighting him,” commented Wiuff, who sees Moosin as an opportunity to further his case for a big show return.

“It’s a card that’s gotten a lot of attention, it’s going to be on pay-per-view, and it’s been a while since I’ve fought on pay-per-view, so it’s a chance for me to get a lot of exposure,” he stated.

Having won seven of his last eight fights, including a victory over former UFC title contender Jeff Monson, Wiuff knows he has to deliver on a national stage to get back into a major promotion full time.

“A lot of my fights the past year and a half, two years or so have been regional shows – which is fine, I love staying busy and it puts food on the table and pays the bills – but in order for me to get to a bigger promotion or something like that I’m definitely going to need some more high-quality wins,” he said.

“The Monson win was a big fight for me and I’m just building off that and hopefully this goes well and I’ll get something big this summer.”

Having settled back in at heavyweight and focused on capitalizing on bigger opportunities this time around, Wiuff may finally make the career impact he has always sought.

“I want to thank everyone for their support,” he closed out. “It’s going to be a good year with a lot of great things coming, so stay tuned.

“Definitely check out the pay-per-view on Friday. If you’re in the area, come out, it’s going to be an exciting card.”

Source: MMA Weekly

Toothless, but with two medals
by Carlos Eduardo Ozório

Tarsis Humphreys was wracked with a slew of problems that hindered him in competition. First came a knee injury and them a series of boils, which kept him out of the Abu Dhabi World Pro. As the fighter himself says, sometimes bad things happen for the best. Tarsis made up for lost time in training and had a solid campaign at the Brazilian Nationals, taking gold at medium heavyweight and bronze in the absolute.

“The competition was really high level, both in my weight group and the absolute. It wasn’t easy and I really wore out in the absolute. I didn’t budget my grip strength, used a lot of force in the match with Murilo Santana (quarterfinals), who is an excellent athlete. It was an awesome match; I started out winning by 6 to 0; he got back mount on me and I had to fend him off. I spent a lot of energy and faced [Rafael] Lovato after having only a short time between matches. I don’t think it was the hardest match, but he had a good strategy, beat me and I can’t say otherwise,” says Tarsis.

“At weight I did better and managed to budget my strength and wind. I did well and had good matches, like in the final against Nivaldo. I managed apply what I’d been training to do and it was great,” he adds.

In the mentioned absolute match against Murilo Santana, the Alliance representative even lost a tooth. But it was worth the effort, as he added another two medals to his collection.

Now the next challenge will be the Worlds starting June 3, in California.

“I’m going to the Worlds. This week I’m training really hard and then I’ll bring it down a bit for the trip to the United States to get acclimated. I want to fight at weight and the absolute, but that’s up to Fabio [Gurgel]. But I’m more focused on the medium heavyweight title that I barely missed winning last year. My loss [to Rômulo Barral] was kind of contradictory and I’m going to try and make things different this time,” he says in closing.

Source: Gracie Magazine

Is it really a burden to have an undefeated record in MMA?
By Zach Arnold

This question arises from a discussion that Josh Gross had on his radio show this week in which he was talking about the bad loss that Brett Rogers is coming off to Alistair Overeem. Rogers lost to Fedor last October and now has lost to Overeem and the question is whether or not Brett Rogers can make a strong comeback in Mixed Martial Arts.

When you read this passage from Josh’s radio show this week, you’ll notice something that you hear a lot in American sports and I’ll address it after you read the quote.

“For Rogers, difficult position now. This is his second loss in a row, he’s now 10-2. I think you know usually in MMA a guy gets his first loss, like a Lyoto Machida. Lyoto Machida apparently feels you know what’s the way that his camp described it to me, he felt like he was unburdened, that all of a sudden he had this pressure lifted from his shoulders of carrying this undefeated record. You can think of it that way and I guess for some guys it’s worked, but for someone like Rogers who is not terribly technical, who makes a lot of mistakes but got away with it because of his power and his size, all of a sudden he doesn’t have that sense of invincibility that he had before the Fedor fight, now especially after getting just manhandled by Alistair Overeem, you got to wonder where his head’s at and what the rest of his career is going to look like. I think he still has it in him to improve, but he’s got to get with a camp that day-in and day-out he’s sparring with people as good if not better than him, he has to get with a camp that can make him a better wrestler, he has to get a camp that can refine his striking and you know not rely so much on the power but find a way to make him more efficient. I think Rogers still has a future in MMA but I’m not sure to what end based on the last two fights that we’ve seen.”

The argument that being undefeated in MMA is a bad thing is the type of argument that you hear every year in NCAA (College) Basketball when you have a team of 18-21 year olds who go 25-0 or are on a big winning streak as they are heading into the March Madness tournament and then there may be a let up loss towards the end of the regular season and you hear coaches publicly say that the loss is good for them, that it will take off some of the pressure and it will help their team relax.

If you’re strong enough to win 10 or more games (or in this case, fights) in a row in Mixed Martial Arts, as long as the competition that you continue to fight is progressively getting better each fight out, why is losing a fight a good thing? The optimist would say that when you lose a fight, you can learn from your mistakes and become a better fighter after overcoming adversity. The pessimist says, look, you had the talent to win so many fights in a row, why is a loss supposed to relieve any pressure off your shoulders? If you’re good enough to win that many fights, why would you feel less pressure as a fighter coming off a loss? As we’ve seen in the modern MMA landscape, if you lose a few fights in a row all of a sudden the pressure mounts.

Put me in the camp that says that losing a fight occasionally is not a bad thing. I’m not saying that everyone should do it, but I am saying that given just how much parity there truly is in Mixed Martial Arts, there’s no shame in losing to other top talent. This isn’t boxing, thankfully. By the same token, a ‘great’ baseball team wins 100 games a year and loses… 60-62. Winning 8 and losing 5 per 13 games on average doesn’t sound impressive on paper but in baseball that’s a wonderful year. In basketball, if you win 50 games a year and up losing 30-32 games, a win 5 and loss 3 per 8 games on average clip is pretty strong too. I understand that there is a heavy volume of games in those sports compared to fighting, but are you really more valuable if you are 20-0 versus someone who is 16-4 but after each loss has improved their skill set and polished their game?

Source: Fight Opinion

5/21/10

Destiny Featuring Kaleo Kwan Defending His State Title Tomorrow
Waipahu Filcom
Doors open 5:30 pm. Fights start at 6:00 pm
$25 presale, $35 at the door!


Main Event:
-155lbs (state title match)
Kaleo "Lights Out" Kwan (O2 Martial Arts Academy) vs Tim "Majik" Moon

-145lbs (interim amateur title)
Max "Lil Evil" Holloway (Gods Army) vs Travis Beyer (808 FF)

-155lbs
Ben "Da King" Santiago (Gods Army) vs Tyler Pavao (freelance)

-185lbs
Jon Lucius (freelance) vs Charles Hazlewood (Combat 50)

-Heavyweights
Nalu Lavela (UCS) vs Terrance Taanoa (High Intensity)

-145lbs
Daniel Bachman (Boars Nest) vs Jason Racamara (UCS)

-170lbs
Jason Morinaga (freelance) vs Jon "4real" Ferrell (Hawaiian MMA, Hilo)

-165lbs
Kenney Dewey (Pain Train) vs Zackory Lavarias-Dumlao (freelance)

-145lbs
Randy Rivera (HMC) vs Treven Mukai (Hawaiian MMA, Hilo)

-Heavyweights
Isaac Uaisele (Kurrupt Ambitionz) vs Joe Noa (All Nu)

-210lbs
Mo (Pain Train) vs Christian Dayondun (All Nu)

-170lbs
Daniel Manpusian (freelance) vs Justin Torres (All Nu)

-140lbs
AJ Pang (HMC) vs Larson Tokeshi (Hawaiian MMA, Hilo)

-125lbs
Josh Kolii (C-Side Soljahz) vs Westly Mossan (freelance)

-150lbs
Aaron Terry (HMC Wahiawa) vs Mikey Wabinga (Team Stand Alone)

-185lbs
Kala Sapla (freelance) vs Joe Enaena(All Nu)

-160lbs
Dean Ramiro (Team Equal Knockz) vs David Carter (freelance)

-160lbs
Ethan Rista (Kurrupt Ambitionz) vs Nick Pait (freelance)

-155lbs
Sebastion Mariconda (HMC) vs Steven Garcia (All Nu)

-145lbs
Zach Close (Boars Nest) vs Charles Matias (freelance)

-170lbs
Lawrence Kaeo (Papakolea BJJ) vs Kalani Ramos (All Nu)

-155lbs
Ryan Clay (HMC) vs Bradley Arakaki(freelance)

-165lbs
Eddie Manu (High Intensity) vs Peda Delacruz (All Nu)

-135lbs
Kelii Palencia (HMC) vs Lawrence Lucius (freelance)

-185lbs
Ernest "Irie Warrior" Mercado (freelance) vs Tyrone Stovall (All Nu)

-170lbs
Lawrence Matias (freelance) vs Tony Irvin (High Intensity)

-Heavyweights
Olo (freelance) vs Lester Figueroa (All Nu)

-145lbs (pankration)
Robert Aguirre (freelance)vs Mikela Texeira (All Nu)

-170lbs
Kalau Awong (C-Side Soljahz) vs George Felix (freelance)

-Super Heavyweight
Keoni Kalepa (freelance) vs Andrew Miram (High Intensity)

-180lbs
Dwayne Uyeda (Team Outlaw) vs Micah Ige (freelance)

-135lbs (pankration)
Joeseph Eiman (Team Hardheads) vs Thomas Burkett (High Intensity)

-145lbs
Shawn Burroughs (CJ's Gym) vs TBA

SOTO, HORNBUCKLE, & ASKREN WIN
AT BELLATOR 19

Dan Hornbuckle and former U.S. Olympian Ben Askren both booked passage into the final round of Bellator Fighting Championships’ Season 2 welterweight tournament at Bellator 19 on Thursday with dominant performances.

Meanwhile, reigning Bellator featherweight champion Joe Soto improved his record to a perfect 9-0 with a “Super Fight” victory over crafty UFC veteran Diego Saraiva.

The three fights – all dominant performances – were just part of another great night of Bellator action in front of a raucous crowd at the Verizon Theater in Grand Prairie, Texas – the first of two consecutive Bellator events in the Lone Star State this month.

The night’s most anticipated bout was undoubtedly Askren’s fight with UFC veteran Ryan Thomas – a rematch made possible when Thomas (13-5) re-entered the welterweight tournament to replace late scratch Jim Wallhead.

But while the first Thomas-Askren fight ended in controversy (a disputed referee’s stoppage), their fight on Thursday was controlled from the get-go by Askren, the two-time NCAA wrestling Champion at the University of Missouri. Askren held the dominant position for all three rounds, winning a clear-cut unanimous decision that improved his pro MMA record to 5-0. It was the first time that one of his fights had ever gone past the first round.

“It was a war … he definitely came to fight,” Askren said afterward. “I definitely had to dig deep. I was going for some submissions but he kept slipping out. It was a great fight.”

Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney agreed, saluting Askren’s commanding performance.

“Ben Askren was impressive,” Rebney said in the post-fight press conference. “For someone this new to MMA to be able to put on a performance like that against a fighter like Ryan Tomas is a testament to his huge, huge talent. He’s going to be tough guy to bet against.”

Earlier in the night, Iraq War veteran Steve Carl (13-2) took Hornbuckle to the ground shortly after the opening bell of their semifinal-round fight, but “The Handler” maintained his composure on his back, using a tight Kimura to end the fight just 2:31 into Round 1. Hornbuckle has now recorded 10 submission wins 10 nine knockouts in his 23 career fights.

After the fight, Rebney made the case that Hornbuckle is quickly emerging as one of the top 170-pound fighters in the world.

“He continues to evolve and grow as a mixed martial artist,” Rebney said. “He is an awfully dangerous welterweight and you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone in the world at 170 who would go in as a favorite against him right now. I’m looking forward to watching him again next month.”

In the “Super Fight,” Soto assumed the dominant position early on in the fight and landed a huge elbow to Saraiva’s forehead near the end of Round 1, opening a deep cut that forced the ringside doctor to stop the fight at the end of the round. It was the first time that Saraiva (18-9-1) had been stopped in 38 career pro bouts.

“It sucks that I had to end him with the cut, but that’s the way it goes,” Soto said afterward. “Now I’m just looking forward to fighting the winner of the tournament.”

Rebney called the fight “a major statement” by Soto.

“This was a very dangerous fight for Joe,” Rebney said. “But he came to us and said ‘I want the toughest guy you can find at 145.’ With a performance like that against a fighter of Diego’s caliber, it ‘s a great night for him.”

The event also played host to six Local Feature Fights:

- Douglas Frey def. Aaron Wise via guillotine choke (0:49)
- Joshua Smith def. Donyiell Winrow via unanimous decision
- Johnny Bedford def. Jared Lopez via TKO (12:16)
- Scott Barrett def. Ty Lee via TKO (2:25)
- Joe Christopher def. Brandon McDowell via guillotine choke (1:36)
- Chas Skelly def. Daniel Pineda via kneebar submission (7:16)

Source: MMA Weekly

Moosin Weigh-In Results: Tim Sylvia 305, Mariusz Pudzianowski 273
By Mike Chiappetta

All systems are go for former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia and five-time World's Strongest Man Mariusz Pudzianowski after completing Moosin weigh-ins on Thursday night.

Pudzianowski took to the scale first and weighed in at 273 pounds, 10 pounds less than his KSW fight held in Poland just two weeks ago. He has reportedly spent much of the time since working on his conditioning.

The 6-foot-8 Sylvia checked in at 305 pounds, 18 pounds heavier than he weighed in his last fight held eight months ago.

The Sylvia-Pudzianowski fight will be contested in the super-heavyweight division.

The co-main event is heavyweight matchup featuring Travis Wiuff against Josh Barnes. Wiuff weighed 253, nine pounds lighter than Barnes.

The card emanates from the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass. at 9 pm on Friday.

Moosin: God of Martial Arts weigh-in results
Main card
Tim Sylvia (305 lbs.) vs. Mariusz Pudzianowski (273 lbs.)
Travis Wiuff (253) vs. Josh Barnes (262)
Travis Lutter (185) vs. Rafael Natal (185)
Yves Edwards (157) vs. Mike Campbell (156)
Tara LaRosa (129) vs. Roxanne Modafferi (128)

Undercard
Ho Jin Kim (196) vs. Lukasz Jurkowski (214)
Ralph Johnson (171) vs. Forrest Petz (170.5)
Matt Lee (170.5 vs. Brett Oteri (175.5)
Fred Belleton (185) vs. Anthony Lapsley (185)
Paul Barry (245) vs. Stipe Miocic (241)

Source: MMA Fighting

Strikeforce Planning on Possible Shields Defection
By Greg Savage

When Jake Shields was filmed sitting next to UFC boss Dana White at an April WEC show in Sacramento, speculation began to swirl over when the Strikeforce middleweight champion would be joining the sport’s biggest promotion.

Any doubt about White’s motivation toward Shields was removed when he mouthed the infamous, “He’s mine,” into the lens.

In fact, officials for Strikeforce are already looking toward a future without Shields, should he bolt as expected. A source told Sherdog.com there is a tentative plan to book fights in the division with an eye toward crowning a new 185-pound champion later in 2010, possibly at one of the company’s bigger shows in November or December.

The potential for a grand prix style tournament is not likely given the limited card space and television time for the summer shows that have already started being booked. However, some inside the promotion see the future bookings as a de facto tournament that will eventually fill the potential vacancy by the end of the year.

Fighters expected to be in the mix for title consideration include Robbie Lawler, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, Dan Henderson, Jason Miller, Tim Kennedy and Luke Rockhold among others.

Middleweight is one of the deeper divisions for the company, but the loss of Shields will make it tough for Strikeforce should one of Shields’ former victims win the 185 strap.

Shields holds wins over Lawler, Henderson and Miller. Aside from “Jacare,” those three would have to be considered some of the favorites to claim the belt. Legitimacy will be an issue for any of them should they summit the division.

Source: Sherdog

JAMES TONEY BOLTED ON MOOSIN DEAL FOR UFC
by Samantha L. Johnson

Before signing with Dana White and the UFC, James Toney had a verbal agreement in place to sign with Eric “Butterbean” Esch and his partners at Moosin USA.

At 41 and 43, respectively, both Toney and Esch were involved in professional boxing at the same time. When word got out Toney was interested in dabbling in boxing’s more modern cousin, MMA, Esch phoned him to offer a contract for Moosin: God of Martial Arts.

“Well, what happened with James,” said Esch. “I called him up, everyone had seen the stuff on what he was telling Dana… so I talked to him and it really did work out. He was going to fight on the (May 21) card.”

After the pair talked, a verbal agreement was set in place for Toney to fight on the May 21 event. However, when Toney was offered a larger payday with the ever-growing UFC, little could stop him from jumping at the opportunity... even a long time friendship.

“We had a hell of a fight lined up,” explained Esch. “Dana White, I guess, caught wind of it (Toney and Moosin’s verbal agreement) and Toney jumped on a plane out to Vegas. Dana offered him more money and a big signing bonus, and James signed with them.”

Transitioning from boxing, where the purses are still sometimes a thousand percent higher, to MMA, Toney was making a smart business move when he signed with the UFC. Though, coming from such a lengthy background in a stand-up sport, many, including Esch, are quick to question how long Toney will be able to last in the multi-dimensional world that is MMA.

“I think what’s going to happen, he doesn’t realize what he’s stepped in to,” proclaimed Esch. “We were going to put him against another MMA guy that likes to stand and bang and then James would figure it out. James is a phenomenal athlete, but James’ ground is not going to be capable enough to hang with some of these ground guys.”

Butterbean is not only a promoter, but also one of the few professional boxers who have successfully transitioned into MMA. Esch’s MMA record is 15-7-1. Having competed in both “The Sweet Science” as well as MMA, Butterbean realizes the daunting task that lies ahead for Toney and was willing to help make the transition easier he had signed with Moosin.

“I know one thing, Dana White will not treat him as good as we would have,” said Esch. “We were going to put him in with guys that were more stand-up fighters. We weren’t going to put him in with the ground guys that will just snatch him up, put him down and beat him. Now that’s what is going to happen to James.”

Source: MMA Weekly

Joe Rogan talks about judo vs. wrestling, how UFC has become a wrestler’s game, and how that will impact the Chael Sonnen/Anderson Silva fight
By Zach Arnold

Any time you get an hour-plus long radio interview with Joe Rogan, you listen to it because he’s bound to say a few things that will get a rise or a reaction out of you. He did just that on his Monday interview on Tapout radio.

The radio show hosts asked him a question about judo in MMA and if we’ll see more judokas take over as champions in the sport.

“Well, I certainly think that the top judokas can translate very easily to MMA, I mean not very easily but I think it’s an excellent form of martial art to transfer to MMA with. You know much like Greco is and you know much like wrestling is like any strong grappling background, you know (Pawel) Nastula in PRIDE he did really well and of course (Hidehiko) Yoshida had a great run in PRIDE you know two guys who are outstanding judo players. The ability to manipulate guy’s bodies and throw them around and control them which is what Judo is all about is such an important skill for MMA.

“I personally think that the very best skill for MMA is wrestling, I think that’s the number one base to come from because those guys just flat out dictate where the fight takes place. You know, a great wrestler, you get a guy in there like a (Josh) Koscheck or like GSP you know they can just dictate what [expletive] happens. If they decide to take you to the ground, you’re going to the ground. You’re going to have to learn how to fight off your back and it’s not your strong suit. Even if you train for six hard weeks working guys off your back, the bottom is line for 10 years you’ve been training in stand-up and you’ve been training in your top game and you really haven’t put that much time into working off your back and you know six months is not going to fix you for GSP. He’s going to pass your [expletive], he’s going to mount you, he’s going to beat you up, he’s going to take you down the next round and do it it all over again, so I think it’s the important skill, in my opinion.”

This answer transitioned into a question about the fact that UFC is seeing a dominant breed of “wrestle-boxers,” especially in the Lightweight division, and the problems it is posing for fighters who don’t have a strong wrestling background. Rogan mentioned Thiago Alves, someone who was being touted for his ability to stop takedowns and then… UFC 100 happened and Georges St. Pierre destroyed that image for good.

“You look at Thiago Alves, talk about Alves’ outstanding takedown defense, it’s really good but he could not stop GSP from taking him down. A guy who’s a better wrestler is going to take down a guy who’s not as good of a wrestler, it’s just the facts, it’s just the way it is so what these guys have to do is you have two options: one, you got to get really good at wrestling yourself which is what Georges did, you know when Georges first started fighting… had good submission skills but then somewhere along the line in his career he became the most successful wrestler in Mixed Martial Arts, you know I mean it’s really just the hard work that he put up there in Canada working with all those Russian guys up there, there’s some really high-level Russian wrestlers that he was working with and I talked to Randy Couture about it and he said yeah, those guys that Georges is training with he goes ‘when I found out who those guys were I knew that’s why he was getting better, those guys are animals.’ So I mean he just put in all that time and I think it’s just a huge part of MMA. If you don’t have a kill guard, if you’re not some (Shin’ya) Aoki character and now you look at Aoki versus Gilbert Melendez, he wasn’t able to do anything either, you know, the ability to be the guy who dictates where the fight takes place is so huge. And then these wrestlers become really good strikers like these Ryan Bader type characters who are you know real strong wrestlers but now all of a sudden they’re blasting dudes on their feet and it’s up to them whether or not you stand up. They’re going to be the ones deciding because you’re not going to take them down and if you do take them down he’s going to bounce right back up to his feet and if he wants to take you down, he’s going to take you down, so it’s such a huge, huge advantage.”

Another example of someone who paid the price for not having a good wrestling game was Demian Maia at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi when Anderson Silva toyed with him for the first few rounds of their fight.

“That’s what happens when your wrestling’s not so good, you get the [expletive] beat out of you… He was getting lit up and that’s the problem with not having good takedowns, not being a good wrestler. Demian Maia is in an awkward situation because he’s much more successful once the fight becomes a grappling match but his best aspect is not being able to take guys down. His best aspect is being able to you know his ability to impose himself once the fight is already on the ground, so he’s in this terrible limbo where he can’t get a hold of Anderson and standing up with him is just suicidal so he was just getting lit up and he can’t grab the guy, you know that’s what happen when you have mediocre wrestling.”

Which, appropriately, leads us to the upcoming Anderson Silva title defense against Chael Sonnen, who is all about a dominant wrestling game and taking guys down and beating on them. Sonnen was able to beat Yushin Okami, a fighter who a lot of Middleweights had trouble facing because Okami “felt too strong” in the cage — and Sonnen outpointed him. Will Sonnen’s wrestling ability actually translate into legitimate offense against someone as crafty as Anderson?

“Well, it’s certainly an interesting match-up. I don’t know if it’s the key to beating him. It’s certainly in Chael’s opinion the key to making him fight and I love Chael Sonnen, I’m a huge fan of his. I’m a huge fan of Anderson’s as well, I think Anderson is the best pound-for-pound guy in the world but I’m a huge fan of the way Chael carries himself, that dude cracks me up. He’s [expletive] hilarious. His interviews are gold, man. He’s really funny, he’s super-smart and he’s super-honest about [expletive] like getting hurt and you know what it’s like you know when he gets tagged you know, when he thought he was in trouble that it doesn’t matter he’s just never quit like his attitude like the way he manhandled Nate Marquardt, his skill level, I mean the dude he’s finally fighting up to his true potential and the Yushin Okami fight and the Nate Marquardt fight, he really fought up to his true potential and if he can get a hold of Anderson and get him to the ground, it could make it very interesting and that’s where it’s going to be difficult, man, it’s going to be difficult. It’s going to be very difficult. Anderson is going to be coming into this fight knowing what happened in his last fight and a lot of people are sort of rooting against him and he has to kind of reestablish himself as the baddest motherf***** in the world and he’s going to know that so he’s going to come into this fight in tremendous shape, very focused. I think it’s also very possible that he might have taken the Demian Maia fight lightly. I think he felt like Demian had no chance of taking him to the ground and that stand-up wise they were so outmatched. In the case of Sonnen, Sonnen’s going to be able to get a hold of him, a [expletive] power double and if he gets a hold of dudes, he drives through until he takes you down, man, his takedowns are outstanding and you know guys have taken Anderson before. (Dan) Henderson took Anderson down, Travis Lutter took Anderson down although Travis Lutter did it 11 weeks after Anderson had surgery on his knees, but you know the point remains he took them down and if Chael Sonnen takes him down, it’s going to be hard for him to get up. He’s going to take some elbows, he’s going to take some shots, we’re going to see some [expletive] happen to him. If Chael Sonnen gets him on his back we’re going to see some [expletive] happen to him that we haven’t seen before and that’s what’s exciting about that fight.”

We’ll see a lot of “wrestle-boxers” in action in August with Sonnen vs. Anderson and the two big fights on the Boston card with BJ Penn vs. Frankie Edgar in a re-match and Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard.

Source: Fight Opinion

ARMAGEDDON FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP NEWS
ADCC Champ Robert Drysdale Signs with Armageddon FC
By FCF Staff

Armageddon Fighting Championship has announced today that renowned Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner Robert Drysdale, will make his professional MMA debut at the promotion’s upcoming July 17th event in Victoria, British Columbia. According to a press release sent out by Armageddon FC, the organization has signed Drysdale to a four fight agreement.

No opponent has yet been determined.

Drysdale, who is likely best well known for winning the 2007 Abu Dhabi Submission Wrestling World Championship Open Division, was an instructor at the Xtreme Coutre gym in Las Vegas before opening his own facility more recently. The highly decorated grappler has competed once in amateur MMA, winning by submission at a Tuff-N-Uff event.

The upcoming Armageddon FC card will be its third to date; the British Columbian promotion’s roster includes UFC veteran Kalib Starnes, Canadian prospect Misha Cirkunov and former KOTC Canadian light-heavyweight champ Nick Hinchliffe.

Source: Full Contact Fighter

TUF 11 AND UFC PRIMETIME RATINGS DIP THIS WEEK

Episode 8 of “The Ultimate Fighter: Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz” took a bit of a dip on Wednesday night, drawing an average audience of 1.3 million viewers.

That’s well off the season average of 1.7 miller viewers per episode, but was still strong enough to keep TUF as the No. 2 ranked Basic Cable Network in the key advertiser demographics of Men 18-34 and Men 18-49, just behind TNT with the NBA Playoffs.

TUF 11 and the NBA Playoffs have played leap frog in those two key demographics all series long.

Season 11 kicked off with an opening week episode drawing 1.9 million viewers and peaked in week 4 with 2.0 million viewers.

"UFC Primetime," featuring Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, opened strong last week with a program record 1.2 million viewers, but dipped down to 875,000 viewers this week.

Source: MMA Weekly

Murilo Bustamante
By Guilherme Cruz

Former UFC middleweight champion, Murilo Bustamante does not fight since the end of 2007, but that time off the rings already has a scheduled date to finish. On July 18, BTT’s leader faces Jesse Taylor on Impact FC, in Australia, and is excited for his comeback. In an interview he gave to TATAME, Murilo talked about his expectations, how he will use his experience in order to compensate his lack of rhythm, the big fights on Impact FC and a lot more.

What are the expectations to your comeback to the rings?

Oh man, I’m thrilled, felling like a beginner… I wanted to come back for a long time. Many things happened on 2008, I lost a few contacts, some events were cancelled, and my mother got sick… In 2009 I moved to the United States and my mother passed away, now finally I could find some time to practice and to sign a contract. I was training to fight for a while. I did a Boxing fight to warm me up in the beginning of the year, it was a good training, I could feel that adrenalin when I entered the ring again… I’m crazy mad to come back.

What do you know about your opponent, Jesse Taylor, who was submitted by Thales Leites on MFC?

I know very little of him until now, but I’ll try to get to know him. I know he is a good wrestler, but made a mistake when he was on the ground with Thales. study his game, but I know he is a tough fighter.

You are far from MMA for a long time, while Jesse fought eight times on 2009 and two times this year... Do you think this can interfere?

It won’t help, man… I had not worked much for the past two years, so it’s a negative thing for me, but I’ll try to compensate that with my trainings. I’ll try to be in a good shape to compensate my lack of rhythm with my experience. It’s seems like I’m a beginner, it looks like a debut for me.

Will you train for this fight on Brazil or on the U.S.?

Here… One of the reasons I came back to Brazil was to train, stay here. There’re a lot of things to solve. Rousimar (Palhares) will fight on UFC on August 28 against (Nate) Marquardt, so I’ll help on his training and I’ll only go to the U.S. again at the time of the fight.

What do you think Impact FC will be like, an event that will have names such as Pedro Rizzo, Ken Shamrock, Paulo Filho, Jeff Monson, Sokoudjou?

I’m thrilled to fight again, it seems that the event will have great athletes… It’s a new event, so I can only hope for good thing, man. I’m very glad to train and get back to my routine.

Source: Tatame

The Wrestler's Dilemma
By Ben Fowlkes

For a certain segment of MMA fighters, it has become an immutable law: you can play it safe and take the smart path to victory, or you can put on a show and entertain the crowd. You can't do both.

At least, not if your greatest strength is wrestling. Not with thousands of fans begging for stand-ups and howling for knockouts. Not unless you want to get showered with boos and stamped with the dreaded 'lay-and-pray' label.

This is the cruel dilemma many of MMA's elite fighters face. Victories keep the paychecks rolling in and their careers moving forward, and yet the masses aren't all that excited to see them do what they do best.

Ask them, and they'll tell you. The pressure is on to stand and bang, to produce fodder for highlight reels. Whether they give in to it or not, they're all aware of it.

"I feel that sometimes," says Phil Davis, a national champion wrestler and a four-time All-American at Penn State before making the move to MMA. "Definitely fans love to see knockouts. Myself, I also like seeing those knockouts. To compare it to something else, fans also love to see a nice slam dunk. But sometimes the smartest play is a lay-up."

Then again, it's not the guys known for their lay-ups who get the lucrative shoe deals.

It's easy to appreciate a knockout. A punch or a kick to the face, two guys standing toe-to-toe in the center of the cage and trying to ruin one another's dental work, that's something everyone can understand.

But a good blast double or a solid few minutes worth of top control, that's a little harder for some fans to appreciate.

"I think they are not as educated as they could be," says former Division II national champion and current UFC number one heavyweight contender Shane Carwin. "I see a lot of technically great grappling matches and you can almost always hear someone scream, 'stand them up.' And yet what you are seeing is a technical masterpiece. I think in time people will begin to appreciate all aspects."

But at least according to some fighters, there are times when wrestling to a decision win will get you jeered as a boring fighter, and times when it will get you hailed as a conquering hero.

According to Strikeforce light heavyweight champ "King" Mo Lawal, it all depends on whether fans like you to begin with.

"I think it depends on who you are. Josh Koscheck takes Paul Daley down and controls him and people don't like it, but Georges St. Pierre does the same thing. It's who you are. It's about image. Matt Hughes was one of the most boring fighters ever. And Randy Couture, his whole career was taking people down, laying on top of them, and elbowing them in the face. That's not really exciting, but it's effective. The fans pick and choose."

The fighters have their own decisions to make, and there are times when they don't always listen to the more prudent voices in their own head. That's why you'll sometimes see a wrestler standing and trading bombs to the delight of the crowd, rather than taking the fight to the floor and risk boring them to tears.

Just ask Koscheck, who was content to strike with Brazilian welterweight Paulo Thiago instead of exploiting his wrestling advantage. That strategy was panning out well right up until he got knocked silly with an uppercut.

No surprise that his teammate Jon Fitch didn't make the same mistake against Thiago a few months later. Koscheck also seemed to learn from the experience, judging from his safe and sure approach to the fight with Daley.

"Simply put, if you find a mismatch, you'd better take advantage of it," says Davis. "I'm sorry if that's not what's most exciting for the fans all the time, but you have to understand that at the level these guys are competing at there's such a slim margin for error. One mistake and Daley would have laid Josh Koscheck on his back."

But for a primer on the long-term career dangers of wrestling for a living in MMA, one need only look at the cautionary tale of Antonio McKee.

A decorated wrestler in California, McKee's MMA record stands at an impressive 24-3-2. So why isn't the UFC, or any major organization, in a hurry to pick him up? Most likely it's because 18 of those victories came via methodical, plodding decisions. Even when McKee vows not to go to decision, he wins by decision.

He hasn't lost a fight since 2003, and yet of the 13 victories he's piled up since that defeat, only two have avoided going to the judges' scorecards. One was a submission victory over the 13-13 Rodrigo Ruiz in March. The other? A TKO via knee injury against Gabe Rivas in 2007. McKee may very well be the best fighter with the least fan recognition, all because of how he chooses (quite unapologetically, in fact) to win fights.

Still, to friend and fellow wrestler Lawal, the state of McKee's career says more about fans and MMA media than it does about McKee.

"If you're winning, people need to make you fight a different fight," says Lawal. "You want to see a guy like Antonio McKee brawl? Stop his takedowns. You can't stop his takedowns? Why should he do you a favor and brawl with you? It's like you have Michael Schiavello saying that wrestling is hurting MMA. That's the dumbest s--- I've ever heard. And I like him, but it's ridiculous to say that."

As MMA continues to grow and evolve, certain conflicts between what fans want to see and what fighters want to do seem inevitable. Fighters who are constantly worried about getting cut don't have the luxury of deviating from their strengths, but fighters who play it safe all the time rarely get the fan support or the big promotional push.

When careers are at stake, there are no easy answers. Just guys trying to figure it out on the fly each time they step in the cage. Guys who want to win, but also, regardless of what they may claim, want to be cheered by fans as they do it.

"In the end, it's entertainment," says Tom Lawlor, a former wrestler at the University of Central Florida who's lately chosen to fight it out on the feet more and more, with mixed results. "All sports are. Different people like different aspects of it. You can't fault someone for what they find entertaining."

You also can't forcibly change their minds about it. No matter how much you might like to.

Source: MMA Fighting

Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney: I want to talk to Scott Coker and make a fight happen between Eddie Alvarez & Gilbert Melendez, and the money split should not be “disproportionate”
By Zach Arnold

During an interview on Wednesday afternoon on Sherdog radio, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney made it very clear that he wants to talk to Scott Coker and get an interpromotional Lightweight fight booked between Bellator FC Lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez and Strikeforce Lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez. Talk came to a head when Melendez, on Inside MMA, called out Eddie Alvarez and said he wanted to see the fight happen.

“Well you know I mean, as a fan I responded to it immediately,” exclaimed Mr. Rebney after watching the Inside MMA show. “I watched the same show that you guys did and Eddie did and we saw Gilbert call out Eddie Alvarez because he’s got you know the heart of a champion, he wants to fight the best of the best, they’re two guys ranked probably in the Top 5 world at 155 and I think it’s a great fight. I would love to make this fight happen. I said it immediately, Eddie and I talked about it probably six minutes after Gilbert made the call out. It’s a great fight, it would be a heck of a fun fight to watch and there really shouldn’t be any reason that it can’t be made. We should be able to make that fight.”

Rebney believes that both Bellator and Strikeforce would be on equal footing during negotiations to make the fight happen.

“Yeah, I mean, here’s the reality — this situation is easier than most. You got from a Q score perspective in terms of recognition with our endemic market, Gilbert Melendez and Eddie Alvarez are very comparable. If you’d ask the normal MMA fan on the street, do you know Gilbert Melendez, they’d say yes. Do you know Eddie Alvarez, they’d say yes. And if you asked them next who’s the bigger superstar, there wouldn’t be a big dichotomy, they’d go “I don’t know, Gilbert’s pretty big, I’ve seen him on TV, Eddie’s pretty big, I’ve seen him on TV, they’ve beaten really good guys, you know Gilbert coming off the (Shinya) Aoki demolition and Eddie coming off of his Josh (Neer) win in great fashion, so you’re not in one of those situations where you got an established Q score superstar here in the US and some phenom out of Brazil, you got two guys who are on equal footing, you got two guys who are equally well-known. It should be a situation where two heads of two companies can come together and make the fight. There shouldn’t be a disproportionate grab for economic benefit on any either side, it should be an equal deal, we should be able to go into it share revenues, share the opportunity and put on a great fight for the fans.”

When asked how likely he thinks a fight between Alvarez and Melendez could be booked, Mr. Rebney thinks the chances of it getting booked are very good — as long as the lines of communication are open.

“Yeah, you know, I’m not just from a PR perspective interested in talking about it. I’m actually very interested in making the fight happen. We’ve been trying to get a hold of Scott literally since Gilbert made the call-out and we put the press release out immediately. You know, we haven’t yet been able to make that connection and I know Scott’s running a business and he’s crazy busy and I surely respect that. I would love to talk to him about it. I have not yet had the chance to speak to him about it, my office has trying to get a hold of him and he hasn’t yet gotten back to us, but I have seen some comments he made and he seemed to be receptive to the concept and the idea of making it work and again I don’t think it’s a particularly different fight to make and you know my hope is we can get it done, but obviously I got to get on the phone with him or sit down and have lunch with him before I got any kind of a idea if it can be really made to happen.”

In a UFC-dominated MMA world, co-promotion is rarely done because UFC has such a huge roster of fighters that they can immediately book 11-fight cards on big shows. Mr. Rebney was asked on Sherdog radio if UFC was to blame for a lack of co-promotional deals in the industry.

“I mean I don’t know if it’s really a matter of saying that the UFC is to blame, I mean the UFC has you know a wide collection of hugely talented fighters that fight underneath that banner and they’ve been able to keep that confined and do what they do. You know I just, there’s as we’ve discussed many times, there’s room for a #2 and a #3 in the space and you know when there’s an opportunity like this to make a great fight like this it should be made, there shouldn’t be a promoter or a network executive that stands in the way of something like this. I should be able to sit down, have a burger and a Diet Coke with Scott Coker, spend you know an hour and a half talking through the dynamics and make the fight work. It’s a great fight and it should happen, two guys in their prime, so… you know I don’t know why it hasn’t happened in the past, but it can be made to happen and I can’t really for the life of me figure out a reason why it shouldn’t be made.”

Mr. Rebney admitted that it wouldn’t make much business sense (at the moment) for UFC to work with other promoters to book fights since they have so much top talent on their roster.

“Yeah, I mean you know you guys are on radio so I mean there’s an old axiom in radio and it’s at the top of the list of the radio axioms and that is when you’re #1 you never talk about #2 or #3. When you’re #2 and you’re #3 you always bark about #1, so the reality is is that the UFC doesn’t have a strong motivation or a strong driving force behind needing to do it. Their numbers are strong, their ratings are great, their PPV buy rates are significant, they pack arenas everywhere they go. So it’s not at the top of their list of things needed to do, but the reality is I happen to believe and there may be a lot of people who agree with me, maybe they don’t, but I happen to agree that Eddie Alvarez if not the best is one of the Top 2 Lightweights in the world today, that’s my feeling and those who share it can join in. I think Gilbert’s way up there as well and so I mean the reality is we should be doing these kind of things. We should give this kind of a show to fans to ultimately determine who is the best and then maybe you know BJ (Penn) and Frankie (Edgar) fight again and whoever wins that fight you know then you can have the good faith argument, you have can an objective argument and go ‘wow, Eddie beat Gilbert or Gilbert beat Eddie, that puts them as #2 and the winner of the BJ fight versus Frankie, that’s going to determine #1? or maybe it isn’t but that should be put into play.”

When asked if he would be saying the same things about co-promotional fights if he was in the same shoes as UFC, Mr. Rebney hedged his bets.

“It’s a very interesting dynamic and it’s a great question, I mean you know the UFC is the 800-pound gorilla in the space and have become synonymous with amongst general market consumers the sport in of itself. A lot of people call MMA “ultimate fighting” so it’s an interesting question. I’d like to think that I could maintain the position of having my fan hat more often than I have my CEO hat on and if I were in a position if I had the #1 guy in the world, which a position that BJ has held for a long period of time up until his most recent fight, that I would look at it very seriously and say, ‘hey, you know, if Eddie Alvarez or Gilbert Melendez or whoever that fighter might be at the time is a really viable test, let’s see if we can make it work.’ But again, it’s always difficult to make those calls until you actually sit in that position, it’s always neat to talk about being King until you’re King and then you got a different perspective on things, so my gut’s reaction is that I’d like to think that I have the same perception that I do now and that is, it’s a great fight, it should be made, it shouldn’t be impossible to get made, and if I can just get Scott Coker on the phone we should able to make it work and I’d hope I’d have the same perception of it if I were in a different spot or if our organization were in a different spot some time in the future.”

Mr. Rebney believes that his professional sports-style business model allows Bellator to be able to do co-promotional fights better than the pro-wrestling style business model used by UFC.

“It’s a sport business model that cognizant of the fact that our demographic is young, that there needs to be big music and big lighting and great feature pieces and you know super slow-mo shots in terms of what you’re seeing on screen promotionally but ours is a real sport model, it’s objectivity, it’s fighters controlling their own destiny, it’s a tournament format that’s very analogous to what you see in other sports, so we have shied away to date from some of the more kind of marquee names that maybe haven’t established that marquee Vis-à-vis what they’ve done in the cage but more so what they’ve done with their mouth or Youtube or other places, so it doesn’t mean that that’s wrong, it doesn’t that I mean begrudge, I mean watch you know I watched every single of the heavyweights in The Ultimate Fighter and part-in-parcel it was because of Kimbo (Slice), but it’s not our model, it’s not what we do. We’re much more kind of focused on that competition that would take places purely in the cage and you know shying away from those elements of it just because we don’t have the time, the staff, or the ability to do it and it’s just doesn’t, it doesn’t fit into what we’re about but so you know I would say we’re more of a sports business model and less of a kind of a WWE/WWF modeling in terms of ratings and those kinds of issues.”

Would Kimbo Slice be invited to participate in Bellator’s upcoming heavyweight title tournament?

“Not a very high likelihood, no.”

Source: Fight Opinion

A title fight worth much more
by Carlos Eduardo Ozório

Willamy Chiquerim is in the final phase of his prep-work for his first Shooto World title defense against Yusuke Endo. It will be the second time the two meet. On the first occasion, Chiquerim finished with a guillotine choke. This time around, though, the Nova União fighter will be seeking the knockout.

“I put a lot of emphasis on my standing game. I’m doing a lot of strike work in training. That’s what sells and the crowd wants to see a show. Yusuke Endo has a really strong ground game, so he’ll try and take me down, but I’m going to try and keep it standing as much as possible.”

Another cause for concern is how the judges interpret the fight. The bout cannot go to a decision.

“I’m well-trained on the ground but, as I said, I’m working a lot on my striking. In Japan there’s often a lot of controversy surrounding fights that go to a decision, so I want to decide this fight by knockout or submission. That’s what’s going on in my head. I don’t want it to go to the scorecards.”

Besides defending his lightweight belt, the fight in Japan means much more to Chiquerim. The fighter had already told GRACIEMAG.com about the possibility of his going to Sengoku, although negotiations are still open.

“Truth is that I have a few great offers but they depend on this fight. I can’t announce anything yet, but, after this fight, God willing, something new will come up,” says the fighter from the Brazilian state of Ceará, who hasn’t forgotten his crew in the Brazilian Northeast.

“I have to thank my team in the Northeast, Completa Nova União. I train with them when I’m back home,” he says in finishing.

Source: Gracie Magazine

RASHAD & RAMPAGE: HAVE THEY CROSSED THE LINE?
by Damon Martin

There is obviously no love lost between Rashad Evans and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson as the two former "Ultimate Fighter" coaches are on a collision course to UFC 114 where they will settle a longstanding grudge.

Evans and Jackson on Tuesday during a media conference call went after one another again, as they did several times during the reality show, but this time the path took a turn towards a controversial subject on the verge of hate speech.

A reporter asked Jackson a question about his time off while filming the movie "The A-Team" and asked him if the break from fighting was a detriment or if the time off was advantageous to his development as a fighter. Rampage responded, "First of all, why you always using the big words like that."

Evans took offense to the joke and said that Jackson was perpetuating a stereotype, and he needed to stop acting that way when he was much smarter than that.

"It's just cause he says ignorant stuff, and he just perpetuates stupidness," said Evans. "’Oh don't use those big words, I don't know what that is.' Mother (expletive) you're not stupid, stop acting like you're stupid. Stop acting like just because you black, you stupid. I can't stand that attitude."

Taking it one step further, Evans claimed that Jackson is well aware of the persona he emits, but he's much smarter than that and doesn't need to do that.

"He does this little sambo thing. He acts like, 'oh black on black crime, oh I'm stupid, you can't use big words like that.' Like you don't know what the (expletive) going on. I talked to this dude; this dude is pretty smart. He knows what's going on, but he just do this, 'oh it's comedy.' Why perpetuate the stereotype that you're stupid? You ain't stupid.

"Why perpetuate the stereotype that you can’t think? You know what I’m saying? You can’t – you don’t understand big words, you can’t read. All of that stupid stuff, man."

The scene turned more ugly from there as Jackson then turned to homosexual taunts to lash back at Evans.

"Why you act all cocky and act all fake and be playing with your nipples and look all gay, so why do you that? Why you go that way? Why do you portray the stereotype of a black gay man if you don’t want to go anywhere, play with your nipples, and act all gay and want to wear them tight shorts? Why do you do that stuff?" barked Jackson.

"Because you gay. You play with your nipples and that’s why you and Queen Mo playing with each other. He got nipple rings and you play with your nipples."

More taunts and accusations were thrown back and forth between Evans and Jackson before the call ended, and things obviously got extremely personal.

So when is it all too much?

When does trash talk in the sports world become political talk become social commentary become hate speech? Were Evans and Jackson over the line with the way they went after each other in a public forum or does a line even exist in a country that touts its First Amendment rights to free speech?

Source: MMA Weekly

Meet the woman who will end up fighting Cris Cyborg in Strikeforce on June 26th
By Zach Arnold

Jan Finney, who has the unenviable task of facing Cris Cyborg on June 26th in San Jose for Strikeforce, did an interview with Fightergirls (their web site is here) and talked about how she got the fight booking and what her upcoming preparation is.

Erin Toughill was originally scheduled to take on Cyborg, but she told Strikeforce that she needed some time off and was granted it. Finney, who lost to Toughill a little over a year ago, will be Cyborg’s opponent.

On the Sportsgeek radio show, Finney explained what happened in her fight against Toughill.

It was taken on last-minute notice, I didn’t have any training camp, it was like two weeks, maybe two-and-a-half weeks to get ready and you know I had been training but not like fight-training, a different attitude there but definitely I learned a lot. I mean, she’s a hard-hitter, she’s good all-around and you know just go right at her and you know it wasn’t exactly the outcome I wanted but I did learn from that loss and I’m going to take it from there.”

As for how the fight booking with Cyborg came about, Jan indicated that there didn’t seem to be too many takers.

“I have an amazing manager, I don’t know? He was on them and asking like ‘who’s going to fight Cyborg?’ and I don’t know if they really had that many people in line or what but he was on them and on them and I guess perseverance prevailed and I got this awesome opportunity, so that’s just kind of how it happened. Actually I was training like I was going to fight for Shayna (Baszler) and then this happened, so you, just switched gears and here were are.”

The fight will take place at 145 pounds and Finney normally fights at 135 pounds, but she doesn’t see it as a big problem.

“I think actually it might, it might actually really work to my advantage because I’m not really going to have to worry about cutting weight. Like right now I’m sitting about seven pounds out, so it’s the least of my worries. All I have to really do is focus on training, you know, instead of worrying ‘oh my gosh, I got to make weight and you know can I go five rounds you know cutting 15 pounds’ where I’m probably to have to cut maybe 5 pounds, so I look at it as a good thing, you know.”

She tried her best to make the case on the radio show that the upcoming fight against Cyborg will not be a squash match.

“I’m going for the title right now so I mean usually when people fight the best it brings out the best in you so it’s going to be a good one.”

“I’ve been fighting like pretty much almost every two months since October so I’m ready, I mean, each time I feel like I’m getting a little more momentum. I know she’s tough… but I’m a competitor, I’m going to give her my best.”

“Oh, it’s so much easier to be the underdog than to be the person on top. … It’s easy to make your way up the ranks than to stay up there. It’s hard to keep that level of motivation and everything all the time.”

Jan is currently looking for sponsors. You can contact her on MySpace and she will forward any requests to her manager.

Source: Fight Opinion

X-1: Nations Collide
Blaisdell Arena, Honolulu, Hawaii
June 4, 2010
7:30PM
www.x1events.com
(808) 591-2211

170lbs X-1 World Championship Bout
Brandon Wolff (Champion) vs. Dylan Clay (#1 Contender)

8-Man Heavyweight Tournament

Bracket A
Maui Wolfgram (Hawaii) vs. Ricky Shivers (Alaska)
Adam Akau (Hawaii) vs. Hae Joon Yang (Korea)

Bracket B

Poai Suganuma (Hawaii) vs. Vitaly Shemetov (Russia)
Tasi Edwards (Samoa) vs. Daniel Madrid

3rd Annual Pacific Submission Championships
June 11th & 12th (Friday & Saturday)
Blaisdell Exhibition Hall
MMA Hawaii Expo

People have been asking so we've locked in the dates. It will be during the MMA Hawaii Expo (this expo is not the same as the past 2 years - MMA Hawaii is producing this event).

Registration will soon be available online at www.grapplingtournaments.com

I've spoken with Mad Tiger about the failure to produce posted results; apologies and I will not let this happen as we will be working on posting live results as the brackets are completed.

Any feedback from the past two tournaments I welcome as we will work on it now to assure these problems can be corrected.

This is a 2-day tournament with Gi and No-Gi divisions for kids, teens, women, and men. We don't feed brackets but will try our best to accommodate schools so students from the same academy are not matched in the first round. Due to the kids, this is inevitable and we will try our best to make sure the kids receive equal opportunities.

Registration:
Kids (7-12) - $40/$70 (Gi & No-Gi)
Teens (13-14/15-17)- $50/70 (Gi & No-Gi)
Adults (18+) - $50/70 (Gi & No-Gi)

Any questions please check out:

www.grapplingtournaments.com

or email: info@pjjf.net

Source: Event Promoter

The Quest for Champions 2010 Martial Arts Tournament
Saturday, July 24th, 2010
St. Louis High School Gym

Featuring: Sport-Pankration, Submission Grappling and Continuous Sparring

For more info please contact Kempo Unlimted HI (
kunltd@hotmail.com)

Source: Tommy Lam

Garden Island Cage Match 9:
Mayhem at the Mansion


Kilohana Carriage House
June 26th 2010

Tickets go on sale next week!

Since this venue is a little smaller than the Stadium the tickets will sell out twice as fast so be sure to get on board quickly! This an exclusive venue for us and very please to have acquired this merger.

Sponsorship packages now available! Please contact me for further information!

Mahalo!
Vance Pascua
808-634-0404

Source: Event Promoter

In October 2010, Eternal Fight Wear proudly presents...
ETERNAL SUBMISSIONS! 1st Annual BJJ GI/NO-GI tournament on Kauai


Kauai Beach Resort, Kauai

This will be a 3 Day Event.
Friday, October 15th. beginning at 5pm will be weigh-ins with Live local entertainment, Exhibitions, Door Prizes & more.

Saturday Oct. 16th we will host the GI portion of the event starting with kids at 10am.

Sunday we will finish off our tournament with the NO-GI portion.

Outer island competitors will be allowed to weigh in on Saturday.
Kauai residents must weigh in on Friday.
NO same day registrations will be allowed.

Cut of for pre-registration is October 7th (for free tshirt) all other registrations must be in by October 13th (if mailing registration, it must be postmarked by the 11th) We have locked in the dates and will be offering special discounted rates at the hotel. There will be food/beg. for sale at the event. We will be having superfights as well (TBA). All pre-reg competitiors will receive a free competitor tshirt. There will be door prizes each day too! Winners of the matches will receive very nice medals, we will be awarding team trophies and best -of awards. Absolute and Superfights winners will be awarded championship belts.

We will be hosted a first ever in Hawaii 'kids absolute' and as well!!!!

This will be an event Hawaii does not want to miss!!!!

Pre-Reg is be up shortly and we will be notifying you as soon as it is or updated info add us on facebook: ETERNAL FIGHT WEAR

Any questions you can call me (Shauna) at 808.652.6849 or email me shauna@hawaiilink.net

Source: Event Promoter

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