Official MMA Thread [Archive] - Page 5 - Cigar Asylum Cigar Forum

NCRadioMan

11-25-2009, 04:22 PM

Gabriel Gonzaga Off UFC 108 Card Due to Staph Infection

The hits keep coming for the UFC, Dana White and matchmaker Joe Silva. The fellas have to scrounge up a quality heavyweight to fight Junior Dos Santos Jan. 2 in Las Vegas at UFC 108. Sources with the UFC confirmed that Gabriel Gonzaga is off the card because of staph infection.

The Dos Santos fight was huge for the heavyweight division and now yet another big fight is off. It is amazing just how many fights have been canceled as a result of injury as of late. There isn't much to say other than that the UFC's luck has to get better at some point.

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2009/11/25/1174267/gabriel-gonzaga-off-ufc-108-card
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Wanderlei v Bisping is currently in the works

Wanderlei Silva’s next fight will be with Michael Bisping, a well-placed Las Vegas source has told Fighters Only. The fight may headline the UFC’s first event in Australia, which takes place in February 2010.

Verbal agreements for the clash have been given, although Fighters Only understands that bout agreements are not yet drawn up. The fight will not be official until these are signed and returned by both men.
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UFC 111 GSP vs Hardy, Newark NJ March 2010

The UFC is targeting a March 2010 date for welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre's title defense with No. 1 contender Dan Hardy, a source with knowledge of the situation told FanHouse.

Once formally agreed to by both sides, the matchup would likely be the main event of UFC 111, which is expected to take place at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
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Shane McMahon may buy minority stake in UFC

If you’ve ever watched pro wrestling, you know who Shane McMahon is. If you haven’t, he’s the son of the WWE’s owner, Vince McMahon. Shane recently left the sport of pro wrestling after growing up in it, and now may have a chance to buy a stake in the UFC.

It was Shane who lobbied for his father to buy Pride before Zuffa and the UFC eventually took over. Apparently the deal was dead despite the McMahons' having enough money to purchase the organization due to Vince McMahon's lack of interest in MMA. Now Shane might have a chance to buy into the world’s largest MMA promotion on his own.

According to our friends over at Heavy.com, Shane recently cashed out $50 of his $80 million dollars in WWE stock, which would be the money he would use to get a piece of the UFC. UFC President Dana White has always said that he’d be willing to let somebody buy into a minority stake of his now billion dollar empire, and McMahon makes sense.

White wants someone who’s willing to sit on the sidelines, which is something Shane has done for years in the WWE, but that doesn’t mean the UFC wouldn’t be able to use the prodigal son. McMahon is known as the WWE’s mastermind behind securing large international business deals and that’s something that the UFC has been trying to do over the course of the last two years. Everything that the UFC wants internationally, Shane McMahon has already accomplished.

During the UFC Fight Club last week in Las Vegas, UFC President Dana White again declined to discuss in detail the meeting he recently had with McMahon, simply noting that he was a good friend and "you never know."

http://www.fightline.com/news/mma/2009/1124/464233/shane-mcmahon/index.shtml

goalie204

11-25-2009, 04:54 PM

"hardy no 1 contender" what a fcking joke. GSP is going to run a clinic on this kid

ActionAndy

11-25-2009, 05:25 PM

"hardy no 1 contender" what a fcking joke. GSP is going to run a clinic on this kid

I know. What about Koscheck? I feel like Josh might pose the only (semi)credible threat to Georges' crown.

NCRadioMan

11-25-2009, 05:33 PM

"hardy no 1 contender" what a fcking joke. GSP is going to run a clinic on this kid

I get the feeling GSP would run a clinic on just about anyone nowadays.

goalie204

11-25-2009, 06:33 PM

I get the feeling GSP would run a clinic on just about anyone nowadays.

True, but i don't feel that koscheck deserves another title shot yet either. 3-2 in his last 5 fights isn't great, and one of those wins was against frank trigg, so in my eyes he's really 2-2 in his last fights and the knockout over yushida was good, but that guy isnt even in top 10. Fitch deserves another shot more than koscheck and definitely more than hardy, he's 4-1 in his last 5. Sadly there is just not much real competition at ww for gsp. Bring in jake shields! (who he'd kill anyway) - sigh :p

NCRadioMan

11-27-2009, 12:41 PM

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs Cain Velasquez rescheduled for UFC 109 on Feb. 6

Former UFC interim heavyweight champion and mixed martial arts legend, Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira, is expected take on undefeated rising star Cain Velasquez at UFC 108, which is slated for Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Feb. 6, 2010.

Nogueira and and Velasquez were supposed to hook 'em up in the UFC 108 main event on Jan. 2, 2010; however; "Big Nog" came down with a serious case of staph infection, which forced him to withdraw from the bout.

He clearly did not want to make the same mistake twice in a high profile and very important bout -- Nogueira revealed after his lopsided technical knockout loss to Frank Mir that he had been hospitalized several days prior to fight night with a severe staph infection.

OR

A highly anticipated heavyweight matchup between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (32-5-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) and Cain Velasquez (7-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) may take place Down Under.

Despite reports circulating today that Nogueira and Velasquez will meet at UFC 109 in Las Vegas, MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has learned from sources close to the organization that the UFC is actually leaning toward booking the fight for UFC 110 in Australia.

Verbal agreements are in place for the contest, though bout agreements have not yet been finalized.

Nogueira and Velasquez were expected to meet in the main event of UFC 108 on Jan. 2, but a severe case of staph infection forced "Minotauro" out of the bout.

Nogueira has since undergone treatment for the infection and recently told MMAWeekly.com that he would be ready to fight in February – and that he would love to fight in Australia.

"In February, I think I’ll be in shape," Nogueira said. "I'd love to fight in Australia. If they put me on the card, I would love to fight there."

Prior to the cancellation of the Jan. 2 bout, UFC president Dana White announced that the winner of the contest would receive a heavyweight title shot.

NCRadioMan

11-30-2009, 09:04 AM

Anderson Silva's recovery slow, not fighting Vitor Belfort at UFC 109

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has learned from sources close to the organization that a planned bout between UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort will not take place on Feb. 6.

Silva's has bone chips removed from his right elbow in October, and the joint has reportedly proved slow to heal.

Sources close to the situation informed MMAjunkie.com that "The Spider" might not be ready to fight until April, though Silva's manager, Ed Soares, wasn't immediately available for comment.

Silva and Belfort were originally slated for UFC 108 on Jan. 2, but that date was also nixed due to the elbow surgery.

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Antonio Rogerio Nogueira interested in fight with Forrest

"It would be a good fight. Forrest is an aggressive guy who fights on his feet, and I like that. He also has excellent Jiu-Jitsu and absurd wind. It would be a really good fight." -Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

After quickly dispatching highly regarded UFC light-heavyweight prospect Luiz Cain, Antonio Rogerio "Minotouro" Nogueira looks forward to a possible showdown with former UFC light-heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin.

Both men were victorious at UFC 107 last Saturday -- Nogueira with a first-round knockout over Cain and Forrest with a three-round split decision over fellow former champion Tito Ortiz.

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Rumor: FEG is selling DREAM

Rumour: Don Quijote to Buy FEG’s MMA Division

Now it’s being reported that the president of Don Quijote, Yasuda, set up a meeting between FEG to enable this Sengoku vs. Dream co-promotion as an attempt to strengthen Japanese MMA. Initially, Sadaharu Tanikawa planned on letting Sengoku fail and then scooping up as many fighter contracts as possible (including Ishida). However now it looks like FEG’s MMA division may be in trouble.

FieLDS, Dynamite!!’s primary sponsor, will not renew their contract next year. Today on NHBNews Pro, it was announced that Don Quijote not only wants to replace FieLDS as Dynamite!!’s primary sponsor…but they want to purchase the entire FEG MMA division (which would include Dynamite!! and Dream). This would mean a chain of discount super-stores will own all of Japanese MMA

Payout Perspective:

There’s a lot of concern right now that MMA in Japan could be in serious trouble, so the emergence of Don Quijote is welcome news (whether they purchase FEG or just sponsor future events).

However, aside from the Japanese MMA point of view, it’s also interesting to look at this entire situation from the perspective of Strikeforce. Scott Coker signed a fighter sharing and promotional partnership with FEG’s Dream last summer; and, via this proposed Dream-Sengoku merger, the value of that partnership is likely to grow. Not only does Dream become more financially stable, but the size of the fighter sharing pool increases.

In fact, regardless of the outcome in Japan, Strikeforce is well-positioned to capitalize. Even if the merger fails, Strikeforce already has well-established ties with the most prized fighting assets in Japanese MMA. They’d likely be first in line to scoop up talents such as Shinya Aoki, Marius Zaromskis, and Melvin Manhoef, etc

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Hardy Responds to a fan on CageWarriors Forum

Hey Dan,

I'm a fan of yours, but at the same time I am really taking issue with the UFC giving you a title shot solely because they wish to expand into the European market even more. You haven't fought or beat anyone yet that would merit a title **** in my honest opinion. You beat a Mike Swick who looked like big nog when he fought Mir and then beat an over rated Marcus Davis who was exposed for what he really is last night by Saunders.

Josh Koshcheck is more deserving of the title shot or at least a number 1 contenders match with you. I think it's way too early in your career for you to be fighting a fighter the caliber of Georges St. Pierre and you should take better control of your career, get the experience, fight some more top guys, and then go for the title. Josh Koscheck just out struck an elite level striker in Anthony Johnson and also put on a wrestling clinic. When have you shown you can stop the takedowns of a high level wrestler? GSP or Koscheck would leave you on your back regardless of what you do. You may stuff a few takedowns, but eventually, you'll be on your back having to try and defend yourself against an animal like Josh Koscheck.

In closing, I'd like to hear your thoughts on the points I made above so that I may understand your thought process in regards to all of this.

Thanks Dan,

Ryan

its unfortunate that you feel this way, but im really not the person to be speaking to about this. i fight whoever the ufc put in front of me, if they told me i need another ten wins before i get a shot at the title, then that is what i would do.

do people expect me to turn down an opportunity like this, because, in their opinion, im not worthy? what do you want to do, sit the belt on a shelf to gather dust, whilst gsp grows old, waiting for a dominant force in the division to present itself? in a division like the UFC welterweight, there is rarely a clearly dominant fighter, because the talent is too deep.

i seem to have a lot of **** being talked about me at the moment, and im not sure exactly why. i get into the octagon, i put on a show and im winning fights. i have an opportunity to try and take GSP's belt, and that is exactly what i intend to do.

if i listerned to my critics, i would have never fought davis or swick, because i apparently wasnt worthy then either. they were going to run through me with ease, and as soon as the fight was done, it was their poor performance that got me the win, not my hard work.

and as far as koscheck goes, i wouldnt piss on him if he was on fire. i have never heard of a fighter that is as disliked as him, and its obvious why. i dont think he outstruck johnson, and i dont class anyone in the WW division as an 'elite level striker', but that is where our opinions differ. his inconsistency is what holds him back, i cant help that.

its always nice to hear what fans have to say about you on the forums etc, but i am starting to realise that, regardless of what i do, there will be people out there that give me no credit. its just a shame that you aren't broadcast on TV when you are at work, so everyone can debate how lacklustre you are.

nothing in my life has every been handed to me on a plate, and if this, in your opinion is exactly that, then my response is "its about f**king time". i get up each and every morning, and push myself to be better that what i was yesterday. everything i have in my life, i got through hard work.

the reason i am getting a title shot, is because i had the balls to make these opportunities available to myself, and i am not passing them up, regardless of your opinion. i hope that answers your question.

Ken

11-30-2009, 02:01 PM

I kind of like Hardy and just a bit more after reading his response to critics.

ActionAndy

11-30-2009, 02:40 PM

"its just a shame that you aren't broadcast on TV when you are at work, so everyone can debate how lacklustre you are."

Ok I like Dan Hardy now. Still think he's going to lose, but I like the guy.

dannysguitar

11-30-2009, 03:04 PM

I'm with you guys. I like Dan Hardy a little more now, problem is, GSP is gonna dismantle him...

Comicbookfreak

12-01-2009, 12:26 PM

Looking forward to BJ and Diego.

NCRadioMan

12-03-2009, 03:55 AM

Strikeforce signs K-1 star and MMA veteran Melvin Manhoef

K-1 wrecking machine and mixed martial arts (MMA) veteran, Melvin Manhoef (23-6-1), is once again set to put his all-around skills to the test when he debuts with the San Jose-based Strikeforce promotion in the coming weeks.

MMAmania.com confirmed the signing earlier today.

While a Dec. 19 bout with Robbie Lawler is under consideration for "Evolution," nothing is official at this time and a more likely time line for his debut would be early 2010.

Manhoef looked "Marvelous" in the opening round of his DREAM 10 fight against Paulo Filho, putting the Brazilian grappling stud on queer street with his trademark barrage blitzkrieg of punches; however, Manhoef ultimately fell short after the fight hit the mat.

He's going to need to keep his ground game sharp if he plans to compete exclusively in mixed martial arts. There are a bevy of top middleweights under the Strikeforce banner with serviceable grappling skills that could negate the power punching of the hard-hitting Hollander.

Assuming he doesn't separate them from the consciousness first.

Star-divide

Prior to the Filho bout, Manhoef went toe-to-toe with "Super Samoan" Mark Hunt during the stacked New Year’s Eve Fields Dynamite!! card at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on Dec. 31, 2008. Despite being at a huge size advantage, as well as taking the fight on literally a few days notice, Manhoef needed just 18 seconds to dispatch of the granite-chinned heavyweight.

Aside from being the Cage Rage light heavyweight champion, "No Mercy" has a 37-8 kickboxing record with 27 knockouts. Expect fireworks in his upcoming debut.

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Strikeforce signs KJ Noons

K.J. Noons has signed a multi-fight deal with Strikeforce, Sherdog.com has learned from sources familiar with the negotiations.

The former EliteXC champion could make his lightweight debut for the promotion at Strikeforce “Evolution” on Dec. 19 in San Jose, Calif., although Noons’ return is likely for Strikeforce’s Jan. 30 event in Sunrise, Fla.

Noons was stripped of his EliteXC 160-pound title in September 2008 during a contract dispute. EliteXC and parent company Pro Elite closed its doors shortly afterward and the Hawaiian-born fighter delved back into professional boxing, going 4-1 in the last year. Noons earned a six-round decision over Julio Perez on Nov. 10 in Houston.

The 26-year-old kickboxer has keys MMA victories over former UFC contender Yves Edwards and Nick Diaz, who also remains in Strikeforce’s 170- and 185-pound ranks. Noons bested the mouthy Stockton, Calif. native with a second-round TKO on cuts in September 2007. Words between the fighters and their families ensued in the cage, but a rematch never materialized.

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Lawler vs Prangley at SF Evolution

American Kickboxing Academy standout Trevor Prangley is expected to face Robbie Lawler at Strikeforce: Evolution on Dec. 19 in San Jose, Calif.

Multiple MMAWeekly.com sources indicated the bout was all but signed. One source said Prangley, 37, is awaiting a bout agreement and is expected to sign as soon as Monday afternoon.

Lawler was rumored to face Melvin Manhoef, a bout long campaigned for by Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker, but Manhoef is committed to fight on the Dream vs. Sengoku New Year’s Eve event against an opponent yet to be announced.

Strikeforce: Evolution is slated for the HP Pavilion and will be broadcast live on Showtime. Other featured bouts include a title unification bout between champion Josh Thomson and interim titleholder Gilbert Melendez, and a middleweight slugfest pitting former champ Cung Le against Scott Smith.

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Official: Keith Jardine vs Ryan Bader - UFC 110

Earlier tonight Ryan Bader sent out an ominous tweet stating that he signed a bout agreement and it would, "definitely a step up in competition!"

So who is Ryan Bader fighting? Why, it is Keith Jardine, at least according to MMA Weekly.

The report also states that Bader vs. Jardine will take place at UFC 110 in Sydney, Australia.

The undefeated Ryan Bader (10-0) was correct when he described this as a step up in competition. Jardine has victories over Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin and Brandon Vera, all of which are far more impressive than Bader's wins over Eric Schafer, Carmelo Marrero and Vinny Magalhaes. Yet, this fight is still an absolute must win for Keith Jardine (15-6-1) who is coming off of back-to-back losses and is 1-3 in his past four fights and 2-4 in his past six.

At a glance, UFC 110 appears to be a fairly deep fight card, which is somewhat counter intuitive for what the UFC usually does for an overseas card. However UFC 110 will be a pay-per view event so it makes sense for Zuffa to load up on name fighters.

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[B]Amir Sadollah vs. Brad Blackburn announced for UFN 20

A welterweight bout between TUF 7 winner Amir Sadollah and Brad Blackburn is in the works for UFC Fight Night 20 on Jan. 11 at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia. News of the bout was first reported by The Newark Examiner.

The UFC Fight Night 20 main card had just three bouts rather than the traditional four but with the addition of Sadollah vs. Blackburn, the fourth spot is now filled for the televised portion of the card.

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UFC in Boston now a reality with MMA regulation in Mass

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick today signed a bill into law that regulates mixed martial arts in the "Bay State," paving the way for the sport's top brand, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and other promotions to host events in 2010 and beyond.

UFC President Dana White, a Boston-area native, has gushed for years about the possibility of promoting a show in "Beantown." In fact, during the UFC 101 post-fight press conference he revealed his grand plans to stage a major event in the historic and beloved Fenway Park in mid to late 2010.

UFC officials stormed Massachusetts earlier this year, attempting to convince lawmakers that MMA regulation is good for them and the state economy … to the tune of $12.3 million in just one weekend.

The dog and pony show was apparently very effective -- the bill breezed through the State Senate by a vote of 34-1. It then headed to the House Ways and Means Committee for additional consideration, where it sailed through by a vote of 144-10.

Patrick's historic signature earlier this afternoon was a mere formality.

Blueface

12-03-2009, 07:16 AM

I have been getting into this stuff so much lately. Can't get enough.
What do you guys think of the Ultimate Fighter finale? I was surprised to see big Marcus go down so easily in his last fight. Hard to picture Roy Nelson as a fit, MMA fighter but the guy has experience and can obviously fight to get to the finale. Looking forward to Saturday night.

ActionAndy

12-03-2009, 07:41 AM

Roy's tendency to take a few punches early in the fight has me a bit worried that Schaub might get that puncher's chance KO. However if the fight gets anywhere past the one minute mark (which I suspect it will) Nelson gets this victory any way he chooses. I don't care if he escaped from that full mount, Schaub's ground game is terrible. Remember all the fence grabbing in his other fight?

I'm giving Big Country about an 80% chance of winning this fight. Overall a very unimpressive season but decent, watchable fights last night.

Ken

12-03-2009, 08:56 AM

ActionAndy

12-03-2009, 09:08 AM

I'm no fan of Nelson's but I'm glad he mauled that *****. It's just priceless to see some cocky bastard sticking his chin out showboating and then eat a punch.

It's good to see Marcus on the fight card as he looks to have good potential and I didn't want to see him give up on MMA. He'll be fighting Matt Mitrione of course.

McSweeney's a bully and a loser, when he tapped his chin Roy answered almost immediately. Loved it.

Blueface

12-03-2009, 09:50 AM

I'm no fan of Nelson's but I'm glad he mauled that *****. It's just priceless to see some cocky bastard sticking his chin out showboating and then eat a punch.

It's good to see Marcus on the fight card as he looks to have good potential and I didn't want to see him give up on MMA. He'll be fighting Matt Mitrione of course.

Great to hear.
Did not know Marcus would be on the card.
After his match was over, I turned it off.

Glad to see McSweeney go down down. Cocky bastard indeed. He thought he was the chit because he trains with Rasheed.

pmwz

12-03-2009, 01:13 PM

hope that roy wins. just to piss dana off

NCRadioMan

12-03-2009, 03:15 PM

I'm giving Big Country about an 80% chance of winning this fight. Overall a very unimpressive season but decent, watchable fights last night.

I too am a fan of Nelson's for a number of years now. I just wonder, where's the spinning back kick? That was his signature after he won fights. I love it when people look at him and count him out because he don't have a six-pack then end up tapping or the ref having to stop the fight because he is schooling them on the ground. WAR Nelson!

hope that roy wins. just to piss dana off

Another reason to like Nelson. :tu :r

The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale
When: December 5, 2009
Where: The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada
How: Spike TV (10PM EDT/PDT)

Preliminary Bouts:
Mark Bocek vs. Joe Brammer
Dennis Hallman vs. John Howard
Brian Stann vs. Rodney Wallace
Jon Madsen vs. Justin Wren
James McSweeney vs. Darrill Schoonover

Main Bouts
Marcus Jones vs. Matt Mitrione
Frankie Edgar vs. Matt Veach
Houston Alexander vs. Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson
Roy Nelson vs. Brendan Schaub (”The Ultimate Fighter 10″ Finals)
Matt Hamill vs. Jon Jones

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Kimbo struggling with weight cut

Kimbo Slice, 35, says he was in middle school the last time he was at 215 pounds.

Slice, also known as Kevin Ferguson, is the only contestant in “The Ultimate Fighter” season 10 cast that was required to drop weight for the show’s finale, slated for this Saturday in Las Vegas. He fights fellow brawler Houston Alexander at a catchweight of 215 pounds. Alexander normally competes at light heavyweight.

Slice usually fights at around 235 pounds. It’s the first time he’s had to cut weight in his two-plus years as an MMA fighter – and he’s not liking it.

“Not good,” the generously bearded heavyweight said of his first weigh cut. “Not good. Moody… you just don’t feel the same. It’s mental, but it’s not a good feeling, to be honest with you.”

During a media teleconference promoting Saturday’s event, Slice, who admitted he neglected to enlist the aid of a dietician for his introductory cut, was short with reporters asking about his fight.

Asked how he felt about his stint at American Top Team, the normally gracious Slice said of his stint, “For what it’s worth, I guess it’s okay.”

Slice said he hoped the effects of the cut would affect him in a good way, and said he was on target to make the 215-pound limit. He just wanted to fight and get it over with.

Sounds like he is really dedicated. :rolleyes: :r

ActionAndy

12-03-2009, 03:31 PM

If Slice v. Alexander isn't done in under two minutes I'll be stunned.

The line opened at -160 for Alexander. By the time I logged into my account (6 seconds later) it was at -200. LOL

NCRadioMan

12-03-2009, 07:36 PM

UFC newcomer Gilbert Yvel meets Junior Dos Santos at UFC 108

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today confirmed with a source close to the event that verbal agreements are in place for the Jan. 2 fight, though bout agreements have not been signed.

The bout, first reported by Tatame, takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and airs on pay-per-view with the rest of the night's main card.

Yvel, who was scheduled to compete for Affliction Entertainment until the organization ceased operations as part of an agreement with the UFC in late summer, replaces Gonzaga, who was forced off the card due to staph infection.

Yvel, a 50-fight veteran who previously competed for PRIDE, is 8-1 over his past nine bouts; all of the wins came via stoppage, seven via knockout. The lone loss came to Josh Barnett at "Affliction: Day of Reckoning" in January. Yvel took a beating in the fight but lasted late into the third round.

As MMAjunkie.com reported in October, the Nevada State Athletic Commission recently issued Yvel a one-fight license. The NSAC had previously denied the fighter a license in 2007 based on his 2004 attack of a referee in a bout with Atte Backman in Finland. (It's one of a few such instances Yvel is trying to put behind him.)

NSAC executive director Keith Kizer told MMAjunkie.com the one-fight license allows Yvel a chance to prove himself once again.

"If there's any serious issues with the application, [a one-fight license"> is an option the commission has as opposed to an outright denial or outright approval," Kizer said. "They can limit the license or condition in it some cases. Here they chose to limit it to one bout. Therefore, if he fights and anything out of the ordinary happens, he's have to come back before the commission as opposed to us having to issue something to him. But we're hopeful that it will go without a hitch."

Dos Santos, meanwhile, has quickly climbed up the ranks of the UFC's heavyweight division with three consecutive stoppage wins in the organization. Just 25 years old, Dos Santos earned TKO wins over Fabricio Werdum and Stefan Struve before forcing Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic to verbally submit to strikes at UFC 103 in September.

ActionAndy

12-03-2009, 07:52 PM

After watching him bash Cro Cop, one of the most legendary strikers in the game, I have no problem believing that JDS can handle Gilbert.

Steelergar

12-05-2009, 04:02 PM

Holy snikes, I just watched Overeem win the K-1 world Gran Prix from last night in devastating fashion(the 1st mma fighter ever to win it) . Overeem is built like a beast. I think he stand a good chance to beat Fedor when they meet. Overeem has looked impressive in every fight he has been in the past 2 years and I think he has the confidence to beat Fedor.

NCRadioMan

12-05-2009, 04:16 PM

ActionAndy

12-05-2009, 04:22 PM

NCRadioMan

12-05-2009, 04:29 PM

Didn't Badr Hari take Overeem out in the semis?

Yep, he did. Sammy Schilt beat Hari to win.

ActionAndy

12-05-2009, 08:51 PM

What the hell did I just watch? Have I slipped into an alternate dimension? Kimbo Slice beat Houston Alexander?

NCRadioMan

12-05-2009, 10:06 PM

What the hell did I just watch? Have I slipped into an alternate dimension? Kimbo Slice beat Houston Alexander?

I think Houston would have faired better to slug away. I didn't like his plan and it made for a very boring fight, imo. Kudos to Kimblo though. This time, I did see some improvment on the ground and that throw was sic! But remember, he was fighting a much smaller guy that also has no ground game.

Bones beat the chit out of Hamill. Too bad about the DQ though. I see a re-match.

Big Baby's stand-up is sooooo bad and it showed.

WAR Roy "Big Country" Nelson! I thought he would win from the start of the season. Loved the entrance music. :r

Overall.......meh. It was an ok show.

ActionAndy

12-05-2009, 11:02 PM

I think Houston would have faired better to slug away. I didn't like his plan and it made for a very boring fight, imo. Kudos to Kimblo though. This time, I did see some improvment on the ground and that throw was sic! But remember, he was fighting a much smaller guy that also has no ground game.

Bones beat the chit out of Hamill. Too bad about the DQ though. I see a re-match.

Big Baby's stand-up is sooooo bad and it showed.

WAR Roy "Big Country" Nelson! I thought he would win from the start of the season. Loved the entrance music. :r

Overall.......meh. It was an ok show.

My overall enjoyment of free cards is always greatly diminished by how many frakking commercials they make us sit through. Liked seeing Big Baby take a nap--his reaction to Junk's eye poke incident was disgusting, childish, and in my opinion more sincere than his nice guy act.

HUGE Big Country fan but I just don't know how he's going to fare with other more talented heavyweights.

Ken

12-06-2009, 12:10 PM

What the hell did I just watch? Have I slipped into an alternate dimension? Kimbo Slice beat Houston Alexander?
LOL! wans't that great. I really don't think Dana gave Kimbo much of a chance against Alexander, but it was a good matchup. Houston making boring circles kept himself awake and how he survived that slam; ouch.

Kimbo's future and success will be limited in the UFC, though I hope he makes the most of it and we get some good fights.

WAR Roy "Big Country" Nelson! I thought he would win from the start of the season.
It was hard seeing any of those guys beating him. it'll be interesting seeing how he matches up with the mid-upper tier HW's.

NCRadioMan

12-06-2009, 01:19 PM

. I really don't think Dana gave Kimbo much of a chance against Alexander

I disagree. I think he fed Kimblo an easier fight with HA. A light-heavy with no ground game that would stand and punch. Too bad he didn't do that though.

Steelergar

12-06-2009, 07:12 PM

Yep, he did. Sammy Schilt beat Hari to win.

really, I swore the annoucers were saying he won the finals of the Grand Prix. Then again I don't know much about kickboxing or which grand prix this is.

NCRadioMan

12-06-2009, 07:18 PM

really, I swore the annoucers were saying he won the finals of the Grand Prix. Then again I don't know much about kickboxing or which grand prix this is.

Yep. Here are the results: http://mmafrenzy.com/12393/k-1-world-grand-prix-2009-final-results-semmy-schilt-defeats-badr-hari-in-finals/

Steelergar

12-06-2009, 07:18 PM

nevermind, I just figured it out. I thought his fight with Teixeira was the final match.

Steelergar

12-06-2009, 07:22 PM

Nice, every fight that but one ended in the 1st round.

NCRadioMan

12-07-2009, 09:33 AM

Ortiz and Liddell are Coach's for TUF 11

Former UFC light heavyweight champions Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz have been tapped as rival coaches for the eleventh season of “The Ultimate Fighter” on Spike TV, the promotion announced on Saturday.

Ortiz and Liddell will coach opposing teams comprised of middleweight hopefuls, then meet in a rubber match at the conclusion of TUF 11. Liddell has won both of the previous encounters, earning a second-round knockout against Ortiz at UFC 47 in April 2004 and a third-round technical knockout at UFC 66 in December 2006.

TUF 11 will shoot in Las Vegas in early 2010 and debut on Spike TV beginning on March 31.

:sleep: meh

NCRadioMan

12-07-2009, 10:36 AM

Dan Henderson signs with Strikeforce

Free agent Dan Henderson has officially signed to Stikeforce, the UFC's rival promotion, said Ariel Helwani of MMA.Fanhouse.com.

It has been reported that Henderson has signed a multi-fight agreement with Strikeforce, however, a date and opponent for his debut have not yet been named.

For a few months, Henderson had been a free agent after his contract with the UFC ran out. He and UFC President Dana White were looking to renew his contract so that he could continue fighting with the organization, but they never reached an agreement.

The main source of their problems was, reportedly, the amount of money that Henderson was asking for. White recently said that Henderson's payment idea stemmed from his knowledge of how much fellow UFC fighter Tito Ortiz was getting pair.

"I'm just hoping to get out there and fight again and get paid what I would like the get paid," Henderson told MMA.Fanhouse at a recent Strikeforce event. "I'm not asking to be the top-paid guy out there at all... It's a little step up from my last pay check, but a lot less than a lot of other guys are getting paid."

Henderson's last UFC fight was at UFC 100 in July, where he defeated Michael Bisping by second-round KO in a middleweight fight. Before the bout, White had promised that the winner of the fight would get a title shot against champion Anderson Silva. However, after the fight, White changed his mind.

A title shot promise was later given to Nate Marquardt in August. After White recanted again, a match up between Henderson and Marquardt was put into place, however, Henderson was not contracted by the UFC and could not take the fight. A title shot was then given to Vitor Belfort.

coastietech

12-07-2009, 11:01 AM

NCRadioMan

12-07-2009, 01:05 PM

I guess I'm just tired of Dana White and his crap, along with the boring fights the UFC has been promoting.

Then you will love this. :D

Dana: "Henderson Wsn't worth the money".

"He's happy, but the reality is that I pushed him into signing that deal. I told people over the weekend that he'd sign within the next week. I wanted him to s**t or get off the pot. He was in this limbo forever, and he needed more motivation to make a decision. Do you think that there's any guy we can't get that I want? Other than Fedor? So far, he's been the one guy we can't get. But everyone else that we've wanted, we got. If I wanted Dan Henderson, I could've signed him. For the money he wanted, he's not worth it. He's not a big pay-per-view star, he's not a big attraction, and he's not going to sell out arenas. He wants way too much and he doesn't bring anything to the table. Here's the reality: If I wanted him, he'd be in the UFC. It's not like, 'F***, Strikeforce beat me out.' He's been a free agent for a long time. If I wanted him, I would have signed him by now."

UFC President Dana White isn't shedding any tears over the Strikeforce acquisition of free agent and former PRIDE champion Dan Henderson. After five fights under the Zuffa umbrella, "Hendo" signed with the San Jose-based promotion over the weekend and could debut in early 2010 -- though White maintains that his drawing power was not worth the money he wanted to be paid. Will "Dangerous" Dan put asses in the seats when he fights for Scott Coker? Or is the aging Olympian more risk than return?

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I think SF did very well in signing Hendo. :tu

coastietech

12-07-2009, 01:10 PM

Then you will love this. :D

I think SF did very well in signing Hendo. :tu

I agree with this...

Dana thinks he can have anything he wants and he treats people like ****. He will be the undoing of UFC. I have no doubts in my mind. :2

wayner123

12-07-2009, 01:14 PM

Dana White is an arrogant asshat... As much as he has done for UFC, he is going to be the ultimate demise for it as well.

There really isn't any new talent. The big names like Lidell, Ortiz, Couture are all pretty much done for. The HW division sucks. There isn't anyone that can even remotely match up to GSP and Silva.

There is just a severe lack of talent. The fact that there is a $40 PPV event every other week is ridiculous. The last card I saw that was remotely worth the $40 was UFC 100.

Strikeforce is going to start taking a big share and I wouldn't be suprised if it became bigger than UFC very soon.

I guess I'm just tired of Dana White and his crap, along with the boring fights the UFC has been promoting.

While I agree with you on most parts of Dana White and his attitude, I don't think SF will be bigger than UFC, at least not soon. For one, they too are recycling older fighters. They don't have any projections for up and coming stars. Furthermore, they are free to watch. If they went into UFC's realm of PPV, they would not have near the numbers that they do currently.

As far as the UFC goes, I am pissed at the current rate of PPV's and reality shows that seem to be over reaching. I would much rather them go back to basics.

How about going back to a gauntlet type of system? Make fighters fight 2-3 fights per night. Or mix up the weight classes. Grand Prix style. There are a variety of things they could do internally before they need to look at more PPV's and reality shows.

And yes I know... sanctions kill a lot of these ideas.

NCRadioMan

12-07-2009, 01:47 PM

How about going back to a gauntlet type of system? Make fighters fight 2-3 fights per night. Or mix up the weight classes. Grand Prix style. There are a variety of things they could do internally before they need to look at more PPV's and reality shows.

And yes I know... sanctions kill a lot of these ideas.

Unfortunately, that will never happen again in the UFC. They are too afraid of fighters getting hurt fighting more than once in the same night and, of course, the sanctions.

However, it would be nice to see a Grand Prix tournament that goes on every 3 months or so.

I enjoy TUF but most of these ppv's are just not worth paying for. That's why I always find a free stream to watch. :D There are alot of injuries to some big names in the UFC right now and they are scrambling to make fights that people will pay for. Over the last 6-8 months, it seems that what looks like a great card turns out to be so-so and the lack-luster cards turn out to be good, imo. I am looking forward to seeing Penn vs. Sanchez on Saturday.

wayner123

12-07-2009, 01:52 PM

However, it would be nice to see a Grand Prix tournament that goes on every 3 months or so.

Do I hear GSP vs Anderson Silva??

NCRadioMan

12-07-2009, 01:55 PM

Do I hear GSP vs Anderson Silva??

That would be sweet!

Why Henderson chose strikeforce interview.

Sherdog.com: Why did you pick Strikeforce over the UFC?
Henderson: The decision was based on a number of things. It wasn’t just a financial thing. It was the fact that I felt I wasn’t getting the fight that I wanted in the UFC. That was a big part of that -- that I wasn’t and that it got yanked away from me. I think I stepped up for the UFC a number of times and had earned that right again for a title fight. And the fact that publicity-wise, CBS offers quite a bit more than a pay-per-view and Spike TV.

Sherdog.com: In September, you sat down with UFC owners Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White in Las Vegas and confronted them about being passed over for the next middleweight title bout against Silva. How did they respond?
Henderson: The fight got pulled from me and was offered to Vitor (Belfort). I met with them after Vitor fought Rich Franklin. I told them that it does irritate me. I said, ‘Why does Vitor get to jump the line when there’s me and (Nate) Marquardt here who can both fight for a title shot and Vitor’s never fought for the UFC at 185? He jumps the line, especially since I beat him.’ They acted surprised that I’d even fought him. They weren’t up on those details at the time. It jogged their memory, but either way, to put someone in there that I dominated not that long ago…

Sherdog.com: You’re the first top-ranked UFC fighter to leave that promotion and join Strikeforce’s ranks. What do you think this says about the current climate of the sport?
Henderson: Obviously, I was fighting in Pride for a long time and I’ve never been one to really jump ship. Had I felt a little bit more, I don’t know… I was planning on finishing my career in the UFC. When I signed with the UFC, that’s what I was planning on doing. I think that whatever transpired or how they handled me just didn’t work out at present. Especially for me at this point in my career, it was definitely Strikeforce. I don’t know what that says about the climate of the UFC. I think that they need to really respect the fighters a little bit more.

Sherdog.com: At one point during renegotiations Dana White stated that you were trying to become the highest paid fighter in the UFC --
Henderson: I don’t know what anyone else makes, but didn’t he make a comment after that a couple of weeks later that I was upset about what Tito (Ortiz) makes? I have no idea what Tito makes. So, if I’m trying to be the highest paid fighter, why would I be upset about what Tito makes? These are his own comments contradicting themselves. Either way, I don’t know what Tito makes and I didn’t really know where I was on the totem pole over there, but I felt like I wasn’t getting fair market value for myself.

Sherdog.com: How did the UFC’s banning of your clothing brand, Clinch Gear, from their events affect renegotiations?
Henderson: Well, at least I’ll be able to have Clinch Gear on in the cage when I fight for Strikeforce. The banning didn’t really affect anything though. When the UFC called and said that we could no longer sponsor (other fighters), that we were banned from the UFC, I wasn’t mad at all. It was more funny to me than anything that they would do that. Dana has stated to me that it was nothing personal and that there were no hard feelings at all. If there were no hard feelings, why would they ban a clothing line? We already had a deal; we were paying for the right to sponsor guys just like every other sponsor was. For them to come back and say just because Dan hasn’t re-signed a deal yet, we’re banned.

Sherdog.com: Does that play into your comment earlier that they need to respect fighters more?
Henderson: Absolutely. Things like that aren’t necessary and for them to do that in the middle of negotiations doesn’t make me feel respected. It’s more of a strong-arm tactic and a lot of people turn the other way when that happens. To me, it was just funny. I didn’t take it personally, but it just seemed a little contradictory to the ‘no hard feelings’ thing.

Sherdog.com: How did the Strikeforce negotiations play out in comparison to the UFC renegotiations? You were talking to both promotions at the same time.
Henderson: Yeah, I was to a point. I wasn’t going back and forth to them saying, ‘Hey, so and so is paying me this. Pay me more.’ I didn’t want to do that at all. I don’t think that’s the right way to do things, so basically I was just looking at the offers. I have to be honest, Strikeforce was a little slow in getting back to me on certain things, only because Scott Coker got sick for a couple of weeks and was a little hard to get a hold of. He didn’t want to pass the negotiations over to anyone else. Other than that, everything went great and Scott Coker was very respectful and excited the whole time. I was sincere with negotiating with them obviously because I signed, but I wasn’t just using them to get the UFC to pay me more. Dana was pretty cool throughout negotiations with the UFC. He was OK to deal with. We were pretty much just at a standstill. I thought I was worth more and they didn’t. It was nothing personal really.

Sherdog.com: The critics of this move might say you’re leaving the elite of the sport to go fight lesser competition. How would you respond to that?
Henderson: It’s questionable. Where is (Gegard) Mousasi ranked in there? He might be the guy to beat Anderson Silva up. And obviously Fedor (Emelianenko) is unscathed and has proven that he is probably the top heavyweight in the world. Jake Shields has never fought in the UFC. I think that Strikeforce has a lot of great matchups for me. I’m in this sport not just for the money, but I love the challenge of it. Those three guys are great challenges for me and Strikeforce has quite a few guys that are really top at 185 and above. Their roster is growing rapidly with top guys, not just lower-level guys.

Sherdog.com: Why do you think every fighter wants to fight Fedor Emelianenko?
Henderson: I don’t know. To me, he’s not the reason I signed with Strikeforce just to fight him -- although that is interesting and appealing to me to be able to challenge myself against him. I don’t know who else wants to fight him, but I do know the fans like to see him fight. He’s very effective and likes to finish guys and does a very good job. I think him and I would make an interesting matchup.

Sherdog.com: Do you think you can beat Emelianenko?
Henderson: I think I can beat anyone on any given day. It’s just a matter of making sure that everything is right with that day.

Sherdog.com: How do you look back on your UFC career?
Henderson: I always enjoyed watching the UFC and had good experiences fighting there, so I have nothing bad to say about them. I just think that for me, at this point in my career, maybe it just wasn’t a good matchup for them and me. We were at a sticking point on certain things and maybe they think I don’t have too many years left, so why would they put a lot of stock in me. Who knows?

Sherdog.com: What are your goals now, having signed on for four fights with Strikeforce?
Henderson: I’m planning on fighting more than four fights. I can tell you that. I couldn’t tell you what the future holds. It changes pretty quickly. Like I said, I thought I was going to end my career in the UFC and this came up and obviously I went in a different direction than I thought I was going to. I couldn’t comment on the future and who knows what’s going to happen with Strikeforce? I think that they have great opportunities and have the potential to bring a lot of new fans to the sport and I’m pretty much at the forefront of that. That’s appealing to me.

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Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Steve Cantwell set for UFC 108

A light heavyweight bout between veteran Vladimir Matyushenko (23-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC) and former WEC champion Steve Cantwell (8-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) is set for the preliminary card of next month's UFC 108 event.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) learned of the Jan. 2 matchup over the weekend.

Nima Safapour of No Limits Media Group, which represents Matyushenko, today confirmed that bout agreements have been distributed and signed by Matyushenko.

UFC 108 takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and airs on pay-per-view.

ActionAndy

12-07-2009, 02:14 PM

I love watching Hendo fight. I know it's just his confidence shining but does anyone really think he could take Fedor? Does Dan even walk around at that steep a weight?

NCRadioMan

12-07-2009, 02:29 PM

I love watching Hendo fight. I know it's just his confidence shining but does anyone really think he could take Fedor? Does Dan even walk around at that steep a weight?

He is a natural 205'er and has fought as a heavyweight before, in his younger days, so I have no doubt he could pull it off. I don't think he could take Fedor but one day Fedor will lose. I would like to see them fight. It would be a blockbuster.

kgoings

12-07-2009, 08:18 PM

I am looking forward to seeing Penn vs. Sanchez on Saturday.

Me too! And I always love to see Guida fight.

ActionAndy

12-07-2009, 10:47 PM

Me too! And I always love to see Guida fight.

Yeah fighting Clay Guida must be like punching a tree trunk for 15 minutes. The thing about him is no matter how much punishment he takes, I still never feel like he really poses huge threats--especially not to a competent guy like Florian.

I'm not saying he isn't an exciting fighter or that he's someone I want to see cut (far from it) but can anyone say they expect him to outstrike Florian? And with Florian's BJJ game, will he be upset when Guida makes it a ground fight?

kgoings

12-07-2009, 10:49 PM

Yeah fighting Clay Guida must be like punching a tree trunk for 15 minutes. The thing about him is no matter how much punishment he takes, I still never feel like he really poses huge threats--especially not to a competent guy like Florian. I'm not saying he isn't an exciting fighter or someone I want to see cut (far from it) but can anyone say they expect him to outstrike Florian? And with Florian's BJJ game, will he be upset when Guida makes it a ground fight?

I don't think he has much of a chance...but he puts on a good fight and never gives up.

NCRadioMan

12-08-2009, 10:39 PM

UFC 109: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs Brandon Vera official for 'Relentless' on Feb. 6

Surging light heavyweight and UFC sophomore Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (18-3) has officially agreed to throw hands with hot-and-cold cage veteran Brandon Vera (11-4) at UFC 109: "Relentless" from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Feb. 6.

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KIMBO SLICE DRAWS 5.2 MILLION VIEWERS FOR HIS FIRST LIVE FIGHT IN THE UFC ON SPIKE TV

Most Watched “The Ultimate Fighter” Finale In Franchise History And Biggest Audience For A Live UFC Fight In 2009

New York, NY, December 8, 2009 – Spike TV’s telecast of “The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights” live finale on Saturday, December 5 was the most watched final episode in the 10 seasons of the TUF franchise, peaking with 5.2 million viewers and a 5.9 rating with Men 18-34 for the Kimbo Slice-Houston Alexander fight. The over 5 million viewers were the most to watch a live UFC fight in 2009.

Overall, the three-hour fight card drew 3.7 million viewers, a 2.4 household rating, a 4.6 in Men 18-34 and was the most-watched show on cable with Men 18-34 and Men 18-49 for the day.

“The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights” live finale was the third most-watched UFC fight card ever.

Looks like Kimblo will be a UFC fighter for the foreseeable future.

ActionAndy

12-09-2009, 10:29 AM

Just in case you have trouble taking Diego Sanchez seriously, I found this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md_8WJzhsow

I like the shot of him meditating. Was it hard to clear your mind, Diego? LOL

Steelergar

12-09-2009, 11:57 AM

I don't think SF will be bigger than UFC, at least not soon. For one, they too are recycling older fighters

How about going back to a gauntlet type of system? Make fighters fight 2-3 fights per night. Or mix up the weight classes. Grand Prix style.

If you like gran prix, watch DREAM thats been the basis of their promotion. Too bad most of their tournaments are coming to an end though they already did a lightweight, middleweight, featherweight, and the super heavyweight ends on new years eve. The stars from these tournaments have been or are going to fight in Strikeforce events. Look for Ronaldo Souza and King Mo December 19th. As far as Strike force recycling old fighters, they might have a few but they have alot of young talent where UFC has some young talent but alot of overhyped tv actor wannabees and alot of has beens. Look no further than the coaches for the next TUF that their trying to sell. Also look for Dream to have a heavyweight and open weight tournament

kgoings

12-09-2009, 01:02 PM

Just in case you have trouble taking Diego Sanchez seriously, I found this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md_8WJzhsow

I like the shot of him meditating. Was it hard to clear your mind, Diego? LOL

I invented the Yes Cartwheel :r:r:r

I like Diego but damn that is stupid

Ken

12-09-2009, 01:48 PM

People complain about Dana White and some complain about M-1 and why Fedor hasn't been signed by the UFC and every now and then info comes out that shows I wouldn't sign the #1 HW either. The M-1 fighter Mousasi has in his Strikeforce contract that he does not fight on any card that does not feature Fedor. WTF! So before the match makers can even ponder a matchup between Hendo and Mousasi you must first know if Fedor is excepting a fight.

ActionAndy

12-09-2009, 01:56 PM

I invented the Yes Cartwheel :r:r:r

I like Diego but damn that is stupid

I'm going to tryand establish myself as the focus wizard behind the Yes Cartwheel and completely undermine Sanchez's efforts...

NCRadioMan

12-09-2009, 09:05 PM

Diego is really big into Tony Robbins the motivational speaker dude. That is where the "yes" comes from. That's why he keeps yelling "YES!" over and over on his way to the ring before fights.

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Carlos Condit injury forces cancellation of UFC 108 bout

After weeks of searching for a main event for the first event of 2010, the UFC has now lost a planned co-feature bout for UFC 108.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has learned from a source close to Carlos Condit (24-5 MMA, 1-1 UFC) that the "Natural Born Killer" has suffered an injury in training and has been forced to withdraw from a main-card bout with British slugger Paul Daley (22-8-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC).

No word yet on whether the UFC will seek a replacement opponent for Daley at the Jan. 2 event.

Word has arrived..................

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Somebody up there likes Dustin Hazelett.

The UFC welterweight wore disappointment when Karo Parisyan withdrew from their fight at UFC 106 last month, but said he trusted God's plan and everything happened for a reason.

He was spot on.

Multiple sources informed MMAWeekly.com on Tuesday that Hazelett will step in for an injured Carlos Condit to face Paul Daley in the co-main event of UFC 108, which takes place Jan. 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

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TRAINER: LESNAR RECOVERING FROM DIVERTICULITIS

Brock Lesnar’s head coach is telling him to rest and relax, whether he likes it or not.

Greg Nelson, a two-time cancer survivor who leads Lesnar’s fight camps along with Erik Paulson and Marty Morgan, said the UFC heavyweight champ is still recovering from a severe case of diverticulitis (an infection in the digestive tract), but wants to get back into the gym.

Last Friday, UFC president Dana White sent a Twitter message that Lesnar was "still VERY sick" and the promotion was "unsure about his future."

Nelson, who recently returned from teaching several seminars in Spain, gave an update to MMAWeekly.com on Tuesday afternoon. He declined comment on a potential interim heavyweight title posed by White in recent weeks.

MMAWeekly: What’s the latest on Brock?

Nelson: He’s feeling much better, but he’s still on the mend and not really doing any kind of major training.

MMAWeekly: Is he out of bed?

Nelson: Yeah, he’s walking around and moving around. He’s not ready to jump into that cage, that’s for sure at this point. But he’s got his new baby, so it’s time for him to hang out with his son and his daughter, get some quality time on that end of life.

MMAWeekly: Did he ever go to the Mayo Clinic?

Nelson: No, he never went there.

MMAWeekly: But the final diagnosis was diverticulitis?

Nelson: Yeah, that was pretty much the deal, and everything that goes on with that.

MMAWeekly: As far as you know, when do you think he’s going to be able to start training again?

Nelson: I’m not 100-percent sure right now. We’re not really pushing it right now. We’re just letting things take their course so he can be 100-percent healthy when he starts to train. He’ll probably start lifting weights to get his strength built up and do the exercise bike when he starts to get going, and shadowbox when he gets to feel better. But right now, he’s just taking the time to properly heal.

He’s real anxious of course, but that’s the worst thing you can do, is jump up and start going too quick and then break down again. It’s more of a burden for him to sit at home and not work out, but that’s the thing he has to do right now.

MMAWeekly: So you’ve advised him to take it easy?

Nelson: Mentally, he wants to get back in there. He wants to jump in. You get a guy like that who’s used to being able to do whatever and moving around and train, throw hay around, whatever he wants to do, then you’re stuck inside your house... that’s tough. Mentally, it’s tough.

MMAWeekly: Has he talked to you about how his day-to-day life is now?

Nelson: Not really. He’s not a guy to jump on the phone and start talking to you.

MMAWeekly: How often do you talk to him?

Nelson: I think I talked to him a couple weeks ago, and I hear stuff if Marty’s talked to him or one of the other guys has talked to him. He’s one of those guys, if he wants to pick up the phone and talk to you, he’ll pick up the phone and talk to you. But generally, he’s one of these guys who likes his privacy.

Ken

12-11-2009, 08:18 AM

NCRadioMan

12-11-2009, 12:49 PM

Picks:
Penn vs Sanchez - Can't stand either, though Sanchez has never claimed to be prepared to die in the cage only to quit in the middle of the fight.
Mir vs Kongo - Kongo lacks silverback strength and ground skill
Fitch vs Pierce - Hope to see Fitch KO'd
Florian vs Guida - should be a 3rd sprint
Buentello vs Struve - He's a freakin' head hunter, look at his name.

I'd really love to see this on network TV.:rolleyes:

Just find a free stream. They are everywhere. :tu

I like Penn, Kongo just because I can't stand Murr, Fitch, Florian and Buentello. Looks like a great card.

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UFC to cut Houston Alexander following "Kimbo Slice" loss

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Houston Alexander faltered when it mattered most, and now the UFC veteran will soon receive his walking papers from the organization.

UFC president Dana White today told a small group of reporters at the UFC 107 pre-event press conference that Alexander, who recently dropped a lackluster unanimous decision to Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson, has been cut from the UFC.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has since confirmed the process hasn't been completed but soon will be.

"I was going to leave," White said of Ferguson vs. Alexander. "I was going to get up and walk out of the fight. That's what I thought of it. If I didn't have to hand out 'The Ultimate Fighter' trophy at the end (of the event), I would have left that night. It wasn't a good night for me."

While complimenting Ferguson for a legit career win, White also compared Alexander to former UFC fighter Kalib Starnes, who was cut in 2008 following a bizarre loss to Nate Quarry. Starnes, who later said he was injured prior to the bout, continually backpeddled in the fight, which he lost via blowout scores of 30-26, 30-27 and 30-24.

"As disgusted as I was with Houston Alexander's performance, Kimbo beat a real guy," White said. "The last thing I expected was for Houston Alexander to come in and do the Kalib Starnes."

White said he never discussed his displeasure with the fighter.

"I don't even want to talk to him," he said. "Houston had an opportunity to – ahh, anyway."

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White: Brock may need more surgery

I found this posted on Sherdog today.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar is still fighting a case of diverticulitis, a painful intestinal condition that has been affecting him for over a year, and could require more surgery, according to UFC President Dana White.

White, fielding questions from reporters Thursday following the UFC 107 press conference, assessed the situation, acknowledging that Lesnar is still not out of the woods health-wise.

“They figured it out, so the question now is, he’s either going to need major surgery or he’s not and we won’t know for the next couple months,” said White.

White said he had no timetable for the 32-year-old champion’s return.

“It could be forever,” said White. “We won’t know for the next couple months, Obviously, I’m hoping that’s not the case, as I’m sure all of you are, but we’ll see what happens.”

The 6-foot-3, 280-pound fighter had been hospitalized for 11 days last November in North Dakota, where he underwent tests and “minor surgery” before being released to his home in Alexandria, Minn.

Greg Nelson, Lesnar’s primary trainer, told MMAWeekly.com on Wednesday that Lesnar was “on the mend” and hadn’t begun training again, though the fighter was anxious to.

“He believes he’s going to come back and he’s confident and positive and he’s in a much better place than he was when he was in the hospital,” said White on Thursday.

The loss, temporary or otherwise, of the company’s biggest pay-per-view star can’t be a pleasant thought for the world’s top MMA promotion. While they wait for the news on Lesnar, the UFC must also figure out what they are going to do with the top of their rapidly improving heavyweight division.

White said it is still to early to decide if an interim title is warranted at this point.

“We still gotta wait here a little bit and see what’s going to happen to him -- maybe he can come back, maybe he can’t, I don’t know -- we’ve got to see what happens to him first. I’m going to wait and see if he has to have this major surgery first before I make any big decisions,” said White.

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Matt Hughes Vs Renzo Gracie likely for UFC 112

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- When Matt Hughes announced on his Web site last week that he’d be fighting on April 10, the 36-year-old Illinois native did not divulge whom he would be squaring off with or where UFC 112 would be held. However, the former welterweight champion has been long rumored to be facing Renzo Gracie, 42, who reportedly signed a six-fight contract with the promotion recently.

When Dana White was asked Thursday if the Hughes-Gracie bout would he held in Abu Dhabi –- a location White recently scouted himself –- the UFC President answered cryptically.

“Sounds good to me,” he said, smiling broadly.

Asked about making that match, White noted that he respects a lot of fighters in the sport and implied that not every UFC fight has to have title implications.

“There’s this whole beef over Renzo choking out Pat Miletich (Hughes’ mentor) and sometimes it’s more than just; sometimes guys just want to fight and Renzo’s been training, he wants to fight Matt Hughes and Matt Hughes wants to fight him,” said White.

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Bobby Lashley Signs With Strikeforce

Former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) heavyweight champion and undefeated mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Bobby Lashley has signed a multi-year agreement with STRIKEFORCE and will make his debut for the world championship MMA promotion at BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla., on Saturday, January 30.

The 6-foot-3 inch, 250-pound Lashley, also a former collegiate wrestling star for Missouri Valley College and member of The United States Army, will face an opponent that has not yet been determined during the live SHOWTIME® telecast of STRIKEFORCE: Miami, the historic, first-ever STRIKEFORCE event in the state of Florida.

In his last MMA start on June 27, 2009, the 33-year-old pulverized and scored a first round (3:17) TKO over 6-foot-5 inch, 350-plus-pound goliath Bob “The Beast” Sapp with a barrage of punches in Biloxi, Miss. The win upped Lashley’s MMA record to 4-0.

“I’m looking forward to fighting for STRIKEFORCE and challenging myself by taking on some of the top heavyweights in MMA,” said Lashley, a native of Junction City, Kan., and resident of Denver, Colo.

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Injuries are starting to take their toll in UFC.

Tyson Griffin out of UFC 108

When it rains, it pours.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has learned from sources close to the promotion that the UFC has lost another featured fighter in its first event of 2010.

Lightweight contender Tyson Griffin (14-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) has suffered an undisclosed injury in training and has been forced to withdraw from his "UFC 108: Evans vs. Silva" main-card bout with Jim Miller (15-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC).

An exact timetable for Griffin's return has not been established, though the 25-year-old's manager, Tom Call, said he doesn't expect his fighter to be out for long.

"Tyson sustained an injury that would prevent him from training for the fight in January," Call said. "We don't expect it to keep him out too long. However, he was unable to train and be properly prepared for January.

"Tyson is particularly disappointed as he has never had to pull out of a fight in his entire career. But we are very comfortable that this is the right decision."

The UFC is expected to seek a replacement opponent for Miller.

NCRadioMan

12-11-2009, 08:21 PM

UFC 107 Weigh In Results

Below are the official weigh-in results for Saturday’s UFC 107 event. UFC 107, which is headlined by the UFC lightweight championship bout between BJ Penn and Diego Sanchez and the heavyweight clash between Frank Mir and Cheick Kongo, airs live on Pay-Per-View from the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee beginning at 10pm ET / 7pm PT.

Diego Sanchez (154.5*) VS BJ Penn (155)
Cheick Kongo (239) VS Frank Mir (264.5)
Clay Guida (156) VS Kenny Florian (156)
Stefan Struve (247) VS Paul Buentello (255)
Mike Pierce (171) VS Jon Fitch (171)

***Wilson Gouveia (193) VS Alan Belcher (195)
Shane Nelson (156) VS Matt Wiman (156)
Ricardo Funch (171) VS Johny Hendricks (171)
Lucio Linhares (185) VS Rousimar Palhares (186)
Edgar Garcia (171**) VS Damarques Johnson (171)
TJ Grant (171) VS Kevin Burns (171)

*Sanchez made weight on his second attempt, after an initial weigh-in at 156 pounds.
**Garcia made weight on his second attempt, after an initial weigh-in at 173 pounds.
***Gouveia and Belcher will fight at a catchweight of 195 pounds

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Sean Sherk promoted to "UFC 108: Evans vs. Silva" main card

With Tyson Griffin forced to withdraw from his UFC 108 bout due to inury, Sean Sherk (33-4-1 MMA, 7-4 UFC) has been selected as Jim Miller's new opponent.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) confirmed the switch with sources close to the event after MMAWeekly.com initially reported the move.

Sherk had been expected to face Rafaello Oliveira (9-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) on the evening's prelims. The UFC is expected to now seek a replacement opponent for Oliveira.

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St-Pierre vs. Hardy official for UFC 111

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – British slugger Dan Hardy (23-6 MMA, 4-0 UFC) knew he earned a shot at UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre (19-2 MMA, 13-2 UFC) by defeating Mike Swick at November's UFC 105 event.

Now he knows the date.

At today's UFC Fight Club Q&A session in Memphis, Tenn., UFC broadcaster Mike Goldberg said he had confirmed with UFC matchmaker Joe Silva that St-Pierre and Hardy will meet at an as-yet-unannounced event on March 27 in Newark, N.J.

The event is expected to be dubbed UFC 111 and take place at the Prudential Center.

Goldberg shared the news prior to Hardy taking the stage to field questions from UFC Fight Club members.

goalie204

12-11-2009, 08:35 PM

UFC 107 Weigh In Results
British slugger Dan Hardy (23-6 MMA, 4-0 UFC) knew he earned a shot at UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre (19-2 MMA, 13-2 UFC) by defeating Mike Swick at November's UFC 105 event.

Lol "earned" - funny.

BORIStheBLADE

12-11-2009, 11:20 PM

Go BJ!:banger

SkinsFanLarry

12-12-2009, 11:13 PM

Frank Mir looked totally awesome! :tu

BJ put on a clinic and beat the chit out of the nightmare!! :tu :tu

kayaker

12-12-2009, 11:14 PM

Missed the fights because a dinner party turned into a great drunk.

Read the pbp's. Sounds like a couple of exciting fights in there.

Will have to look them up when I'm sober again...

BORIStheBLADE

12-12-2009, 11:25 PM

Ya Mir was there to win for sure.

BJ worked Sanchez. Sanchez didn't have anything for BJ.:banger

NCRadioMan

12-12-2009, 11:27 PM

Frank Mir looked totally awesome! :tu

BJ put on a clinic and beat the chit out of the nightmare!! :tu :tu

Yep. Penn is in a class by himself. That cut on Diego's head was nice. Brought back memories of mine, except mine was twice as long. :banger Diego looked like he got hit by a bus at the end of the fight. Ken-Flo looked really good too.

I still hate Murr. :su

BORIStheBLADE

12-12-2009, 11:42 PM

I think at the rate their going they should let Clay Guida fight Penn next.:tf

coastietech

12-14-2009, 05:56 AM

UFC to cut Houston Alexander following "Kimbo Slice" loss

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Houston Alexander faltered when it mattered most, and now the UFC veteran will soon receive his walking papers from the organization.

UFC president Dana White today told a small group of reporters at the UFC 107 pre-event press conference that Alexander, who recently dropped a lackluster unanimous decision to Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson, has been cut from the UFC.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has since confirmed the process hasn't been completed but soon will be.

"I was going to leave," White said of Ferguson vs. Alexander. "I was going to get up and walk out of the fight. That's what I thought of it. If I didn't have to hand out 'The Ultimate Fighter' trophy at the end (of the event), I would have left that night. It wasn't a good night for me."

While complimenting Ferguson for a legit career win, White also compared Alexander to former UFC fighter Kalib Starnes, who was cut in 2008 following a bizarre loss to Nate Quarry. Starnes, who later said he was injured prior to the bout, continually backpeddled in the fight, which he lost via blowout scores of 30-26, 30-27 and 30-24.

"As disgusted as I was with Houston Alexander's performance, Kimbo beat a real guy," White said. "The last thing I expected was for Houston Alexander to come in and do the Kalib Starnes."

White said he never discussed his displeasure with the fighter.

"I don't even want to talk to him," he said. "Houston had an opportunity to – ahh, anyway."

This is ridiculous. He's gonna cut Houston because of one bad fight... Every other fight he's looked great.

He had a good opponent that had lots of power and he knew he wouldn't have survived a slug fest. Is the UFC really that afraid to admit that Kimbo can fight. He has come along way from the backyard brawler he once was. He still has a very weak ground game, but in time it will be better. Kimbo could have a real career in the UFC if he continues to expand as a fighter like he has.

The UFC doesn't have a lot of quality fighters left so to cut one of your good fighters because of an off night seems kind of ridiculous to me. Seems like Dana is gonna cut his nose despite his face.

Like I've said before the UFC had it's 5 mins of fame and I believe it's all down hill from here.

It's not competitive like it once was. No one right now can beat BJ Penn, no one right now can beat GSP, no one right now can beat Silva, and no one right now beat Brock (because he can't fight and because there aren't any real contenders in his weight class.) Almost all the weight classes and there aren't any decent challengers. Seems like the cards keep getting filled with repeat bouts or bouts that aren't that exciting. I mean think about it the most hyped fight in UFC is the fight between coaches of TUF and the best Dana can come up with is Lidell vs Tito! Really!!!

The UFC is at a stalemate and it doesn't seem like they are trying to get the caliber fighters they need to get out of it. Just my :2

NCRadioMan

12-14-2009, 07:31 AM

Houston has lost 4 of his last 5. I don't think it's a big surprise he was cut. The UFC has a history of cutting fighters that don't win. Unless they are one of Dana's "boys". I think he would have been better off brawling instead of that weak azz game plan he used.

UFC 107 draws 13,896 attendees for, over $1.5 mil gate

The UFC's second-ever trip to Tennessee and first-ever to Memphis delivered on in-cage action, and a reported 13,896 fans came to the FedExForum to witness the events.

UFC president Dana White said at the event's post-fight press conference that "UFC 107: Penn vs. Sanchez" also delivered "over $1.5 million" at the gate.

The official numbers will be certified next week by the Tennessee Athletic Commission.

Featuring a main event between lightweight champion B.J. Penn and top challenger Diego Sanchez, UFC 107 featured the first title fight in the UFC since Lyoto Machida narrowly edged Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 104 in October.

With several of the organization's champions sidelined due to a variety of injuries, the next date a belt is scheduled for defense is the recently confirmed UFC 111 bout between welterweight title holder Georges St-Pierre and British slugger Dan Hardy on March 27.

The attendance figure marks a sharp increase from the UFC's first-ever visit to Tennessee in April. "UFC Fight Night 18: Condit vs. Kampmann" on April 1 drew 10,267 fans to the Sommet Center for a $626,066 live gate, though the organization's "Fight Night" events traditionally draw smaller crowds than the pay-per-view spectacle.

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UFC 107 fighter bonuses

Alan Belcher, Wilson Gouveia, T.J. Grant and DaMarques Johnson each earned $65,000 fight-night bonuses for their performances at Saturday's "UFC 107: Penn vs. Sanchez" event.

Belcher and Gouveia both earned "Fight of the Night" honors, while Johnson earned the "Submission of the Night" bonus and Grant earned the "Knockout of the Night" award. All four fighters competed on the evening's preliminary card.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) learned of the awards in the post-fight press conference, which followed UFC 107 at FedExForum in Memphis, Tenn.

Offended by being relegated to the evening's preliminary card despite fighting in his hometown, Belcher came out with a purpose. Swinging from the fences early, Belcher put himself in harm's way while going for broke against Brazilian slugger Wilson Gouveia. The strategy paid off, and Belcher earned an impressive TKO win. But with both fighters trading in the pocket during the entertaining one-round fight, each cashed an extra checj for the evening's "Fight of the Night.

"The Ultimate Fighter 9" finalist Johnson snatched the evening's "Submission of the Night" after nearly falling victim to a slick hold from opponent Edgar Garcia. After fighting off an early Peruvian necktie that appeared destined to end the fight, Johnson worked free and landed a slick triangle choke of his own. The whole process took just four minutes, and the Johnson earned the hefty bonus in addition to his first official UFC win.

The evening's "Knockout of the Night" also took place on the preliminary cards as Grant battled back from a tough position to secure the honors. After being dropped early and defending a flurry of punches, Grant returned to his feet and delivered a crushing right hand. A few follow-up punches secured the finish, but the initial blow is what certainly earned Grant the honors and the extra check.

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Dong Hyun Kim withdraws from UFC 110

Undefeated Korean welterweight Dong Hyun Kim (12-0-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) has been forced to withdraw from a planned UFC 110 bout with Chris Lytle (27-17-5 MMA, 6-9 UFC).

Kim's apparent knee injury was first reported by AOL FanHouse, and MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has since verified the report.

UFC 110, which is already a sell-out, takes place Sunday, Feb. 21 at Acer Arena in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With the time difference, the show will air on pay-per-view in the U.S. live on Saturday, Feb. 20.

A replacement for Kim wasn't immediately known, but Lytle is expected to remain on the card.

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More Injuries

At some point, even UFC matchmaker Joe Silva has to just laugh.

The "curse" of UFC 108, the most injury plagued event in the company's history, continues as late Saturday night the organization lost another fighter from the card. Heavy handed slugger Rory Markham (16-5 MMA, 1-1 UFC) was forced to bow out of the Jan. 2 event in Las Vegas with a knee injury suffered in training.

Markham had been scheduled to face Danish striker Martin Kampmann (15-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) on what was sure to be a preliminary card barnburner at MGM Grand Garden Arena.

News of the change was first reported by Sherdog.com's Greg Savage via his Twitter account, and MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has since been able to confirm Markham's withdrawal from sources close to the promotion.

No timetable has been set for Markham's return, and a replacement opponent for Kampmann has yet to be secured.

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Here is a good look at the cut in Diego's head.

http://i49.tinypic.com/23jo5tu.jpg

zitro_joe

12-14-2009, 01:52 PM

This is ridiculous. He's gonna cut Houston because of one bad fight... Every other fight he's looked great.

He had a good opponent that had lots of power and he knew he wouldn't have survived a slug fest. Is the UFC really that afraid to admit that Kimbo can fight. He has come along way from the backyard brawler he once was. He still has a very weak ground game, but in time it will be better. Kimbo could have a real career in the UFC if he continues to expand as a fighter like he has.

The UFC doesn't have a lot of quality fighters left so to cut one of your good fighters because of an off night seems kind of ridiculous to me. Seems like Dana is gonna cut his nose despite his face.

Like I've said before the UFC had it's 5 mins of fame and I believe it's all down hill from here.

It's not competitive like it once was. No one right now can beat BJ Penn, no one right now can beat GSP, no one right now can beat Silva, and no one right now beat Brock (because he can't fight and because there aren't any real contenders in his weight class.) Almost all the weight classes and there aren't any decent challengers. Seems like the cards keep getting filled with repeat bouts or bouts that aren't that exciting. I mean think about it the most hyped fight in UFC is the fight between coaches of TUF and the best Dana can come up with is Lidell vs Tito! Really!!!

The UFC is at a stalemate and it doesn't seem like they are trying to get the caliber fighters they need to get out of it. Just my :2

are you serious? Dude was cut from the UFC and brought back to FIGHT (not run). He did did pull a Kalib, and Kalib was released too. Houston is a power puncher but would get worked as a boxer. He is pure brawler and he did not even do that. He was dropped, If he pulls a string of wins, he may be back. That has happened plenty of time, They did that for Jesse Taylor. He lost and then he was released. Again.

Not competive....Okay so they dont have Fedor, Mousasi, or Henderson. Those are the only two that I can see Possibly making a run inthe UFC. There are plenty of good fighters not in the UFC. But not many would be a serious threat, IMO.

This past card was great, everyone fame win by fighting, not the scorecard.

NCRadioMan

12-15-2009, 11:51 AM

YES! YES! YES!..................oh no!

http://i46.tinypic.com/15pn3ud.jpg

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Prangley Out!

Robbie Lawler went nearly a year between bouts his last time out, and is currently six months between fights, hoping that Strikeforce can find him a new opponent by Saturday night.

Lawler learned today that Trevor Prangley, who was a replacement for his initial opponent, Benji Radach, has had to withdraw from Strikeforce: Evolution due to an undisclosed injury.

The news was first reported by Sherdog.com, and independently confirmed to MMAWeekly.com by Strikeforce executive Mike Afromowitz.

No replacement has been named.

OLS

12-15-2009, 12:29 PM

Dang, I got a shiver up my spine just now looking at that CUT!!
Wa-howwww.
THe people here in Memphis were really pleased by the event's outcome and even more pleased that we were able to
host it. I understand the ticket prices were high, but well under the usual price at casino-resort type venues. There were
some sports radio guys who were not too excited about going, basically saying that they do not follow the circuit
and would rather watch actual boxing. They all came in Monday and apologized and gushed like the cut over that
dude's eye about how great it was. The production value, the ambience and atmosphere, the turnout, the money spent in the
community. Win, Win, Win. I will have to read this thread more in depth to see what the fans thought. But I guarantee that
Memphis will be jostling to get another crack at hosting one of these.

Having the ability to walk 300 feet from FedEx Forum to Beale Street ain't exactly a minus, either, lol.

Steelergar

12-15-2009, 09:02 PM

This is a dead horse but I finally watched the Kimbo fight today, I think if that would have went another round Alexander would have TKO'd Kimbo he definently didn't deserve to be cut. And so what if he used a strategy of using footwork and angles against Kimbo, from what I understand he usually bull rushes people. Dana isn't happy unless the fighters stand still and try to punch eachothers heads off like a video game. Who cares what that failed boxer thinks anyway.

NCRadioMan

12-16-2009, 06:36 PM

Lots o' MMA news today!

Spike TV to air 10 preliminary cards in 2010

After three successful broadcasts in 2009, Spike TV officials today announced the cable station will air a total of 10 preliminary-card specials prior to UFC pay-per-view events in 2010.

The one-hour specials, now dubbed "UFC Prelim," feature between two and four bouts from the un-aired preliminary cards of each pay-per-view event.

As MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) first reported last week, Spike TV will air a UFC 108 teaser on Jan. 2, and Spike TV officials also confirmed the station will air a UFC 109 teaser on Feb. 6.

The remaining eight broadcast specials will be announced at a later date.

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UFC CONFIRMS MAJOR BOUTS FOR UFC 110 in AUSTRALIA

NOGUEIRA v VELASQUEZ
SILVA v BISPING
STEVENSON v SOTIROPOULOS
JARDINE V BADER
ROTHWELL V CRO COP
SINOSIC v HASEMAN

UFC 110 LIVE AT THE ACER ARENA

December 15, Sydney, Australia - With the second fastest sell-out in the 16-year history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship organisation, UFC 110 hits Sydney, Australia, on Sunday, February 21 (Airing in the United States on Saturday, February 20).

All 16,500 tickets for the Acer Arena were completely sold out on the first day of public sale on Friday (December 11), placing UFC 110 behind only the record-breaking UFC 83 in Montreal, Canada in April 2008, as the UFC’s hottest ticket ever.

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DREAM and World Victory Road confirm fights for Dec. 31 "Dynamite!! 2009" event!

The fight card for DREAM and World Victory Road's Dec. 31 "Dynamite!! 2009" event got some serious depth today with the official announcement of numerous matchups, many of which pit one of the Japanese organization's fighters against the other promotion's.

The HDNet-televised event features both MMA and K-1 bouts and takes place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Today's additions include Masanori Kanehara (15-7-5) vs. Norofumi "Kid" Yamamoto (17-2) and Akihiro Gono (30-15-7) vs. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai (35-9-2).

Both of those fights will be conducted under MMA rules with three five-minute rounds. The same goes for the bouts of Katsuyori Shibata (4-6-1) vs. Hiroshi Izumi (0-1), Marlon Sandro (15-1) vs. Hideo Tokoro (25-21-1), Michihiro Omigawa (8-8-1) vs. Hiroyuki Takaya (12-7-1), and Kazuyuki Fujita (15-8) vs. Alistair Overeem (31-11).

A K-1 bout of Yosuke Nishijima (0-1) vs. Ray Sefo (54-20-1) was also added to the card.

Previously announced MMA bouts include Japanese gold-medalist judoka Satoshi Ishii (0-0) vs. fellow Olympic gold-medalist Hidehiko Yoshida (8-7-1) and the DREAM "Super Hulk" open-weight grand prix finale of Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa (43-30-8) vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (7-5).

Additional fights will be announced in the next few weeks.

For now, the official lineup include:

* Masato vs. Andy Souwer (K-1)
* Satoshi Ishii vs. Hidehiko Yoshida
* Masanori Kanehara vs. Norofumi "Kid" Yamamoto
* Akihiro Gono vs. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai
* Hiroshi Izumi vs. Katsuyori Shibata
* Marlon Sandro vs. Hideo Tokoro
* Michihiro Omigawa vs. Hiroyuki Takaya
* Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Alistair Overeem
* Yosuke Nishijima vs. Ray Sefo (K-1)
* Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (MMA/"Super Hulk" finale)
* Hiroya vs. Japan Masaaki Noiri (K-1 KOSHIEN semifinal)
* Katsuki Ishida vs. Shota Shimada (K-1 KOSHIEN semifinal)
* Tsukasa Fuji vs. Ryuya Kusakabe (K-1 KOSHIEN semifinal reserve)

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Almeida likely for UFC 111 in March, bout with Thiago Alves

While a knee injury forced grappling ace Ricardo Almeida (11-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) out of a planned UFC 106 bout with Jon Fitch, "Big Dog" apparently won't sit out for long.

MMAjunkie.com (http://www.mmajunkie.com) has learned from sources close to the promotion that Almeida is being targeted for a March 27 return to action at UFC 111 in Newark, N.J.

And while Almeida couldn't comment on the potential contest when contacted by MMAjunkie.com, additional sources have indicated Brazilian slugger Thiago Alves (16-6 MMA, 9-3 UFC) may be in the running to face the 33-year-old.

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Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin @ UFC 111 For Interim Title

While UFC president Dana White recently said the status of UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar would be decided in the next four to six weeks, things are apparently progressing much faster.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has learned from sources close to the organization that the UFC is targeting an interim heavyweight title matchup between top contender Shane Carwin and former UFC champion Frank Mir.

If both parties agree, the contest may take place at the increasingly attractive UFC 111 event on March 27 in Newark, N.J.

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Quinton Jackson challenges Dana White to a boxing fight

This rings a bell does it not?

"The last thing I want to say is, and this is to Dana White, do me a favour and put two UFC logo's in that octagon and promote them as if they're gonna fight each other and see how many people turn up to watch them fight. If Dana's got a problem with me about any texts I give my friends or anything else... if he's got a problem with me tell him I'll do a boxing fight with him, but I'd show up. I'd show up with bells on. I'd show up dressed looking just like a boxer. He could even wear a head gear for all I care. Dana has a history of talking **** about people on the internet and at press conferences and stuff when they're not there, I'm not that guy... I don't give a (expletive) anymore. Tell Dana if he's still got a problem with me, we can settle the problem like men and he can make as much money out of it as he wants. He can promote it, he can put it on TV and he can pay himself a big purse." -Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

Former UFC light-heavyweight champion turned thespian Quinton "Rampage" Jackson adds more fuel to his ongoing feud with UFC President Dana White courtesy of comments made to MMABay.

Jackson announced recently that he'd like to come back to MMA, after going on a brief hiatus to play B.A. Baracus on a film adaptation of "The A-Team," in order to settle disputes with both UFC President Dana White and fellow former UFC light-heavyweight champion Rashad Evans.

Jackson and White have been at odds since the popular brawler abruptly abandoned his planned UFC 107 showdown against bitter, Evans, in order to work on the film; and it appears that Jackson's feud with White has done anything but die down in the wake of Jackson's announced return to the sport.

This isn't the first time White, a former amateur boxer, has been challenged to a boxing match. A couple of years ago famed UFC light-heavyweight Tito Ortiz had a boxing match with White written into his contract. The two agreed to face one another at a Las Vegas gym, but Ortiz failed to show.

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Lorenzo Fertitta: 140,000 People Viewed UFC 106 Illegally

UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta testified Wednesday at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on piracy of live sports broadcasting over the Internet, and he said the UFC is potentially losing tens of millions of dollars because people are illegally streaming UFC pay-per-views online.

"Just last month, the broadcast of UFC 106 from the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada, had over 271 unauthorized streams with over 140,000 views, and those are only the ones that our anti-piracy team and consultants identified," Fertitta told the committee. "There were likely more streams that we simply couldn't find."

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Personally, I don't think they are losing that much at all. It's my belief that those that watch these streams would simply do without and not purchase the ppv and watch the fights at a later date. And like Joe Rogan says on the broadcast of every PPV, "you can't stop the internet, baby".

ActionAndy

12-16-2009, 08:14 PM

Have we seen the Pit Bull since his loss to GSP?

goalie204

12-16-2009, 08:23 PM

Have we seen the Pit Bull since his loss to GSP?

nope that was his most recent fight

NCRadioMan

12-18-2009, 08:08 AM

SHERK OUT; DUANE LUDWIG IN AGAINST JIM MILLER

The seemingly cursed UFC 108 card took yet another hit on Wednesday as former lightweight champion, Sean Sherk, was forced off the show with a laceration requiring stitches over his eye. Stepping in to replace him will be Duane "Bang" Ludwig who will return to the UFC for the first time since 2006 to take on Jim Miller in a 155lb contest.

The news of Sherk's replacement was confirmed to MMAWeekly.com by sources close to the fight on Wednesday evening.

Sources indicated to MMAWeekly.com that Sherk was forced off the card due to an inch long cut suffered over his right eye in training that required several stitches that would not come out until at least the middle of next week.

Jim Miller has now undergone 2 opponent changes in less than a week after Tyson Griffin was forced off the card with an injury and now Sherk drops out with a cut sustained in training that could not heal in time for the show.

The Jan 2 card was slated to be one of the UFC's biggest shows, but injuries have forced a multitude of changes and with 2 weeks still to go, it's no telling what else might happen to the ever changing line-up.

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Land of the Rising Sun Influences Canadian MMA Scene

Mixed martial arts has come a long way since the days of UFC and PRIDE FC. Back then, the battle lines where drawn, North American MMA versus a seemingly more diverse Japanese version. In a heart beat the North American big business machine devoured the competition ending the unforgettable pride FC. Many have felt that the days of old would never come back again after a disconcerting show in North America for the Pride organization which was bought out by the UFC, ZUFFA…………….what went wrong; true diehard fans have always wondered?????

Approaching the new year of 2010, one Canadian promoter has taken a bold step. Pasqualino Santoro, President & Owner of Colloseo Championship fighting has made a major announcement regarding future MMA in Canada. Due to a recent 9 month layoff due to family sickness, Mr Santoro has brought the fire back to the scene of a somewhat stagnant & boring North American, Mom and Pops, MMA.

Mr. Santoro, in conjunction with the Edmonton Combative Sports Commission have announced the full adoption of the dream FC rules from Japan, Director Mike Kogan of FEG USA stated the fighter has more potential then the traditional North American rules offer. I am very excited and the dream organization is also very excited and honored that a group has stepped up and visions what we see in the sport. Mr. Santoro and Mr. Kogan both agree that this allows the fighter to compete at their highest level. A bold new step? Mr. Santoro is quoted, ‘’sometimes taking new steps to evolve the sport is what it needs in order to not become as stale as boxing.” I think Mr. Kogan is excited and not to speak for him or the dream organization but it allows their Organization and others from Japan to learn if the fighters in North America meet the standard level of MMA in Japan. Rather than busting their ass through the ranks and then going over there to figure out when they are in the ring that they do not cut the mustard with the 10 min time limits and action rules?”

More here: http://topmmanews.com/2009/12/16/ccf-sanctioned-to-use-dream-rules-in-edmonton/
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Logan and Natasha Fired!

MMAMADNESS.com has learned that both Natasha Wicks and Logan Stanton have been cut from the UFC as ring girls. Stanton’s contract expired after UFC 107 and the UFC chose not to renew it. Wicks was cut before the expiration of her contract. Ring girl Arianny Celeste will remain on with the organization; as her contract has been recently renegotiated- explaining her absence from UFC 107.

According to sources, there will be only two ring girls from this point forward. Though it has not been officially announced, our insiders are being told Chandella Powell, a former playmate, will be the newest ring girl.

Good thing they didn't fire Arianny. Chandella isn't bad but she is no Logan.
http://www.mmafightgirls.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/logan-stanton.jpg

ActionAndy

12-18-2009, 08:17 AM

I'm not really into blondes but Natasha is amazing. I miss her already.

NCRadioMan

12-18-2009, 08:23 AM

Robbie Lawler Off Strikeforce Card

Robbie Lawler will not be competing this Saturday night after all. The middleweight fighter was supposed to face Trevor Prangley on the undercard of Showtime's Strikeforce: Evolution card, but after Prangley was forced to withdraw earlier this week due to an injury suffered during training, the organization was left without an opponent.

Strikeforce tried to find an opponent for Lawler, but FanHouse has learned that they have decided to keep him off the card. The organization is hoping to reschedule him for the upcoming Jan. 30 event in Sunrise, Fla.

MAIN CARD

CUNG LE (6-0) VS SCOTT SMITH (17-6)
JOSH THOMSON (16-2) VS GILBERT MELENDEZ (16-2) - LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
RONALDO "JACARE" SOUZA (10-2) VS MATT "THE LAW" LINDLAND (21-6)
MUHAMMED "KING MO" LAWAL (5-0) VS "IRON" MIKE WHITEHEAD

UNDERCARD

ANTWAIN "THE JUGGERNAUT" BRITT (9-3) VS SCOTT LIGHTY (5-0)
BRYAN TRAVERS (13-1) VS DAISUKE NAKAMURA (20-11) LUIS MENDOZA VS JUAN NUNEZ (1-1)
ALEX TREVINO (4-1) VS BOBBY STACK (6-1)
ALEX CRISPIM (3-2) VS AJ FONSECA (4-1)

TIME
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2009 - 10:00PM/ET (PRELIMS AT 8:00PM)

HOW TO WATCH
LIVE ON SHOWTIME - IN CANADA ON SUPERCHANNEL
TICKETS

NCRadioMan

12-19-2009, 05:11 PM

Picks in bold. King Mo rulz! :banger

MAIN CARD

CUNG LE (6-0) VS SCOTT SMITH (17-6)
JOSH THOMSON (16-2) VS GILBERT MELENDEZ (16-2) - LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
RONALDO "JACARE" SOUZA (10-2) VS MATT "THE LAW" LINDLAND (21-6)
MUHAMMED "KING MO" LAWAL (5-0) VS "IRON" MIKE WHITEHEAD

TIME
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2009 - 10:00PM/ET (PRELIMS AT 8:00PM)

HOW TO WATCH:

LIVE ON SHOWTIME - IN CANADA ON SUPERCHANNEL

NCRadioMan

12-19-2009, 10:08 PM

Well, my picks sucked. lol Except for King Mo. Great fights and a great show and a possible fight of the year with Thomson and Melendez. What a slugfest. Can't wait to the Thomson/Melendez III. Cung Le was beating the crap out of Smith for 2 and a half rounds then, as Smith does, comes back with one punch. He looked totally outclassed by Le then POW! You can never count out a big puncher. Jacare was awesome and scary good tonight. King Mo was, well, King Mo. WAR King Mo!

Can't wait to see the next SF card in Jan. Cyborg, Bobby Lashley's SF debut, Nick Diaz and Herchel Walker's MMA debut.

Now off to see the WEC fights..................

goalie204

12-19-2009, 10:11 PM

good strikeforce

NCRadioMan

12-20-2009, 12:39 AM

Just finished watching the WEC card. Ok show, nothing special but there was a nice Peruvian necktie applied in one bout. StrikeForce takes the night, easily.

Steelergar

12-20-2009, 08:31 AM

Jacare is going to rattle the middleweight ranks of Strikeforce, he was calling out their champ before he even made his debut and accused people of ducking him who were proposed to him. Would love to see him fight miller again, shields, diaz, or henderson.

Steelergar

12-20-2009, 12:54 PM

I just read that Nick Diaz is going to fight Marius Zaromskis at Strikeforce Miami, that will be one hell of a fight.

NCRadioMan

12-20-2009, 02:10 PM

Versus to air UFC matches - Sports Business Journal

The UFC is coming to Versus as part of a two-year renewal that the Comcast-owned network signed with the mixed martial arts association’s parent, Zuffa.

Versus will telecast two live UFC matches next year, in addition to seven from the WEC, MMA’s division for lighter weights, also owned by Zuffa. As part of the deal, Versus plans to stream one additional WEC fight per fight card exclusively to Versus.com.

Versus also is planning to produce many hours of shoulder programming around its WEC fights, including previews, best knockouts and a review of the best fights.

But the biggest part of the deal is UFC, which has produced some of the most popular programming for Spike TV, which will continue to telecast many of its fights.

The move to Versus, though, is important as it represents the most mainstream sports outlet to carry live UFC matches. Fox Sports Net regionals carried UFC events in the past, but those were telecast on tape delay.

Following on the ratings and ad sales success of its WEC programming, Versus didn’t hesitate to bring on the UFC.

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Fedor VS. Werdum targeted for April CBS event

Before the dust settled on Saturday night’s Strikeforce: Evolution event, the questions came fast and furious at CEO Scott Coker, prompting him for the direction the promotion is headed... and he had plenty of answers.

Foremost on everyone’s mind is the return of Fedor Emelianenko. Coker confirmed plans for Fedor’s return on the promotion’s next CBS event, slated for sometime in mid-to-late April.

“It’s not confirmed... (but) on that fight card, you’ll most likely see Fedor fighting Fabricio (Werdum),” he revealed. “It’s not guaranteed, but you will see Dan Henderson fighting on that card, and Gina Carano, we’ll invite her if she’s ready.”

Henderson’s opponent hasn’t been finalized yet either, but he is expected to challenge current middleweight champion Jake Shields under the watchful eye of CBS.

Pressed about heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem, the CEO said, “We’re probably gonna invite Alistair to fight on the CBS card,” dispelling initial plans for an earlier return.

Coker also has big plans outside of the April fight card, particularly in the lightweight division. He intends to expand on Strikeforce’s relationship with Japanese fight promotion Dream.

First up are bouts for Gilbert Melendez and Josh Thomson, who had another battle in their rematch on Saturday night.

“(Shinya) Aoki and Gilbert and do (Tatsuya) Kawajiri vs. Thomson,” said Coker, mapping the road for his two top 155ers, intending to pit them against two other top lightweights in the world.

He insists those are plans for Melendez and Thomson, not just hopeful talk. He’s targeting the second quarter of 2010 to make both those fights happen.

“I think we’ve done some really big things in the last eight months. Making that Dream relationship activate, to me, is critical and important, because otherwise we’re just talking. It’s taken a long time to get to this point, but I think we’re on the cusp of making it happen.”

NCRadioMan

12-22-2009, 10:22 PM

Aoki-Hirota, Kawajiri-Yokota Official for ‘Dynamite’

Dream champion Shinya Aoki will lock horns with Sengoku titleholder Mizuto Hirota in a showdown between two of the world’s top lightweights at K-1 “Dynamite Power of Courage 2009” on Dec. 31 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Aoki last appeared in October when he submitted Joachim Hansen with a second-round armbar, avenging his technical knockout loss to the Norwegian in the 2008 Dream lightweight grand prix. The 26-year-old has posted five wins in six fights and holds notable victories over Vitor Ribeiro, Bellator champion Eddie Alvarez and American Top Team dynamo Gesias Cavalcante. Aoki has delivered 13 of his 22 wins by submission and has solidified his place as one of the most feared ground fighters in the sport.

Hirota, 28, has secured back-to-back quality stoppage wins over former Sengoku champion Satoru Kitaoka and Strikeforce veteran Mitsuhiro Ishida. A 2008 knockout victory against former International Fight League titleholder Ryan Schultz strengthens his resume, which includes eight finishes. Hirota has never been finished in 16 career bouts.

The Aoki-Hirota match was not the only high-profile tilt added to the K-1 mix on New Year’s Eve. Tatsuya Kawajiri will meet Kazunori Yokota in another pivotal lightweight bout.

The 31-year-old Kawajiri has won six of his last seven fights, the lone defeat coming to Alvarez in the 2008 “Fight of the Year.” He counts victories over Cavalcante, Ribeiro, Hansen and UFC veterans Per Eklund and Yves Edwards among his 25 conquests. Kawajiri last competed two months ago, when he stopped the overmatched Melchor Manibusan on first-round strikes at Dream 11.

Yokota will carry a three-fight winning streak into the match. The 31-year-old outpointed the respected Eiji Mitsuoka at Sengoku “Eleventh Battle” last month, maintaining the momentum he gained with a spectacular knockout of Schultz earlier this year. Yokota owns other noteworthy victories over Hirota and reigning Sengoku featherweight king Michihiro Omigawa.

This will easily be the best show of the year!

dannysguitar

12-23-2009, 02:35 PM

Man, she is just so unbelievably hot...

http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs123.snc3/17062_215107766831_62041586831_2926061_6332238_n.j pg

Steelergar

12-26-2009, 08:15 AM

Looks like Rampage is on his way to Strikeforce. He says he is not going to renegotiate with UFC. King Mo metioned Rampage at the Evolution post fight conference as a possible opponent. You have to be a deadbeat of a president to have one your fighters as a TUF coach then drive them off with Dana's immature antics. The 2nd consecutive TUF coach to leave at that.

NCRadioMan

12-26-2009, 11:58 AM

I think Rampage still has a couple of more fights on his contract before he can leave. He has stated he will definitely fight Rashad in the first one. It was Rampage that screwed everything up. He decided to do A-Team when he was already scheduled to fight Rashad and left the UFC in a lurch. I don't blame Dana for this one.

Looks like legend Don Frye has called it quits and retired from MMA to pursue acting.

My God, the Dynamite 2009 card just keeps getting bigger and better!

The event, which will feature fighters from DREAM, World Victory Road and K-1, recently added an MMA-rules match-up between hard-hitting Melvin Manhoef (23-6-1) and Kazuo Misaki (22-9-2).

Meanwhile, MMA fighter Jason High tweeted on Thursday night that Gegard Mousasi vs. Gary Goodridge will also take place on the card. Michael Kogan, Fighting and Entertainment Group's American director, told MMAFighting.com on Friday that the bout is "close" to being finalized. The fight would take place under K-1 rules.

NCRadioMan

12-26-2009, 10:46 PM

I don't really care about this but news has been slow so...............

Frank Shamrock-March Return.

Despite losing three of his last four fights and finding his groove as a television broadcaster, Frank Shamrock isn't ready to hang up his MMA gloves just yet.

The 37-year-old veteran said on a recent edition of The MMA Hour that Strikeforce has asked him to fight on a yet to be announced card "in the first week or so of March."

Shamrock (23-10-2), who most recently lost to Nick Diaz via second-round TKO in April, said that no opponent has been made official just yet.

"Whoever brings ratings. I need ratings. I just need some ratings," Shamrock said when asked who he might face next.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I thought this ruled! :r

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x165/Zwarrior2/Fedorlakers.jpg

ActionAndy

12-29-2009, 10:50 AM

Steelergar

12-29-2009, 01:30 PM

Its always on Justintv

NCRadioMan

12-29-2009, 02:14 PM

I think Mousasi's been added to this upcoming Dream card. Does anyone know how to watch these fights? I'm not a very good link hunter but I'm sure it's streamed somewhere (and if there's an official place to pay/watch, I'd prefer that).

That's right and Mousasi should demolish Goodridge.

Gegard Mousasi vs. Gary Goodridge set for year-end "Dynamite!! 2009" event!

A recently rumored contest between Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi (27-2-1) and UFC and PRIDE veteran Gary Goodridge (23-19-1) is apparently on.

While DREAM, World Victory Road and K-1 officials have yet to make an official announcement, MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today spoke with Mousasi's manager and M-1 Global executive Apy Echteld who confirmed "The Dreamcatcher" is currently en route to Japan for the matchup.

Goodridge was not immediately available for comment.

While "Dynamite!! 2009" will feature a collection of kickboxing contests in addition to mixed martial arts bouts, Mousasi and Goodridge will reportedly compete under full MMA rules.

It will be broadcast on cable's HDNet at 3am Eastern Dec. 31st. If you don't have it, Justin tv is a good alternative.

The card is HUGE and I can't wait!

MMA Bouts:

DREAM Heavyweight bout: Gary Goodridge vs. Gegard Mousasi
DREAM vs SRC, Middleweight bout: Melvin Manhoef vs. Kazuo Misaki
DREAM vs SRC, Lightweight bout: Shinya Aoki (DREAM Champion) vs. Mizuto Hirota (SRC Champion)
DREAM vs SRC, Lightweight bout: Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Kazunori Yokota
Sengoku Raiden Championship Heavyweight bout: Satoshi Ishii vs. Hidehiko Yoshida
DREAM vs SRC, Heavyweight bout: Alistair Overeem vs. Kazuyuki Fujita
DREAM vs SRC, Featherweight bout: Norifumi Yamamoto vs. Masanori Kanehara (SRC Champion)
DREAM vs SRC, Welterweight bout: Hayato Sakurai vs. Akihiro Gono
DREAM vs SRC, Heavyweight bout: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hiroshi Izumi
DREAM vs SRC, Featherweight bout: Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Michihiro Omigawa
DREAM vs SRC, Featherweight bout: Hideo Tokoro vs. Jong Man Kim
DREAM Super Hulk Grand Prix 2009 Final: Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou

K-1 Bouts:

K-1 MAX bout: Masato vs. Andy Souwer
K-1 Heavyweight bout: Ray Sefo vs. Yosuke Nishijima
K-1 KOSHIEN 62 kg Class Tournament Semi-Finals: Shota Shimada vs. Katsuki Ishida
K-1 KOSHIEN 62 kg Class Tournament Semi-Finals: Hiroya vs. Masaaki Noiri
K-1 KOSHIEN 62 kg Class Tournament Reserve Fight: Tsukasa Fuji vs. Tatuya Kusakabe
K-1 KOSHIEN 62 kg Class Tournament Final: Hiroya/ Masaaki Noiri vs. Shota Shimada/ Katsuki Ishida

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mike Swick replaces Josh Koscheck at UFC 109

With welterweight contender Josh Koscheck (14-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) forced to bow out of a planned UFC 109 contest with Paulo Thiago (12-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC), UFC officials were forced to search for a replacement.

They didn't have to look far.

Koscheck's American Kickboxing Academy teammate Mike Swick (14-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) has been tagged as Thiago's new opponent according to a report from AOL FanHouse.

An additional report from Sherdog.com states that Swick has verbally agreed to the contest, though bout agreements have yet to be distributed.

NCRadioMan

12-29-2009, 06:26 PM

This is starting to get strange now..............

CANTWELL OFF UFC 108...........REPLACEMENT SOUGHT

And the curse continues...

Vladimir Matyushenko on Tuesday confirmed to MMAWeekly.com that his originally scheduled opponent for this weekend’s UFC 108 in Las Vegas, Steve Cantwell, is out of their fight due to undisclosed reasons.

The UFC has told Matyushenko that they are actively searching to find a replacement, and that he should continue his preparations to make weight on Friday and fight on Saturday.

Leading up to UFC 108, Cantwell had lost two fights in a row and appeared to be in serious need of a win to stay with the promotion. The former WEC champion was moved to the UFC last year when the WEC ceased promoting the 205-pound weight class.

Matyushenko on the other hand recently returned to the UFC for the first time in six years when he defeated Igor Pokrajac at UFC 103 in September. He is currently amidst a run that has seen him win 10 of 11 fights. His only loss during that time was to another recent UFC acquisition, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, when the two fought for Affliction in January.

Steelergar

12-30-2009, 08:12 AM

they should just put UFC 108 on Spike. Even the next 2 or 3 cards after that up until the Nog main event card.

ActionAndy

12-30-2009, 10:50 AM

Let's all discuss an upcoming fight: Wandy vs. Bisping.

I think Wanderlei knocks Bisping's head out into the fifth row.

goalie204

12-30-2009, 11:40 AM

Let's all discuss an upcoming fight: Wandy vs. Bisping.

I think Wanderlei knocks Bisping's head out into the fifth row.

yep

Steelergar

12-30-2009, 07:52 PM

Hope so

Steelergar

12-30-2009, 07:55 PM

Fields dynamite is at 0300, might have to take a nap and set my alarm. .

NCRadioMan

12-30-2009, 10:47 PM

Fields dynamite is at 0300, might have to take a nap and set my alarm. .

Oh, I am ready. 8 hours of MMA/K-1 action! :banger

And yes, let's hope Wandy beats the crap out of Bisping.

Steelergar

12-31-2009, 08:26 AM

Holy shite, I just watched the Aoki fight and Bas Rutten needs to redo the end of the year awards and give Aoki a brazzi for submission of the year.

NCRadioMan

12-31-2009, 03:59 PM

Holy shite, I just watched the Aoki fight and Bas Rutten needs to redo the end of the year awards and give Aoki a brazzi for submission of the year.

One of the very few highlights, unfortunately. I watched the whole thing and was overall, disappointed. Alot of early stoppages, only a few really good fights and alot of stinkers.

NCRadioMan

01-01-2010, 08:51 AM

Thiago Alves and Jon Fitch agree to rematch at UFC 111

Thiago Alves apparently has gotten his wish and will get a rematch with Jon Fitch.

Alves (16-6 MMA, 9-3 UFC), who originally was expected to fight Ricardo Almeida at UFC 111, instead has agreed to fight Fitch (21-3 MMA, 11-1 UFC) at the March event.

Sources close to both competitors told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) verbal agreements are in place for the welterweight matchup, though bout agreements have not been signed.

UFC 111 takes place March 27 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., and airs on pay-per-view.

UFC 111 card as of now:

Champ Georges St-Pierre vs. Dan Hardy (for welterweight title)
Shane Carwin vs. Frank Mir (for interim heavyweight title)
Thiago Alves vs. Jon Fitch
Ricardo Almeida vs. TBA

I wonder if folks think the same of Aoki as they did Lesnar? Broke dudes arm them flipped him off and then ran around the ring and flipped the crowd off.

http://i50.tinypic.com/2r2x4pi.gif

NCRadioMan

01-02-2010, 01:40 AM

Takanori Gomi Signs With UFC

LAS VEGAS -- Takanori Gomi, once considered to be one of the best lightweight fighters in the world, has signed a multi-fight contract with the UFC. MMAFighting.com learned of the acquisition from sources on Friday.

Nicknamed "The Fireball Kid," Gomi (31-5-0, 1 NC) had talked about wanting to sign with Strikeforce or the UFC in 2010, and recently spent some time training at the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, Calif.

No word on when and where Gomi will make his debut for the UFC. The organization has yet to officially announce the signing.

The former PRIDE lightweight champion has recently gotten his career back on track after losing two straight fights in Sengoku. Gomi followed up his victory over Takahashi Nakakura at the Shooto: Traditional Final event in May with a unanimous decision win over Tony Hervey at Vale Tudo Japan 2009 in October.

I've always liked Gomi. I hope he can return to his former form.

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Below are the official weigh-in results for Saturday’s UFC 108 event. UFC 108, which is headlined by the light heavyweight bout between Rashad Evans and Thiago Silva and the welterweight showdown between Paul Daley and Dustin Hazelett, airs live on pay-per-view from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas beginning at 10pm ET / 7pm PT. Fans can also tune in to Spike TV at 9pm ET / 6pm PT to see live UFC 108 preliminary bouts.

Main Event
Thiago Silva (205) VS Rashad Evans (205)

Paul Daley (172*) VS Dustin Hazelett (168)
Sam Stout (155) VS Joe Lauzon (155)
Jim Miller (155) VS Duane Ludwig (156)
Gilbert Yvel (239) VS Junior Dos Santos (237)

Jacob Volkmann (171) VS Martin Kampmann (171)
Dan Lauzon (155) VS Cole Miller (155)

Ryan Jensen (186) VS Mark Munoz (185)
Jake Ellenberger (170) VS Mike Pyle (171)
Rafaello Oliveira (156) VS John Gunderson (155)

*Daley was unable to make weight and for safety reasons, the Nevada State Athletic Commission will not allow him to try to cut to 171 pounds. Hazelett agreed to a catchweight bout at 172 pounds and Daley will be fined 10% of his purse.

In spite of all the injury pull-outs on this card, I think it's a great line up of fights.

zitro_joe

01-02-2010, 03:53 AM

I am completely digusted by Aoki's actions after he broke the dudes arm. I know there was some beef between them but that what the fight is for. His submissions are sick, but his attitude has really been going down hill. Joe Stevenson has been asking for him, I would like see that.

goalie204

01-02-2010, 04:26 AM

i thought it was funny

NCRadioMan

01-02-2010, 11:10 AM

Joe Stevenson has been asking for him, I would like see that.
Highly unlikely. If Aoki comes to the states it will be with StrikeForce.

White:"Evans win probably means March date with Rampage"

LAS VEGAS – While former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson's recent acting aspirations have put a potential matchup with rival Rashad Evans on hold, UFC president Dana White said that the grudge match could happen in early 2010.

In fact, if Evans can make it past fellow contender Thiago Silva at tonight's UFC 108 event in Las Vegas, the bout could take place in March.

wavescrashing

01-02-2010, 11:37 AM

Highly unlikely. If Aoki comes to the states it will be with StrikeForce.

White:"Evans win probably means March date with Rampage"

LAS VEGAS – While former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson's recent acting aspirations have put a potential matchup with rival Rashad Evans on hold, UFC president Dana White said that the grudge match could happen in early 2010.

In fact, if Evans can make it past fellow contender Thiago Silva at tonight's UFC 108 event in Las Vegas, the bout could take place in March.

If the fight is scheduled with Rampage, I pity da fool. Okay, I don't, but I just wanted to say that. I'm with you. Aoki would make a better fit with Strikeforce and plus if it does happen, we get to hear Dana White whine on another radio show :r

zitro_joe

01-02-2010, 11:57 AM

Highly unlikely. If Aoki comes to the states it will be with StrikeForce.

yeah, he made a guest appereance at their show. He will most likely fight there since some of there fighter are allowed to fight elsewhere. When (if) he fights in the states he will have to wear shorts though. Not those those super sweet pants! He gets very agitated when asked about his pants, kind of funny.

I was just saying I would still like to see it

After seeing how huge Overeem was last night, I am serious doubting we will see him here in the states anytime soon.

NCRadioMan

01-02-2010, 12:02 PM

we get to hear Dana White whine on another radio show :r

That's a weekly event anyway. :r

zitro_joe

01-02-2010, 12:33 PM

Ah yeah, GOMI in the UFC. I have been wanting to see that for a long time. Gomi/ Diaz is one of my favorite fights of all time.

TheRealJason

01-02-2010, 08:22 PM

Ouch! Maybe Dos Santos is for real?

goalie204

01-02-2010, 08:43 PM

called it. Yvel is experienced and good, but dos santos is a young up and coming beast. Cole mIller's inverted triangle sub was awesome too.

TheRealJason

01-02-2010, 09:34 PM

Pretty good card so far tonight considering all the replacements. Am I the only cigar lover stuck at home watching?? lol!

TheRealJason

01-02-2010, 09:35 PM

Cole mIller's inverted triangle sub was awesome too.

Yeah it was. He's always fun to watch on the ground. It's amazing what some of these guys can do after getting hit hard and losing their senses. I guess that's why the train...

goalie204

01-02-2010, 09:46 PM

awesome ufc so far, every fight. These cards that appear sh1tty are always the best. Except UK ones lol

ActionAndy

01-02-2010, 10:59 PM

Ok that was a damn good card. Only two decisions if I recall correctly.

That being said: THIAGO?! FINISH THE FIGHT?! MR. SILVA?!

Yes, I know he was gassed. But he just had to flurry out some limp punches and get the fight stopped. I mean, what was the other option--oh right, letting the judges correctly assign victory to Evans. That would have been the most stylish come back, what with the chin-waving.

goalie204

01-02-2010, 11:02 PM

Steelergar

01-03-2010, 08:24 AM

I thought Silva punked out Rashad in that 3rd round. I'm sick of seeing these TUF guys play for points instead of blood. Lock these guys in a room and I bet Silva would come out on top.

goalie204

01-03-2010, 08:45 AM

I thought Silva punked out Rashad in that 3rd round. I'm sick of seeing these TUF guys play for points instead of blood. Lock these guys in a room and I bet Silva would come out on top.

how do you he figure "punked" him? He was showboating then finally hit him and didn't capitalize. It went to a decision and Rashad picked Silva apart in the first 2 rounds. Silva could have won in the 3rd if he would have stayed on rashad when he wobbled him, but he didn't, so his bad. If he had enough energy to showboat around like a retard, he could have finished it. No matter how you look at it, Silva did jack **** in the first 2 rounds, Rashad was a better fighter.

Steelergar

01-03-2010, 02:40 PM

rashad is a better sport fighter maybee. Thiago's hands were down by his side proving that Rashad is a punk and avoiding the fight in the 3rd round. All of Rashads takedowns amounted to little or no damage and Silva would stand up right away. You get no points for that in my book, or for avoiding the fight. In Japan Silva would have won that fight, especially if there is no cage to pin somebody against and stall the fight. Eventhough Silva didn't finish him you don't win fights by geting punched in the face and getting wobbled.

Steelergar

01-03-2010, 02:54 PM

Yeah it was. He's always fun to watch on the ground. It's amazing what some of these guys can do after getting hit hard and losing their senses. I guess that's why the train...

That was a great sub, I love it!

goalie204

01-03-2010, 04:00 PM

zitro_joe

01-03-2010, 05:15 PM

I thought Silva punked out Rashad in that 3rd round. I'm sick of seeing these TUF guys play for points instead of blood. Lock these guys in a room and I bet Silva would come out on top.

rashad is a better sport fighter maybee. Thiago's hands were down by his side proving that Rashad is a punk and avoiding the fight in the 3rd round. All of Rashads takedowns amounted to little or no damage and Silva would stand up right away. You get no points for that in my book, or for avoiding the fight. In Japan Silva would have won that fight, especially if there is no cage to pin somebody against and stall the fight. Eventhough Silva didn't finish him you don't win fights by geting punched in the face and getting wobbled.

I used to loathe seeing your post in this thread, but as of lately - I really look forward to them. Keep it up and do it often! I am a believer:banger

NCRadioMan

01-04-2010, 12:26 PM

goalie204

01-04-2010, 01:25 PM

NCRadioMan

01-04-2010, 02:35 PM

The following UFC 108 bonuses were revealed during last night's post-fight press conference:

Fight Of The Night: ($50,000) -- Sam Stout def. Joe Lauzon

Knockout Of The Night ($50,000) -- Paul Daley def. Dustin Hazelett

Submission Of The Night ($50,000) -- Cole Miller def. Dan Lauzon

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UFC and M-1 reopen talks; White hopeful for Emelianenko and Mousasi in the UFC

Apparently, the Ultimate Fighting Championship's door hasn't completely closed on notables Fedor Emelianenko and Gegard Mousasi.

Although the M-1 fighters are signed in the U.S. to Strikeforce and past negotiations with the UFC fell apart, UFC president Dana White said he recently reopened talks with M-1 Global boss Vadim Finkelstein.

White wouldn't elaborate on the nature of the discussions, only saying they've taken place "more recently than you would think." But Finkelstein has since confirmed he's entered talks and hopes "fans will be happy this time" with the outcome.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

James Toney, yes that James Toney, wants to fight in the UFC!

http://fighthype.com/pages/content6619.html

ActionAndy

01-04-2010, 03:42 PM

I'll keep my excitement to a minimum but hopefully M-1 has some realistic expectations this time. I want to see The Emperor reign...

NCRadioMan

01-04-2010, 05:19 PM

Well this didn't long.............. :r

M-1: "absolutely zero communication with UFC"

It didn't take much for the Fedor Emelianenko discussion to begin again.

With a simple post-UFC 108 statement that he had talked to M-1 Global officials "more recently than you would think," UFC president Dana White set the rumor mill in motion that Emelianenko, and perhaps fellow M-1 fighter Gegard Mousasi, could be on their way to the world's largest MMA promotion.

Today, M-1 Global exec Jerry Millen told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that in reality, the two sides were having "absolutely zero communication."

"I called everybody in the company before I made this statement," Millen said. "I called (M-1 Global president) Vadim Finkelchtein and talked to him, and he said, 'Absolutely not. There's no correspondence with the UFC at all.'

"I think Dana, in a fantasy dream he had, he signed Fedor. That's probably the 'more recent than you think.' He's dreaming. He wants Fedor. His heavyweight division is a mess."

With current UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar on the shelf indefinitely, Millen believes White may now more than ever see the need to bring Emelianenko, who is a part owner of M-1 Global, into the fold. Millen also contends the UFC could use "The Last Emperor" to help bolster lagging pay-per-view sales.

"The (UFC) pay-per-views aren't doing well," Millen said. "I don't care what anybody says, the numbers that people are reporting the pay-per-views are doing, they're not doing.

"Their pay-per-views are hurting, and for the next couple of pay-per-views, look at the main events. I love the fighters that are fighting, but they're not going to sell a lot of pay-per-views. So Dana has got to stir up controversy or talk it up any way he can."

Millen believes White's vague comments regarding potential communications with M-1 Global may have been a creative attempt to damage the still-developing partnership between the Russian organization, Strikeforce, Showtime and CBS.

"When I saw this coming down, I was like, 'OK, what's going on here? Is this Dana trying to affect our relationship with CBS and Showtime and Strikeforce?'" Millen asked. "We have a great relationship. We're very happy with our partners, and we see a great future with them. But this is a way to undermine somebody.

"If you think somebody isn't fully committed, would you be fully committed? What you do is create doubt, and that's what they're trying to do – create doubt that M-1 is not fully committed. But we are fully committed to Showtime and Strikeforce. It's a great partnership."

That partnership resulted in both Emelianenko and Mousasi fighting on CBS this past November, and the two will likely repeat the process in April. But with Strikeforce and M-1 Global officially tied together for just three fights, could things change some time in 2010?

"You can never say 'Never' in anything," Millen said. "Would I love to see Fedor fight Brock Lesnar? Sure. I'd love to see him smash Lesnar. But it would have to be an M-1/Strikeforce/UFC collaboration, and they're never going to that. They're never going to break their business model. They're just not, unless the fans keep hammering Dana so much that they have to."

White has admitted to offering millions of dollars for Emelianenko's services, and the UFC exec also admitted at this past Saturday's press conference that he was a fan of Mousasi. But Millen said it's going to take more than a large contract to bridge the gap between the two parties.

"Dana wants Emelianenko and Mousasi now, bad, because he needs those guys," Millen said. "They're two of the best fighters in the world. But if things don't go his way, in two months it will be, 'Fedor sucks. He's overrated. He doesn't fight anybody. There's no depth.' Well look, your guys are dropping off, too. He goes back and forth. I think he's bi-polar."

"Money can buy you just about everything but Fedor. That's what Dana is running into. ... Dana White has no clue about the people he's dealing with in M-1. He doesn't know anything about the people in M-1. He doesn't know how to treat them. He doesn't know their background. He doesn't know who they are as people. That's his biggest problem."

Millen said the M-1 Global team, including Emelianenko, is more interested in respect than the amount of zeroes on a paycheck.

"Dana White doesn't respect anybody," Millen said. "He doesn't respect his fighters, I don't feel. He respects Fedor, and then he doesn't respect him. He respects the Russians for a minute, and then he calls them 'The Crazy Russians.' Dana White needs to learn how to respect people. He doesn't treat people very well.

"I just feel he thinks he's at the top of the world, but the people you see going up the ladder are the same ones you see coming back down. It's all about respect."

So according to Millen, the speculation can stop just as quickly as it started. The M-1 Global exec says his company is satisfied with its current partnerships, and their position on key topics such as co-promotion haven't changed.

"We're very happy," Millen said. "Everything with the first event was a great success.

"Dana is grabbing at straws. He wants Fedor so bad he can taste it. ... But as long as M-1 is involved, I'm sure it's always going to be co-promotion. Fedor has been a part of the family. You don't just give your family away. Gegard is an M-1 fighter, as well, and he's right there with Fedor."

kgoings

01-04-2010, 06:24 PM

A punk for avoiding the fight? lol All the showboating Silva did was prove that Rashad was disciplined and wouldn't get suckered into a slugfest.

Rashad fought a very smart fight. The goal is to win. Don't matter how. If you try to stand-up and brawl with a superior striker, you will likely get beaten down. He learned his lesson well in the Machida fight. Silva couldn't stop from being taken down and did nothing for 2 rounds. This is the first time in all of Rashads UFC fights he didn't go for the KO and his game plan worked perfectly. Silva had him beaten in the 3rd but didn't follow up.

Good show overall. I did think Yvel/Dos Santos was stopped too early though.

:tpd:

Rashad had a game plan and wasn't going to get suckered into a slugfest. You could say Silva was avoiding the fight by getting up every time he was taken down. Rashad was very disciplined and fought his game plan, he won the fight and Tiago did a whole lot of nothing up until he got in his one good punch.

I thought Rashad was done in the 3rd, but Tiago didn't take advantage.

zitro_joe

01-04-2010, 08:06 PM

I thing there is 10% truth to what Dana says. I never believe anything Jerry Millen says, never. He announced that they would let fedor fight for free in the UFC. Yeah, right.

NCRadioMan

01-05-2010, 12:02 AM

Melvin Manhoef confirmed for “Strikeforce: Miami”

The most devastating knockout artist in the brief history of the sport is all set to make his promotional debut with Strikeforce in Miami.

FiveOuncesofPain.com has recently confirmed that Melvin Manhoef will be making his Strikeforce debut during “Strikeforce: Miami” through sources close to the fighter.

Manhoef will be throwing down for the first time under the Strikeforce banner during “Strikeforce: Miami”, which is set for January 30 from the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida, and will air live on Showtime, along with The Super Channel in Canada.

No opponent has been named for Manhoef as of this writing, but stay tuned to 5 Oz. as we continue to keep you up to date on everything “Strikeforce: Miami”.

The appropriately nicknamed “No Mercy” is widely regarded to be the most ferocious knockout artist the sport has ever seen, with twenty three of his twenty-four victories being finished by either KO or TKO. Manhoef has won seven of his last nine bouts, with his most recent victory coming over the highly regarded Kazuo Misaki during the year end “Dynamite!! 2009″ card.

zitro_joe

01-06-2010, 01:20 PM

Miami looks to be a good show so far. MMA and Dexter are the only reason I get Showtime

NCRadioMan

01-06-2010, 03:20 PM

Miami looks to be a good show so far. MMA and Dexter are the only reason I get Showtime

Yes, it does. I like the card.

"Strikeforce: Miami" gets three more bouts

With Strikeforce's first event of 2010 a little more than three weeks away, the fight card is nearing completion.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today confirmed with promotion officials the addition of three preliminary card matchups to the Jan. 30 "Strikeforce: Miami" event.

And with Showtime committed to broadcasting five main-card matchups, a pair of high-profile fighters will likely be left off of the evening's premium cable broadcast – though it will not necessarily go unseen.

The three official additions to the card include Pablo Alfonso vs. Marcos da Matta, Sabah Homasi vs. John Kelly, and David Gomez vs. Craig Oxley. Strikeforce is expected to add at least one more preliminary matchup to the card, bringing the total guaranteed bouts to a minimum of 10.

Headlining the preliminary card will be a recently confirmed matchup between Jay Hieron (18-4 MMA, 1-0 SF) and Joe Riggs (32-10 MMA, 3-2 SF). Both are considered top welterweight contenders in the Strikeforce organization, and though Showtime will not air the fight, sources close to the Strikeforce promotion indicated the group may be seeking an alternative method of broadcasting the matchup.

The current Xtreme Fighting Championships bantamweight champion, Alfonso (5-1 MMA, 0-0 SF) brings a proven grappling game to the cage. The 26-year-old has earned four of his five career wins by submission, and his lone loss came in March 2009 via decision.

An American Top Team black belt known as "Parrumpinha," da Matta (7-0 MMA, 0-0 SF) also brings a capable ground game to the card. After sitting out in 2008, da Matta went 4-0 in 2009. The Brazilian owns two wins by TKO in addition to his three submission victories.

A Michigan native, Sabasi (2-0 MMA, 0-0 SF) debuted professionally in 2009. "The Punisher," who trains out of Coopers Gym in Detroit, has earned both of his career wins by first-round TKO.

Kelly (3-0 MMA, 0-0 SF) also brings an undefeated record to the cage. The 31-year-old earned three wins in 2009 in the first three bouts of his professional career. All three victories came via stoppage.

The Florida-based Gomez (0-2 MMA, 0-0 SF) made his professional debut in 2008 for the now-defunct EliteXC promotion. Winless in two professional contests, Gomez fought in 2009 under the Real Fighting Championships banner.

A striking specialist and World Combat League veteran, Oxley (0-2 MMA, 0-0 SF) also seeks his first professional MMA win. While an accomplished standup fighter, Oxley is perhaps best known to MMA hardcores as the recipient of a flashy Genki Sudo submission in a Pancrase contest held in 2000.

With the additions to the card, the full "Strikeforce: Miami" card now includes:

MAIN CARD

Nick Diaz vs. Marius Zaromskis (for vacant welterweight title)
Champ Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos vs. Marloes Coenen (for women's featherweight title)
Robbie Lawler vs. Melvin Manhoef
Bobby Lashley vs. TBA
Herschel Walker vs. TBA
PRELIMINARY CARD (un-aired)

Jay Hieron vs. Joe Riggs
Pablo Alfonso vs. Marcos da Matta*
Sabah Homasi vs. John Kelly*
David Gomez vs. Craig Oxley*

Also, Roger Gracie has signed with SF.

NCRadioMan

01-07-2010, 03:28 AM

EA has been wrapping up the photo shoots for their upcoming MMA video game. During the sessions, fighters are asked to make various facial expressions such as a look of suprise or pain. During Fedor's shoot, the photographer noticed his face stayed the same, devoid of expression. The photographer then asked for Fedor to really try harder at which Fedor replied, "I don't make faces", and exited the room while retorting, "we are done here."

:r

http://www.motifake.com/image/demotivational-poster/0807/the-many-moods-of-fedor-mma-ufc-fedor-affliction-fight-fight-demotivational-poster-1216879860.jpg

wayner123

01-07-2010, 06:49 AM

EA has been wrapping up the photo shoots for their upcoming MMA video game. During the sessions, fighters are asked to make various facial expressions such as a look of suprise or pain. During Fedor's shoot, the photographer noticed his face stayed the same, devoid of expression. The photographer then asked for Fedor to really try harder at which Fedor replied, "I don't make faces", and exited the room while retorting, "we are done here."

LOL, my favorite example of this is when Kevin Randelman slammed Fedor on his head. If you slow it down, you can see even at the point of impact, Fedor expression never changes.

NCRadioMan

01-07-2010, 06:56 AM

LOL, my favorite example of this is when Kevin Randelman slammed Fedor on his head. If you slow it down, you can see even at the point of impact, Fedor expression never changes.

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showpost.php?p=636276&postcount=906 :banger

Steelergar

01-07-2010, 08:24 AM

Great info in your post ncradioman. Roger Gracie in Strikeforce, Wow! Thats goiing to make for some great fights. What a difference 6 months has made for Strikeforce and the mma world because one guy tested positive.

NCRadioMan

01-08-2010, 03:14 PM

Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Brown slotted for UFC 111

A welterweight bout between Ricardo Almeida (11-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) and Matt Brown (11-7 MMA, 4-1 UFC) reportedly will take place in March at UFC 111.

MMAjunkie.com (http://www.mmajunkie.com) first reported Almeida's likely UFC 111 participation last month, and ESPN's "MMA Live" program today reported the Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace has agreed to fight the well-rounded Brown.

UFC 111 takes place March 27 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., with a pay-per-view championship double-header.

Welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre meets Dan Hardy in the headliner, and Frank Mir and Shane Carwin clash in a five-rounder that's currently billed as an interim heavyweight title fight.

After suffering a disappointing split-decision loss to Patrick Cote in July 2008, Almeida, who's now in his second stint with the UFC, has since bounced back with back-to-back wins over Matt Horwich and Kendall Grove. The former middleweight now heads to the welterweight division with nine wins in his past 10 fights.

Brown, meanwhile, recently scored a TKO victory over "The Ultimate Fighter 9" winner James Wilks at UFC 105. The "TUF 7" cast member is now 4-1 in the UFC, and the lone loss came to undefeated Dong Hyun Kim via close split decision.

The latest UFC 111 card now includes:

* Champ Georges St-Pierre vs. Dan Hardy (for welterweight title)
* Shane Carwin vs. Frank Mir (possibly for interim heavyweight title)
* Thiago Alves vs. Jon Fitch*
* Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Brown*

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Bonnar vs. Soszynski set for UFC 110 prelims

A bout between veteran light heavyweights Stephan Bonnar (11-6 MMA, 5-5 UFC) and Krzysztof Soszynski (18-9 MMA, 3-1 UFC) officially has been added to the UFC 110 fight card.

The bout, which MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) reported back in November, is slated for the night's un-aired preliminary card.

UFC 110 takes place Feb. 21 at Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia. The night's main card airs on pay-per-view.

Bonnar, who joined the UFC after a runner-up finish on the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter," looks to rebound from the second set of back-to-back losses in his past six fights. The Xtreme Couture fighter recently followed a unanimous decision loss to Jon Jones with another decision defeat to Mark Coleman at UFC 100 in July.

Prior to the defeats, Bonnar had posted back-to-back wins over Mike Nickels (submission) and Eric Schafer (TKO).

Soszynski returns to the cage for the first time since a disappointing decision loss to Brandon Vera at UFC 102 in August. "The Polish Experiment" took the fight on short notice for an injured Matt Hamill. Soszynski, who advanced to the semifinals on "TUF 8" before a loss to Vinny Magalhaes, was on a roll prior to the loss with six straight wins (three in the UFC) and a pair of Submission of the Night bonuses.

The latest UFC 110 card now includes:

MAIN CARD

* Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez
* Michael Bisping vs. Wanderlei Silva
* George Sotiropoulos vs. Joe Stevenson
* Ryan Bader vs. Keith Jardine
* Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Ben Rothwell

PRELIMINARY CARD

* Chris Haseman vs. Elvis Sinosic
* Stephan Bonnar vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
* C.B. Dollaway vs. Goran Reljic*
* Brian Foster vs. Chris Lytle*
* James Te Huna vs. Igor Pokrajac*

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UFC sells percentage of company to Sheik Tahnoon

FiveOuncesofPain.com has recently received reports from multiple sources extremely close to the situation indicating that the UFC has recently sold a minority percentage of the company to Sheik Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the son of the former United Arab Emirates president Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

Sheik Tahnoon is well known throughout the grappling community as the founder of the no-gi submission Olympics, the Abu Dhabi Combat Club. Himself a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Renzo Gracie, Shiek Tahnoon has been a long time supporter and practitioner of Jiu-Jitsu.

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trainer: Brock will fight again

"Though he may not fight again this year, UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar “will fight again,” according to his trainer, Marty Morgan, who provided the update in a speech at “The Clash” wrestling tournament in Minnesota.

Lesnar had a bout with a bacterial infection in his intestinal tract in November and now we’re working our way back to where we need to get back to to fight,” said Morgan. “I don’t give more answers than that, Brock doesn’t give more answers, and his agents don’t give more answers. There’s only a handful of people that know where we’re at. We’ve always just kept quiet with what’s going on. He will fight again, I know that. It’s just a matter of the public finding out when.”

On Thursday, UFC President Dana White had “no comment” on Lesnar’s status."

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Strikeforce officials has been very aggressive in growing their roster ever since striking a multi-year agreement in early 2009 to provide mixed martial arts events on both Showtime and CBS. And they’re not slowing down.

Now promotion officials are in talks with two more high profile fighters in Roger Huerta and Josh Barnett.

NCRadioMan

01-09-2010, 07:18 PM

Rampage get 3 years probation

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson can breathe a little bit easier today, after an Orange County judge struck down his felony conviction of evading police for the high-speed hijinks that ensued back in July 2008 in Newport Beach.

He’ll do his time via three years probation for misdemeanor reckless driving, instead.

In an interview with the Orange County Register, Jackson said, "I will never see that judge in a courtroom again. … I don’t see myself doing anything crazy again. … I want to be a positive role model."

Jackson, who appeared in court sporting his B.A. Baracus mohawk for his role in the upcoming "A-Team" movie, has completed more than 200 hours of community service for the stunt, including conducting seminars with young people and U.S. Marines.

In fact, the judge praised Jackson’s efforts, which he noted were more than the minimum requirements for community service.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hermes Franca calls it quits

UFC veteran and former WEC lightweight champion Hermes Franca on Friday night announced his retirement from mixed martial arts. His decision comes on the heels of a loss via TKO to Eric Wisely at MaxFightsDM: Ballroom Brawl IV in Des Moines, Iowa.

His manager, Reed Wallace of White Chocolate Management, informed MMAWeekly.com of his fighter's decision late Friday night.

The loss was Franca's fourth in his last five outings. Three of those losses were in the UFC to Sean Sherk, Frankie Edgar, and Tyson Griffin.

“The fans gave me the passion and strength that kept me competing at the championship levels for all these years. Without them, I couldn't have done it.
I owe it all to the fans,” said Franca, while indicating that his body just can't keep up with the demands of today's elite level fighters.

From the beginning of his career, Franca continually fought the top fighters in the sport. His victories include a veritable who's who of MMA: Caol Uno, Mike Brown, Nate Diaz, Spencer Fisher, Rich Crunkilton, Jamie Varner, and Marcus Aurelio, to name but a few.

Wallace told MMAWeekly.com that the 35-year-old native of Forteleza, Brazil, native intends to rest briefly then return to training his students and fighters at his gym, East West Combat Club in Syracuse, N.Y.

NCRadioMan

01-11-2010, 09:26 AM

UFC Fight Night
Location: Patriot Center Fairfax VA
Date: TONIGHT!

Gray Maynard vs Nate Diaz
Efrain Escudero vs. Evan Dunham
Tom Lawlor vs. Aaron Simpson
Amir Sadollah vs. Brad Blackburn
Chris Leben vs. Jay Silva
Rick Story vs. Jessee Lennox
Thiago Tavares vs. Nik Lentz
Mike Guymon vs. Rory Macdonald
Kyle Bradley vs. Rafael Dos Anjos
Gerald Harris vs. John Salter
Nick Catone vs. Jessee Forbes

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Nate Quarry vs. Jorge Rivera on March 31

March is going to be a very busy time for UFC matchmaker Joe Silva as it appears the UFC will put on a total of 3 shows during the month, the latest of which is slated for March 31 as a lead in to the newest season of the "Ultimate Fighter". One of the first fights set for the card has been confirmed as Nate "Rock" Quarry will take on Jorge Rivera in a middleweight contest on the show.

The bout was originally reported by MMAJunkie.com and confirmed independently by MMAWeekly.com with sources close to the fight indicating the match-up is in the works.

Quarry last competed in September at UFC Fight Night 19 in a back and forth battle against Tim Credeur, before pulling out the unanimous decision win. The former Team Quest fighter is currently 7-2 in the UFC, and known for always bringing excitement in his fights.

Hailing from Massachusetts, Jorge Rivera, is another longtime veteran of the UFC, on a two-fight win streak with victories over Nissen Osterneck and Rob Kimmons.

Both fighters are known for their willingness to stick in any fight and compete to the bitter end, so Quarry vs. Rivera has fireworks written all over it.

No other bouts have been confirmed for the March 31 card, but it's believed the show will take place in North Carolina.

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Lashley to Fight on CBS in April

Former WWE star and current Strikeforce fighter Bobby Lashley (4-0 MMA, 0-0 Strikeforce) has confirmed to Heavy.com that he'll be participating on the next Strikeforce on CBS card in April.

"We're going to do the fight on the 30th in Miami, and then turn around and do the April fight on CBS," Lashley told Heavy on Friday night. "I told them I wanted to stay active. If they want to give me six fights this year, I'll take six fights this year. I need more fights under my belt so that when that big fight comes, I'm ready for it."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

A-Team Trailer with Rampage as BA Baracus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjvkS0bqx70

http://www.virginmedia.com/images/ateam-ba-431.jpg

NCRadioMan

01-12-2010, 01:44 PM

ActionAndy

01-12-2010, 02:40 PM

Winners in bold:

Gray Maynard vs Nate Diaz
Efrain Escudero vs. Evan Dunham
Tom Lawlor vs. Aaron Simpson
Amir Sadollah vs. Brad Blackburn

4 good fights last night. The decision for Simpson was horrible, imo, but the fight was great! Maynard looked really good and Sadollah continues his mastery. I really enjoyed seeing Escudero getting stretched. I don't like him for some reason.
Fight of the Night:

Aaron Simpson and Tom Lawlor ($30,000/each)

Submission of the Night:

Evan Dunham ($30,000)

Knockout of the Night:

Nick Catone ($30,000)

I think it's his face. I don't like him either and that's the only thing I can think of. What a hero not tapping and getting his arm hyperextended for no reason...LOL

I don't see how Aaron Simpson won that fight. First round was a 10-8 blowout for Lawlor.

Mikey202

01-13-2010, 12:32 PM

Tom Lawlor was robbed. He pounded Simpson for 2 rounds. I couldn't believe the descision.:confused:

ActionAndy

01-13-2010, 12:40 PM

Tom Lawlor was robbed. He pounded Simpson for 2 rounds. I couldn't believe the descision.:confused:

Look the first round has got to be 10-8. There's no way that was a 10-9 round. Even if you give Simpson the next two rounds you reasonably have to make them 10-9ers, which makes the fight a draw. And I don't think Simpson clearly won the last two...

Farce!

goalie204

01-13-2010, 01:00 PM

lolz:

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u253/MartorDR81/Ubereem.jpg

NCRadioMan

01-13-2010, 04:38 PM

Junior Dos Santos vs. Gabriel Gonzaga co-headlines the March 21st UFC on Versus event
A heavyweight bout between rising prospect Junior Dos Santos (10-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) and perennial contender Gabriel Gonzaga (11-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) is set for the March 21 "UFC on Versus 1: Vera vs. Jones" card.

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Brock Lesnar's fighting future to be revealed next week via press conference

UFC President Dana White has revealed that both he UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar will hold a joint press conference next week in Las Vegas to discuss Brock's future as a mixed-martial-artist.

White confirmed the news to MMAfighting.com recently on a trip to New York, refusing to elaborate on the nature of the press conference, only saying Lesnar’s future would be out in the open. Confusing yet very positive reports have surfaced recently with Randy Couture revealing previous conversations with the champ and that he's already back in training and may be fighting by spring.

Lesnar required surgery to repair damage inflicted by intestinal diverticulitis. The promotion recently announced that number one contender Shane Carwin will battle former champion Frank Mir at UFC 111 in his absence and we may finally know by the end of next week if that bout will be contested for an interim title or the true title (if the Minnesotan is forced to surrender the belt in anticipation of a long or permanent absence).

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Belfort's manager confirms UFC 112 title fight with Silva

Following months of speculation on the fate of a postponed bout between middleweight champion Anderson Silva (25-4, 10-0 UFC) and challenger Vitor Belfort (19-8 MMA, 8-4 UFC), the pieces are finally in place for an April fight.

Fabiano Farah, Belfort's manager, confirmed with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) on Wednesday that Belfort meets Silva at UFC 112 on April 10 in Abu Dhabi. UFC president Dana White recently said he hoped the fight would take place on the overseas card.

The middleweight bout originally was scheduled to take place at UFC 108 on Jan. 2 but was shelved when Silva suffered complications from elbow surgery and was unable to train properly for the fight.

Silva recently began hard training again and is "very fired up" to face Belfort, according to manager Ed Soares, who declined to confirm the bout.

Belfort and Silva were on-again, off-again training partners in the original incarnation of fight team Black House formed in Brazil in 2006.

bobarian

01-13-2010, 04:57 PM

lolz:

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u253/MartorDR81/Ubereem.jpg

Just trying to stay healthy and keep from getting injured! :r

NCRadioMan

01-15-2010, 09:43 AM

Fighters Only reports:

Takanori Gomi could make his UFC debut against unsuccessful lightweight challenger Kenny Florian at UFC Fight Night 22, Fighters Only was told this week. The event takes place in North Carolina on March 31st.

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Roy Nelson expected to meet Stefan Struve in Versus card

Dutch heavyweight Stefan Struve will be facing TUF10 season winner Roy ‘Big Country’ in his next fight, Fighters Only can reveal. The fight is set to take place at UFC Fight Night 21 in North Carolina and at least one of the fighters is understood to have returned a signed bout agreement.

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Jimmy Ambriz to fight Bobby Lashley at Strikeforce: Miami

Exclusive: Jimmy Ambriz to fight Bobby Lashley at Strikeforce: Miami

FiveOuncesofpain.com has been informed by sources close to one of the fighters that Jimmy Ambriz ( 14-12-1) has been selected to fight Bobby Lashley at the upcoming Strikeforce: Miami show on Janruary 30, 2010.

The news comes just one day after reports that Yohan Banks had been ruled out by the FSBC.

Ambriz, a former King of the Cage super heavyweight champion, last saw action in July of 2009 when he faced Jeff Monson at Total Combat 33.

The expected full card for Strikeforce: Miami
MAIN CARD
NICK DIAZ VS MARIUS ZAROMSKIS
CRISTIANE CYBORG SANTOS VS MARLOES COENEN
ROBBIE LAWLER VS MELVIN MANHOEF
HERSCHEL WALKER VS GREG NAGY
BOBBY LASHLEY VS JIMMY AMBRIZ***

PRELIM CARD
JAY HIERON VS JOE RIGGS
PABLO ALFONSO VS MARCOS DAMATTA
DAVID ZITNIK VS MICHAEL BYRNES
SABAH HOMASI VS JOHN KELLY
CRAIG OXLEY VS DAVID GOMEZ
RYAN KEENAN VS HAYDER HASSAN

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Bob Shamrock, the adopted father of famed MMA legends Frank and Ken Shamrock died today following a long-term battle with various health complications due to diabetes.

News of Shamrock's passing was announced this evening by a representative of Ken's famed Lion's Den academy in Reno, Nev.

Shamrock was 68 years old.

Shamrock is best known for establishing the Shamrock Boys Home in Susanville, Calif., a facility for troubled boys. Ken and Frank each spent considerable time at the facility, and Shamrock would eventually adopt them both.

Shamrock kept the boys busy with various sporting activities, and he allowed the children to turn to controlled fisticuffs to settle their difference, as long as he was around to supervise.

"One of Ken's fondest memories of growing up at the Shamrock home was the way his dad had the kids settle their disputes," today's release stated. "If the kids got mad with each other, Bob would let them put on gloves and box in the backyard to sort things out. The only rule imposed for these matches was that Bob had to be there at the time."

Both Ken and Frank would go on to successful mixed martial arts careers that included appearances in the UFC, Pancrase, PRIDE, Strikeforce and EliteXC.

"My dad had an unbelievable light with these kids," Ken stated in this evening's release. "I've never seen anybody able to take a defiant kid into their home and handle them like my father could – willing to get into a fight with them if he had to because of disrespect and then turn around and hug them and let them know, the minute you give me respect, I'll give you respect.

"Everyone that came in contact with my dad, you could tell he made a difference in their life. I've never seen anyone have that much success with kids. I know he's with the Lord, but I'll miss him and I'm forever thankful."

Shamrock spent his final days at Ken's home surrounded by friends and family.

ActionAndy

01-15-2010, 10:06 AM

Sucks about Bob Shamrock.

I like Gomi a lot and hope he's taking his training seriously, cuz we all know Florian surely does. Seems like a tough opening bout but then again Gomi's been Champ before, so I guess he should go right into the deep end. Predictions for this fight?

And Struve seems like a tough opponent for Nelson. I'm a Big Country fan but for some reason I always see him as the underdog.

NCRadioMan

01-15-2010, 10:31 AM

NCRadioMan

01-17-2010, 02:43 PM

If health permits, Josh Koscheck meets Paul Daley at UFC 113

It looks like the Brit got half of what he wants.

Mere weeks after calling out Thiago Alves and Josh Koscheck in the wake of a stunning knockout of Dustin Hazelett, U.K. striker Paul Daley (23-8-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) and Koscheck (14-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) are expected to meet at UFC 113 in Montreal on May 1.

Sources close to the negotiations informed MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that the two have verbally agreed to the match-up, though an undisclosed injury to Koscheck that scrapped his expected UFC 109 rematch with Paulo Thiago could hold up contracts from being signed.

The as-yet-unannounced UFC 113 event is expected to take place at the Bell Centre and features a rematch between light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

I hope this happens. I want to see Kos get KTFO by Daley.

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Henderson vs. Shields Still Not Guaranteed

HENDERSON VS. SHIELDS ON CBS? NOT JUST YET!

It appears that Dan Henderson’s first fight for Strikeforce is all but a done deal.

Henderson appeared on Thursday’s edition of ESPN’s MMA Live, saying, “I’m really excited to be fighting my first fight in Strikeforce; (it) will be on CBS. It will be at 185 (pounds) against Jake Shields.” He also confirmed that the bout would be for the Strikeforce middleweight title currently around Shields’ waist.

Of course, there are two sides to every story, er, bout.

While it appears Henderson is ready to jump on the fight, it is not yet as final as it sounds. Shields’ camp told MMAWeekly.com that they hadn’t yet signed Shields’ next fight. Strikeforce executive Mike Afromowitz later said, “No. It’s not singed,” when asked about a Shields vs. Henderson title bout.

ActionAndy

01-17-2010, 10:19 PM

I think Kos has a strong enough chin to stop a flash KO; I also think he has a powerful grappling base that will allow him to frustrate Daley. Still, it's an exciting bout and I won't really pick sides on this one. I just can't wait to see it!

NCRadioMan

01-19-2010, 10:22 AM

The Lesnar press conference was canceled. Nobody seems to know why buy the Mir/Carwin fight on the UFC website no longer lists it being for the interim title. Just a "clash of the titans". And on the deathclutch page, Lesnars training people, it says "training is in session...again". I hope this is good news for Lesnar and that he may fight before the year is out.

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This is only rumor right now but I would like to see it happen.

In an amazing development, one of the biggest legends in the sport of MMA could be on the verge of a return to the Octagon. Rumours online have linked former two-time UFC tournament champion Don "The Predator" Frye with a return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship on a short contract.

The rumour, published by fan blog Juiceboxing 101, contains quotes attributed to UFC President Dana White and commentator Joe Rogan and suggests Frye will join the world's premier MMA organisation on a one-fight deal.

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Diego Sanchez returning to UFC's welterweight

After winning the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter" as a middleweight, emerging as a top contender at welterweight, dropping to lightweight and losing a title shot to champion B.J. Penn in December, Diego Sanchez is apparently ready for a change.

On Monday the fighter said he plans to return to the welterweight division.

In a series of Twitter messages, "Nightmare" welcomed fights with everyone from Josh Koscheck to Jon Fitch to fellow weight-class jumper Nate Diaz.

But as MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) first reported on Monday, Diaz instead is expected to make the jump from lightweight to welterweight to fight Rory Markham at UFC 111 in New Jersey.

Still, Sanchez (21-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC), who went 7-2 in the UFC's welterweight division and 2-1 as a lightweight, stated, "Any top guy will do."

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Koscheck confirms UFC 113 co-headliner with Paul Daley

Josh Koscheck (14-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) will, in fact, meet fellow welterweight contender Paul Daley (23-8-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) at UFC 113, and the bout will serve as the night's co-main event.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) first reported the Montreal fight over the weekend, and Koscheck has since confirmed the matchup via Twitter.

Vigiles

01-19-2010, 11:23 AM

Would be good to have lesnar come back, I'm not much of a fan of him, but I'd like to see someone beat him! Not sure who though...

ActionAndy

01-19-2010, 11:35 AM

Would be good to have lesnar come back, I'm not much of a fan of him, but I'd like to see someone beat him! Not sure who though...

Junior Dos Santos will be Heavyweight champ as soon as they give him the opportunity, and he'll hold it for quite a while.

MARK MY WORDS!

Knip23

01-19-2010, 11:41 AM

Junior will not

Vigiles

01-19-2010, 11:48 AM

He might be heavyweight champion someday, but I don't see him beating lesnar...

NCRadioMan

01-19-2010, 02:08 PM

Looks like Lesnar will be on ESPN's SportsCenter tomorrow to update his condition.

I don't care who he fights, Junior would be a good match-up imo, I just want him to come back 100% healthy.

ActionAndy

01-19-2010, 03:37 PM

If JDS does somehow lose at heavyweight he can just amputate his severely cauliflowered ears and immediately drop to middleweight... LOL

NCRadioMan

01-20-2010, 02:28 PM

Strikeforce Women’s Tourneys Launch in April

The ladies have not been forgotten.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said two previously announced eight-woman tournaments, at 135- and 145-pounds, will kick off at the promotion’s Challengers event in April.

Strikeforce 145-pound champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos and Gina Carano, whom Santos defeated by first-round technical knockout last August in San Jose, Calif., will not compete in the tournaments, said Coker.

“We’re looking for the next women to fight the Gina Caranos and the Cris Cyborgs of the world,” Coker said.

Coker said the tournaments’ quarterfinals and semifinals would be “sprinkled” over a few events.

Sarah Kaufman, an undefeated Canadian striker who’s shined in her two Challengers appearances against Miesha Tate and Shayna Baszler, will not compete in the 135-pound tournament bracket.

“I think we’re going to be promoting Sarah against (Takayo) Hashi for our (vacant) 135-pound title,” said Coker. “I think that fight’s happening sooner than later -- February or March, for sure.”

Hashi, a Smackgirl veteran, has been victorious in her last eight outings. Her only career loss came to Strikeforce veteran Hitomi Akano at a Smackgirl event in August 2005.

Coker said the tournament winners would likely face the promotion’s champions in their next bouts.

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Lesnar is good to go, next fight this summer.

His next fight will either be against Mir/Carwin winner, or if they're unavailable, Nog/Cain winner.

UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar (4-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) says through a "miracle" of medicine, he will avoid surgery and return to the octagon this summer.

Lesnar, along with UFC president Dana White made the announcement on this morning's addition of ESPN's "SportsCenter."

The appearance was the heavyweight champion's first interview since being forced out of action with a series of ailments.

The ailment, which Lesnar confirmed was initially diagnosed as mononucleosis and then diverticulitis (or as Lesnar clarified in layman's terms, "a hole in my stomach"), has kept the champion out of action since July 2009 and forced the massive wrestler out of a scheduled November UFC 106 headliner with Shane Carwin.

Lesnar said he lost nearly 40 pounds after missing nearly three weeks of training camp and during an 11-day hospitalization and was told by multiple doctors that surgery was unavoidable. The champion said he continued to hold out hope that he could avoid an invasive procedure – which he says would have been career-ending – and through what he classified as "a miracle," a follow-up appointment on Jan. 5 showed his body had begun to heal itself.

"The doctors were dumbfounded", Lesnar said. "They couldn't find any problem in my stomach. It's just a miracle to me."

"I actually had to go to the doctor yesterday before I came out here and get another CT scan on my stomach because I just still can't believe it."

While an exact date for Lesnar's return was not announced, White said he hope to have his champion back in the octagon "this summer."

As Lesnar recovers, the UFC has booked an interim title fight at UFC 111 between former champion Frank Mir and top challenger Carwin, who was slated to face the champion before his illness struck. White said the winner of that contest would be in line for the first crack at Lesnar.

Should the winner of that fight prove unable to compete, White said the UFC 110 bout between fellow contenders Cain Velasquez and Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera would serve as a backup plan.

Lesnar said the traumatic, roller-coaster ride of the past six months has forced him to take a different view on life.

"I believe the mind is a powerful thing," Lesnar said. "I was put in a position, and I had to view my life and the world in a different (manner). I had a different take on life. When you have everything taken away from you, and you're laying helplessly in your hospital bed, not sure if I'm going to even get back in the octagon, something that I've grown to just love to do – this is my life."

Despite the changes, Lesnar wanted to clarify that one thing has remained the same.

"Lets be clear with that: I still am the UFC heavyweight champion." Lesnar said.

Here is a link to Lesnar on SportsCenter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gv_37rblsk&feature=player_embedded

NCRadioMan

01-20-2010, 09:44 PM

UFC to announce outdoor Abu Dhabi card

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s much-discussed debut in the Middle East is expected to be announced in one week.

The press conference for UFC 112, which will take place April 10, is expected to include the announcement of three top matches, including two championship bouts.

“We’re going to have a big press conference in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, with our new partners from the region, Flash,” said Marshall Zelaznik, the UFC’s managing director of international expansion. "Zuffa CEO Lorenzo Fertitta and myself will be there with some of the biggest names on the UFC roster. I don’t want to give away the official announcement, but this will be a very unique show and not just because the card itself will be as good as any in UFC history.”

The card is expected to feature the return of Anderson Silva (25-4), ranked No. 1 in the Yahoo! Sports pound-for-pound rankings. The middleweight champion will defend his title against former light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort (19-8). Silva hasn’t fought since an Aug. 8 win over Forrest Griffin and his subsequent elbow surgery.

B.J. Penn (15-5-1), ranked No. 4 in the same poll, is expected to defend his lightweight title against Frankie Edgar (12-1).

The third headline match is a battle of legends with two-time welterweight champion Matt Hughes (44-7), at 36 years old, facing Renzo Gracie (13-6-1), who will be 43 come match time. The match is significant for a couple of reasons.

For one, Hughes finished Renzo’s first cousin, Royce Gracie, on May 27, 2006, in Los Angeles in what was at the time the biggest pay-per-view event in UFC history.

For another, Renzo Gracie, who hasn’t fought in three years since a disqualification win over Frank Shamrock in the first MMA event ever on Showtime, can in many ways claim some responsibility for the show taking place in Abu Dhabi.

Gracie was the jiu-jitsu instructor for Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the son of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who ruled the country from 1966-2004. Sheik Tahnoon grew to love the sport so much that he brought many of the world’s best submission fighters to Abu Dhabi in 1998 for the first Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Fighting Championship.

The sheikh has attended several UFC events in person, and on Jan. 11, Flash Entertainment, an arm of the Abu Dhabi government, purchased 10 percent ownership in Zuffa, the UFC’s parent company.

The show is scheduled to be the first outdoor event in UFC history, as there is no suitable indoor arena for such an event.

NCRadioMan

01-22-2010, 02:07 PM

Bobby Lashley has announced his opponent for the SF Miami.........Wes Sims.

This is a good fight for Lashley as Sims is very experienced. However, I don't think he have any problems with him.

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UFC president Dana White is not ruling out a Pride Fighting Championship revival in the future.

Speaking with Sun Media’s Scrapyard, White says he is pleased with the response to the historic Pride fights that have begun airing on SPIKE-TV Friday nights and if a growing number of fans tune in, a live Pride event may happen.

“You never know, anything is possible,” said White when asked if he’d consider hosting an event or two in a ring under the Pride brand.

“For its time slot on Friday night, the first episode pulled a good rating so we’re excited about that. We’re hoping that series will continue to do well.”

The UFC purchased Pride — considered by some the only real competitor to the UFC — in 2007 but was met with a hostile business climate in Japan when it tried to run the promotion. The promotion closed its offices in Japan in late 2007 and its stable of fighters were either signed to the UFC or dismissed outright.

“I don’t want to say the Pride name is dead. It’s still a strong powerful brand. But the reality is that us running Pride in Japan, that completely fell apart.”

Many of the UFC’s top fighters — including Wanderlei Silva, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Cro-Cop — moved from Pride to the UFC after purchase.

Pride became famous with fight fans for its Grand Prix tournament-style fights as well as yellow cards — similar to those given in soccer — that were shown to fighters who were too inactive or disengaged in their fights.

There were subtle rule changes between Pride and the UFC and Pride was fought in a ring instead of an Octagon.

Primarily based Japan, Pride did hold one event in the United States

http://www.ottawasun.com/sports/othersports/2010/01/22/12573911-qmi.html

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Ultimate Fighter 11 promises "new format"

Straying from the normal format and surely likely to cause more than a few head scratches, Ultimate Fighting Championship and Spike TV officials today confirmed that the upcoming 11th season of "The Ultimate Fighter" will feature 28 middleweight fighters.

The show traditionally features 16 or 32 competitors because of it's single-elimination tournament format, though officials promise a "new format" that will be revealed during the show's March 31 debut.

"TUF 11," which features former champs Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz as coaches, today went into production.

The "TUF 11" season debut airs at 10 p.m. ET/PT following Spike TV's broadcast of UFC Fight Night 21, which is expected to be headlined by Kenny Florian vs. Takanori Gomi.

As MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) recently reported, The Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale, which serves as the season's live-event conclusion, takes place on June 19.

But how does the cast go from 28 cast members to the final two? Without some tweaking, it's of course not possible – without first-round byes, double-eliminations or some other tinkering of the traditional tournament format. For example, a host of former UFC fighters (such as Bobby Southworth, Nick Thompson and Logan Clark) recently tried out for the show, and perhaps those UFC vets selected for the cast get an automatic berth into the second round.

Spike TV officials, though, told MMAjunkie.com the details of the format change will be kept under wraps until the March 31 debut.

NCRadioMan

01-22-2010, 11:45 PM

Chael Sonnen is gunning for the middleweight belt, but he's also going after Anderson Silva for what he perceives as a falsehood being portrayed by the champion.

The Top 10 middleweight spoke to MMAWeekly Radio recently where he unloaded on Silva and his manager, Ed Soares, for some issues he has with the fighter most call the top pound-for-pound competitor on the planet. Sonnen says very candidly that he's hoping for a title shot if he gets past Nate Marquardt at UFC 109, but doesn't care one bit if it's Silva who's defending the belt.

"I would imagine, who knows what Anderson's doing. At the end of the day, who cares," said Sonnen. "If he wants to leave the division, leave the sport, who cares. Beat it, nobody tunes in to watch him anyways, and his little fake 'I don't speak English.

"You want me to let you in on a secret, Anderson Silva speaks perfect English. He just has such a low amount of respect for you and all the rest of the media that he pretends he doesn't. I've had conversations with Anderson Silva in perfect English, and on top of that he's so boring to listen to that he and his rocket scientist manager, Ed Soares, who is also about as exciting as watching grass grow, have decided that Ed is better on the mic than Anderson, so just let Ed do the talking."

Sonnen says Silva's disdain for the media reaches back to other fighters as well, who speak about the subject in private amongst themselves.

"It's quite ironic that all the media comes on and talks about how great this guy is for reasons that are completely un-understandable to me. How great Anderson Silva is, and all of us fighters are in the back going, 'jeez, they're out there massaging his ego, Anderson hates them so much, he pretends he can't understand them,’" Sonnen stated.

One person who will not be signing up for the Anderson Silva fan club anytime soon is Sonnen, who also slammed the champion for his top pound-for-pound status, and believes that if they ever do fight, the verbal warfare will be decidedly one-sided.

"That guy's no more the top fighter out there than Bigfoot is roaming the woods," said Sonnen. "That is an absolute myth, and all these guys can buy into it, but there's a young man out in Portland, Ore., that is not signing up on that bandwagon.

"If Anderson ever signed to fight me, which is highly unlikely, he'll be getting a verbal beating like you've never seen. And his language barrier won't be the point of interest."

Silva's manager spoke exclusively with MMAWeekly Radio after hearing Sonnen's comments and actually had some complimentary things to say about the Team Quest fighter, but believes that everything being said has a purpose behind it.

"Who is this that we're talking about?" Soares joked when Sonnen's name came up.

"I think Chael's a really super nice guy and every time I've met the guy he's always been really cool to me. That's weird that he would say stuff on the radio, but I think at the end of the day, Chael's not a dumb guy, he's a pretty smart guy," Soares commented. "I think no one will really pay attention to what he has to say unless he probably talks about Anderson."

Soares also reacted to Sonnen's comments about Silva's performances and believes he needs to look in the mirror before pointing the finger at anyone else.

"Anyone that has a mouth can say what they want," he said. "I don't think people pay too much attention to what Chael does. Saying that Anderson's boring or Anderson's this, Anderson's that, we don't even need to go back and see what Chael has done. If you really want to analyze Chael's career over the past couple years, he's had some wins, but he said he didn't tap against Paulo Filho. If the ref wouldn’t have stopped the fight, Paulo Filho would have his arm in Brazil with him.

"And when he beat Paulo Filho, he was 35 to 40 percent of a Paulo Filho and he took him to a decision. Then he went and fought Damien Maia, got submitted quick, and now he's going to fight Nate Marquardt which Nate just ended up knocking out Damien Maia. I think Chael should be really focused on his fight that he's got against Nate Marquardt because I can tell you right now that's probably going to be the hardest fight of his life. I would put my money on Nate."

Commenting about Silva's willingness to speak English also came up. While Soares admits that the champion has had some issues with the media in the past, overall he understands that it's all part of the business.

"He doesn't speak perfect English. It's definitely improving a lot and he can start to have a little bit more of a conversation with people, but at the end of the day when the lights are on and the camera is there, he likes to have someone next to him there to translate for him," Soares said.

The Brazilian manager understands that the fight game is a business, and Sonnen may be playing the part of the villain to perfection. He also knows that talking the way he is could prompt a rivalry and a shot at Silva's middleweight title.

"I don't know what he's doing, but I would be keeping my mouth shut and in the gym training, especially training his stand-up," Soares said in closing.

Although Anderson can speak English pretty well, Sonnen is such a tool. I really hope he gets to fight Silva. He would go down faster than Forrest. :r

Steelergar

01-24-2010, 08:05 AM

Who does Chael Sonnen think he is? Rex Ryan. Anytime I hear Sonnen's name I think of him getting triangled from the mount by Damein Maia.

NCRadioMan

01-24-2010, 03:10 PM

Who does Chael Sonnen think he is?

He is Dana's official nuthugger. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAo2ryuRmEk

The guy is a joke.

Tripp

01-24-2010, 03:25 PM

He is Dana's official nuthugger. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAo2ryuRmEk

The guy is a joke.

He seemed like an OK guy when he was fighting in the WEC, and I really felt like he got robbed during the Paulo Fihlo fight. But ever since he moved back up to the UFC, he acts like such a tool. I can't stand him anymore.

NCRadioMan

01-26-2010, 03:59 PM

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Forrest Griffin UFC 113

A light-heavyweight match-up between former UFC lightweight champion Forrest Griffin (17-6 MMA, 8-4 UFC) and recent Brazilian import Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (18-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC), otherwise known as "Lil Nog," is in the works for the recently rescheduled UFC 113 event in Montreal.

The fight was first reported Tuesday by Tatame.com and subsequently confirmed to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) by sources close to the situation.

Verbal agreements are in place, and contracts are expected to be finalized shortly.

NCRadioMan

01-27-2010, 11:37 PM

Mixed martial arts has many opponents in the mainstream media, but few are as vocal or high-profile as Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon, the hosts of ESPN's Pardon the Interruption.

So Herschel Walker accomplished something extraordinary in an appearance on PTI Wednesday by convincing both Kornheiser and Wilbon that they should check out his fight on Saturday night at Strikeforce Miami.

Knowing that Kornheiser and Wilbon were skeptical about MMA, Walker patiently explained to them why they shouldn't view MMA as a brutal endeavor.

"This sport has been cleaned up," Walker said. "I think football and boxing is worse. In boxing you get knocked down, they give you a standing eight count, you're still woozy and then you get back in there and fight. In football you've got all the concussions. Years ago this was a brutal sport, years ago there's no way I would have gotten involved in it, but it has become a sport, it has become an art."

Both Kornheiser and Wilbon have a long history of saying they find MMA abhorrent, but they obviously respect Walker.

"Herschel, what you're doing sounds insane to me, but I know you're very serious about it," Kornheiser said, adding that Walker seems like too sweet a person to hurt anyone,

Walker responded, "I don't know that I'm stepping in the cage to hurt anyone. I'm stepping in the cage to compete."

Strikeforce signed Walker for exactly the kind of publicity that he got in his Pardon the Interruption appearance, during which he was sure to promote Strikeforce and Showtime and to note that there are better fighters than him on Saturday night's card.

At the end of the interview, Walker had converted two MMA haters into people willing to give the sport a shot.

"I'm going to watch it now," Wilbon said. "I would not have watched otherwise, but I'm checking it out now."

Kornheiser added, "I'm going to watch with one eye."

http://www.mmafighting.com/2010/01/27/herschel-talks-up-mma-on-pardon-the-interruption/

NCRadioMan

01-30-2010, 12:57 AM

SF Miami Weigh In results!

My picks in bold.

Main Bouts:
Nick Diaz (169.5) vs. Marius Zaromskis (169) [title fight]
Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos (144.5) vs. Marloes Coenen (143.75) [title fight]
Greg Nagy (210.5) vs. Herschel Walker (214.25)
Robbie Lawler (185.75) vs. Melvin Manhoef (185.75)
Bobby Lashley (252.25) vs. Wes Sims (258.25)
Preliminary Bouts: (on EASportsMMA.com)
Jay Hieron (170.25) vs. Joe Riggs (170.5)

Herschel is not a normal human.

http://www.combatlifestyle.com/pics/albums/012910strikeforce/1038.jpg

AL-TURK IN DOUBT FOR UFC 109 WITH VISA ISSUES

Rolles Gracie is still set to make his UFC debut on Feb. 6, but it may be against a new opponent. Mostapha Al-Turk has run into visa issues that could prevent the British fighter from making the trip to Las Vegas for the upcoming fight.

Sources close to the situation informed MMAWeekly.com about the visa problems on Friday, stating that if Al-Turk is not able to make the fight, Gracie would face an alternate opponent.

NCRadioMan

01-30-2010, 10:12 PM

My picks in bold.

Main Bouts:
Nick Diaz (169.5) vs. Marius Zaromskis (169) [title fight]
Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos (144.5) vs. Marloes Coenen (143.75) [title fight]
Greg Nagy (210.5) vs. Herschel Walker (214.25)
Robbie Lawler (185.75) vs. Melvin Manhoef (185.75) FAIL!
Bobby Lashley (252.25) vs. Wes Sims (258.25)
Preliminary Bouts: (on EASportsMMA.com)
Jay Hieron (170.25) vs. Joe Riggs (170.5)

5 out of six correct but that Lawler punch came out of nowhere after he was getting chopped down. He could barely walk after the fight. I would love to Lashley actually fight somebody worth a flip just to see what he can do. Herschel impressed me with his takedown and sub defense but obviously needs more time at striking. Decent card but not spectacular. The refs are stopping fights way too early more and more and I hate that. Does Mazagatti run a reffing school nowaways? :r

zitro_joe

01-31-2010, 08:30 AM

I was laughing at Herchel salsa dancing. He was solid for training two months, looked green but did everything right for a newb...

I bet lawler has a cracked bone. Lawler was hurt but I don't think he was about to KO'd like the commentary noted. His head movement was on point, and a lot of the shot where deflected. That being said a deflect shot from Melvin can still put most other to sleep. Shamrock stated that Melvin never saw the punch coming, I completely disagree. Robbie was standing right in front of him, RL was hunched over when he threw that overhand right so essentially in was straight down the pipe. I watched fight like eight times (that KO was nasty). RL saw that lead hand down at his waist and knew exactly what to do. Very impressed, I still remember the RL back in the day, the young that got KO'd b Nick Diaz. Diaz was entertaining - as always.

NCRadioMan

01-31-2010, 12:55 PM

Preliminary Bouts: (on EASportsMMA.com)
Jay Hieron (170.25) vs. Joe Riggs (170.5)

Forgot to mention, this was an Epic Fail. The EA servers crashed. They didn't anticipate how many would log on to see this fight. Saw about 3/4 of the first round. :td

NCRadioMan

02-01-2010, 04:57 PM

Nate Diaz vs. Rory Markham welterweight fight UFC 111

Nate Diaz (11-5 MMA, 6-3 UFC) moves up a weight class to fight Rory Markhman (16-5 MMA, 1-1 UFC) next month on the preliminary card of UFC 111.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) first reported the likelihood of the bout last month, and UFC executives recently made it official.

UFC 111 takes place at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The fight card, which includes two title fights, will be complete once a previously reported welterweight bout of Thiago Alves vs. Jon Fitch is officially announced for the main card.

NCRadioMan

02-02-2010, 03:10 PM

Gracie vs. Beltran at UFC 109

Just three weeks removed from a regional-show win over Houston Alexander, the "Mexicutioner" will make his UFC debut.

The UFC today officially announced that heavyweight newcomer Joey Beltran (10-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) has agreed to step in for Mostapha Al Turk and face fellow octagon rookie Rolles Gracie (3-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) on the preliminary card of Saturday's "UFC 109: Relentless" event.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) first reported the likely switch on Monday.

UFC 109 takes place Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The main card airs live on pay-per-view.

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Nelson vs Struve UFC Fight Night 21

A heavyweight bout between "The Ultimate Fighter 10" winner Roy Nelson (14-4 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and fast-rising contender Stefan Struve (19-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) is set for next month's UFC Fight Night 21 event.

A source close to one of the competitors today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) bout agreements have been signed for the long-rumored bout.

Nelson posted a Twitter message earlier today that he had been granted a fight with boxer James Toney, though MMAjunkie.com confirmed it's simply the latest prank from "Big Country."

UFC Fight Night 21, which serves a lead-in for the debut season of "The Ultimate Fighter 11," takes place March 31 at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, N.C., and airs on Spike TV. Top lightweight contender Kenny Florian is expected to meet UFC newcomer Takanori Gomi in the night's main event.

WAR Nelson! I will have see about tickets for this one.

ActionAndy

02-02-2010, 04:05 PM

I like Gomi but I don't like his odds against Florian. It'd be nice to see some more Japanese fighters, they seem to be really underrepresented in the UFC. When the hell is Akiyama fighting again?

NCRadioMan

02-02-2010, 10:31 PM

Strikeforce, UFC draw big TV numbers
By Dave Meltzer

The television head-to-head battle on Saturday night between UFC and Strikeforce turned out to be a win on both sides.

Strikeforce’s live event on Saturday night from Sunrise, Fla., largely built around the mixed martial arts debut of football legend Herschel Walker, drew 517,000 viewers. It is the second-most viewers for an MMA event on Showtime, trailing only the 571,000 viewers on Aug. 15 for the Gina Carano vs. Cris “Cyborg” Santos fight.

As is usually the case when Strikeforce has a major event, UFC countered on Spike TV with the cable debut of a taped major event, in this case airing the Dec. 12 UFC 107 show, headlined by B.J. Penn vs. Diego Sanchez and Frank Mir vs. Cheick Kongo.

That show had a 1.64 rating and 2.2 million viewers. It would be the second-highest rated for a replay of a UFC PPV event in history. Most UFC PPV replays put against a Showtime event are in the 1.2 rating range.

This trailed only the 1.7 rating that a replay of the UFC 91 show, headlined by Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar, did. Even though it was taped, it was the most watched television show on cable on Saturday among men in Spike’s key demographics, males 18-34 and males 18-49.

The show drew more viewers than many UFC live events on the station, including beating all but one live Fight Night special in the last 17 months. The show peaked with 2.5 million viewers for the Mir vs. Kongo fight at about 11:45 p.m.

Sounds like UFC trounced SF..........however:

A huge reason the UFC got more viewers was because Showtime is a premium cable channel with 12 million subscribers, while Spike is in nearly 98.6million homes. So if you compare numbers Strikeforce actually outperformed the UFC by a ratio of 4.3/2.2 or about 2:1 if you put the numbers to scale based on actual viewership vs. potential viewership. 4.3% of Showtimes potential viewership watched Strikeforce while 2.2% of Spikes potential viewership watched UFC. These are rough numbers, but you get idea of how they performed against eachother.

NCRadioMan

02-05-2010, 05:05 PM

Lots o' bits today:

Coker: Overeem to defend title in May; Herschel on CBS?

On The Fight Show with Mauro Ranallo: (audio)
- Alistair Overeem will defend the Strikeforce Heavyweight Title in May. Opponent is yet to be determined. (It's about freaking time.)

- Erin Toughill will be the next opponent for Cris Cyborg, targeting a late summer title fight.

- The 145 pound women's tournament will have a Summertime launch.

- Nick Diaz will go up and down in weight, fight out of his weight class but also defend the welterweight title.

- Herschel Walker will want to fight again and Strikeforce will support him. The $600 purse took care of licensing fees, as he as not fighting for a purse and donated his purse to charity.

- Despite WEC and UFC pay per views, Strikeforce is still targeting April CBS show.

- Jake Shields offered fight contract but not yet signed.

- Mousasi vs King Mo: will happen but not yet confirmed.

"UPDATE" - Herschel game for another fight in April according to Sherdog.com:
A CBS representative told Sherdog.com Wednesday that the network would be open to hosting Walker’s next fight on the April card.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said he planned to call Walker and his trainers on Thursday to a gage their interest in another bout. Coker didn’t rule out an April return.

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Griffin vs. Nogueira likely for UFC 114 in Las Vegas, not UFC 113 in Montreal

An intriguing light heavyweight matchup between perennial fan favorite Forrest Griffin (17-6 MMA, 8-4 UFC) and recent Brazilian import Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (18-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) is still happening in May, but both fighters have a few extra weeks to get ready.

MMAjunkie.com (http://www.mmajunkie.com) has learned from sources close to Griffin that the contest, which was originally believed to be taking place at UFC 113 in Montreal on May 8, is actually targeted for UFC 114 in Las Vegas on May 29.

Bout agreements for the matchup, which is likely for a co-main event slot, are expected to be finalized shortly.

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Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves II completes UFC 111 pay-per-view main card

A welterweight bout and long-awaited rematch between Jon Fitch (21-3 MMA, 11-1 UFC) and Thiago Alves (16-6 MMA, 9-3 UFC) officially has been added to next month's UFC 111 event and completes the March 27 fight card.

MMAjunkie.com (http://www.mmajunkie.com) first reported the UFC 111 bout, which was initially expected to take place at UFC 107, back in December.

UFC 111 takes place at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., and Fitch vs. Alves is one of five fights slated to air on pay-per-view.

(A source close to the event told MMAjunkie.com that a one-hour "UFC Prelim" special will likely air in conjunction with UFC 111 on Spike TV.)

The official UFC 111 lineup now includes:

MAIN CARD

Champ Georges St-Pierre vs. Dan Hardy (for welterweight title)
Shane Carwin vs. Frank Mir (for interim heavyweight title)
Thiago Alves vs. Jon Fitch
Martin Kampmann vs. Ben Saunders
Mark Bocek vs. Jim Miller

PRELIMINARY CARD

Nate Diaz vs. Rory Markham
Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Brown
Fabricio Camoes vs. Kurt Pellegrino
Jared Hamman vs. Rodney Wallace
Tomasz Drwal vs. Rousimar Palhares
Ricardo Funch vs. Matthew Riddle

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Wisconsin Signs MMA Regulation Bill Into Law

Wisconsin became the 43rd state to sanction mixed martial arts when Gov. Jim Doyle signed into law a bill to regulate the sport.

The state's Department of Regulation and Licensing will govern the fights, adding MMA to its duties overseeing pro boxing contests.

Unlike other states, Wisconsin's law passed through the legislative process in just a few months. The bill was first introduced in September 2009.

MMA fighters and notables that have links to the state include Eric Schafer, Pat Barry, Duke Roufus, Anthony Pettis and Jameel Massouh. Organizations have run unsanctioned events in the state for years but will now fall under state jurisdiction.

New York is the most prominent state that does not sanction MMA, but Gov. David Paterson recently unveiled a bill to regulate it in the Empire State.

The other states that have yet to sanction the sport are Alabama, Connecticut, Vermont, West Virginia, Alaska and Wyoming. The last two states, however, have no athletic commissions in place.

ActionAndy

02-05-2010, 10:41 PM

If Overeem ends up fighting Fedor...

:D

NCRadioMan

02-05-2010, 10:44 PM

Unfortunately, Fedor is scheduled to fight on the CBS April card so he won't fight Overeem......yet.

Tripp

02-07-2010, 12:10 AM

Joe's commentary for the ice incident was the funniest thing I've ever seen.

ActionAndy

02-07-2010, 12:41 AM

That card was so underwhelming that I'm nto sure I can say anything illuminating here. Nice to see a Danzig victory. Felt awful for Coleman but knew all along that Capt. America was going to take the wood to him. Just wish he could have gone out in a blaze, yknow?

Is Mark Coleman the only human who actually looks sick and unhealthy at two hundred and five pounds of muscle? Wanna know what Tito said to him...And why Tito thinks it's adult behavior to talk down to someone who just suffered a defeat like that.

Still think Sonnen needs to talk less but my god was that dominance. (Mind you that it bordered on laynpray, but still--Nate offered nothing).

At least Silva v Bisping oughta be a barn burner...

goalie204

02-08-2010, 05:58 AM

it definitely did not border on lay n pray.

NCRadioMan

02-08-2010, 09:02 AM

Is Mark Coleman the only human who actually looks sick and unhealthy at two hundred and five pounds of muscle?
He looked more like 66 than 46. That should not have been promoted as the Main Event.

Oh, and Frank Trigg been hittin' the Rogaine along with the mat. He hasn't had that much hair in 10 years. :r

NCRadioMan

02-08-2010, 12:58 PM

UFC 109 took place Feb. 6 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and aired on Spike TV (two preliminary-card fights) and then pay-per-view (main card).

In addition to Couture, other top earners from the card included Matt Serra ($150,000), Chael Sonnen ($64,000), Demian Maia ($62,000) and Coleman ($60,000).

The full payouts included:

Randy Couture: $250,000 (no win bonus)
def. Mark Coleman: $60,000

Chael Sonnen: $64,000 (includes $32,000 win bonus)
def. Nate Marquardt: $45,000

Paulo Thiago: $30,000 ($15,000 win bonus)
def. Mike Swick: $43,000

Demian Maia: $62,000 ($31,000 win bonus)
def. Dan Miller: $15,000

Matt Serra: $150,000 ($75,000 win bonus)
def. Frank Trigg: $30,000

Mac Danzig: $40,000 ($20,000 win bonus)
def. Justin Buchholz: $8,000

Melvin Guillard: $28,000 ($14,000 win bonus)
def. Ronys Torres: $4,000

Rob Emerson: $24,000 ($12,000 win bonus)
def. Phillipe Nover: $10,000

Phil Davis: $10,000 ($5,000 win bonus)
def. Brian Stann: $17,000

Chris Tuchscherer: $20,000 ($10,000 win bonus)
def. Tim Hague: $7000

Joey Beltran: $12,000 ($6,000 win bonus)
def. Rolles Gracie: $15,000

The UFC 109 bonuses were worth $60,000 and awarded to Serra (Knockout of the Night), Thiago (Submission of the Night), and Chael Sonnen and Nate Marquardt (Fight of the Night).

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Hidehiko Yoshida is retiring

The retirement match of Olympic gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida has been announced. The fight will take place in J-Rock MMA event “Hidehiko Yoshida Farewell Fight ~ASTRA~” at the Nippon Budokan on April 25th.

Also on the card will be Michihiro Omigawa, Makoto Takimoto, Kazuhiro Nakamura, and future king Tatsunao Nagakura.

No word yet on if this new ASTRA will be a new promotion or just a one time thing.

Update: Yoshida said at the press conference that his number 1 most interesting/fun fights were the ones against Wanderlei Silva. Both Japanese fighters and foreign fighters are on the candidate list.

Update #2: Yoshida said that the reason for his retirement is that since the Mark Hunt fight in PRIDE he has had pain in his left shoulder which has been tough on him (he has had A LOT of other rumored injuries as well) and almost made him retire in the past. He wants to continue with his own Judo dojo after retirement.

Update #3: Former WVR PR Kokuho said that they have both Japanaese and foreign fighters outside of Yoshida Dojo for the event and they’ll announce these names as time goes from now on. For now this is only a one time thing but if they receive cooperation from a lot of promoters and gyms, they’ll hold more events in the future.

Update #4: Kokuho said that they want Yoshida’s last fight be a meaningful one. Kazuhiro Nakamura then appealed for a fight with his teacher.

Update #5: The fights will be 3×5 minutes and the plan is 7-8 main fights and 3-4 opening fights. There will be a retirement ceremony for Yoshida after the main event. Yoshida is very familiar with the Nippon Budokan.

Hidehiko Yoshida Farewell Fight ~ASTRA~
Date: April 25th, 2010
Place: Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan

Participants:
Hidehiko Yoshida, Makoto Takimoto, Michihiro Omigawa, Kazuhiro Nakamura, Tatsunao Nagakura

ActionAndy

02-08-2010, 03:15 PM

it definitely did not border on lay n pray.

Let me clairfy--Sonnen destroyed Nate. Nate's total offense amounted to two guillotine attempts and a failed kimura. However Sonnen only infrequently attempted to improve position and was never really threatening to finish. An asbolutely dominant performance nonetheless--wasn't trying to say anything about the strength of the victory.

goalie204

02-09-2010, 05:18 AM

ahh i see what you're saying. Ya Sonnen was hurting Nate but it looked like points and attempts to inflict damage, he never went balls deep and tried to end it.

Steelergar

02-09-2010, 08:20 AM

Decent card for UFC 109. I'm glad Maia won and I enjoyed the paulo thiago fight, he has a chance to go far in the UFC plus he is a combat fighter which I prefer to watch over sport fighters because they know how to finish people without a ref. W hat do you guys think of Sonnen having to fight Maia to see sho the #1 contender is? Maia dominated Sonnen with ease and finished him in their last fight. Also Sonnen is suspect against top level BJJ guys, say whatever you want about the 1st Filho fight in the 2nd one Filho looked like he came out of a rehab clinic for the fight and Sonnen still couldn't finish him.

ActionAndy

02-12-2010, 06:15 AM

Well Belfort is out of UFC 112...But it looks like Silva will still be fighting? Considering Sonnen won't be ready by then, will he be fighting at LHW again?

NCRadioMan

02-12-2010, 09:15 AM

Uh oh. Not the injuries again.

MMAWeekly.com on Tuesday reported that Martin Kampmann was out of his UFC 111 bout with Ben Saunders. Midwest fighter Jake Ellenberger is stepping in to take his place.

We later confirmed that Kampmann’s withdrawal was due to a severe cut over his eye, but it just doesn’t really hit home until you see the photo that accompanies this article.

Even with the severity of the cut, the Danish fighter is already planning his return.

“Out of UFC 111. I got a huge cut in training and can't do any contact for a while,” Kampmann wrote on Twitter Tuesday night. “Bummed out about it. But hoping to fight again in May!!”

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Mousasi Leaves M-1 Global

"After careful consideration, I have decided that it is in my best interest to part ways with M-1 Global," Mousasi wrote in the e-mail. "During the time I spent under their wing, M-1 Global, as a promoter and management company, allowed me to achieve many great things. I appreciate all they have done for me."

"My management is being taken care of by someone close to me," he wrote.

Mousasi recently returned following a two-week trip to the U.S. to train with UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre. He said he would like to come back to the states to train with Strikeforce lightweight contender Josh Thomson and his American Kickboxing Academy team in San Jose, Calif.

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Following his ugly loss to Joey "The Mexecutioner" Beltran last Saturday at UFC 109, Rolles Gracie has reportedly been cut from the UFC, joining Mark Coleman, Phillipe Nover, Tim Hague, and Frank Trigg in the list of fighters who didn't make it out of that show with their jobs intact.

yachties23

02-12-2010, 05:05 PM

NCRadioMan

02-12-2010, 05:24 PM

? And BY GOD, check out that cut on Kampmann's head. Damn.

Ah that's nothing compared to the 5+ inch scar on my forehead. You should have seen it open. Looked like horror movie makeup. http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=3671&d=1251486373
:D

NCRadioMan

02-12-2010, 09:23 PM

UFC middleweight contender Vitor Belfort has already undergone successful shoulder surgery and is expected to be out of training for at least four months, a source told MMA Fighting.

Belfort had suffered through shoulder pain since mid-2009 and had undergone several anti-inflammatory injections since that time, including leading up to his Sept. 2009 match with Rich Franklin, a fight he won by first-round TKO to set up his expected title match with Anderson Silva.

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It's official.

Demian Maia has been tapped as Vitor Belfort's replacement for the UFC middleweight title fight against Anderson Silva at UFC 112 from the Concert Arena from Ferrari World, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, on Saturday, April 10.

MMAmania.com (www.mmamania.com) confirmed the news with a source close to the situation earlier today

Steelergar

02-13-2010, 01:08 PM

UFC middleweight contender Vitor Belfort has already undergone successful shoulder surgery and is expected to be out of training for at least four months, a source told MMA Fighting.

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It's official.

Demian Maia has been tapped as Vitor Belfort's replacement for the UFC middleweight title fight against Anderson Silva at UFC 112 from the Concert Arena from Ferrari World, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, on Saturday, April 10.

MMAmania.com (www.mmamania.com) confirmed the news with a source close to the situation earlier today

I love it, can't wait. I think its funny when I hear people compare demian maia to thales leites, those people are in for a suprise.

ActionAndy

02-16-2010, 12:01 PM

Maia's striking looked pitiful in his last fight. I just don't see how he can get close enough to pull guard. Someone with a Sonnen-type gameplan could feasibly take a decision against Silva but that fight's quite a ways away...

NCRadioMan

02-16-2010, 12:43 PM

Someone with a Sonnen-type gameplan could feasibly take a decision against Silva but that fight's quite a ways away...

Can't even see that right now. Anderson is just as dangerous from his back as he is anywhere. I don't give Maia much of a chance but I hope he can make it a good fight nonetheless.

BTW, UFC 110 prelims will not air on Spike this time.

Steelergar

02-17-2010, 08:24 AM

NCRadioMan

02-19-2010, 12:05 PM

ROTHWELL OUT, PEROSH IN

A last second change has been made to this weekend's UFC 110 card in Australia as Ben Rothwell has been forced to drop out of his fight against Mirko CroCop due to illness, and will be replaced by veteran fighter, Anthony Perosh.

Also the Australian undercard rematch between Elvis Sinosic and Chris Haseman has been pulled off the card completely due to a late shoulder injury to Sinosic.

The UFC announced by moves on Thursday, while also stating that the card will stand at a total of 9 bouts for the Sunday afternoon show.

Anthony Perosh (10-5), who trains along with Elvis Sinosic in Sydney, Australia, gets the call to step in on short notice and face the former Pride Grand Prix winner.

Winning his last fight by TKO in December, Perosh steps in just a day before the official weigh-in for the event, but with the bout being contested at heavyweight it shouldn't present any problems.

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CroCop cut in sparring, required stitches, still fighting UFC 110

Just 24 hours after learning that his kickboxer opponent Ben Rothwell is out ot UFC 110 and will be replaced by a ground fighter, Mirko ‘CroCop’ Filipovic has reportedly had more bad news. According to sources in Croatia, he has received a bad cut in a pre-fight sparring workout and has had to have stitches.

Croatian website MMA Axion reported this morning that Filipovic was sparring with his team mate Sasa Mucnjak when he received a bad cut above the eyeline. The cut was stitched and Filipovic has declined to pull out of the fight, saying he will not let weeks of hard preparation go to waste.

But those weeks of hard preparation were to face a kickboxing stylist and yesterday Ben Rothwell was pulled off the card because of an infection and replaced by Anthony Perosh, a second-degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and a completely different style to Rothwell.

The UFC allegedly asked Randy Couture and Quinton ‘Ramapge’ Jackson if they would take the fight with Filipovic at short notice but both turned it down flat. Perosh - who has an 0-2 record in the UFC from 2006 - took it on two days notice on the understanding he would get a four-fight contract out of it.

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http://cdn3.sbnation.com/imported_assets/348387/ufc110_medium.jpg

Event: UFC 110
Location: Sydney, Australia
Date: Sunday February 21st, 2010 (airs Saturday @ 10pm in the US)

Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Wanderlei Silva vs Michael Bisping
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs Anthony Perosh
Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos
Ryan Bader vs. Keith Jardine

Undercard:

Brian Foster vs. Chris Lytle
James Te Huna vs. Igor Pokrajac
CB Dollaway vs. Goran Reljic
Stephan Bonnar vs Krzysztof Soszynski

yachties23

02-19-2010, 12:23 PM

I love it, can't wait. I think its funny when I hear people compare demian maia to thales leites, those people are in for a suprise.

I don't think its a question whos Jits is better, but Thales has far superior stand-up to Maia. I am a big Maia fan, he is a very easy guy to root foor. But lets face it, He isn't going to get close enough to Anderson to take him down without taking serious damage. If there is any question watch the 40 second debacle of his against Nate.

I think the only way Anderson loses is to a wrestler who can manage a take down, and ground and pound out a win.

J0eybb

02-19-2010, 12:25 PM

Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Wanderlei Silva vs Michael Bisping Always ready to see Wanderlei fight
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs Anthony Perosh Go Crocop
Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos
Ryan Bader vs. Keith Jardine

Undercard:

Brian Foster vs. Chris Lytle
James Te Huna vs. Igor Pokrajac
CB Dollaway vs. Goran Reljic I wonder if CB will show up and fight
Stephan Bonnar vs Krzysztof Soszynski This should be good

ActionAndy

02-19-2010, 12:51 PM

Let's start estimating how long this can lasts against Cro Cop. I'm saying 2 minutes and thirty five seconds.

wayner123

02-19-2010, 01:23 PM

Let's start estimating how long this can lasts against Cro Cop. I'm saying 2 minutes and thirty five seconds.

Remember last time people bet on cro-cop against a no-name:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5fJbNg1SsWM/RuhdJAfVRmI/AAAAAAAAAmU/4q-EmIEHQ58/s400/gonzaga-cro-cop.jpg

J0eybb

02-19-2010, 01:27 PM

Remember last time people bet on cro-cop against a no-name:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5fJbNg1SsWM/RuhdJAfVRmI/AAAAAAAAAmU/4q-EmIEHQ58/s400/gonzaga-cro-cop.jpg

Yeah he got Cro-Cop'd

Steelergar

02-19-2010, 04:13 PM

I hearing cro crop might be out. If so they should move goran reljic into the main event I want to see him fight.

NCRadioMan

02-19-2010, 04:19 PM

I hearing cro crop might be out. If so they should move goran reljic into the main event I want to see him fight.

Nope, he is still in.

CroCop cut in sparring, required stitches, still fighting UFC 110

Just 24 hours after learning that his kickboxer opponent Ben Rothwell is out ot UFC 110 and will be replaced by a ground fighter, Mirko ‘CroCop’ Filipovic has reportedly had more bad news. According to sources in Croatia, he has received a bad cut in a pre-fight sparring workout and has had to have stitches.

Croatian website MMA Axion reported this morning that Filipovic was sparring with his team mate Sasa Mucnjak when he received a bad cut above the eyeline. The cut was stitched and Filipovic has declined to pull out of the fight, saying he will not let weeks of hard preparation go to waste.

But those weeks of hard preparation were to face a kickboxing stylist and yesterday Ben Rothwell was pulled off the card because of an infection and replaced by Anthony Perosh, a second-degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and a completely different style to Rothwell.

The UFC allegedly asked Randy Couture and Quinton ‘Ramapge’ Jackson if they would take the fight with Filipovic at short notice but both turned it down flat. Perosh - who has an 0-2 record in the UFC from 2006 - took it on two days notice on the understanding he would get a four-fight contract out of it.

goalie204

02-20-2010, 10:37 PM

glad wandy won, he was punching to win not to score points like bisbings weak takedowns. Valasquez is a beast, those 2 fights were great, the rest - meh

J0eybb

02-20-2010, 10:41 PM

Joe "daddy' losing was a good fight as well.

Steelergar

02-20-2010, 11:13 PM

bisbing should quit he's losing to old men.

NCRadioMan

02-22-2010, 02:12 PM

glad wandy won, he was punching to win not to score points like bisbings weak takedowns. Valasquez is a beast, those 2 fights were great, the rest - meh

Agreed! Cain is for real, no doubt.

Joe "daddy' losing was a good fight as well.

Agreed again. :D

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I hope Brock Lesnar Dies in the Ring

Well we all knew Mir was getting a bit mental regarding Lesnar, and that some of the boasting is great to create some hype, but now he seems to have outdone himself!

UFC star Frank Mir has unleashed a sickening rant about former WWE world champion Brock Lesnar — saying he wants to kill him.

Lesnar lost on his UFC debut to Mir, but later defeated the Vegas-born star to win the company's heavyweight world championship.

But ahead of talk about a third possible clash, Mir says he HATES Lesnar and wants him to DIE.

During a radio interview with former WCW commentator Mark Madden, he stormed: "I want to fight Brock Lesnar. I hate who he is as a person.

"I want to break his neck in the ring."

"I want him to be the first person that dies to Octagon-related injuries."

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/wrestling/2863386/Frank-Mir-I-hope-Brock-Lesnar-dies-in-the-ring.html

Just as I was gaining a little bit of respect for Frank Mir, he opens his mouth....again. Unreal. I can't wait to see Lesnar/Mir III!

wayner123

02-22-2010, 02:14 PM

During a radio interview with former WCW commentator Mark Madden, he stormed: "I want to fight Brock Lesnar. I hate who he is as a person.

"I want to break his neck in the ring."

"I want him to be the first person that dies to Octagon-related injuries."

Is he back on a cycle?

NCRadioMan

02-22-2010, 02:19 PM

Is he back on a cycle?

Probably. How else could he put on 30 pounds of muscle in a few months, no doubt. But I think he is a little "off" in the head to begin with. Major delusions of grandeur. :r

jerseystepup

02-23-2010, 02:25 PM

Just wondering if anyone else here trains? I train an BJJ at Renzo Gracie Jiu Jitsu in central Jersey, and MMA also.

NCRadioMan

02-24-2010, 04:28 PM

Ricardo Mayorga: I will shock MMA fans and destroy Din Thomas

"I conquered the world in the boxing ring all the while I was puffing cigarettes and drinking beer. I won three world title belts and I stood toe-to-toe with so many legends, beating some of them. Vernon Forrest, God rest his soul, was a great boxer yet I beat him back twice. I cannot be denied as I am a force of nature. Now I will shock the MMA fans and I know so many of my fans from boxing will follow me as I expand my repertoire. They can't deny me in MMA and I will destroy Din Thomas. I am going to smash him the way I smashed all the big superstars of boxing. To me, a fight is a fight in a ring, in a cage or on the street. Fighting is my middle name."

Nicaraguan nightmare Ricardo Mayorga prepares for his mixed martial arts debut against well-traveled veteran Din Thomas at "Worlds Collide" under the Shine Fights banner on May 15, from the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, NC, live on pay-per-view.

NCRadioMan

02-26-2010, 09:00 AM

M-1: Fedor Emelianenko fighting Fabricio Werdum in May, off planned April CBS card

After weeks of doubt about the fighter's once-expected participation, Fedor Emelianenko will not, in fact, fight in April during Strikeforce's return to CBS airwaves.

According to a report from MMAFighting.com, M-1 officials today said at M-1 Selection Eastern European press conference that Emelianenko will fight Fabricio Werdum – but not until May.

Strikeforce officials have not confirmed plans for the April show, but as MMAjunkie.com (http://www.mmajunkie.com) reported on Wednesday, it could move to Showtime (or be delayed altogether) now that Emelianenko won't be involved.

As part of his contract with Strikeforce, Emelianenko's fights have to air on CBS rather than its premium-cable partner, Showtime, which has a fraction of the audience.

If it does go on, Strikeforce's April show is likely to take place April 17 in Nashville, Tenn., though Tennessee Athletic Commission Executive Director Jeff Mullen told MMAjunkie.com the organization hasn't officially requested the date. A long-expected bout between Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields and UFC veteran/recent signee Dan Henderson would likely take the event's headline slot, and a likely bout between Strikeforce 205-pound champ Gegard Mousasi and Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal could take the co-main-event slot.

Strikeforce Director of Communications Mike Afromowitz on Wednesday said the organization hopes to have the event details locked in by week's end.

As for Emelianenko's involvement, MMAjunkie.com reported on Wednesday that it had been downgraded from questionable to "unlikely." With M-1's confirmation that Emelianenko will fight in May, a recently rumored May DREAM meeting with Alistair Overeem now also would appear unlikely.

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Lesnar's camp responds to Mir

Finally, official statement has been released from Lesnar's camp relating Mir's death comments about Lesnar, where Mir wanted to break Lesnar's neck and wanted Lesnar to be the first person to die due to octagon related injuries. Lesnar's camp released this statement:

"Frank Mir wants murder? The beast is now even angrier than last time. It's okay, Frankie ‘The Stalker’ Mir could use another beatdown. Except this time, it will be more vicious. The Champion hopes Frank Mir makes it past Shane Carwin. Frank may never be able to fight again after the third fight is over. Expect the unexpected Mr. Submission Man, you may leave without an arm."

Frank Mir fights Shane Carwin at UFC 111 for the interm-heavyweight championship the winner of the fight gets a possible shot at Brock Lesnar unless they are too heavly injured during the fight. In that case Cain Velasquez will fight Brock Lesnar for the title.

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SHIELDS VS. HENDO...ITS OFFICIAL

It's been a long time coming, but now it's official.

Dan Henderson and Jake Shields have agreed to meet in Strikeforce with the middleweight title on the line in April. Shields confirmed the bout when speaking to MMAWeekly Radio on Tuesday night.

"It's a go now. We finally worked it out a few days ago," he said about the fight with Henderson. "It's a done deal, it's been agreed upon by both parties as far as I know, and I think it's set to go."

As recently as six weeks ago when Shields left to help out as assistant coach on the eleventh season of “The Ultimate Fighter," a deal had still not been sealed for the fight to happen.

Now, both Shields and Henderson have a deal in place to put the two middleweights in the cage together in April, although according to the current Strikeforce champion, while a date and venue have been given to the fighters, the actual broadcast has yet to be determined.

"I have a date (and) venue, but they told me to hold that back," said Shields. "Hopefully CBS. I think it's CBS. There's a slight possibility of Showtime because they're still (working it out). I don't know the rest of the card or any of that yet. But me and Dan's on, and I'm hoping it's on CBS."

Shields admits that the waiting game was tough because contract negotiations are something that have to be done, but now it's all over and he's happy to fight again soon.

"I really wanted the fight, the fans really wanted it, so I knew it was going to happen," he commented. "There was a few little things holding it back, but luckily everything's been worked out and I'm just happy the fight's happening, and I want to go out there and put on an exciting fight."

Even though Shields will enter the fight as the Strikeforce middleweight champion, Henderson brings with him a wealth of experience, and a resume of impressive wins. If the betting odds come out placing Henderson as the favorite, it's nothing new to Shields, and he'll happily play the underdog.

"I always prefer to be the underdog. Dan's a great fighter, he doesn’t have a lot of holes in his game, but I think he does have a few, and I'm going to go out there and try to exploit them," stated Shields.

The fight will likely either headline or co-headline the card in April, depending on what happens with Fedor Emelianenko, who is also rumored for the same show

NCRadioMan

02-27-2010, 03:15 PM

Yvel to meet Ben Rothwell, not Pat Barry, at UFC 115

Although initially expected to fight Pat Barry (5-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC), heavyweight Gilbert Yvel (36-14-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) instead will fight Ben Rothwell (30-7 MMA, 0-1 UFC) in June at UFC 115.

Sources close to the event today confirmed the change with MMAjunkie.com (http://www.mmajunkie.com) and said verbal agreements are in place for the bout.

UFC 115 is expected to take place June 12 at GM Place in Vancouver, British Columbia. The night's main card airs on pay-per-view.

With Barry no longer facing Yvel, Barry vs. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic is expected for UFC 115.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic and Pat Barry agree to UFC 115

A pair of heavyweight strikers collide in June at UFC 115 now that Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (26-7-2 MMA, 3-3 UFC) and Pat Barry (5-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) have agreed to a matchup.

Sources close to the event today told MMAjunkie.com (http://www.mmajunkie.com) bout agreement should be distributed shortly and that the competitors were told it'll be part of the night's pay-per-view main card. MMAScrapsRadio.com first reported the fight earlier today.

Barry initially was expected to fight Gilbert Yvel (36-14-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at the June 12 event.

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Mariusz Pudzianowski vs. Tim Sylvia set for April 23 in Boston

According to the bostonherald.com:

Also signed for the card are UFC veterans Rich Clementi, Yves Edwards and Houston Alexander.

"This will be the biggest card ever done, probably in the Northeast," said [promoter Corey] Fischer. "The UFC is coming here in August and they’re going to have a hard gate to beat. I think this fight card will be better than what they’re bringing."

"It’ll be on pay-per-view and shown live in Korea, Poland, Canada and about 14 other countries," said Fischer. "This will have more viewers than (the UFC’s) show."

As of now, Moosin will be the first big MMA organization to come to Boston. As announced earlier, Bellator Fighting Championships will head to the Citi Performing Arts Center Wang Theatre on May 6 and the UFC makes its Massachusetts debut on August 28 at the TD Garden.

Big Tim will get beaten down again. This time by one of the world's strongest men and although he is new to mma, he is no joke in the ring.

http://images.tmuscle.com/avatar_images/5/7/57137-mariusz_pudzianowski.jpg

ActionAndy

03-01-2010, 02:21 PM

Oh my god RIP Tim....

NCRadioMan

03-01-2010, 09:05 PM

Oh hells yeah!

King Mo vs Mousasi set to rumble on CBS

It looks like the king will get the chance to add a new jewel to his crown in April.

Charismatic fighter Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal has signed on to fight for the Strikeforce light heavyweight title when he faces champion Gegard Mousasi on April 17 at the promotion's next major CBS card.

The fight was confirmed to MMAWeekly.com by sources close to the situation on Monday.

Since debuting in 2008, King Mo has taken the sport of MMA by storm, proclaiming he was destined for greatness and that he was happy to prove it against any and all comers. After dispatching of veterans like Travis Wiuff and Mike Whitehead, it looks like Lawal will now try to prove he's championship material.

Rapidly rising up the ranks as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport, Gegard Mousasi has made everyone take notice of his considerable skills and technique as he's gone undefeated for almost three years.

After conquering the middleweight division in Dream, Mousasi decided to move up to light heavyweight. Since that time he's beaten all of his opponents, including fighters like Renato "Babalu" Sobral and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou.

Recently leaving his management team of M-1, Mousasi is ready to once again prove he belongs with the best fighters in the world, and try to take some of the swagger out of the step of the always confident Lawal.

The bout between Mousasi and Lawal will serve as co-main event for the upcoming Strikeforce show in April, headlined by middleweight champ Jake Shields defending his title against Dan Henderson. MMAWeekly.com will have more news on this event in the coming days.

This has "fight of the year" written all over it, imo.

NCRadioMan

03-03-2010, 04:43 PM

Yes, the end of the world is near. Here is another sign...........................:rolleyes:

Toney signs with UFC

Sometimes trash talkers get what they want.

After berating UFC president Dana White on several media outlets in recent months, 41-year-old boxing champion James Toney (72-6 Boxing, 0-0 MMA) has reportedly signed a multi-fight agreement with the Las Vegas-based promotion.

The report was issued Tuesday by FiveOuncesOfPain.com citing sources close to negotiations, and MMAFighting.com's Mike Chiappetta has since confirmed the deal after speaking to White.

Toney, the current NABO and IBA heavyweight champion, pitched himself to White before cameras following UFC 108 in January and afterward blasted the UFC president for what he considered a "laughable" offer to fight in the octagon.

Ever since, Toney has taken every opportunity to challenge White for a contract.

"Dana White is a straight up ho!" Toney told Fighthype.com this past week. "He makes me a five-fight offer for chump change and said I can't box anymore if I accept it. He must have lost his damn mind."

It appears talks have brightened considerably since then.

At least one UFC fighter will welcome Toney into the cage.

"I think a lot of people would pay to see that," UFC heavyweight contender and "The Ultimate Fighter 10" winner Roy Nelson recently told Steve Cofield of Yahoo! Sports.

A timetable for Toney's debut is unknown at the time of this writing. Requests to the UFC for comment by MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) were not immediately answered.

The 41-year-old Toney's most recent fight was this past September when he defeated Matthew Greer by TKO in a boxing match. Prior to that, he defeated Fres Oquendo for the vacant NABO and IBA heavyweight belts.

SinPena!

03-03-2010, 08:44 PM

NCRadioMan

03-03-2010, 08:50 PM

Toney can take a punch, but let's not hope that someone will standup with him! Put him on the ground and take him out of his element!

Poor Dana, he let's Hendo go, cant sign Fedor or Mousasi................BUT he can Sign Sweat Boy?

Welcome to the Asylum!

I love Toney and always have but this is not boxing and he is 41 years old. Anyone that he fights will take him down to ground. Even those that have no ground game would look like a bjj black belt against somebody that doesn't know anything about ground fighting. Maybe Dana signed him just to let him get beaten and to shut him up. I think alot of boxers think they can do well in mma after Mercer ko'd the goof, Big Tim.

SinPena!

03-03-2010, 09:00 PM

Welcome to the Asylum!

I love Toney and always have but this is not boxing and he is 41 years old. Anyone that he fights will take him down to ground. Even those that have no ground game would look like a bjj black belt against somebody that doesn't know anything about ground fighting. Maybe Dana signed him just to let him get beaten and to shut him up. I think alot of boxers think they can do well in mma after Mercer ko'd the goof, Big Tim.

Thanks for the welcome! The majority of the boxers just see how many openings they would have against some of the MMA Pros. But they dont understand that they have to adjust their stance in order to stuff the take down attempt.

NCRadioMan

03-06-2010, 01:26 PM

Date: TONIGHT!
Event Type: Versus - Live Event
Location: Nationwide Arena, OH

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/227925/wec-47-poster_medium.jpg

On Saturday, March 6, 2010, WEC heads to Columbus, Ohio with a stacked card headlined by a world bantamweight title fight between champion Brian Bowles and number one contender Dominick Cruz. What’s more, WEC’s first trip to Columbus features the return of former bantamweight champion Miguel Angel Torres, as well as the comeback of former UFC® lightweight titleholder Jens Pulver.

Bantamweight title fight
Brian Bowles Vs. Dominick Cruz

Miguel Angel Torres Vs. Joseph Benavidez
Jens Pulver Vs. Javier Vazquez
Deividas Taurosevicius Vs. LC Davis
Bart Palaszewski Vs. Karen Darabedyan

Undercard:

Fredson Paixao Vs. Courtney Buck
Leonard Garcia Vs. George Roop
Scott Jorgensen Vs. Chad George
Chad Mendes Vs. Erik Koch
Danny Castillo Vs. Anthony Pettis
Ricardo Lamas Vs. Bendy Casimir

SinPena!

03-09-2010, 11:21 AM

Wow, 2 major upsets................Cruz looked like a fictional character with his moves! The Gash on the forehead of Torres was skully.........

Jorgensen is a Cardio Beast!

Atleast my boy Bartimus from the IFL won.

J0eybb

03-09-2010, 11:30 AM

I watched this last night. Bowles, what a puss-vagina. I quit, because I think my hand might be broken. No you quit because you were getting your ass handed to you. Look at Faber, he had both hands broken, and still fought a few more rounds.

Don't get me wrong, I would never step into the octagon/ring.

NCRadioMan

03-09-2010, 01:20 PM

I watched this last night. Bowles.....I quit, because I think my hand might be broken. No you quit because you were getting your ass handed to you.

Yeah, I think he quit because he had no answer not the broken hand. Besides, turns out that Cruz sustained a broken hand and will be out 6 months. Never seen anything like the movement he was showing though, wow! Torres also had no answer.

Here is a pic of the gash he sustained before he tapped:

http://cdn3.sbnation.com/fan_shot_images/102898/torreshead.jpg

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

James Toney is now certified delusional:

"If they think I'm going to go in there and get choked out or lay down and get my armbarred and all that, they got another thing coming to 'em, you know what I'm saying? Like I said, yeah, you're right, MMA is not like boxing because boxing is tougher, you know what I'm saying? I look at it like this, if a guy get in there and try to take me to the ground, he might see his head go into orbit. The head is going into orbit, for real. These guys in MMA, they good wrestlers and good grapplers and good kickers, like girls, but, you know, when it comes to throwing them blows, they ain't got a chance in hell, you know what I'm saying? Then they say I don't got a chance if I go to the floor. Hey, the only way you gonna know is if you tune in and watch. And that's what I want you to do. Pay your $54.95, come see James Toney. If you hate me, come see me try to get beat, if you love me, you enjoy the ride, have a good time and eat your popcorn."

ActionAndy

03-09-2010, 01:35 PM

Here it is stitched up. Actually looks worse with stitches in it.

http://cdn.cagepotato.com/www/sites/default/files/migueltorresstitches.jpg

NCRadioMan

03-09-2010, 01:39 PM

Here it is stitched up. Actually looks worse with stitches in it.

http://cdn.cagepotato.com/www/sites/default/files/migueltorresstitches.jpg

Sometimes I hate seeing things like this. Brings back memories. :r

http://hphotos-snc1.fbcdn.net/hs216.snc1/8329_1168635941472_1395154399_30603252_3519052_n.j pg

tx_tuff

03-09-2010, 02:17 PM

All I know is there was a lot of ass kicking going on in the fight card! With UFC I think at the top and WEC getting better it makes Strike Force is becoming more of a joke! But I will still watch LOL

NCRadioMan

03-09-2010, 02:37 PM

Just a few on the SF Roster:

Heavyweight:

Alistair Overeem (Champion)
Fedor Emelienenko (The greatest MMA fighter of all time)
Brett Rogers
Bobby Lashley
Fabricio Werdum
Andrei Arlovski
Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva

Light Heavyweight:

Gerard Mousasi (Champion)
Kevin Randalman
Muhammed Lawal
Anthony Ruiz
Renato "Babalu" Sobral
Dan Henderson

Middleweight:

Jake Shields (champion)
Robbie Lawler
Kazuo Misaki
Jason Miller
Benji Radach
Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos
Anthony Ruiz
Matt Lindland

Welterweight:

Nick Diaz (champion)
Nick Thompson
Jay Heiron

Lightweight:

Gilbert Melendez (Champion)
Mitsuhiro Ishida
Josh Thomson
K.J. Noons

Hardly a joke. In fact, they are getting stronger and stronger. I still think Dream is the #1 promotion in the world.

tx_tuff

03-09-2010, 02:43 PM

NCRadioMan

03-09-2010, 02:46 PM

The fighters may not be a joke, but you can't tell me that last fight card they put out was a good one! Its one thing to have good fighters, but when you are making cards putting sub par fighters in the ring just to give a guy a win it totally sucks! And thats what they did with H Walker and the wrestler guy that both had their first MMA fights. Thats all I'm saying. If they want to put their best against their best in every fight on the card then they will be good. Just my opinion of course.

You can't tell me UFC is putting out good cards. Mediocre at best. Oh, and Dana did the same thing (feeding a can) with Kimblo. And most likely will to the same for Toney. The guy Walker fought had 2 fights under his belt.

Dream cards are always great.

tx_tuff

03-09-2010, 02:56 PM

2 fights don't make you a good fighter, I was talking about it being Walkers first. I think it just made Walker look bad, I would rather him get beat by a good fighter and giving great effort then see him beat a bad fighter. Do you really think Walker looked good? He was stiff as a board and moved really slow.

Yes I think UFC puts out good cards, almost all their fights are entertaining fights from top to bottom. Of course you can always get a fight that doesn't turn out so good but I do think they try harder to get better matched fighters against each other.

NCRadioMan

03-09-2010, 03:23 PM

2 fights don't make you a good fighter, I was talking about it being Walkers first. I think it just made Walker look bad, I would rather him get beat by a good fighter and giving great effort then see him beat a bad fighter. Do you really think Walker looked good? He was stiff as a board and moved really slow.

Yes, for a 40+ year old in his first MMA fight with a bjj player, I thought he looked pretty good. Alot better than most people, including me, thought he would. Is he a world class mma fighter, far from it but for a novice, yep. Kinda like Kimblo. :r

Don't get me wrong, I like the UFC (some favorites are Brock, Penn, KenFlo, Big Country and Guida) but they are not the be-all-end-all in MMA like most Americans think. Japanese MMA still rulz, imo.

Welcome to the Asylum btw! :D

SinPena!

03-09-2010, 03:26 PM

I guess you didnt see the Cung Li Smith card......Melendez thompson probably got fight of the year. Strikeforce has a deep bench and dont be toooo fast to stay on the UFC wagon. I have Been involved for years in MMA and Dana is doing plenty of wrong things for the sport. I love all the MMA organizations who have came and gone. Walker was more of an exhibition and entertainment bout. Nothing wrong with not wanting a Great Football player to get brutally battered!

Tripp

03-09-2010, 03:46 PM

tx_tuff

03-09-2010, 03:48 PM

Well I'm not trying to start any fights, come on thats funny! I watch all if them when I get a chance, I have missed some Strike Force just because they don't market very well. But if I know its coming on will watch it.

And to be honest I would have no problem with the Walker thing if they would come out and say it was a exhibition, but that is not the way they marketed it at all. And then during the fight they where talking like he was the greatest thing since sliced bread, thats all.

Kimbo, he can never make it in any real MMA, but I will admit that during the TV show he was pretty funny.

NCRadioMan

03-09-2010, 03:52 PM

The only problem I have with SF is the commentator. I can't place it, something about his voice, and the way he talks just drives me nuts. I'm not a big fan of the announcer either. The fights though, are top notch, IMO.

You talking about the color man, Frank Shamrock? If so, yeah he blows.

Which announcer? CBS's shill Gus Johnson or Mauro Ranallo. Surly not Ranallo. He was the English voice of Pride. He rules!

Frank, stay tuned to this thread. I like to give updates and to make sure everyone here knows about any card from any organization that will be aired. :tu

As a matter of fact, next up:

Event: Dream 13
Location: Yokohama Arena, Yokohama, Japan
Broadcast: HDNet

http://www.dreamofficial.com/free/fightcard/img/photo/20100322/title.jpg

Bibiano Fernandes v. Joachim Hansen
Katsunori Kikuno v. Kuniyoshi Hironaka
Marius Zaromskis v. Kiyoshi Tamura
KJ Noons v. Andre Amade
Ryo Chonan v. Andrews Nakahara
Ikuhisa Minowa v. Jimmy Ambriz

SinPena!

03-09-2010, 05:04 PM

Good card............................KJ Noons boxing skills are great! Would like to see a pure stand up bout between BJ and KJ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NCRadioMan

03-13-2010, 01:46 PM

Chuck Liddell will be fighting Rich Franklin in his next bout and not rival TUF 11 coach Tito Ortiz, Fighters Only(Zuffa credentialed) has heard from a reliable source. The switch was initially reported to us just under two weeks ago but was only a rumour at that time.

However, the rumour hit message boards late last night and an industry source confirmed that Liddell will indeed be facing former middleweight champion Rich Franklin. The fight is to headline an April 17th Fight Night event which will counter Strikeforce's show on the same date.

They also report that Tito Ortiz won't be fighting Liddell, but not for health reasons and that the "reason for his withdrawal is known to Fighters Only is something that may significantly impact his future as a fighter."

Interesting.

NCRadioMan

03-13-2010, 11:31 PM

Update to above post. Dana has stated that Chuck will NOT fight Franklin. Franklin will fight the expert at wall and stall, Randy Couture. Supposedly, the fight is still on with Chuck and Tito.

NCRadioMan

03-13-2010, 11:36 PM

StrikeForce + DREAM = Win!

Strikeforce has recently partnered up with DREAM to exchange fighters across the Pacific Ocean, and Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker recently told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that he envisions a flourishing relationship moving forward.

"I worked for K-1 for about eight years, and the ownership group of K-1 and DREAM is still the same," Coker said. "I've maintained good relationships over there, and it's always been my dream – that's kind of a pun, right? – to have our guys fight their guys and to see who would end up on top. If our guys win, that's fantastic. If [their guy] wins, then that's just great. It's just good competition.

"I think it's the true nature of sports to compete. Now we have the DREAM champion against our champion, and especially for the hardcore fans, I don't think it gets any better than that."

Things didn't go so well for the Japanese promotion at January's "Strikeforce: Miami" event. DREAM sent over welterweight Marius Zaromskis, who was promptly drubbed by Nick Diaz.

DREAM will get a second shot at respect in April when lightweight Shinya Aoki faces Gilbert Melendez.

Coker said even he was a bit amazed that DREAM would be so willing to send over Aoki, the organization's lightweight title holder and widely regarded as one of the best fighters in the world.

"I feel very content," Coker said. "Aoki-Gibert, that's a fight that I thought 60-40 was not going to happen, even though I was pitching for it and pulling for it, because there's just so many things that can break down. I'm very appreciative to DREAM for honoring their word and sending Aoki to come over and compete against Gilbert."

Of course, Melendez's power could prove troublesome for Aoki. Would the Japanese be willing to continue the program even if Strikeforce's roster were to prove the better list?

"Timing is everything, and there was a time when PRIDE was taking it to everybody, and they probably had the best roster in the world," Coker said. "In some weight classes, I think [DREAM is] a little thin right now, but for our guys, we can test our guys and make those fights happen – like the UFC would never have their guys fight the other leagues' champion – so it's an interesting time.

"In Nashville, we're all going to get to see it as fans. I'm a fan, too, so I'm going to sit back and watch that fight, and whatever happens, happens. Let the chips fall where they may."

And with K.J. Noons set to fight at DREAM.13 later this month, Coker said the return plan is already underway.

"We're sending K.J. Noons over there in a coupe of weeks to compete," Coker said. "We'll be sending Nick Diaz over there, probably, at some point this year. They're going to ask for certain fighters. I think they've already requested Andrei Arlovski, which let's see how he does in the May fight."

It's an interesting time for Strikeforce, who – depending on who's talking – are either firmly entrenched as MMA's No. 2 promotion or on the brink of collapse.

Coker believes the former, and he hopes to continue to utilize the partnership with DREAM to make entertaining matchups.

"If the schedule permits, we'll let our guys go over there, and hopefully Tatsuya Kawajiri and Hayato 'Mach' Sakurai and all the fighters that we'd like to see over here eventually make their way over here and fight our top guys," Coker said. "Let's get it on."