Re: Official MMA Thread
Alot of MMA news!
Dana White responds to reports of Affliction’s plans to counter-program UFC 100
If Affliction Entertainment is looking to create a sense of panic from the UFC regarding reported plans to counter-program UFC 100 on July 11, it would appear they will need to do a little more to rattle the cage of UFC President Dana White.
FiveOuncesOfPain.com submitted a request for comment to White via text message Sunday afternoon seeking his response to reports that Affliction is looking to go head-to-head on July 11 with one of the most historic cards in UFC history.
White responded to our request via voicemail and didn’t sound concerned in the least about Affliction’s plans.
“How do I feel about them trying to counter-program UFC 100?,” White began his statement, before continuing, “I love it. I f'ng love it. I love it. I don’t like these guys and I want to see them spend more of their t-shirt money. What they should be worrying about is — they’ve already seen first hand that nobody gives a **** about Affliction MMA — what they need to starting worrying about is nobody wants to wear their goofy f'ng clothes anymore either. The fad is over and they better start saving as much of that t-shirt money as they can.”
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A much discussed rematch between current WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown (17-4 MMA, 3-0 WEC) and the man from whom he took the belt, Urijah Faber (22-2 MMA, 7-1 WEC), has been signed according to a report from FiveOuncesOfPain.com.
According to the report, the bout will headline the as-yet-unannounced WEC 41 event on June 7 at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, Calif.
Brown defied conventional logic in the pair's November 2008 title bout, earning a first-round TKO victory over then-champion Faber. The American Top Team product has since defended the belt in a submission win over Leonard Garcia in the main event of March's WEC 39. The win marked the ninth-straight victory for the 33-year-old.
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Affliction 3 on July 11; Fedor and Barnett in Separate Bouts
It will happen...
MMAWeekly.com is reporting that Affliction will indeed hold their third MMA event on July 11, the same night as UFC 100.
The possibility of the July 11 date for Affliction was first reported by fiveouncesofpain.com. The event is planned to be aired on non-premium cable television, not pay-per-view.
The expected match up of top heavyweights Fedor Emelianenko and Josh Barnett will not be taking place at Affliction 3. Sources say the cost of the bout would be too great to be held on free TV. No opponent for either fighter is known at this time. However, sources say Affliction is trying to put together a bout between former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia and Paul Buentello.
The report also debunked other reports claiming the event would be Affliction's last. Affliction Entertainment COO Michael D. Cohen told Versus.com's Ariel Helwani, "It's absolutely untrue... Trump's Affliction Entertainment is going nowhere except to the top, and the company will continue throughout 2009 and well into 2010."
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The Japanese-based DREAM organization today announced a number of DREAM.8 bouts, including a heavyweight matchup of Jeff Monson (28-8) vs. Sergey Kharitonov (16-3) and the opening-round bouts for its eight-man welterweight grand prix.
The show, DREAM.8, takes place at Nippon Gaishi Hall in Nagoya, Japan.
The event broadcast debuts in North America on April 10 at 10 p.m. EST on HDNet.
In addition to Monson vs. Kharitonov, DREAM also officially announced the previously reported addition of PRIDE and EliteXC veteran Murilo "Ninja" Rua (16-9-1) to the card. He'll take on Dong Sik Yoon (4-6) in a middleweight bout.
Also in non-tournament action is a middleweight bout between Andrews Nakahara (1-1) and Shungo Oyama (7-11), who is a late replacement for Zelg Galesic (9-4).
In tournament action, the eight-man grand prix is headed by an intriguing and previously reported rematch between WAMMA lightweight champion Shinya Aoki (20-3) and Hayato "Mach" Sakurai (34-8-2). The two fighters first met at an August 2005 Shooto event, and Aoki suffered a close unanimous-decision loss; it's one of only three career losses for the former PRIDE fighter and 2008 DREAM lightweight grand prix runner-up.
Other DREAM welterweight grand-prix bouts include UFC veteran John Alessio (24-12) vs. Andre Galvao (2-0), one-time Affliction fighter Jason High (6-1) vs. Yuya Shirai (15-7), and Seichi Ikemoto (18-14-5) vs. Marius Zaromskis (8-2).
The full DREAM.8 card now includes:
Shinya Aoki vs. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai
Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa vs. Katsuyori Shibata
Hideo Tokoro vs. DJ.taiki
Yuya Shirai vs. Jason High
Marius Zaromskis vs. Seichi Ikemoto
Andre Galvao vs. John Alessio
Murilo "Ninja" Rua vs. Dong Sik Yoon
Andrews Nakahara vs. Shungo Oyama
Sergey Kharitonov vs. Jeff Monson
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Akihiro Gono has been rumored that he was fired from the UFC (he was released) since he said he was currently looking for a job at Sengoku.7 on March 20.
Dream Event Producer Keiichi Sasahara commented about Gono after the press conference at Deep official Gym in Tokyo on March 26. "He is a very attractive fighter because he has unique individuality. I believe he can attract and bring more fans into Dream. We have our first welterweight champion in July, and I want him to fight our champion for the welterweight belt."
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The main event for UFC 101 has been set, and lightweight champion BJ Penn will defend his title against Kenny Florian on August 8 in Philadelphia.
MMA Weekly reports that Penn said on his own web site that it's official, and that Penn will make his first title defense since May of 2008. Lately Penn has seemed to be obsessed with getting justice for what he perceives as cheating by Georges St. Pierre during their fight at UFC 94, but now Penn says he's ready to turn all his attention to facing Florian.
Said Florian, "I am looking forward to testing myself against one of the greatest -- if not the greatest -- lightweight fighter in the world."
Other fights expected to be part of the UFC 101 card include:
Forrest Griffin vs. Thiago Silva
Josh Neer vs. Kurt Pellegrino
Thiago Tavares vs. Melvin Guillard
Matt Riddle vs. Dan Cramer
Danillo Villefort vs. Jesse Lennox
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UFC Fight Night 18 this Wednesday night @ 8pm Live from Nashville.
Matchups:
Carlos Condit vs. Martin Kampmann
Efrain Escudero vs. Jeremy Stephens
Ryan Bader vs. Carmelo Marrero
Cole Miller vs. Junie Allen Browning
Tyson Griffin vs. Rafael dos Anjos
Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Horwich
Brock Larson vs. Jesse Sanders
Jorge Rivera vs. Nissen Osterneck
Rob Kimmons vs. Joe Vedepo
Tim McKenzie vs. Aaron Simpson
Steve Steinbeiss vs. Ryan Jensen
The new season of The Ultimate Fighter premiers after the fights. This season is the US vs. the UK.
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WEC 40 this Sunday night!
WEC Bantamweight Championship
Miguel Torres vs. Brian Bowles
Jeff Curran vs. Joseph Benavidez
Benson Henderson vs. Shane Roller
Manny Tapia vs. Akitoshi Tamura
Cub Swanson vs. Diego Nunes
Rafael Dias vs. Cole Province
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The path to loyalty is trust.
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