MMA-URLS

Gray Maynard, the perennial bridesmaid of the UFC's Lightweight division, is keeping his chin up and working to improve despite failing to take Frankie Edgar's title in two attempts at UFC 125 and UFC 136. Maynard has left Xtreme Couture, his long-time training camp and taken up the role of traveling ronin, training at the best camps all over the world. He spoke to Bloody Elbow alum Duane Finley at Heavy about his time at Nova Uniao and AKA: "My time in Brazil was eye-opening. ... (One) thing I found surprising was how close the team is. Their camp is very organized. The coaches and athletes are all open to evolving and learning. I don't know if this is the case everywhere in Brazil, but at Nova Uniao it's like a family. Coach Andre Pederneiras is a father figure to a lot of those guys. They would do anything for him, and all he asks is if you are going to be there, you train hard. It got me going every day, and for a guy who gets so much respect, he has zero ego. ..."AKA is a great gym, and Javier Mendez told me the door is open any time I want to train. He understands no one should tell an athlete he can't fly out to another gym to learn or train somewhere else if it's going to help him improve, and I appreciate that about him. ... But just like Coach Pederneiras, Javier has actual fighting experience. Coaches who have fought and been through that life operate differently. They know what it is like to be punched and kicked, and that puts ego out the door. They want you to learn because they understand they don't know everything. When they fought, they went to get help from wherever they could and want the same for you. He has also begun strength and conditioning with the Marinovich brothers. MMA fans will remember them from their time training B.J. Penn for his bouts with Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez, bouts that saw Penn get stronger as the rounds went on. Maynard will face Clay Guida in the headliner bout at UFC on FX 4 in June. The winner of the bout will stay alive in the UFC's murderous LW division but the loser will face a long, hard road back to contention. Maynard's making no bones about it, his goal is to get one more shot at the champ: "The title has always been the goal. I would love to have the belt and somewhere along the line, get another fight with Edgar. We are 1-1-1 and we need to settle it once and for all. It has to happen eventually, and after that fight we can both be done. We can walk away knowing it's over and that we gave MMA fans some great fights to look back on." More SBN coverage of UFC on FX 4

Posted in: ufc, bout, coach, maynard, nova uniao

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

Ed Soares' more than two-year business relationship with UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo came to an abrupt end last week.According to Soares, he was sent an e-mail from Soares' trainer Andre Pederneiras of Nova Uniao informing him of the decision to severe ties with Soares and his business partner Jorge Guimarães."It wasn't really much of anything," Soares told MMAFighting.com, "other than his coach, who used to be his manager, felt like he didn't need our services. It pretty much was one of those things." News of Aldo's decision was first reported by Tatame.com. Aldo hired Soares/Guimarães to manage his career in November 2009, around the time he defeated Mike Brown to win the WEC featherweight title. "It was really strange the way it all went down. His coach sent us an e-mail and that was it." Soares insisted that there was no bad blood with Aldo, who recently defeated Chad Mendes at UFC 142, and said that he will continue to manager Nova Uniao fighters Diego Nunes, Luis Ramos and Johnny Eduardo.Soares/Guimarães also currently manage the likes of Anderson Silva, the Nogueira brothers and Lyoto Machida, among others.

Posted in: ed soares, aldo, soare, nova uniao, johnny eduardosoaresguimaratildees

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UFC lightweight Gray Maynard helped dominant champion Jose Aldo prepare for his latest title defense, along with enjoy some sun and fun in Brazil. Maynard reportedly spent more than three weeks at Aldo’s camp, helping the UFC featherweight champion train for his fight against Chad Mendes. Maynard called Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas his home, but has trained at a number of gyms, including American Kickboxing Academy and Nova Uniao. Here is what Maynard had to say about Aldo’s overall skillset: “I knew he was good, but I had no idea he was as good as he is in every area. Really unbelievable, especially his takedown defense. That goes for all of Nova Uniao [Aldo's home gym] also. He’s really one of the most, if not the most complete fighter I’ve ever worked with.” Aldo has remained undefeated in the WEC/UFC, and has quickly climbed the pound-for-pound rankings — a dominant win against Mendes will only help him gain more fans. Mendes is a tough guy and skilled fighter, but I just don’t think he’s ready for someone like Aldo.

Posted in: title defense, maynard, aldo, mende, nova uniao

Read the full article at MMA Opinion

UFC lightweight, Gray Maynard, has been spending time training in Brazil at Nova Uniao, and was recently awarded his blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by Andre Pederneiras.

Posted in: brazil, training, maynard, nova uniao, brazilian jiujitsu

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

There’s a phenomenal Brazilian out of Nova Uniao who is in his mid-twenties, riding an impressive winning streak, and has carried his dominance from WEC over into the Octagon since having his division absorbed by the UFC. His name is not Jose Aldo. Renan Barao, the 27-1 phenom who hasn’t lost since being outpointed six years ago in his MMA debut, continued his incredible run Saturday night in Birmingham, England at UFC 138 where he went toe-to-toe with Brad Pickett in a “Fight of the Night” performance. Barao Wants to Make his Mark at UFC 138 While Barao has burst on the scene as a threat to bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz’s crown, little is known about the reserved 24-year old who typically allows his ability do the talking each time the cage door closes. However, the UFC recently gave fans an opportunity to learn a bit more about Barao in a video profile filmed as he prepared for Pickett including a look how Mixed Martial Arts has changed his life. “I’ve learned discipline. I’ve learned to be friendly to people. I’ve learned how to share and not be a selfish person. Because this is  family here. I’ve learned how to listen to people. What helped me was to learn all this from Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, and Muay Thai…MMA itself,” Barao explains in the clip. “MMA helped me become all this. It helped me to trust more in God, to listen deeper to the Lord’s word…to listen to my friends, to have conversations. It helped me to have fun and be a happy guy. What helped me with all this was MMA. And it’s in my blood, it’s part of my life.” Here is the entire video courtesy of the UFC: PHOTO CREDIT – UFC Tweet

Posted in: ufc, saturday night, mma, barao, nova uniao

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It's quite possible you've never actually heard of Yan Cabral. A resident of Spain, the undefeated Nova Uniao black belt and Brazilian native began fighting professionally in 2007, and he's remarkably submitted each of his first 10 opponents, including Kazushi Sakuraba at September's DREAM.17 event. But Cabral has yet to fight on U.S. soil. After his recent high-profile win, the 28-year-old is hoping to change all that and lead a charge of European talent to global prominence.

Posted in: kazushi sakuraba, yan cabral, cabral, nova uniao, european talent

Read the full article at MMA Junkie