MMA-URLS

Ever since moving to the continental United States to train full time in mixed martial arts (MMA) Brad Tavares has seen a tremendous leap in his development as a fighter. The native Hawaiian got off to a very early start, fighting for the first time professionally when he was still in his teens. Now at 24 years old and training as much as four times a day at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, he feels he's finally starting to reach his potential in the "Mecca of MMA." The Ultimate Fighter season 11 alum was stifled in his last bout, a grueling affair against former Division I All-American wrestler Aaron Simpson and he'll finally be returning to the Octagon tomorrow night (May 15, 2012) for the first time in over 11 months when he battles Dongi Yang on the Facebook portion of the UFC on Fuel TV 3 undercard in Fairfax, Virginia. Tavares spoke to MMAmania.com about convincing his mother that MMA was okay, the learning experience from his last fight against "The A-Train" and what he feels he needs to do to find success against Dongi Yang tomorrow night in this exclusive interview. Check it out: Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): When you moved out to mainland America from Hawaii for MMA training, what was it that convinced you to head out here? Brad Tavares: When I first started training MMA, my old coach, Brandon Wolff, a big mentor to me, he saw the big picture. He's a fighter himself and actually had a few fights in the UFC and he's kind of older and he was wise to what was happening for the younger generation of fighters at our old gym in mixed martial arts development, he kind of set up a plan so to speak about picking up as much experience as we could and then eventually moving out to someplace like Vegas. Vegas is like a mecca. Everyone is going to Vegas, whether it's at Couture's or Drysdale's or Throwdown or other places. It's just a prime location in Vegas. After a few years went by, I got a job opportunity in America and I basically came out here to live with friend who gave me a place to stay until I got on my feet and whatnot. It all kind of lined up and I just made the most of it. Once I got my job situated, I started training again. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): And what was the biggest difference between training 2-4 hours a day in Hawaii to training full time in Las Vegas. What's the biggest advantage of being a full-time fighter? Brad Tavares: The advantages are huge. Being a full time fighter, the primary advantage is the amount of time I get to work and improve. Typically, a day in Hawaii for me, i used to wake up at 3 a.m. and I'd start work at 4 a.m. and I'd work until about 12 p.m. and then I'd go home and by then I just wanted to take a nap because I was exhausted and then I'd have to train right after that from 5-7 o'clock. That was typically every day. On my days off, I could go for a run or something but in Hawaii, everyone has to work because there's not a lot of training partners out there for you to train with in the mornings so when they're available, you take advantage of the situation. If someone's on vacation or working a different shift, you take advantage. Everyone out here in Vegas are full-time fighters. That's what they do for a living so from the time the day starts until the day ends, they're training and it's just a big help to be able to go into the gym in the morning and not have to worry about working a normal day job, but to wake up early, do conditioning, do mitts, so a wrestling or jiu-jitsu workout or whatever it may be, go home, eat, rest, recover and then go back again and do it again in the evening. I train at least two times a day and sometimes up to 3-4 a day. That's like a week's work in Hawaii so that's a huge advantage for me. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): I heard that your mother wasn't exactly very positive about wanting you to get into fighting but now she's totally got your back. What was it that convinced her it was okay? Did you have to do it without permission at first or what? Brad Tavares: I'm always looking for my mom's approval, her consent, her permission so to speak but it's something that I was always interested in growing up. My mom had to work full-time and we didn't exactly live close to the town that she had to work in on the big Island about 26 miles away from the town I went to school and played sports and stuff so it wasn't always easy for her when I was young because her and my father had to work. It wasn't always easy for me to want to do boxing, kickboxing, wrestling or anything like that. I always wanted to do it but it just didn't happen that way and it's something that she didn't want me to do. I'm a momma's boy, I'm her first born and she really baby's me and she doesn't want me to get beat up. She still has a hard time getting around the fact that I'm gonna be in there fighting and I could potentially get knocked out, choked out, get my face smashed in bloody and cut. She didn't really want me to do it but it was something that I wanted to do so it was something I started getting into. I took like a kickboxing fight, that was my first fight back in the day and I told her about it. I was like, "Hey mom, I'm gonna do this," and my uncle and my grandma came to watch and my mom was on the big island, this was on O'ahu and she couldn't come. I didn't think she was ready to come anyways. They told her I was actually good at this stuff so that kind of keeps her mind a little bit at ease. I told her this was something I'm passionate about. I explained to her that it's legal, it's pretty safe with the rules and referees and judges watching out for you and it's something that I wanted to pursue. Being the good mother that she is, she stood behind me and said "okay" even though she wasn't comfortable with it at the time. It's something that she learned to deal with and she does. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): Let's talk about your upcoming fight a little bit. Dongi Yang, he's a compact middleweight, but his two career losses are to two guys that competed on your season of The Ultimate Fighter in Chris Camozzi and Court McGee. Does that give you a little bit of confidence heading into this one? Brad Tavares: Definitely. It makes me want to keep the streak going. He's fought TUF 11 alums and he's 0-2 so far so why not make it 0-3? I just look at Dongi's fights and I think he's a really awesome fighter. He brings a good fight, but when I look at him, I just see that I'm a better fighter than he is. I'm not saying it's gonna be an easy fight. I'm not saying it's gonna be a walk in the park, but I definitely think I'm better than him in every aspect of the game. Striking, wrestling and jiu-jitsu. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): Yeah, I would say the biggest thing to be concerned about is potentially his power. He's kind of got that good one punch ability to really turn the tide. Is that your biggest concern heading in as well? Brad Tavares: Not so much. I train with a lot of tough guys that hit hard. I've been hit hard in fights. Baroni hit me really hard, he sent me to the mat but I recovered quickly. I don't know yet if I have a Chris Leben type of chin. I did get that flash knockdown from Baroni but I didn't feel like I was in any trouble. I got right back up, didn't feel dizzy or out of place or have that feeling of not knowing where I was so I'm not worried. In this sport, with four ounce gloves, it doesn't take much to knock somebody out. It's like that saying, "Any given Sunday." At this level, everybody is so good and training so hard, anybody can knock anybody out really. It's not something that I'm so concerned about. I know that he's dangerous. He has the power and he has the potential to knock people out. Look at his record. It's not something I'm overly concerned about. Do I have to be cautious, yeah, of course. I'm not gonna go in there stupidly with my hands down and swing from the hips but it's not something that keeps me up at night shaking in my bed or anything either. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): Working at Xtreme Couture, you've said that Ray Sefo has done a great job of pointing out some of your flaws in your striking game and not just the "what" but the "why." What I want to know is, what's one thing, big or small, that you've really been able to focus on and improve, like a flaw, with Sefo's help? Brad Tavares: Like Ray tells me, it's nothing real bad that I do, but it's a lot of little things that I can do better. It's just sharpening. It's not one big thing that we spend hours on in the gym and he says, "Oh you need to fix this, this and that," it's just sharpening. He tells me, "This is good, but if you tweak this thing this way, it'll be even better." He's a very good instructor and I believe I'm a pretty good student so I take his instruction well. I love learning especially from such a credentialed trainer like him. He's a six time world champ, a hall of famer. I'm all ears when he wants to talk and teach me. I want to do something similar, win multiple world championships like he's done. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): After such a grueling and tough fight against Aaron Simpson in your last bout, do you feel any pressure to have a more exciting performance or do you feel like that's all dependent on your opponent? Brad Tavares: It was kind of hard to have a good fight against Aaron Simpson. I couldn't really throw big punches like I like, swinging bombs because he'd take me down. I tried to keep my chin under myself and it was really irritating for me to have someone do that to me but it was a good learning experience. I know now what to do in that situation. I've worked on it a bunch. I know how to not get in that position. With Dongi, I don't think he's a boring fighter at all. You look at all his fights and he comes out to bring a fight. He doesn't try to just lay on somebody or hold them against the cage. He wants to swing and he wants to go and get it. I can't see this being a boring fight. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): When you visualize success, when you're picturing victory against Dongi Yang, what do you see? Brad Tavares: I definitely can't see myself losing this fight no matter where it goes but I like to play with the scenarios, what could happen it if goes to the ground, what submissions I could get or maybe a TKO by ground and pound. I can't predict the future. I don't know exactly how the fight is going to go but I'm hoping and I'm always looking that finish, always trying for it so hopefully I can get a finish and I can be the first person to finish Dongi Yang. Brad would like to thank his sponsors HeadRush, Hayabusa and Xtreme Couture, his coaches Ray Sefo, his training partners Martin Kampmann, Mike Pyle, Jay Hieron and everyone that's helped him get ready for this fight. He'd also like to thank the fans of now just him but of all of MMA. You can follow him on twitter @BradTavares. So what do you think, Maniacs? Will Tavares be the first man to finish Dongi Yang? Or will he not be able to match "Ox's" strength? Sound off!

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Former UFC light heavyweight champ Rashad Evans was sad to see Mo Lawal’s situation go from bad to worse this past week, he told MMA Fighting. The two are colleagues in the fight game, but they’re also friends, which made it hard to watch as Lawal was released from his Strikeforce contract shortly after being fined and suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission on Tuesday."It’s unfortunate, man. Mo’s probably one of the best guys I’ve ever met in the sport, and even outside of the sport," said Evans. "He’s so much different than the character, or what he comes across as. People get the wrong take on Mo." The way Evans sees it, many people fail to see the distinction between the real Lawal and the "King Mo" persona he’s adopted for the purposes of a little pre-fight entertainment. What they don’t realize is that, whether on Twitter or in person, they’re getting a much more genuine response than they get from many other fighters.Sometimes, however, that’s a personality trait that comes with certain consequences."Mo’s so real," Evans said. "When someone says something to him, it’s hard for him to divorce the fact that they’re saying it to his character and not who he really is as a person. When you say something to him, he gets offended deeply because he’s such a real dude. I feel bad for him. He’s a champion at heart, and I’m sure he’ll find a way to make it back to [Zuffa] or find a way to make it in another organization as a top guy."The question for Lawal is what he’ll decide to do next. Will he sign with another organization? Will he try to wait out Zuffa’s wrath and then sign a new contract when tempers have cooled? If Evans had to lay odds on it, he said, he’d bet that Lawal will eventually end up back in one of the two Zuffa-owned organizations. In the meantime, it’s just a matter of making it through the rough times ahead. That’s something Evans knows a little something about, he said."I think that everything happens for a reason. I’ve been in a situation where I had to ride out a dark cloud a little bit in my career. I think Mo’s just going to have to ride the dark cloud in his career. I went about a 14-month period of not having a fight and just riding out some of the waves in my life, and that happens. Fighting is not just about fighting -- it’s about life. Sometimes you have those ups and downs in life, just like in your career. But as long as you keep your mind right and on what you really want, and you stay hungry, then you’ll prevail and make it through the storm."

Posted in: evan, something, mo, lawal, career i

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This fight on April 21st against Michael McDonald means a lot to me for several reasons. Of course, it offers me the chance to get another win in the UFC, move a step closer to the world title and continue my recent run of form. More than any of that, though, it feels great to be fighting again because, for a short while last year, my future in the UFC looked uncertain.As most of you will be aware, I said something insensitive on Twitter and duly suffered the consequences. I was initially told I would no longer be able to fight in the UFC and that my time with the world's top mixed martial arts organization was over. As you can expect, this hurt a great deal and resulted in a huge amount of regret on my part.Looking back, what happened was a mistake, and one I desperately wish I could erase. I said something stupid, I was very insensitive, and I paid the price. Thankfully, at least I'm now aware of just how powerful my words can be and, as a result, will never approach social media in such a carefree manner again. To be honest, I've always hated social media and have never liked the idea of being involved with Facebook or Twitter. In fact, I only became involved in that world because I felt obligated to do so as every athlete is involved. It was never a personal ambition of mine to splash my thoughts, feelings and movements across the world wide web for everybody to see.I have a certain style and personality, and have now come to realize that it's not for everybody. Twitter highlights the fact that some people out there like you and support you which is great, and others hate you and can't wait to see you lose. I'm not sure whether that's the kind of feedback anybody wants to read or hear, but it certainly gives you a new perspective on things. It makes you realize that you're not infallible and, no matter what you do in your professional life, there will always be people that dislike you for some reason. The idea of being cut from the UFC and frozen out was something that scared me a great deal. Fighting is my life – it is all I think about on a daily basis – and the UFC gave me the opportunity to showcase my skills on the biggest stage possible, against the best competition available. You can't take something like that for granted, or take your eye off the ball and jeopardize it.That whole episode made me realize how important mixed martial arts is in my life. I want to always be involved in MMA. Obviously, I'm aware that I won't be able to fight for the rest of my life, but there will always be something I want to do, be it training others or working as an analyst. I'd love to do a lot of both in the future. I've been involved in mixed martial arts for 14 years now, and like to think, I've seen pretty much everything this sport can offer. I've experienced both the highs and lows, inside and outside the ring, and am still living to tell the tale.For now, though, I'm happy competing and still have a lot I want to achieve in the game. Fighting is not a burden or a chore for me. There is nothing else I'd rather be doing. When fighting and training becomes a burden, that's when it's time to get out. I haven't reached that point yet, and don't see it happening any time soon.Fighting is ingrained in my psyche, it's part of my DNA. As a young boy, I used to watch a lot of boxing with my father and that was what first inspired me to fight. It wasn't so much the fight itself that intrigued me, but more my father's reaction to it. I would sit and watch how emotional he got during a fight, and it left a lasting impression on me. We'd watch a guy like the great boxer Julio Cesar Chavez walk to the ring and my father would look on with pride and admiration, almost welling up with emotion. Watching guys like Chavez meant the world to him. He loved those Mexican greats like they were part of his family. I'd never seen my father show so much emotion and pride. After I saw how he reacted to these guys on screen, I knew I had to make him proud and become an extension of that great Mexican fighting legacy.Twitter @MiguelTorresMMA.Bantamweight star Miguel Torres fights Michael McDonald on Sat., April 21st at UFC 145. UFC 145 is live on pay-per-view.

Posted in: ufc, fight, world, something, father

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I was hoping FX would offer something, but they only seem to have clips unless I'm missing something. Thanks! submitted by ryan_is_awesome [link] [comment]

Posted in: episode, thank, something, ryanisawesome link, something thanks

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The next evolution of “The Ultimate Fighter” premiered on FX Friday night in it’s new live format. Whenever you do something new, there’s always the possibility that it won’t go quite how you planned it. Dana White was certainly aware of that fact going into the premiere, but was pleased to say after it was over that everything went “perfectly.” “Going into this thing … you’re always nervous when you do something new and do something different,” he told MMAjunkie.com. “We worked long and hard on this show to make sure this came off with no hitches. I’m very happy to with how it came off. It was perfect. Everything went according to plan. There were literally no hiccups whatsoever. “It’s not easy doing this live. Nobody’s even done this before, and it could have gone any more perfect.” As I noted in the comments of our recap, my only gripe with the premiere was the somewhat awkward silence at certain points. Allowing the audience to hear Dana White, Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber commenting on the fighters and the fights helped, but I think it would have been better if Jon Anik had more of a presence calling the fights. That’s not as big of a concern moving forward in the season since there’s only one fight at the end of each show, but hopefully it’s something they consider for future season premieres. The full cast list Joe Proctor Cristiano Marcello Sam Sicilia Chris Tickle Andy Ogle Vinc Pichel John Cofer Chris Saunders James Vick Michael Chiesa Mike Rio Justin Lawrence Daron Cruickshank Jeremy Larsen Al Iaqinta Myles Jury It’s also worth noting that Jon Tuck dislocated his toe pretty badly in his loss to Al Iaquinta. Lucky for us, Urijah Faber tweeted a picture!

Posted in: fight, dana, premiere, something, toe pic

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We have all seen spectacular moments in combat sports on television that have embedded themselves in our minds forever. I will never forget which stool I was sitting in when Anderson Silva robbed Forrest Griffin of his soul at UFC 101. I just stood sat there in absolute disbelief and laughed. It wasn't even like it was funny. I mean, it was but I was just laughing out of sheer disbelief. I was stunned that any person could do that to another human being. I believe it is a whole different thing to witness these moments live. There is something about being in that building at that time that adds so much to those moments in time. Just being in the same room when something that profound and memorable happens is something that can be difficult, if not impossible to describe. I have been lucky enough to witness a few great moments live in the few events I have attended. I have seen Machida KO Rashad Evans for the belt, Cain Velasquez destroy Brock Lesnar and the 25 minute epic between Dan Henderson and Mauricio Rua. But one moment stands head and shoulders above the rest: Anderson Silva's hailmary triangle armbar on Chael Sonnen @ UFC 117. The build up to this moment was I think what made the payoff so great. Chael had claimed his title as the p4p best trash talker in MMA and had said everything imaginable to get under Anderson's skin. The pre-fight press conference and the weigh in had only poured more fuel on an already raging fire. Oracle Arena was rocking as the fighters were introduced and only got more intense with every Sonnen takedown. The chants of "SON-NEN" and "U-S-A" grew more and more deafening as the fight progressed and once Sonnen secured his takedown in the 5th round, people around me were celebrating the victory he had seemingly sealed. Then, it happened. Anderson snuck his left leg over Chael's head and locked up that triangle armbar sending the crowd into hysterics. When Josh Rosenthal pulled Anderson off of him, the building almost collapsed from the reaction. I was personally stunned silent. I literally could not believe what I had just seen and knew right away that I had been witness to something I would likely never experience again. Now it is your turn. I would like to know what your answer is to this question and what it was that made it so special. Some of us have probably even been in the same place at the same time for these moments. I am very interested in hearing from everyone.

Posted in: sonnen, anderson, something, moment, witness

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Most fighters aren't worried about getting hurt in the cage so much as they are worried about getting horribly embarrassed. A fask KO. A banana-peel screwup. Something that goes viral on youtube and is featured in dozens of Fail compilations moving forward. Something like this video above, where this guy from an Empire Fight League event manages to knock himself out with a flying kick. (thanks to Vince for the find!)

Posted in: something, selfko action, kick thanks, fask ko, fighters arent

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BANGKOK, Thailand -- Young 20-somethings pour into Club Insomnia. DMX barks from the speakers, and the strobe lights splash color on everyone and everything. Thai waitresses lean into your ear and ask what you would like to drink.

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Conor Heun is the closest thing MMA has to a Shaman, a master of the elements, finely in tune with the earth and the energies of the world around him. I've come to grips with that, and I hope you can too, because you're going to have to by the time you finish this interview. Rather than stand atop a mountain in Colorado guiding wary souls gently back onto their lost paths, Conor Heun is channeling his energies into fighting for now, and the next opponent he plans on sharing the cage experience with is Ryan Couture, which will be going down at Tate Vs. Rousey. We discussed his upcoming opponent, Conor's training regimen and his methods for righting one's internal path via the use of hallucinogens in this interview conducted by Elena Lopez. Do you think Ryan Couture is a little bit over his head in his future bout with you? You know he's a tough kid but I don't think he's fought anyone like me. He's a pro fighter sure, but I look at his fights, but I look at his fights and I look at my fight with KJ Noons for example. I learned a lot from that fight with KJ as far as fighters staying outside and scoring points. Couture is going to be in a fight not a point match I'm going to bring him a war. If he beats me it's a huge step up for him I' not sure if he's willing to go as far as I'm willing to go to win the fight. He fought my friend Bollinger at Tuff E Nuff in an amateur fight and they went to a draw. Bollinger is a real tough kid so he's good but his heart, hands and conditioning are nowhere near me. He's gonna have a tough time.   The Majority of his wins are by submission, how will you handle that? He's obviously proficient. I've watched his fights but he makes mistakes I'm not going to make. I took second at Grapplers Quest out here and I was taking down other finalists, he took third in state in high school wrestling and never wrestled in college. I took second and went out to wrestle for five years at college so he has nothing for me. The only place where it he might have the advantage is because he has I guess what we can call 'Ring Generalship'? He's very intelligent and he's going to know the rules and how to fight and how to win. He fights to win on points, I fight to tear people's heads off their body. That's the difference between him and me. I know he has some submission wins, but he doesn't seem to throw anything with bad intentions. I haven't seen any weapons out of him that look like he can do damage. He has some knees that don't look devastating, he has nothing to give me.   It seems like you're always switching from Colorado to Hollywood, why is that? I like to train in altitude. I trained out New Mexico a bit for my last fight. The only thing to fear in a fight is running out of gas. When I train in altitude, I'm sure that I will be able to have the gas tank I need so I can put the pedal to the metal when I'm in the cage. Knowing that I can go so hard like that frees me from all worrying our doubt. I just open up. Outside that I've been training with GSP's old wrestling coach and is great. I'm working out with Marquardt and Ed Herman and tough, tough guys. Running up peeks and doing all these mountain runs with weight vests. The altitude and training partners out in Colorado puts me in a place where I'm just so confident in the work I put in, that I'll be able to just go out there and have fun when the time comes. That's what he has to look forward to. I immerse myself in this to improve my self and I let that inner animal out,to be my primal self and having a full ga tank is important in that.   After your last fight with Magno Almeida, you cut a video encouraging all fighters not to tap out. Do you still stand by it? You know, I'm trying to evolve, I'm trying to learn from my mistakes. I guess it really depends on the moment. If it's other people no I'm going to say tap out, tap out right away. For me I want to keep the match going. Self preservation is great for other people, for me I would rather die than lose. When I go out there I go out there to lay it down. Going out there with that mentality that I have that my training is right and I've done what I can so I can be free to take whatever the combat has for me in the cage. No I don't recommend anyone not to tap. But for me as a Colorado fighter that's my choice. I'm not going to tap.   Speaking of tappping out, do you think the earth will submit to whatever 2012 apocalypse the Mayans foretold? No the earth wont. We are just a minor problem for the Earth right now. As far as if the Mayans are right and we're wiped out? I don't know but if something happens I'll be up in the mountains of Colorado leading the army of the new world.   How can a person increase their enjoyment of life? Learning to live in the moment not the future, not the past. Free themselves from worry and just breathe and focus on the gift that is the present moment. Know that every breath is a blessing and every moment is such a gift and so beautiful. If you're worrying about the future then you are missing out on the moment. Forget past mistakes, live.   Why did you choose 10th planet (as a gym)? When I moved out to California in 2006 I was working a desk job selling dentist equipment and I really missed the competition. I was talking to my college roommate and he told me about the UFC and I was saying how I wanted to go out and mix it up. He told me there was a guy out by me who was teaching Jiu Jitsu without the funny costume and so I went down, he invited me in and so I jumped in with both feet. Eddie was the first guy I ever trained with and no gi is a lot like wrestling and best of all it was close to my house so the rest is history.   So you prefer no gi to a gi? Yeah, well, I think the gi game is beautiful. I think it's a different game and fun, when I'm done competing I'm sure I'm going to immerse myself into the gi game. It's slower, the holds are different, tighter and more control. It's not an explosive game or like wrestling it's a slower game. My dad trains with a gi and has a great time. One day I will put focus on it, but guys aren't wearing a gi when I fight them so.   Can you tell us the most satisfying experience you had under the influence of a hallucinogen? Feel free to explain in detail. The biggest thing that hallucinogens provide for me is the sense of 'one'. You know, we are all one. The acute sense that everything is right in the world. Like I said it's easy to get caught up in the future or the events of the past. But when under hallucinogens or whatever it may be I think that it sort of breaks down that sense of self. Self importance maybe. It rejoins that connection to the fellow man and Earth and your relatives in your past. Every time that I've experienced something like that it just reaffirms my faith in the path that I'm on. There are I do, I usually take them at the start of a training camp and then maybe right after a fight just to check in with the universe and check in with the universal consciousness to make sure I'm on the right path.   Is there any type of mental preparation you practice in order to not have a 'bad' hallucinogenic experience? You just have to be open to the experience. A 'bad' experience? I wouldn't label anything as bad. Losing a fight isn't bad, breaking a bone isn't bad it's all those types of things here people put words and judgements, it's short sighted. If you go through something that might be 'scary' or shows you something traumatic it's just something that you can learn from. Hallucinogens are a natural teacher. Look at all of our teachers, sometimes you lose the fight, sometimes you lose the fight sometimes it hurts, you have to go in with an open mind to draw from the experience and sometimes the lesson may not be the lesson you are hoping for or expecting but if you approach this with the proper respect and mindfulness, not something to be used as a party drug or have a nice time. I use it as a sacred experience. It's a sacrament to me that enables me to expand my mind and my consciousness and it opens my eyes around me. If it's something scary or weird, what I'm learning to do is acknowledge it. If I'm feeling scared then I dive deeper and I think about how I'm scared. Why do I feel that way? I allow it to wash over me. Too many pass judgement and label something as bad, like oh this is a bad trip because you aren't seeing or feeling something you wanted. You're experience is different than your expected experience and I don't have an expected experience. I just go in and I search for the teachings. Whatever comes is what was meant to come.   Anything else you would like to add? I just want to send my love to my opponent Ryan Couture. I wish the best for him and the training camp goes wonderful and I hope he tests me and pushes me to my limits and I do the same to him so we can both take something from this experience.

Posted in: fight, something, he, im, experience

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The names are familiar to UFC fans: Cain Velasquez, Ryan Bader, Aaron Simpson, CB Dollaway. So it’s really no surprise that Clifford Starks is the latest Arizona State University wrestling alum to make it to the UFC. Is it something in the water?“I think it might be the barbecue,” laughed Starks, a teammate of Velasquez who, despite being the second to graduate (behind Simpson) from the aforementioned group, was the last to turn pro. “I wasn’t really thinking about it (fighting) at the time,” said Starks, who earned his Kinesiology degree in 2005. “I got into personal training right when I finished wrestling, but I missed being competitive.”And flag football on the weekend just wasn’t going to cut it, right?“The funny thing is, that’s what I was doing,” he laughs. “But I always knew that I was gonna compete in something. What I was going to compete in I just didn’t know at the time.”Eventually though, watching his former teammate and the rest of the ASU crew begin to make their mark in mixed martial arts piqued his interest. “I started seeing them moving up and making names for themselves, and I was always staying in training shape,” he recalled. “I did a couple bodybuilding shows, but seeing the success that they had definitely made me consider giving it a try. It was a great step towards maintaining something that’s similar to what I already knew.”In December of 2009, Starks dipped his toe in the MMA pool for the first time, submitting Chad Menneke in the second round. Now hooked on the sport, Tempe’s Starks continued fighting and winning, showing off that ASU pedigree that fans were beginning to get accustomed to from those wearing the maroon and gold.“I really think it’s the mental toughness aspect and the workouts that we would go through,” said Starks when asked the biggest aspect of ASU training that he brings into MMA with him. “They would really work us to where nine out of 10 guys would be throwing up afterwards. So when you go through something like that, you just kinda think that fighting’s no big deal. It is, and it’s very intense, but to go through the things we went through makes the transition that much easier.”That’s not to say his October 2011 call to the UFC was an expected one. 7-0 as a pro, Starks had just finished up a three round decision win over Artenas Young on October 15th when his phone rang on October 21st. Did he want to replace the injured Brad Tavares and fight Dustin Jacoby at UFC 137 in eight days?Absolutely. “You made it to the big show, let’s see what you’ve got,” thought Starks, who admits that the short notice call helped him stay focused on what was important – the fight – and not about the idea of making it to the big show.“It made it a little bit easier mentally because you really didn’t have time to think about it. You just had to jump on the opportunity and go from there.”On that fall night in Vegas, Starks took the opportunity and ran with it, winning a shutout three round decision over the previously unbeaten Jacoby to improve to 8-0, and he did so without showing off any first time UFC jitters. Unless he was hiding them well.“I was hiding it a little bit (Laughs), but once you get into the Octagon and the ref asks if you’re ready to go, you’re into fight mode, and that probably comes from my wrestling background a little bit too. It (winning on short notice) built up my self-esteem in that area, knowing that I can take something like that and make a good situation out of it.”His reward for the big win? A main card slot on this Saturday’s UFC 143 card against veteran Ed Herman. It’s a big step up in competition for the 30-year old, but that’s nothing he’s concerned about.“I feel it’s something that I’m ready for and I trained for very diligently, and we’ll just see what happens from there when the bell rings,” said Starks. “He’s a competitor like myself, I see us having a really great fight, and let the best man win.”Clifford Starks plans on making sure that best man is the one from Arizona State University.“I’m just gonna go out there and give it my all, fight my gameplan, and then see who comes out on top,” he said. “The way I feel about it, win, lose, or draw, this is such a large opportunity for me that I think I’m gonna learn from this experience regardless. Obviously I want to come away with the victory, and then I’ll revamp my gameplan from there. I always want to improve, I always want to be the best.”

Posted in: ufc, time, something, stark, “i

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For those of you who felt the latest Strikeforce event left something to be desired, you're not alone. It appears Dana White shares your sentiment, and according to the UFC President, that "something" is him...

Posted in: strikeforce, event, ufc president, strikeforce event, something

Read the full article at Low Kick

Anthony Johnson believes fans need to get ready for "something crazy" when he faces Vitor Belfort in the co-main event of UFC 142 on Saturday in Rio de Janeiro.

Posted in: belfort, vitor belfort, something, comain event, fans need

Read the full article at Heavy MMA

Looks like Keith Kizer will roll with the punches. The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) Executive Director told MMA Fighting he has "no issue" with the timing of referee Kim Winslow's stoppage in the Strikeforce fight between Muhammed Lawal and Lorenz Larkin. "King Mo" grounded and pounded "The Monsoon" en route to a second round technical knockout (TKO) stoppage on the main card of the Showtime event last Saturday night (Jan. 7, 2012) at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Immediately following Winslow's intervention, the freestyle wrestling phenom blasted her for allowing Larkin to take unnecessary punishment, which could have been avoided, he argues, had she reacted sooner. Lawal backed off his position in his post-fight speech, but then took her to task again during the Strikeforce: "Rockhold vs. Jardine" post-fight press conference. Here's what he said. "The commission, they need to do something with her. Let her take a fight or something and give her a bad ref. Let her fight Cyborg or something. Let her fight 'Cyborg' and then let's do a late stoppage of her. Because I watched her almost get Jan Finney killed by 'Cyborg.' I think the tables need to be turned. Put me in there as a ref and I'll just do a terrible job like her. I heard people from the crowd yelling to stop it and she jumps in all late. I told her, 'Hey you should have stopped the fight earlier.' And she's like, 'Well, I wanted to give him every opportunity to bounce back, so if it takes for him to be asleep. That's what it is.' She never took a punch before so it's easy for her to say that." "King Mo" wanted the NSAC to "do something with her," and even called into question her stoppage in the Cristiane Santos vs. Jan Finney fight back in June 2010. According to Kizer, there's nothing to see here folks, so move along. Anyone disagree? For more on the Muhammed Lawal vs. Lorenz Larkin fight click here. To see all the results and fallout from the Strikeforce: "Rockhold vs. Jardine" event click here.

Posted in: fight, vs, larkin, stoppage, something

Read the full article at MMA Mania

At Saturday night's Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine card, "King Mo" Muhammed Lawal ran through Lorenz Larkin with relative ease. The finishing flurry of punches seemed to go on far too long as referee Kim Winslow was very slow to jump in and stop the fight despite Larkin turning away and just trying to cover his face. Lawal was clearly upset about the late stoppage in the cage but waited until the post-fight presser to really go off about it. Via MMA Diehards: "The commission, they need to do something with her. Let her take a fight or something and give her a bad ref. Let her fight Cyborg or something. Let her fight 'Cyborg' and then let's do a late stoppage of her. Because I watched her almost get Jan Finney killed by 'Cyborg.' I think the tables need to be turned. Put me in there as a ref and I'll just do a terrible job like her. I heard people from the crowd yelling to stop it and she jumps in all late. I told her, 'Hey you should have stopped the fight earlier.' And she's like, 'Well, I wanted to give him every opportunity to bounce back, so if it takes for him to be asleep. That's what it is.' She never took a punch before so it's easy for her to say that." I generally think Winslow is underrated as a referee but her performance in that fight was bad. If anything, this is a good reminder of the fact that almost all of these guys have no interest in hurting the man they're fighting. They just want to win, not put the guy in the hospital or damage his life down the road. SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine

Posted in: fight, something, lawal, cyborg, fight cyborg

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Big month in UFC for marquee names, although the undercards leave something to be desired.

Posted in: ufc, la, something, marquee names, fightodd

Read the full article at Fight Opinion

submitted by lumbugg [link] [6 comments]

Posted in: ufc, lumbugg, poster, official, something

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Filed under: UFCIt's not exactly breaking news that Chael Sonnen has the biggest mouth in the UFC and won't hesitate to talk trash to anyone. But it was a little surprising when he made Arianny Celeste the topic of one recent salvo. Sonnen said in an interview with Las Vegas Weekly that Celeste, one of the UFC's Octagon Girls, should be called "the IQ card girl" because, as Sonnen sees it, Celeste is holding up her IQ when she walks around the cage holding up the round number during fights. "Arianny kind of walks around and holds up her latest test score," Sonnen said. "One time when there was a title fight, she got all the way up to five and we were very proud of her." The UFC Octagon Girls aren't accustomed to getting into spats with UFC fighters, but Celeste found herself in the midst of such a spat when she heard about Sonnen's comments. And so Celeste shot back at Sonnen on Twitter. "Hey what's ur name.. after @spideranderson kicks your ass..u won't even be able to count to 5!!" Celeste wrote. "Get ready to kiss brazils ass! Talking crap about me In interviews is like when a boy picks on a girl he likes in 1st grade...GROW UP! Doesn't work anymore sir! " That was a surprising exchange, but during an appearance on The MMA Hour, Celeste said the way she hit back at him on Twitter prompted Sonnen to say he was sorry. "I actually got an apology afterwards," she said. "The beef has been squashed, until he talks again." And Celeste does expect Sonnen to talk again. "I'm sure he'll say something again, I don't doubt it, but I'm the kind of girl who will always fight back," Celeste said. "I'm not a little prissy girl. If someone says something about me I'm going to say something back. I don't care who you are." Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: chael sonnen, sonnen, something, girl, celeste

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UFC 140 was a great event, filled from top to bottom with action and memorable fights. But it also ended with two shockingly violent endings to the featured bouts. I found myself wondering what the long-term ramifications of those fight endings would be should they ever happen on Fox. The idea of the fights on Fox are to draw in new viewers, people who are curious about the product and turn them into long-term pay-per-view buyers. While the idea of something like a grotesque Corey Hill-esque leg break is something that has come up for some fans, I think that the UFC 140 endings are a much bigger threat to some public backlash. While the Corey Hill break was horrifying to see, it was a fluke accident. No different from the infamous Joe Theismann leg break in 1985 or Robin Ventura's broken leg/dislocated ankle in 1997. The real backlash could be from something like Frank Mir breaking Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira's arm. The ultimate point of the maneuver Mir used was to cause so much pain as to make Nogueira submit and, if not, to break the limb. Mir was great in his application of the technique, ultimately doing everything correct. And in the end fans were "treated" to watching Nogueira's arm snap. What may be a worse highlight for some ignorant member of the media to pick up and run with might be the ending of the main event. Jon Jones sunk in a brilliant deep standing guillotine choke on Lyoto Machida and cranked on his neck until Machida went limp. After holding the choke another few seconds until John McCarthy jumped in to make the save, Jones dropped the unconscious Brazilian to the ground. That ten second clip of Jones choking out Machida and dropping him to the ground would make great news "Do you know what your kid is watching?" fodder. Look, we all know that MMA is a great sport. And we all also know that it's a violent sport. But it's hard for me to not wonder if we won't eventually have a moment of such brutality as to cause a backlash against the sport on network TV that actually catches some steam. Sure, every event will have some ignorant media member whining about fighting being on TV. But what happens when they have a clip that goes beyond a guy submitting or getting knocked out and actually looks like something...well, something like this: via Ed Mulholland/ESPN.com on Twitter The UFC isn't going anywhere, but there may be an ugly publicity battle somewhere in the future. SBN coverage of UFC 140: Jones vs. Machida

Posted in: ufc, jone, machida, something, fight endings

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The medical data surrounding the damage done to the human brain as a result of multiple concussions is something that swirls in the sports world almost every day.

Posted in: mma, concussion, something, damage, sports world

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In what I can only describe as the culmination of a bunch of pussies wringing their hands over quasi-offensive comments, the UFC has fired Miguel Torres. He made a joke on twitter about rape vans (welcome to the fucking internet) and now he is out of a job.To explain how we got here, we have to take this back to last month. Forrest Griffin said something vaguely flippant about the Jerry Sandusky case on twitter while everyone was still in riot mode about it and took some epic shit for it. It turned out he was completely misunderstood but that didn't stop several groups from going after him, the UFC, and FOX over it. Apologies were issued, donations were made to rape crisis centres, and another mini public relations controversy was eventually laid to rest.Then a few days ago during a press conference, Rashad Evans debuted a little line of smack to Phil Davis that once again referenced Sandusky: "I'm going to put my hands on you worse than that dude on those kids at Penn State." This again caused a big tizzy and people looked to the UFC for some sort of resolution. How can the organization let one of their fighters get away with saying something like that? When is the UFC going to do something about these guys saying offensive things?Well, something was finally done. Miguel Torres was fired for tweeting "If rape vans were called surprise vans, more people would get in them because everyone loves surprises."Now I'm no expert in having a giant stick up my ass, but I'm pretty sure working specific incidents of child rape into your smack talk during a press conference = worse than making a joke about rape vans on twitter. But there's been one too many rape jokes made in a short period of time and someone has to go down for it. Not only does this take the heat off the UFC for those other incidents, but it also sends a message to other fighters to stop it with this dumb shit.Here's Dana White laying it out to Ariel Helwani: If you're a UFC fighter watching this, the bottom line is all these guys are smart. Use your common sense. You know what to say and what not to say. If it has something to do with rape or any of this crazy stuff, shut up! Don't be talking about it, you know what I mean? You have no place talking about it unless you're on a show and the topic is rape, which none of our fighters should be on a show like that anyways. It's just one of those things where you have to have common sense. If I was dealing with stupid people - if i had a bunch of dummies fighting for me ... stupid is stupid, you can't fix stupid. I don't have stupid fighters. I have guys who are smart, intelligent, most of em went to college, most of em have families. Use your common sense. You know what to talk about and what not to talk about.If you think something is funny... keep it to yourself. You're not a fucking comedian. What you think is funny, other people might not. Unless you wanna stop fighting and go become a fucking comedian and open up for Rogan, we dont wanna hear your jokes. We don't wanna hear what you think is funny. On one hand, I gotta agree. As someone who's taken many lazy trips down the rape joke trail, I will always defend people's right to make jokes about controversial material. But it's obviously not the smartest thing for UFC fighters to be joking about, and the sooner they're explained this, the better.We live in a world where saying 'the wrong thing' can result in a lynch mob forming that won't rest until you've been punished, fined, or fired. I hope the UFC realizes the precedent they've set by throwing Miguel Torres under the bus. The mob will be back, and who knows which head they'll want on a platter next time. It could even be Dana White's.

Posted in: ufc, fighter, something, joke, rape

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If you're in the mood for something a little different than Bellator tonight, there's a pretty interesting fight going on down in Texas. Roger Huerta returns to competition after more than a year off when to face the recently-freed War Machine at Ultimate Warrior Fighting 1. You can catch the show, which also features Dave Menne, Eric Davila, and Nick Gonzalez, on GFL.tv for $9.99.

Posted in: bellator, something, there, nick gonzalez, mood

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

Gray Maynard came up short in his second shot at the UFC lightweight title At UFC 136 when Frankie Edgar once again rose from the ashed and scored a comeback victory. But it had been decided long before the bout that he would be leaving Xtreme Couture no matter the outcome. His (former) boxing coach Gil Martinez expressed his disappointment with Maynard supposedly leaving for good, and today Maynard confirmed it himself in an interview with Heavy. He also discussed the possibility of joining another major gym, American Kickboxing Academy. On getting out of Las Vegas: "Leaving Xtreme Couture is something that has been going through my head for awhile," Maynard said. "I know people want to assume the worst, but that isn’t the case. During my camp for Kenny Florian, I started to think about everything that is out there in this sport. A month before my fight with Edgar in Houston, I made my decision. "I informed the gym (Xtreme Couture) that I would not be coming back. I felt it was important because win or lose, I wasn’t going to return for my training. I did things this way because I didn’t want to win the title and have people thinking I won the belt and left for something else. I made sure to tell them long before my fight on October 8th, so there wasn’t any confusion." He discussed the troubles he had with his last camp at XT, and that it had nothing to do with the guys that were there. He just wants to try something new. And that something new could be AKA: "Right now I’m up in Santa Cruz and things are great. There are a few gyms I have been training at. I’ve also spent some time at AKA. They have a great gym, an awesome team and I’m enjoying my time here. At this point my focus is on broadening my horizons and wherever I feel that can be accomplished is where I will go. There is a huge world out there and so many great camps where I can learn so many things. "I just want to get out and train with whoever I can. There are so many other camps and so much I can learn, it became something I needed to do. If that means going down to Brazil and training with Jose Aldo, I’d be excited to go. There are a ton of gyms in Holland and to train with Andy Souwer would be something that interests me. There is so much to learn out there and I want to grow." While Maynard isn't saying it directly, other sources have indicated that there's a strong chance that Maynard will be joining AKA in the near future. Even if that doesn't turn out to be the case, it's obvious that Maynard is looking to improve and that can only be a good thing for him. And a bad thing for the rest of the UFC lightweight division.

Posted in: thing, gym, maynard, something, xtreme

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

In his early days, Urijah Faber spent some time with Dan Henderson and the MMA legend showed him a thing or two. Faber was so impressed he thinks "Hendo" is a pirate... or something.

Posted in: dan henderson, faber, something, pirate …, mma legend

Read the full article at MMA Weekly

Prior to UFC 126 in February, Ryan Bader might not have been at the top of the world, but he certainly had a great view of everything below him. Then it all changed for him, seemingly in an instant. Bader lost his first career match to future light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. He seemed to struggle with Jones’ athleticism and surprising strength that overpowered Bader, something he had never had to worry about before. Losing to Jones, while not necessarily excusable for Bader, it was certainly understandable. Jones is a top pound-for-pound fighter, and has potential that has rarely been seen since the beginnings of mixed martial arts. But as Bader puts it, the organization is always seen in the light of “what have you done for me lately”. Unfortunately for Bader, “lately” still stands as a sour note in his career, as he went on to lose to Tito Ortiz at UFC 132 in July. A heavy underdog going into the fight, Ortiz surprised many, Bader most importantly, by knocking down the All-American wrestler and choking him out in the first round. “I took that loss to Tito very hard,” said Bader. “It happens in this organization, and all I can do is learn what I did wrong, which I have.” That brings us to this Saturday at UFC 139, where Bader will have the opportunity to show what he learned, as he takes on Jason Brilz, who is also on a two fight loss streak. “I am definitely fired up about this matchup,” said Bader. “Jason is a tough opponent who is a strong wrestler with heavy hands. Plus he pushes the pace, which I like.” “I am very confident about this fight. I switched some things up with my camp, as I brought in a new boxing coach and a new head coach. I had to re-evaluate things following my loss to Tito.” Now Bader says he is in the best shape has ever been in. That can be accredited to his continuing work with the gym he helped create, Power MMA, with fellow Arizona State wrestlers CB Dolloway and Aaron Simpson. Plus he feels he is not overtraining, something he feels he was doing in his previous fights. “Getting to train with guys like CB and Aaron, along with big guys above 220 to train for Brilz has been great,” Bader said. “I get to train for Jason and his size plus his wrestling pedigree. This is the best camp I have ever had.” “Regarding those fights against Jon Jones and Tito Ortiz, the fact is I was overtraining before those fights. That is one of the things I learned I was doing wrong. I feel much more prepared for this fight.” When asked if there is something else he would like to change, other than the current losing streak, Bader mentioned the running nickname he has been given by many fans. “I get told to use ‘Master’ as my nickname at least every other day,” said Baider. “Getting that a couple of times a week can get annoying. Perhaps it is time for something new.” When choosing between one aspect to change, chances are Bader can live with the fan-desired nickname, as it not only means he has returned to the win column, but continues to make his own name in the organization. For complete coverage of UFC 139, stay tuned to mmafrenzy.com

Posted in: ufc, fight, jone, something, bader

Read the full article at MMA Frenzy

That was about the most exciting 70 seconds of sports I've watched since the ending of Superbowl 42 when Giants beat the Patriots back in 2008. Part of it, I suppose, was the moment - UFC on network TV, for the heavyweight championship! I had no dog in this race. I didn't see any particular advantage in the lines that would make me want to put money down and there were so many variables to try and guess about, that a wager seemed fruitless. I was just hoping for something. Something big. Fireworks. Can't really ask for much more than a one-hitter-quitter. Let me clarify something, if I may. This sport is great. I spent this afternoon before work watching a stream of M1's card and saw some random guy that I'd never heard of before today (but whom Leland Roling tells me is a good prospect to watch) dangadadang Aleks Emelianenko amongst other mostly irrelevant action. It's really hard to make this sport boring. Early gassing, buttscooting, Leonard Garciaesque boxing technique, Kaleb Starnesian backpeddling - that's about all you can really do to kill the inherent excitement that is MMA. What really gets me geeked, and what separates the smaller fights from the big ones like this one are the relevance. It just doesn't get bigger than the UFC heavyweight championship, PLUS it was historic in the promotion's history. What more can a fan of this sport ask for? So perhaps it is my inner fanboy marking out over the big boys banging and the UFC making waves, but I am incredibly optimistic that this will bring new fans of the sport into the fold. People get excited by the big fellas, and they love knockouts. We got both in a minute. There was the aura of a professional Fox broadcast: no Nu-Metal gladiator intro, no yellfest and no equivocating. The pitfalls of the sport did not rear their head at all. No shady judges decision, no questionable stoppage, no nut shots, no eye pokes, etc. Contrast that with what just happened in boxing and I predict another smiley face tweet from Dana in a few minutes. Tonight has been a gigantic win for the UFC on many levels. Brock Lesnar looked and sounded like a great analyst. The fighters, Junior Dos Santos in particular, did fantastic things. The result was clear cut and decisive. Boxing got a robbery and AC Slater from Saved by the Bell. MMA got Curt Menefee and a blink-and-you-missed-it fight. I really think tonight was a great step forward for the sport as a whole and I'm very happy that I got to watch it.

Posted in: ufc, sport, boxing, something, moment ufc

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Win or lose, I have never been disappointed by a Stout fight. He comes to the ring to fucking kill something and always makes it exciting. We need more studs like this in a dark era of lay-n-pray. submitted by Soup_bones [link] [2 comments]

Posted in: fight, sam, something, fucking, laynpray

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Nick Diaz is probably the loudest voice in MMA about the difference between paydays in this sport and boxing. Every time Diaz talks about his situation in life he laments the fact that he could be making millions in boxing. While boxing has nice paydays, much better on the undercard than many realize, it takes success to get to the big money. No different than MMA. And that seems to be the point Dana White was making at the UFC 138 press conference: Quotes from the video (transcribed by MMA Mania): "From 2001-2006, we were almost $50 million in the hole. Over that time, not one fighter ever got paid late, no check bounced, no employee at Zuffa, ever. The Fertitta brothers funded this thing for that long. In 2006 we started turning a profit. From 2006-2011, I can't remember what the number is, but it's like 40-something millionaires. 40-something millionaires, 20-something multi, multimillionaires and the list goes on and on. That's from 2006-2011. Boxing's been around for 100 years. It was a mainstream sport before there was television. What we've been able to do, in that much time, is pretty phenomenal." There is also a lot more politically at play with boxing money. This is what people seem to miss. HBO and Showtime are bidding and paying huge broadcast rights fees to put a Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather, Jr. fight on PPV. The UFC does not have that same kind of situation serving as a strong backbone of the money they're putting out. It's also why the idea that Diaz was going to make more in his boxing match with Jeff Lacy than he would have in the UFC is false. There was no bidding war for the rights fees and no demand for PPV to take a cut from. Going through an independent PPV source meant much less money and a payday around $175k as I reported previously.

Posted in: ufc, time, boxing, money, something

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

"From 2001-2006, we were almost $50 million in the hole. Over that time, not one fighter ever got paid late, no check bounced, no employee at Zuffa, ever. The Fertitta brothers funded this thing for that long. In 2006 we started turning a profit. From 2006-2011, I can't remember what the number is, but it's like 40-something millionaires. 40-something millionaires, 20-something multi, multimillionaires and the list goes on and on. That's from 2006-2011. Boxing's been around for 100 years. It was a mainstream sport before there was television. What we've been able to do, in that much time, is pretty phenomenal." Boxing may have bigger paydays, but in five years, the UFC has been able to make tremendous financial gains. Not just in profit, but also in payouts. That's according to promotion president Dana White (via Kimura.se), who made millionaires out of 40-something fighters since getting Zuffa out of the red. Anyone care to speculate who makes that list? Or the more prestigious list of 20-something multimillionaires?

Posted in: fighter, list, something, millionaire, payouts thats

Read the full article at MMA Mania

Why is this man "very happy" every time he speaks? Does he know something we don't? MMA Nation's Luke Thomas tries to solve the serendipitous puzzle that is Junior Dos Santos right here.

Posted in: time, nation, something, dont, serendipitous puzzle

Read the full article at MMA Mania

Fabricio Werdum sent out a rather peculiar tweet last night for someone who claims to know nothing about going to the UFC. Out of nowhere, Werdum called out UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub and proclaimed it to be a “great fight for the UFC fans.” @BrendanSchaub I’m ready for you, anytime, anywhere! @Fabriciowerdum vs @brendaschaub great fight for #UFC fans It might be nothing, but the way Werdum threw out there does kind of insinuate that the fight might actually be in the works. To add more fuel to the fire, Schaub told ESPN in an interview yesterday that Werdum is someone he’d like to fight next. I was on a four fight winning streak with a big knockout over Mirko Cro Cop, and I wanted a challenge. I wanted to do something nobody else had done, and that’s fight Nogueira in Brazil. He’s considered one of the best heavyweights of all time and I knew it was going to be a challenge. It was definitely hostile out there and I that got me up for it, but I was a little too aggressive. He caught me with a good shot and my night was over from there. It was definitely the most disappointing loss of my career and it’s a tough one to swallow, but being a heavyweight in the UFC and at this world class level, you can’t make a mistake. I made a mistake and I paid for it. It’s part of the game. I’m a knockout artist, I’m not the type of guy who is going to go out there and ride out a decision, and I think that’s why I’m a fan favorite, but I learned my lesson that night. I’m already back in the gym working on some things, but where do you go after you’ve fought guys like Cro Cop and Nogueira? I think a match between me and Fabricio Werdum would be something the fans would be into. There are a number of good match-ups out there, but that’s the one that comes to mind right now. Again, it might be nothing, but why would Schaub single out a Strikeforce heavyweight unless he knows something we don’t? This belongs in the rumor bin for now, but it sure does sound like something is at least being talked about behind the scenes. Image via Esther Lin for Strikeforce/Showtime

Posted in: ufc, fight, werdum, something, schaub

Read the full article at MMA Convert

They start off at a 10lbs difference, (125-155), jump 15lbs to 170 and 185, then 20lbs at 205. Why not something like 125, 140, 155, 170, 185, 200. Or 10lbs all the way up, or something else linearly spaced? submitted by spartanKid [link] [6 comments]

Posted in: lb, weight, weight classes, something, spartankid

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There's lots of fantasy MMA sites, but from what I've seen, they all work more like betting...where multiple users can pick the same fighters, and everyone receives points based on how well their picks did. I always thought it would be fun to have something more like a fantasy "league", something more akin to fantasy football, where the players actually form a team of fighters and are the sole owners of them. These are some quick rules I drafted just now, so really any of them could change. But I'm thinking we could do something like... It'd be limited to group of 8 of us, so we can each form a decent sized team. We'd have a mini draft where we each each got to pick 2 fighters on the UFC 136 card. We'd have to find a way to randomly determine who got 1st pick and such, but the order would reverse for the 2nd time around...the player who was unlucky enough to pick last would get first pick the 2nd time through, the guy who picked 7th would get to pick 2nd, etc. Of course, you can only pick a fighter that hasn't already been drafted. After 136, the scores would get tallied up. The scoring system can be as complex or simple as we decide, but for now I'll just say that a win nets you 1 point, a loss is worth 0, and a draw is worth 0.5. To determine the drafting order for the next event, you'd take your fighter that performed the best and match him up against everyone else's best-performing fighter. The criteria would be something like: The players who's best-performing fighter won get the first picks, determined by first by fastest finish, then by highest decision score (the average of the judge's score for the winning fighter divided by the average of the judge's score for the losing fighter). Ties would be broken by an arbitrary source, something like FightMetric's assessment of performance. For the players who's best performing fighter still lost, their draft pick would be sorted out be the above criteria, but sorta reversed: The loser who won the closest decision, followed by who survived the longest. Each subsequent draft pick after our starting pick for UFC 136 would only go around once, though, so each person would only get to draft one fighter for the next event. Later in the game, if there isn't at least 8 fighters available to be drafted, then the lowest players on the draft position get left out...for example, if there's only 6 available fighters on the next card, the guys who came in 7th and 8th don't get to draft anybody. To keep things fresh, if your fighter loses they leave your stable. So, say you had Gray Maynard on your team and he loses at UFC 136, he becomes a free agent again. However, he couldn't be drafted by someone else until he's fighting on an event that's being drafted for. So, say he fights again at UFC 143, he couldn't be picked until the draft order was set after UFC 142...he couldn't be drafted by someone immediately after he becomes a free agent after UFC 136. If two of your fighters end up matching up with one another, you have two options: You can either trade one of your fighters to someone else, or you can keep both your fighters but opt to take no points on the fight. If you opt to take no points, your best performing fighter is still determined as usual (say I had both GSP and Condit, and I decided I wanted to keep them both and get no points. If GSP knocks Condit out in 20 seconds, I'm probably still going to get first pick on the next event, I just don't get the 1 point to my overall score). As for trades, they're pretty basic and you can trade fighters at any time, with one exception: You can't trade a fighter after midnight of the day he's fighting. Once fight day is officially here, your roster is locked. If a fighter is pulled from a card thanks to an injury or missed weight, you can choose to trade that fighter for another free agent on the card. If you want to keep the offending fighter or there are no free agents and you have no other fighters on your team performing on the card, you just sit that one out. You can't gain any points, and your draft pick comes between the players who's best performing fighter won, and the players who's best performing fighter lost. Whew. I tried to cover any possible scenario that could arise, but I might've missed something. The rules are all up for debate, this is what I just threw together. The draft pick system is pretty simple, but I might not have conveyed it properly. If it's not making sense, I can provide an example of it in action. Like I said, to ensure that everyone has a good stable of fighters and usually has at least one of them performing on a card, this should probably be limited to 8 redditors. First come, first serve, so if this seems like something you'd be interested in, go ahead and comment. If this manages to get off the ground, we'll make a new subreddit for discussion and scores and everything. Current Player List - There's still three spots open! Phaeno cp3woo this1 BunchaFukinElephants theguardfighter submitted by Phaeno [link] [4 comments]

Posted in: fighter, point, player, draft, something

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Rarely, if ever, would an average individual see hand-to-hand combat as being a transcendent experience let alone something they’d want to partake in on a regular basis. However, individual mindset is one of the clear differences between Mixed Martial Artists and those who admire their abilities from afar. UFC middleweight Demian Maia is no exception to the rule and recently went into detail regarding his mental approach to fighting at as high a level as is required inside the Octagon. “I really believe that martial arts and competing at a higher level is something spiritual,” the 14-3 Maia explained in a conversation with the UFC website. “You learn about yourself every day. It’s hard to explain in English. It’s not just fighting, it’s something much deeper. Every time I go to fight it’s a big challenge and this helps me to control myself and overcome my fears. It’s very special and brings you nearer to something spiritual. You become a better person.” Maia will put the lessons he’s learned to the test this weekend against former SRC champion Jorge Santiago at UFC 136 in Houston, Texas. The submission wizard knows he’s in for a challenge, showing great respect for Santiago, but feels confident in how he matches up against his adversary no matter where things go and has even been refining his BJJ skills in preparation for the fight. “He’s very complete,” said Maia of his fellow Brazilian who has a slew of submissions and TKOs to his credit. “Ever since my loss to Nate Marquardt I focused a lot on my standup. MMA is a complicated game because it’s hard to keep the balance (between martial arts). So at one point I trained a lot more standing and less jiu-jitsu and I lost a little rhythm on the ground. I’ve been trying to get my focus onto jiu-jitsu again.” Maia and Santiago will join co-headlining champs Frank Edgar and Jose Aldo on Saturday night’s card with Edgar defending his lightweight belt against rival Gray Maynard and Aldo putting his gold up for grabs against Kenny Florian. Brian Stann and Chael Sonnen will also fight at the event. PHOTO CREDIT – DEMIANMAIA.TV Tweet

Posted in: ufc, time i, maia, santiago, something

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