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Brent Brookhouse: Supposedly, the winner of tomorrow night's Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix will have to fight one more time in Strikeforce despite there no longer being a heavyweight division in the promotion. What is the best way to handle the next fight for the winner of the GP? KJ Gould: Man, this is a bizarre situation. It just seems weird to keep them in Strikeforce, and bring in a heavyweight for one fight before the whole division truly crosses over to the UFC. If it's a close fight with some judging controversy, a rematch is the no brainer. Fedor Emelianenko supposedly still has one fight left with Showtime, but I can see Zuffa being dead against it, plus Fedor has hinted at Pedro Rizzo being his last fight meaning he'd likely hold out for a big pay day to 'come back'. A complete wildcard would be the winner of James Thompson vs Todd Duffee. It'd be pointless, but then that's what this Grand Prix has ultimately been anyway. Fraser Coffeen: One word - Fedor. He's really a great choice in that he still has a degree of name recognition, plus they can play up the angle that he's 3-0 since leaving Strikeforce (assuming he beats Rizzo). But in reality, he's not really a threat to either man, so they'll have an extra win heading into the UFC. The one drawback is his possible price tag. M-1 plays hardball with Fedor, and his cost was a contributing factor in Strikeforce running into financial problems last year. If M-1 perceives that SF needs Fedor, they'll crank that price up and won't budge. In that case, I really don't know what to do. The options become either 1) a Cormier vs. Barnett rematch, 2) tell Showtime to stuff it and don't do one last fight, or 3) find someone like Jeff Monson or Tim Sylvia to step in. None of those sound very good to me, but if 2 isn't a viable option, I guess I'd pick Sylvia over an unnecessary rematch. KJ Gould: Considering how Strikeforce has been dragging this out, maybe Alistair Overeem fights in Strikeforce again, as a punishment for messing up the fight with Junior dos Santos. He wouldn't be in that much of a bargaining position to do so, considering the dog house he's currently in. Fraser Coffeen: I considered Reem, and it's a possibility maybe. But I think the best bet is to use this last fight as a way to further boost the GP winner before making his way into the UFC. So give him a softball. KJ Gould: The paranoid conspiracy theorist in me believes if Cormier wins, he'll be given a softball, but if Barnett wins Zuffa is sending in a 'gunslinger' to try and take him out (like an Overeem). Tim Burke: I don't think it'll be Fedor. He costs too much, and maybe it's the fanboy in me talking, but I think he presents a credible threat to both men. They need someone with name value, isn't that much of a threat, and isn't going to break the bank. And I know the guy: Mirko Cro Cop. Yes, Barnett's faced him three times already. Yes he was released by Zuffa and is a 27-fight losing streak. But if Barnett wins, it gives him another crack at getting a win over Mirko and it's a rematch of the 2006 Pride Openweight GP Final. If Cormier wins, it's another name on his resume before the move. It works. Ben Thapa: The best way for Strikeforce to handle this after the GP is to shove somebody passable in there for the winner to get a quick payday, while screaming his head off about the people he'd destroy in the UFC - which for either guy would be at least three-quarters of the current UFC roster. Here's my off the wall idea: Thiago Santos. Yes, the Nutcracker. Or the Really Big Squirrel. I can't decide which is the better nickname. Anyways, Santos actually looked fearsome in his lone Bellator appearance and was then tossed aside like deadwood after missing the heavyweight limit in his schedule bout with Eric Prindle. To me, Santos presents enough of a challenge that Barnett or Cormier would have to train seriously, but not one that risks taking the shine off the GP winner, whomever it may be. As an added bonus, poaching Santos from Bellator would send a warning shot across the bow of the upstart promotion. You can't tell me that Coker, White and the other Forza employees wouldn't love to do that. Dallas Winston: I'm perpetually baffled as to why there isn't an open door between the UFC and Strikeforce, and this is a perfect example for a situation where it makes the most sense. Since the UFC has plucked all the interesting talent from Strikeforce's roster and heavyweight is the thinnest division overall, the only option is the aforementioned "softball" of an opponent for the Grand Prix winner. Fedor is a great idea -- and I agree that his speed, striking and submissions would still make him a game opponent for either -- but I just don't see it happening. Overeem and Werdum are legit suggestions because of their history with Strikeforce but, if they're willing to move a UFC heavy over, why not capitalize on the breadth of their talent to make an appealing match up? Big Country, Big Nog and/or Dave Herman would all be interesting potentials, depending, of course, on how the UFC 146 heavyweight extravaganza unfolds. Otherwise we're left with a brand new acquisition or "barely acceptable" choices like Monson, Rizzo, Sylvia, etc. KJ Gould: I suppose there's always Shane Carwin, if he ever comes back from his various ailments. It's a name Heavyweight with legit stopping power, but beatable by either Barnett or Cormier. I'd definitely prefer that option over the 'Punter of Pereineums', Thiago Santos. Poll Who should face the winner of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix in their next bout? Thiago Santos Jeff Monson Tim Sylvia Mirko Cro Cop Fedor Emelianenko Alistair Overeem A different UFC heavyweight   12 votes | Results

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I love MMA, and I love Bellator, but can I just tell you how happy I am that this season is almost over? I don’t even remember what Fridays were like before this it got underway. With only one more event to follow this one, followed by a three event summer series and then a break until September, this effort is a little bittersweet how close we are to the end of this historic and fun season of fights. Anyway, enough seriousness, someone make some 69 jokes, and let’s breakdown tonight’s Bellator 69 card, shall we? Mark Holata (11-3) vs. Abe Wagner (10-5) In an heavyweight match up, heavy-handed Wagner looks to get back on track after a dismal 1-2 run over the last year. Perhaps best known for starching Tim Sylvia, he’s a tough guy to be put up against. He faces the tenacious Holata who managed to put together eight straight wins before he was put out by Ron Sparks. I am not really looking forward to this fight, but, it could be alright, I guess. All of Holata’s losses have come via TKO or KO, and given who has beaten him I expect he takes a nap. Winner – Abe Wagner defeats Mark Holata via TKO Round 1 Richard Hale (18-4-1) vs. Josh Burns (6-5) This feels to me like Bellator’s shot at building up Hale for another run in the light heavyweight tournament. He’s facing an ex-heavyweight in Burns and I’m expecting nothing short of a massacre. Winner – Richard Hale defeats Josh Burns via Submission Round 2 Andrey Koreshkov (9-0) vs. Derrick Krantz (11-5) Both these men are looking for their second straight Bellator win. Krantz is a well-rounded fighter that has shared cage time with notable fighters Rich Clementi and Dustin Poirier. While he tends to lack consistency, he is always dangerous, especially on the ground. I think “Spartan” is on another level though. The 21-year old Russian wisely avoided the M-1 Global route, and with a win tonight he could do big things in Bellator. He’ll get a TKO victory. Winner – Andrey Koreshkov defeats Derrick Krantz via TKO Round 3 Booker Arthur (2-1) vs. Shanon Slack (3-0) In a featured fight that is unlikely to be televised, the undefeated former Olympian Slack takes on the muscular Arthur. Arthur is more than capable of imposing his will on Slack, who has the advantage on the feet. Normally I’m not so high on regional MMA fights that appear on the Bellator undercards, but this is a damn good fight. I think at some point Arthur will put Slack on the ground, maybe even with strikes, and then make him tap. After all, Olympic wrestling is NOT MMA grappling. Winner – Booker Arthur defeats Shanon Slack via Submission Round 2 Kalvin Hackney (11-2) vs. E.J. Brooks (6-0) With half of his career wins coming under the Bellator banner, “The Pretty Boy” Brooks looks for his seventh straight win against “Hot Boy” Hackney. This is another very close fight on paper. If I had to pick, and I do, I’d say Hackney pulls it off in a bit of a lazy affair. I don’t see him winning a decision, so he’ll have to finish his foe. Winner – Kalvin Hackney defeats E.J. Brooks via TKO Round 1 Josh Quayhagen (3-0) vs. Cliff Wright (6-2) Bellator obviously sees something in Quayhagen, as he keeps coming back despite his less than exciting performances. He has tons of potential, and I’m happy they’re not handing him favorable match-ups. In Wright he faces a finisher. With all of his six victories coming by submission, the grappler most recently put Dakota Cochrane out cold in March. Quayhagen will understand adversity tonight, and I think it might be too much for him to overcome in this bout. Winner – Cliff Wright defeats Josh Quayhagen via Submission Round 3 Ron Sparks (8-1) vs. Kevin Asplund (15-1) In a heavyweight tournament eliminator, Bellator veteran Sparks looks to land some heavy leather as he faces fellow violence aficionado Asplund. This is one of those bouts that is just ridiculously hard to pick. Someone is going to sleep, likely quickly and likely violently. I’m going to call a knockout in the first round, and I’ll flip a coin for my selection. Winner – Ron Sparks defeats Kevin Asplund via Knockout Round 1 Megumi Fujii (25-1) vs. Jessica Aguilar (13-4) MEGA MEGU!!!! The best female fighter in the entire world, who should rightfully be 26-0, returns to the Bellator cage for the first time since her incredibly controversial loss to Zoila Gurgel. The grappling expert can and will tap anybody out, likely with little to no effort. She faces highly touted Aguilar who is currently riding a four fight winning streak. No slouch on the ground herself, more than half of her wins come by submission. I see Megu being too much for Aguilar to handle, but I see the submission games of both ladies being negated by one another so this will go the distance. Winner – Megumi Fujii defeats Jessica Aguilar via Unanimous Decision Karl Amoussou (14-4-2) vs. David Rickels (10-0) “Psycho” Amoussou is out for blood. It would appear as if he just really dislikes Rickels, as he does anyone he faces, and that will once again serve as his motivation for looking to destroy his opponent. With crazy power in his hands and a pretty successful ground game, Amoussou is nearly in possession of all the pieces he needs to become a serious force in the fight game. In “The Caveman”, he faces one of the best welterweight prospects outside of the UFC. He hasn’t faced anyone of note, and thus it’s hard to tell where he stands in terms of skills, but…he has a beard. I am just not sold on Amoussou, he has trouble keeping it together, and composure might be the key to victory in this bout. As such, I’m going with the upset special. Winner – David Rickels defeats Karl Amoussou via Unanimous Decision Maiquel Falcao (30-4) vs. Andreas Spang (8-1) Well, it’s about time these fellas finally got to fight. This time, Jimmy Smith will be safely outside of the cage. I expect nothing short of a war in this bout, and with two strikers as good as this someone is getting finished. I believe Spang is the better technical striker, but, with how much he gets hit and with Falcao being on the other end of those fists, I think it’s a short night for Spang. Winner – Maiquel Falcao defeats Andreas Spang via Knockout Round 1 For the second last time this season, Bellator airs live on Spike.com at 7:00 PM EST with some preliminary bouts with the main card going live at 8:00 on MTV 2, TheScore.com in Canada, or on Spike.com. Enjoy the fights! PHOTO CREDIT – BELLATOR

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It’s fight day, fight night, fight week, whatever. Tonight, some of the best mid-tier fighters in the UFC will go toe to toe in Fairfax, Virginia, as the Patriot Center hosts UFC on Fuel 3. Headlined by an intriguing match-up between Dustin Poirier and Chan Sung Jung, tonight’s card is highlighted by a number of fan favorites and features a few fighters who are fighting to stay relevant in the promotion. The preliminary portion of the event has been subject to a breakdown, so now it’s time to do the same for the main card. Tom Lawlor (7-4) vs. Jason MacDonald (25-15) “Filthy” Lawlor is back after he took a nap in the cage at the hands of one Chris Weidman. The always-funny wrestler has had a rough time lately inside the Octagon and needs a win here tonight. MacDonald is nearing the end of his career so he’ll the Canadian submission specialist will be out to close things out with a win tonight followed by an even bigger win at UFC 149 in Calgary. Unfortunately for “The Athlete”, I think his opponent has other plans. I expect Tom to impose his will and use his wrestling to grind out a decision. Winner – Tom Lawlor defeats Jason MacDonald via Unanimous Decision Fabio Maldonado (18-4) vs. Igor Pokrajac (24-8) This fight could be fireworks. Maldonado hits hard and man does he loves to throw rib roasters. While he’s not necessarily the most consistent fighter, he’s tough and can bring the pain. Pokrajac hits hard as well – just ask Krzysztof Soszynski. The tough-as-nails Croatian fighter hopes to be the next big thing to come out of that country but he has mighty big shoes to fill. The biggest factor in this fight, for me, is that fact that of his eight losses, Pokrajac has lost by TKO four times. When facing a heavy handed foe such as Maldonado that spells trouble. Winner – Fabio Maldonado defeats Igor Pokrajac via TKO Round 1 Jeff Hougland (10-4) vs. Yves Jabouin (17-7) Jabouin looks for his third straight win tonight, hoping to make a splash in the always-changing bantamweight division. He takes on Hougland, who, despite a rough start to his career, has put together one hell of a winning streak. This bout could set one of these men up for a Top 10 opponent and put said individual one step closer to fighting for the coveted UFC belt. I like both of these fighters, but this fight seems pretty clear cut to me. Hougland is good, but in Jabouin he faces an experienced, solid fighter who is likely to have his way with him even though it could be very close. Winner – Yves Jabouin defeats Jeff Hougland via Unanimous Decision Jeremy Stephens (20-7) vs. Donald Cerrone (17-4) I don’t imagine I have to say too much about these men. Cerrone likes to kick some ass. Stephens likes to kick some ass. Both men need to get back on track and this fight is sure to be violent. It will likely be the best fight of the night, and I imagine a brawl is what we’re going to see, but Cerrone is just too good and Stephens does not fair well against the upper echelon of the division. As such, Cerrone will pick him apart and finish him late in the fight. Winner – Donald Cerrone defeats Jeremy Stephens via Submission Round 3 Amir Sadollah (5-3) vs. Jorge Lopez (11-2) TUF winner Sadollah returns to the Octagon for his ninth career fight. You’d think he’d have more, but we all seem to forget how green Sadollah is. While he has some good and bad fights in the UFC, he’s really coming into his own and he’s doing pretty well for himself in one of the toughest divisions in the sport. Lopez was touted as the next big thing though the Wanderlei Silva protege underwhelmed in his most recent appearance. While he’s still young, and the sky may very well be the limit, to quote Georges St-Pierre I have not been impressed by his performance. For those reasons, I have to pick Sadollah. He has faced plenty of adversity, and I just don’t see what Lopez can throw at Amir that he can’t handle. This one isn’t going to be pretty. Winner – Amir Sadollah defeats Jorge Lopez via Unanimous Decision Chan Sung Jung (12-3) vs. Dustin Poirier (12-1) “The Korean Zombie” enters the octagon after starching Mark Hominick back in Toronto. The skilled Korean Top Team fighter, who often throws caution to wind in favor of a brawl, is a surprise success story in the division and looks to keep up that momentum tonight. He takes on one of the hottest featherweight prospects in 23-year old Poirier. Poirier came onto the scene and immediately started making his opponents look silly. Simply put, the young, ever-improving future title contender has the skills to end any opponent’s evening whether standing or on the ground. Jung is about to be just another name on Poirier’s record. Personally, I don’t believe the hype surrounding “The Korean Zombie”. Is he tough? Yes, yes he is. Is he a great fighter? Far from it. Beating Leonard Garcia and knocking out a guy who gets dropped by any glancing blow are not enough to make me believe he stands a chance tonight. Poirier will dominate this fight from start to finish. Winner – Dustin Poirier defeats Chan Sung Jung via Submission Round 2 The main card gets started at 8:00 PM EST on FUEL TV and Rogers Sportsnet in Canada. If you happen to miss any of the action, the 5 OZ family has you covered, as we’ll have live results as the fights happen. Enjoy the action! PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

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I keep thinking it’s Saturday today. Damn you UFC for putting a fight card on Tuesday and turning my run of the mill, humdrum day into an awesome 24-hour period full of violence. How dare you entertain me. Since no one apparently knows this card is happening, I might as well break it down for you, right? Here’s a look at the prelims… Francisco Rivera (7-2) vs. Alex Soto (6-1-1) Fresh of a very successful stint in Tachi Palace Fights, “Cisco” Rivera is back under the ZUFFA banner, and hoping to make a big statement tonight. H takes on Soto, who, while being a solid fighter, was thrown to the wolves when he took on Michael McDonald. I expect this fight looks similar to Cicso’s last two bouts. He’s taking Soto’s head off. Winner – Francisco Rivera defeats Alex Soto via TKO Round 1 Jeff Curran (33-14-1) vs. Johnny Eduardo (25-9) Relative of apparent world-beater Pat Curran, “The Big Frog” looks for his first UFC win with his badass submission skills. Across the cage is highly touted Eduardo. Eduardo is a solid, experienced fighter, who looks to make his own impact in the UFC. The only place where Eduardo may struggle, is on the ground. Unfortunately for him, Jeff thrives there. Winner – Jeff Curran defeats Johnny Eduardo via Submission Round 3 Rafael dos Anjos (15-6) vs. Kamal Shalorus (7-2-2) Speaking of awesome grapplers, Dos Anjos is back! With always improving striking, and some slowly, but surely developing wrestling skills, Dos Anjos is quickly developing into a complete fighter. He takes on the heavy-handed Shalorus who has some damn good wrestling skills but rarely uses them. Kamal hasn’t faired well in the UFC, after a fairly good showing in WEC. While Kamal is good, he’s also getting older, and as seen in his last few bouts, he’s slowing. Jim Miller seemingly broke Shalorus in their fight and I think Dos Anjos’ grappling might keep Shalorus from engaging him in that department,  thus, I am going with Dos Anjos in a boring fight. Winner – Rafael dos Anjos defeats Kamal Shalorus via Unanimous Decision T.J. Grant (17-5) vs. Carlo Prater (30-10-1) Two former welterweights clash in a lightweight bout, as Grant returns to the Octagon after a short layoff due to injuries. He takes on the crafty Brazilian Prater who looks to get his first legitimate win in awhile, as his last “victory” came due to a questionable disqualification at the hands of Erick Silva. I expect this is a good fight, and an even better fight for Grant, who will impose his will, and dominate Prater for 15 minutes. Winner – T.J. Grant defeats Carlo Prater via Unanimous Decision Cody McKenzie (12-2) vs. Marcus LeVesseur (21-5) The master of the McKenzietine returns to the Octagon and looks for his first win in far too long. The proficient grappler who specializes in nasty guillotine chokes has dropped the silly gimmick of being a happy-go-lucky guy from Alaska and has taken to the gym to improve himself as a fighter. His opponent, the always dangerous LeVesseur, is a solid wrestler who even holds a win on the mat over Ben Askren and has some violent striking. This is bad match-up, stylistically, for McKenzie and he risks getting picked apart and finished if he stands with LeVesseur. I think Marcus has a pretty damn good chance of winning, but I am a fan of McKenzie and I’m going with my heart, not my head. Winner – Cody McKenzie defeats Marcus Levesseur via Submission Round 2 Dongi Yang (10-2) vs. Brad Tavares (7-1) After a ten-month layoff Tavares is back and ready to scrap. The former TUF finalist has been left behind in a quickly changing division and a win tonight could solidify his standing at 185. Meanwhile, his opponent – “The Ox” – hits hard. REALLY hard. The bottom line is I just don’t have enough faith in Tavares’ abilities nor do I think he can take Yang down. In fact, I think “The Ox” pounds the hell out of him and makes it a quick night. Winner – Dongi Yang defeats Brad Tavares via TKO Round 1 The preliminary card goes down today at 5:30 PM ET on the UFC’s Facebook page. Check back a little later for my main card breakdown, and as always, enjoy the fights! PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

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Injuries claim a lot of athletes before their prime is finished, and now you can count Ultimate Fighter season 9 winner James Wilks amongst those casualties. Retweet this Share on Facebook • Email • StumbleUpon • Reddit • Digg • Technorati • Instapaper • Tumblr • Google Reader • LinkedIn

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“The Ultimate Fighter” Season 9 winner James Wilks recently announced that he has been forced to retire from mixed martial arts.

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So what happens to next week's winner of the Strikeforce world heavyweight grand prix? It's a good question, but it's still one without an answer. In a recent media call, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said there are no definite plans for the winner of the May 19 headliner between Josh Barnett and Daniel Cormier. But whatever happens next, it'll be in Strikeforce.

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You’re likely not in Atlantic City right now, but if you are, RUN, not walk, to the Caesars Hotel and Casino to score some tickets for tonight’s Bellator 68. You will not be disappointed… or maybe you will, I don’t know, I don’t even know you. Regardless, it’s time for another Bellator event, and with it comes another breakdown of the fights. I was noticeably absent, well, nearly absent, last week, but I’m back this week with a full preview of the card. Read the words below, and in case of a nuclear meltdown, print it out and take it into the bomb shelter with you. Let’s get down to business, shall we? Don Carlo-Clauss (8-6) vs. Jacob Kirwan (9-4) The New York based bearded wonder, Carlo-Clauss looks for his second straight win in his Bellator debut. Unfortunately for him, he takes on “The Hunter”. Although he lost his last bout, Kirwan showed how tenacious he can be and his grappling-heavy attack will be too much for the New Yorker. Winner – Jacob Kirwan defeats Don Carlo-Clauss via Submission Round 2 Marcin Held (12-2) vs. Derrick Kennington (6-2) 20-year old Polish fighter Held returns to the Bellator cage for the first time since a controversial November victory over Phillipe Nover. The well-rounded youngster has a lot of hype behind him. His opponent, the grappling-friendly Kennington, hasn’t been really tested yet in his career and this bout should be just that. However, I doubt he’ll be exiting the cage with an “A+” in tow. Winner – Marcin Held defeats Derrick Kennington via TKO Round 1 Claudio Ledesma (6-2) vs. Anthony Leone (10-5) Renzo Gracie-trained Ledesma looks for his second Bellator victory and third straight overall. The Ring of Combat veteran is a solid bantamweight and if he keeps up his string of victories, he could very well find himself in the next 135-pound tournament. He takes on former Strikeforce/WEC fighter Leone. While he hasn’t had much luck in his last few bouts, going 2-5 in his last seven, the Team Bombsquad fighter possesses some good ground skills, and of his ten victories half of them have come by submission. I see the bad luck continuing for Leone, as Ledesma will likely roll through him. Winner – Claudio Ledesma defeats Anthony Leone via Unanimous Decision Francois Ambang (1-3-1) vs. Gregory Milliard (2-2) I’m just not going to even bother talking about this fight, simply because, it does not interest me in the slightest. Prelims, postlims, whatever, sometimes, I just don’t want to bother watching a fight and this is one of them. I kind of like Milliard though, as he beat up one-time Strikeforce fighter (and registered sex offender Brandon Saling), so there’s that. Winner – Gregory Milliard defeats Francois Ambang via Unanimous Decision Aung La Nsang (9-7) vs. Jesus Martinez (6-2) Looking to rebound from two straight losses, Crazy 88 BJJ fighter Nsang makes his Bellator debut tonight. The skilled grappler may lack consistency, but he’s a hell of a fighter as shown in his five Ring of Combat appearances. He takes on “Chavo”, a Semper Fi MMA product, who may be best known for being destroyed by Karl Amoussou back in November. I suspect this bout is fairly exciting, but I don’t see any other likely result than a decision win, likely for Martinez. Winner – Jesus Martinez defeats Aung La Nsang via Unanimous Decision Marius Zaromskis (16-6 1 NC) vs. Waachim Spiritwolf (9-9-1 1 NC) After a false start in their initial bout, former DREAM welterweight champ Zaromskis finally gets to go toe to toe with Spiritwolf. Spiritwolf is a scrapper who leaves it all in the cage whenever he fights. Zaromskis is a technically proficient striker, who has some nasty kicks, the kind of kicks that remove ears from heads. I expect this to be an awesome opening to the televised card, with the more technically skilled fighter, Zaromiskis, taking home the TKO win. Winner – Marius Zaromskis defeats Waachim Spiritwolf via TKO Round 3 Carmelo Marrero vs. Seth Petruzelli In what will likely be my favorite fight of the night, the Kimbo Slice-slayer Petruzelli looks for his second straight Bellator victory after he murdered Ricco Rodriguez in August. Going up against him is the crafty grappler, Marrero. Marrero is a handful for anybody on the ground and is notoriously difficult to finish. This bout is kind of a toss-up. Petruzelli has disgusting power and can end a fight quickly, but tends to slow down as the fight goes on. Marrero is generally able to throw down throughout the full fifteen minutes and is moving down in weight slightly, for this catch-weight bout, whereas Seth is moving up, so there will be a bit of a size difference. The smart money is on Marrero getting the submission and that’s where mine is as well. Winner – Carmel Marrero defeats Seth Petruzelli via Submission Round 2 Travis Marx vs. Marcos Galvão Galvão is a man on a mission after all the BS decision losses he’s suffered. He is very clearly out for blood as we saw when he took out Ed West in the quarterfinals. Marx shocked many when he defeated Masakatsu Ueda in his last bout. He has some serious wrestling chops and can easily grind out a decision. Marx has a clear cut path to victory, and that is take Galvão down and lay on top of him. Having said that, Galvão is a Nova Uniao black belt who also possesses some serious striking ability. He will be too much for Marx to handle, and he’ll be booking his ticket to the finals. Winner – Marcos Galvão defeats Travis Marx via Unanimous Decision Marlon Sandro vs. Daniel Straus Sandro is ready for revenge and the last thing standing in his way is Straus. Sandro, long considered one of the best featherweights in the world, enters his second tournament final bout, and hopes this time things go his way. after coming up short last season. Straus, the solid wrestler, has had a hard road to the finals in taking out Jeremy Spoon and Mike Corey, both via decision. Straus also enters his second tournament final, and much like Sandro he believes tonight is his night. Only one man can take home the Bellator tournament crown and become the #2 contender in the division. That man will be Sandro. His loss to Pat Curran will not haunt him much longer, as he will use his technical striking, violent power, and excellent grappling abilities to stifle to the attacks of Straus en route to a late stoppage or decision victory. Winner – Marlon Sandro defeats Daniel Straus via Unanimous Decision You all know the drill by now. As always, Bellator airs live on Spike.com at 7:00 PM EST with some preliminary bouts with the main card going live at 8:00 on MTV 2, TheScore.com in Canada, or on Spike.com. Tune in early so Jimmy Smith and Sean Wheelock can call you hardcore fans. PHOTO CREDIT – BELLATOR

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) pulled off another spectacular event last night (Sat., May 5, 2012) as UFC on FOX 3: "Diaz vs. Miller" went off without a hitch at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The card featured several emerging stars who stepped up and made a name for themselves with mixed martial arts (MMA) fans who may have been previously unaware of their abilities. We also saw a few fighters who looked to push their status from the "prospect" category to the "title contender" distinction. Earlier today, we talked about what the future may hold for the main and co-main event winners, Nate Diaz and Johny Hendricks. For Diaz, it looks like a certainty he will sit out and face the winner of the September showdown between Lightweight Champion Ben Henderson and former champion Frankie Edgar. For Hendricks, we speculated that the best match-up may be one between the former NCAA Division I champion wrestler and welterweight phenom, Rory MacDonald. But what about the other two big winners, Lavar Johnson and Alan Belcher? We'll talk possible match-ups for them after the jump: Lavar Johnson came crashing into the Octagon (and our hearts) for the first time when he took on Joey Beltran and his seemingly granite chin at UFC on FOX 2: "Evans vs. Davis," in Chicago, Ill., on Jan. 28, 2012. The fight ended early and violently as Johnson did what previously had seemed impossible -- he knocked "The Mexicutioner" out cold. Apparently, Johnson likes fighting on FOX, because his results against Pat Barry at UFC on FOX 3 were nearly identical. With less than one minute to go in the first round, he went to work, landing haymakers and uppercuts galore. What may be most impressive is "HD" staying on his feet as long as he did. He took a ton of punishment, but a person can only withstand getting slammed by ham-hocks like those for so long. Eventually, the knees say "no mas," which is exactly what happened here. Unfortunately, the win wasn't without flaw. There was a minute, after being taken down, where Johnson looked vulnerable to a submission. Lucky for him, he was facing a fighter who isn't going to be awarded his Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) black belt any time soon. Johnson's last four losses came by way of submission. It's clearly something he needs to work on. Thankfully, there aren't a ton of fighters in the UFC's heavyweight division that are going to test this weakness, but there certainly are a few. In light of this, I have two choices for prospective dance partners for Johnson his next time out to the cage. First, has anyone seen Shane Carwin? Paging Mr. Carwin. Your services are needed in the Octagon. Seriously, it makes for a great match-up. Two behemoths who throw giant hands with lethal intentions? Yes, please. Additionally, "The Engineer" is a fine wrestler. I believe he could put Johnson and his ground game to the test. Unfortunately, there's no real guarantee Carwin will be available any time soon. He's projected to make his return midway through 2012. We'll see. If Carwin's not an option, I'd like to see Johnson get the winner of Roy Nelson vs. Dave Herman. Both fighters love to put on exciting battles, and I think they both (particularly Nelson) have enough of a ground game to give Johnson a bigger test than Barry did. Alan Belcher is one of those guys that you're just not sure what to do with. He's been telling us he's the best middleweight in the world for a while now. The problem was that nobody believed him. I'm not saying he's made me believe to that extent, but his win over Rousimar Palhares was impressive, to say the least. He went to the ground with a guy who many believed to be the best submission practitioner in the 185-pound division and beat him at his own game. He'd like a title shot. I can't blame him, but I can't oblige him either, particularly because there's a bit of a logjam at the top of his weight class. Anderson Silva will take on Chael Sonnen to defend his title at UFC 148 on July 7. Michael Bisping will take on Tim Boetsch on the same card. Mark Munoz will fight Chris Weidman at UFC on Fuel TV 4, on July 11, 2012. You've also got Brian Stann fighting Hector Lombard at UFC on Fox 4, on Aug. 4, 2012 Belcher should get one of those guys as his next opponent, but who? It's so hard to say at this point, because who wins those fights will have a big impact on the way the subsequent matches are made. Of the three winners, one will get the next title shot, which leaves us two potential suitors for Belcher. Of the three, the winner of the fight between Munoz and Weidman seems least likely to get the next crack at the belt. You can dislike that out of loyalty to either fighter, but it's true. So, it seems soundest to me to think that Belcher's next opponent may very well be Munoz or Weidman. I can live with that, and it makes for a very intriguing match up. Anyway, that's what we came up with. Who would you Maniacs like to see Lavar Johnson and Alan Belcher take on next?

Posted in: ufc, belcher, fox, johnson, winner

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In the aftermath of UFC on Fox 3, looking at the USA TODAY/MMA Nation Consensus Rankings gives us some very clear possibilities for the future of the winners and losers of last night's event. The Izod Center of East Rutherford, New Jersey hosted an event that will leave its fingerprints on the futures of several UFC divisions. First up the headliners. The Lightweight division remains in its usual rematch-related muddle with new champ Ben Henderson booked up with an expected rematch against former champ Frankie Edgar at UFC 150 in August. That leaves Nick Diaz in position to hurry up and wait for his title shot. He seems to be fine with taking a longer break and waiting on the champion. Same goes for Welterweight winner Johny Hendricks who squeezed past Josh Koscheck with a split decision win. Hendricks claims he's willing to wait but the 170lb class is even more gummed up than the 155lbers. Champion Georges St. Pierre is rehabbing a torn and surgically reconstructed ACL and interim champ Carlos Condit is waiting on GSP. That means Hendricks will possibly be waiting until early next year for his shot. That's no fun. Here's the fights I would rather see in the interim: Nate Diaz vs. Anthony PettisWith the division's #3 fighter Gilbert Melendez stuck in the limbo that is Strikeforce (and Diaz would likely refuse to face teammate Melendez anyway), the #4 and #6 fighters Gray Maynard and Clay Guida set to face off in June at UFC on FX 4, #8 Pettis is Diaz' best option. For his part Pettis, who's nursing some injuries, wants to face Diaz. Let's not keep the fans waiting forever, book Diaz vs. Pettis in a #1 contender's bout in the Fall. Johny Hendricks vs. Jake Ellenberger/Martin Kampmann winnerHendricks shouldn't get the luxury of hibernating until the title picture clears up. Especially when the #3 Ellenberger and the #9 Kampmann are meeting at The Ultimate Fighter Live Finale on June 1. That match up naturally creates a loser as well as a winner which leads us to... Josh Koscheck vs. Ellenberger/Kampmann loserKoscheck is still a very dangerous man as his near-win over Hendricks attests. He deserves a chance to remain in the top 10 with a bout against the loser of Ellenberger/Kampmann. The winner of that fight would be back in the mix (to the extent that Koscheck isn't exiled from the mix as long as GSP holds the title). Jim Miller vs. Donald Cerrone/Jeremy Stephens loserThe #12 Cerrone faces the unranked but formidable Stephens at UFC on Fuel TV 3 on May 15. A bout with the loser of that fight gives Miller a good chance at landing on his feet. Alan Belcher vs. Mark Munoz or Vitor BelfortBelcher is ready for a chance to prove himself amongst the elite of the UFC Middleweight division. Munoz is set to face Chris Weidman at UFC on Fuel TV 4 and if he wins a #1 contenders bout against Belcher would be just the ticket. Alternatively, if Vitor beats Wanderlei Silva at UFC 147, Belcher vs Belfort would also be an attractive scrap, possibly in Brazil. Lavar Johnson vs. Mark Hunt/Stefan Struve2 million plus people just saw Johnson put a brutal beating on Pat Barry. In a few weeks nearly a million people will see Hunt vs. Struve. Presumably brutality will be involved. Let's make more brutality happen with Johnson vs the Hunt/Struve winner. A title shot wouldn't be too far down the road from there for somebody. Louis Gaudinot vs. John DodsonThey seemed to be headed in different directions after The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale but now that they've both moved down to the Flyweight division and picked up a win, I think these two should face off with a shot against the winner of the Flyweight tournament in the winner's future. SBN coverage of UFC on Fox 3

Posted in: ufc, diaz, vs, winner, hendrick

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UFC on Fox 3 main event winner Nate Diaz will not fight fellow lightweight contender Anthony Pettis to decide the next number one contender. Nate Diaz will take his previously promised title shot and await the winner of UFC 150′s rematch between Frankie Edgar and champion Ben Henderson. UFC President Dana White had initially announced the winner of tonight’s main event would face Pettis before the Fox telecast, but stated in the post-fight conference that the move was not official. White went on to say that the bout was never mandated but only proposed if Diaz wanted to stay busy. Diaz defeated lightweight contender Jim Miller earlier tonight in the UFC on Fox 3 main event in impressive fashion, as he became the first man to ever submit Jim Miller. MMAFrenzy.com

Posted in: ufc, diaz, fox, winner, fox telecast

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submitted by tekprodfx16 [link] [2 comments]

Posted in: tekprodfx, winner, day award, mmas knob, knob

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White recently told media members he believed that Fedor Emelianenko, prior to his dismal run under the Strikeforce banner, was "one punch away from being worth zero." Perhaps the same can be said for UFC newcomer Hector Lombard. Like Emelianenko before him, Lombard spent the prime of his career toiling away on the International circuit, prior to settling in with the cast and crew of Bellator, where he quickly rose to power in the promotion's anemic 185-pound division. Now, after several teases and near-misses, "Shango" is UFC bound. On paper, his record reads like a work of fiction. Lombard's only two losses have come by unanimous decision to Gegard Mousasi and Akihiro Gono in fights that took place nearly six years ago. He has 24 finishes, including 17 (T)KO stoppages in 31 wins. Even his former employer, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney, predicts a championship run inside the Octagon. For that reason, Lombard's first opponent should be ... This is usually where I rattle off a convenient list of eligible opponents, but I think what's important here is style, rather than name, because there's something I need to see from this latest import that I haven't seen yet. Wrestling. Sure, the Cuban-born Australian has butted heads with a few mat technicians over the years and has a strong background in Judo, but there is nothing he's faced in the last decade that can compare to the shark-infested waters that is the UFC middleweight division. And nothing can prepare you for the relentless pace and savage wrestling attack from the likes of Mark Munoz, Chris Weidman and Chael Sonnen. If Anderson Silva is the mighty Thor, then these are the Warriors Three. I understand that as a promoter, you want to get the most bang for your buck. This is why Quinton Jackson was fighting Marvin Eastman when "Rampage" debuted inside the Octagon back in early 2007. It's the same reason Mirko Filipovic drew Eddie Sanchez for his first outing. Because when you spend a pretty penny on guys like Brock Lesnar and Mauricio Rua -- only to see them tapped out by established fighters like Frank Mir and Forrest Griffin -- you've essentially devalued your hot new commodity. But the door swings both ways. Mir and Griffin -- just one fight removed from horrific knockouts -- used those upset wins to springboard themselves back into contendership and ultimately, title fights. And despite their respective losses, both Lesnar and Rua also went on to win gold. So too, can Lombard. "Lightning" is 34 years old and punches like a jackhammer. But even if he crushes a few cans while getting his feet wet inside the Octagon, I'll never be convinced he's any kind of threat to Silva until he's demonstrated his ability to stuff, defend or recover from multiple takedowns. Because to get to "The Spider," you first have to swim with the sharks. For a closer look at Lombard's skill set, MMAmania.com reader Ulf Murphy has an excellent breakdown in our FanPost section right here. Poll Former Bellator Middleweight Champion Hector Lombard is UFC bound. Who should be his first fight inside the Octagon? Loser of "Silva vs. Sonnen 2" Winner of "Munoz vs. Weidman" Winner of "Bisping vs. Boetsch" Winner of "Belcher vs. Palhares" Winner of "Belfort vs. Silva 2" Winner of "Franklin vs. Le" Yushin Okami Brian Stann Bring back Patrick Cote! Doesn't Jake Shields want to move back to middleweight? Other (see comment section)   205 votes | Results

Posted in: ufc, fight, lombard, vs, winner

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Another weekend of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) dominance has come and gone, as UFC 145: "Jones vs. Evans" blew the doors off the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, with a fight card topped off with a thrilling championship bout on Sat. April 21, 2012. Jon Jones proved that he is not only the man to beat in the UFC's light heavyweight division, but it's starting to look like he may just be the best mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter on the planet. Looking forward, it's highly likely "Bones" will be slated to take on Dan Henderson in his next title fight, as rising star Alexander Gustafsson lurks in the wings waiting for his big chance at greatness. That much appears to be inevitable, but what about the rest of the pack? After the jump, we'll talk about the matches to make for the winners from UFC 145's main card. Can we really call Rory MacDonald a prospect anymore? This kid is running through a "who's who" of fighters in the welterweight division. It's not title shot time, but it's not as far away as he made it sound in his post-fight interview. Certainly, the UFC will be careful in bringing him along, but he's got to get a big name in his next fight. No disrespect to Che Mills, who is a very serviceable fighter and a guy who was made to look worse than he actually is in his fight against MacDonald. It's just time for "Ares" to fight the upper echelon of the division. In a couple of weeks, Johny Hendricks will face Josh Koscheck at UFC on Fox 3, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. I'd love to see MacDonald get the winner. Truthfully, I think he beats either guy, but it's a test that needs to happen. If he wins and does it convincingly, he'd have to be considered a top five guy, and maybe even a fight or two away from a title shot. Ben Rothwell made his re-emergence to relevance with a very nice KO win over Brendan Schaub on Saturday night. He looked great, not just in how he fought, but his physique and conditioning were unlike we've ever seen of "Big Ben." I'd love to see him fight a fellow UFC 145 winner in Travis Browne. So much size and raw power in one cage. It would be potentially fantastic. Someone's going to sleep in that one. Michael McDonald is a guy who is causing quite a stir in the bantamweight division. His perfect mixture of speed, power and grappling make him a serious force to be reckoned with at 135 pounds. Miguel Torres is, by far, the biggest name he's fought and defeated in the UFC, so he needs an opponent who is a level up, but not too far up the ladder. Not yet, anyway. How about T.J. Dillashaw? He's coming off a nice win over Walel Watson and is continuing to improve with each outing. He's a strong wrestler, so I think it makes for an interesting stylistic match up. Truthfully, it would be nice to see the UFC to go out and grab some more talent for this somewhat thin division. With that said, I don't hate this match up. It'd be fun to watch. Eddie Yagin won a close decision victory over veteran Mark Hominick. I have to say, his toughness and the absolute bombs that he throws had me super impressed. From a well-roundedness perspective, he has plenty of room to grow, but this guy throws haymakers with bad intentions. That's the kind of thing that sells tickets and makes any fight interesting. I think Erik Koch makes for an interesting potential opponent. He's riding a four fight win streak and is also fairly new to the UFC. He is more of a submission specialist than anything else, so both fighters would be tested by each other's opposing background. Mark Bocek scored his second consecutive win with a nice decision victory over John Alessio at UFC 145. Call me lazy, but I'd like to see him in there with another fellow UFC 145 winner, Mac Danzig. They both are at similar places in their careers. Each fighter is solid on the ground, though the nod probably goes to Bocek in that category. Danzig is an explosive fighter who, when at his best, he's going to give anyone in the division a tough time. A win puts either guy in contention to land a big name opponent. A loss is not earth chattering or career ending. It makes sense to me. Okay, Maniacs, it's your turn. What matches would you make for the winners of UFC 145? Are there any undercard winners you have plans or ideas for? Hit us up in the comments section with your bets laid-out plans!

Posted in: ufc, fight, guy, division, winner

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Now that we’ve had a few moments to go over the preliminary card, it’s time to look at the six fight main card. With Jon Jones-Rashad Evans headlining, as well as some pivotal bantamweight and welterweight bouts, fight fans are sure to be treated to one hell of an awesome night of fights, so call your cable providers or go to your local watering hole ASAP and get ready for some “LA VIOLENCIA!!!!!” Mark Bocek (10-4) vs. John Alessio (34-14) Bocek is a damn good lightweight. Say what you will about his inconsistencies, but Bocek has only lost to some of the top lightweights in the world. No big deal. His grappling prowess is guaranteed to give fits to anyone in the division. His opponent, the returning Alessio, enters on short notice but should be more than prepared. The Canadian fighter is ready for action and looking to make a big statement upon his return. Unfortunately for Alessio, I don’t think he’ll fare quite as well as he hopes. Bocek is legit, Alessio has trouble with serious grapplers, and he’s going to end up tapping out to something. Winner – Mark Bocek defeats John Alessio via Submission Round 2 Mark Hominick (20-10) vs. Eddie Yagin (15-5-1) Hominick needs to get back on track following a devastating knockout loss back at UFC 140 in Toronto. The Canadian featherweight contender is on the long road back to the top, and in an ever-improving division such as the featherweight class, he needs to make some definitive statements. With guts, heart, and determination, Yagin is a hard guy to be matched up against. He’s absolutely tenacious, very skilled, and won’t lay down for anyone. However, I think “The Machine” has his number, and although I don’t expect a stoppage, I certainly expect the “Team Tompkins” fighter to beat up Yagin, probably badly. Winner – Mark Hominick defeats Eddie Yagin via Unanimous Decision Miguel Torres (40-4) vs. Michael McDonald (14-1) Torres makes his return to the octagon after being briefly fired for his rape surprise-van joke. The one time pound-for-pound contender, who has embraced a bit of a more safe fighting style as of late, still has the skills required to cause problems for anyone and his only loss in recent memory, to Demetrious Johnson, is a fight he very well could have won. McDonald is often overlooked in the bantamweight division. Still incredibly young, the powerful and well-rounded fighter, who is always improving, looks for a key win here to propel himself to a potential title shot later in the year. While the sky is the limit for McDonald, I think Torres will use his experience and incredible gameplanning to give McDonald a scrap and win a close decision. Winner – Miguel Torres defeats Michael McDonald via Split Decision Ben Rothwell (31-8) vs. Brendan Schaub (8-2) “Ben Rothwell, you absolutely suck.” Whoa, sorry, I think the ghost of Chael Sonnen overcame me for a second there. Rothwell is back to have a solid five minutes and suck air for another ten. While he used to be a highly-touted heavyweight, he doesn’t really offer too much to an already shallow division. Schaub may never be a champion in the UFC, but he’s an incredibly athletic and improving fighter. With almost all of his fights, win or lose, ending by knockout, it’s no doubt that Schaub puts on exciting fights. I expect this fight doesn’t fit that criteria though. Rothwell will gas, Schaub won’t be able to finish, and this is going to get UGLY. Winner – Brendan Schaub defeats Ben Rothwell via Unanimous Decision Rory MacDonald (12-1) vs. Che Mills (14-4) MacDonald makes his long awaited return after eight months away from the cage. The Tri-Star prospect and training partner of welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre is definitely just a short time away from being a champion in whatever division he chooses to fight in. I am more confident in his abilities than I am of even someone like “Bones” Jones. His opponent, Mills, probably shouldn’t be in this fight. Everyone, including Rory, has underestimated the Brit and honestly it’s a fair assessment. It kind of feels like Mills is being thrown to the wolves. I can’t say too much else about that. Winner – Rory MacDonald defeats Che Mills via Submission Round 1 Jon Jones (15-1) vs. Rashad Evans (17-1-1) Here is where I get weird. Jones comes into this bout on a hot streak. The light heavyweight champion has made relatively short work of everyone who has stood before him, and the hype is definitely justified. Evans finally gets his shot at the belt after so many false starts, but I think the wait has done him well. While the feud has cooled off, he and Jones have been constantly improving, and we will see them at their best tonight. Call me crazy, but I’m confident “Suga” ‘Shad is going to beat Jones. Jon is better – way better even – on his feet. However, he is distracted mentally, incredibly cocky, and likely not fully prepared for what Evans brings to this fight. Rashad dominated Phil Davis with ease, including outwrestling arguably the best 205-pound wrestler in MMA. He can go 25 full minutes, he can dominate on the ground, and his hand speed is insane when he lets loose. I think Rashad is going to mix limited striking with takedown after takedown, and from there he will hold the lanky Jones down and go to work on him. As the fight goes on, a frustrated and gassed Jones will get taken down with more ease, end up more humbled, and come back stronger than ever. This will not be his special night. Winner – Rashad Evans defeats Jon Jones via Unanimous Decision I’ve done enough talking and writing, you’ve done enough reading, so go get some fresh air and get back in time for those darned fights. Tune in to see the main card at 10:00 PM EST on PPV. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Posted in: fight, jone, ’t, winner, defeat

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Are you ready to hear Joe Rogan scream?! I am, if he wakes up after his unquestionably awesome 4:20 celebration, that is. UFC 145 is here at last! Jon Jones is finally going to fight Rashad Evans! The end is near! Of course, before we get all serious, we should take a look at the preliminary card of the event, so let’s do it… Maximo Blanco (8-3-1) vs. Marcus Brimage (4-1) Coming from Strikeforce, and prior to that apparently,  hell, vicious striker Blanco brings his insane power and heavy-handed ways to the UFC. While he didn’t do so well against Pat Healy, Blanco is still a violent, scary man. Brimage is the opposite – an okay striker and hardly a scary man. But, he is a man who can win when he needs to and is just getting started in his MMA career. I think the wrestling and striking of Maxi will make this a bad night for Brimage though. A really bad night. Winner – Maximo Blanco defeats Marcus Brimage via Knockout Round 1 Chris Clements (10-4) vs. Keith Wisniewski (28-13-1) Canadian knockout specialist Clements makes his UFC debut in Hotlanta. With all of his wins coming via knockout/TKO, it’s no question where Clements fights best. His opponent, longtime fighter Wisniewski, continues to campaign for his first UFC win after going 0-2 in the promotion. I expect this fight to be a war. While both guys are as tough as they come, I think Clements ends Keith’s second UFC run in violent fashion, likely via stoppage. Winner – Chris Clements defeats Keith Wisniewski via TKO Round 3 Mac Danzig (20-9-1) vs. Efrain Escudero (18-4) TUF 6 winner Danzig likely is on his way out if he can’t score a win in this bout. The well-rounded, yet inconsistent, fighter has had a rough run in the UFC as of late, and if he’s not out to kill tonight he won’t be having any sort of UFC run anymore. Escudero is also on his last legs in the promotion. Following a release, a solid run, and being re-signed, he dropped a fight to Jacob Volkmann and likely can’t afford a second straight loss in the octagon. I think this fight will go the distance, and I think, while it is a close fight, that Effy should be able to secure the victory after a solid performance. Winner – Efrain Escudero defeats Mac Danzig via Unanimous Decision John Makdessi (9-1) vs. Anthony Njokuani (14-6) In a bout that has Fight of the Night written all over it, “spinning sh*t” specialist Makdessi looks for a big win against a solid WEC veteran in Njokuani, a solid striker who always puts on an entertaining fight…unless he’s against a wrestler. Thankfully, there no wrestlers in this bout, and a slugfest is all but guaranteed. I expect some serious “Holy F@#K” moments in this match, but in the end Njokuani gets the decision win. Winner – Anthony Njokuani defeats John Makdessi via Split Decision Matt Brown (13-11) vs. Stephen Thompson (6-0) “The Immortal” Brown has sure lived up to his name. His UFC career was nearly dead, but alas, here he is again. Brown is a well-rounded fighter who desperately needs to string a few wins together plans to play spoiler to karate specialist Thompson. Thompson, who debuted in violent style with a head kick knockout of Dan Stittgen, looks to remain undefeated and score another signature win. I do believe that Thompson will be victorious, but I think he’s going to lose a lot of fans. Why? He’s going to use his range and striking to win a long, drawn out decision. Winner – Stephen Thompson defeats Matt Brown via Unanimous Decision Travis Browne (12-0-1) vs. Chad Griggs (11-1) In the final preliminary bout, undefeated heavyweight Browne is out to pick up his thirteenth win. The solid prospect didn’t look too spectacular in his last bout, but he’s a very good, very underrated competitor. His opponent, the man with the mutton chops, comes over from Strikeforce and is seeking to continue his unlikely winning streak. Griggs has heavy hands and a lot of heart, but I think Browne will prove to be too much for him. Griggs is best suited cutting to 205, and I think that will be evidently clear in this fight. Browne cruises to a decision win. Winner – Travis Browne defeats Chad Griggs via Unanimous Decision The preliminary card goes down tonight at 7:00 PM EST on Facebook with things continuing at an hour later on FX or Rogers Sportsnet in Canada. DANA AND JOE ARE GOING TO YELL AT US!!!! YEAH!!! PHOTO CREDIT – UFC/STRIKEFORCE

Posted in: ufc, fight, decision, winner, defeat

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Flyweight talent Darren Uyenoyama has apparently been scratched from the UFC on Fox 3 bill.

Posted in: ufc, fox, winner, talent, uyenoyama

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submitted by MMAnytt [link] [5 comments]

Posted in: heavyweight, video, vs, winner, career trt

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There were several finishes and battles for the UFC on Fuel TV 2 post-fight awards and bonuses, but UFC officials narrowed it down. The winners each received $50,000.

Posted in: ufc, winner, ufc officials, bonus, fuel

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It’s Friday, Friday, gotta watch fights on Friday. Everybody’s punches faces on the weekend, weekend. Sitting in my bedroom, sitting in my bathroom, gotta make my mind up, which seat will I take? That’s right, it’s Friday, and as you’ve come to expect, I am back with another quality Bellator breakdown. At this point, I’ve been in more Fridays than Ice Cube. An accomplishment, I suppose? Bellator 65 goes down tonight on MTV2 and, aside from one of the best bantamweight fights we’ll have the pleasure of seeing with Zach Makovsky defending his title against Eduardo Dantas, we are also treated to three tournament bouts in two weight classes. Who will face Marlon Sandro? Who will do other relevant things in Bellator? It’s time to find out… Will Martinez Jr. (3-2-1) vs. Andy Main (5-1) This featherweight bout pits relative newcomers Martinez and Main against one another to determine who will move up the ladder in the division. Both men are solid competitors with six fights to their credit. Martinez is a balls-to-the-wall fighter and is definitely a finisher. Most notably, he went to a draw with TUF 15 competitor Al Iaquinta. Main loves to make people tap. While he is proficient on the feet, the ground is where he really shines and where he undoubtedly will be looking to take this fight. I expect a scrappy brawl between these two and some seriously fast-paced action, but ultimately I give the edge to Main. Winner – Andy Main defeats Will Martinez Jr. via Submission Round 2 Mikhail Malyutin (21-9) vs. E.J. Brooks (5-0) Longtime M-1 Global veteran Malyutin brings his impressive record stateside and looks to score a signature victory in his Bellator debut. Undefeated Brooks is a solid fighter who is just starting to come into his own inside the cage. It’s going to be experience vs. potential in this bout. I suspect Brooks comes out strong, but as he fades,the decision-friendly Malyutin takes him into his realm and takes the final two frames. Winner – Mikhail Malyutin defeats E.J. Brooks via Split Decision Plinio Cruz (5-4) vs. Duane Bastress (4-1) Just barely breaking the .500 threshold, Cruz enters the bout looking to score his first win in over two years tonight. Bastress looks to follow up on his strong Bellator debut where he defeated Daniel Gracie via Doctor Stoppage. Bastress is a solid striker, and as such I expect that unfortunately for Cruz the losing streak continues and he reaches the dreaded .500 mark 10 fights into his career. Winner – Duane Bastress defeats Plinio Cruz via TKO Round 3 Lester Caslow (7-6 1 NC) vs. Scott Heckman (9-3) A featherweight who also approaches the .500 mark, Caslow looks to get back on track after a submission loss to Duane van Helvoirt at Ring of Combat 39. A well-rounded fighter, what he lacks in skill he makes up for with his tenacity. “The Animal” Dave Batista…I mean…Heckman, is a hell of a grappler. With only one loss in his last five, coming at the hands of Alexandre “PoPo” Bezerra, he has shown he can handle mid-tier competition with relative ease. I expect poor Lester to join the .500 club tonight as well. Heckman will take him down and will make him tap. Winner – Scott Heckman defeats Lester Caslow via Submission Round 1 Kenny Foster (9-6) vs. Jay Haas (10-8 1 NC) Oh Foster, you were kicking some serious ass, and then all of a sudden you dropped four straight? Get it together man! “The Tooth Fairy” needs a win here, badly, if he wants to remain with the promotion. You can’t just drop five straight and expect people to be clamoring to see you in the cage. Haas may not be the best or most consistent fighter around but he is very much a finisher. I can tell you right now this fight is ending with a submission, no matter what. If it’s a matter of which of these submission prone guys will get caught first, I’m going to say it’ll be Foster. Winner – Jay Haas defeats Kenny Foster via Submission Round 1 Ailton Barbosa (10-3) vs. Kris McCray (7-3) With eight of his ten victories coming by submission, American Top Team prospect Barbosa looks to earn his shot at the next Bellator welterweight tournament as he takes on Ultimate Fighter 11 finalist McCray. McCray, a well-rounded fighter who didn’t fair well inside the Octagon, looks for his third straight victory. The Iron Army welterweight also has a shot to make a statement to Bellator matchmakers with a win tonight. I wouldn’t be expecting fireworks in this bout, as neither of these gentleman are proficient strikers by any means, so a ground battle is all but certain. While Barbosa has some great ground skills, I feel as if McCray will pick up his third decision victory in this bout. Winner – Kris McCray defeats Ailton Barbosa via Unanimous Decision Lyman Good (11-2) vs. LeVon Maynard (12-8) Good returns to the cage after a year hiatus. Having only suffered losses to Ben Askren and Rick Hawn, the Team Tiger Schulmann fighter holds wins over Mike Dolce and Chris Lozano and is looking to get back on track and back on the radar in Bellator. Plainly put, “Da Maynman” Maynard is a big dude. The 28-year old steps into the Bellator cage for fourth time and is seeking his second win inside the organization. Both of these guys are well-rounded, explosive, and athletic, but only one can be victorious, right? Good is a few steps ahead of Maynard whose chin has been tested plenty of times before. Good often wins by decision, but I think he’s getting the stoppage in this one. Winner – Lyman Good defeats Levon Maynard via TKO Round 2 Alexis Vila (11-1) vs. Luis Alberto Nogueira (12-2) Last season’s bantamweight tournament finalist, Vila is back! You may know him best from that time he sent Joe Warren astral traveling with his plutonium laced fist. The 41-year old has heavy hands and is ready to take this bantamweight tournament field by storm. Three-time Bellator fighter Nogueira returns to the promotion in anticipation of picking up his third win in four fights. While he has good striking and a sufficient enough BJJ game, Nogueira tends to go the distance and does very well when he does. Perhaps that’s his key to victory here? This is a tough one to call. Nogueira has the skills to get him by in this bout, but Vila is a serious threat on the feet, and can easily win a decision of his own. Having said that, Vila is no spring chicken and doesn’t necessarily fair well in later rounds. I think he might be able to land the big shot he needs to finish the fight, but the younger, quicker fighter should be able to get the nod after a solid but slow fifteen minutes. Winner – Luis Alberto Nogueira defeats Alexis Vila via Unanimous Decision Marcos Galvao (10-5-1) vs. Ed West (17-6) In the final bantamweight tournament quarterfinal bout, former WEC fight Galvao takes on West. Galvao is a grinder if there ever was one. With all but one of his victories coming be decision, the Nova Uniao fighter knows what it takes to win, and isn’t afraid to bore a crowd to get the win. A finalist in the inaugural Bellator bantamweight tournament, West has been in there with both tournament winners and proven that he can hang with the best of them. The Apex MMA product is a flashy striker, although his strikes are not often very effective. I expect this bout to go the distance. While Galvao has the tools to win a decision, his backwards movement and lack of action can often be to his detriment, and he has lost decisions based on that before. West should be able to make this a very competitive fight, and in the end I believe his flashy striking and effective grappling will give him a hard earned decision victory. Winner – Ed West defeats Marcos Galvao via Split Decision Daniel Straus (18-4) vs. Mike Corey (12-2-1) The semifinal round of the featherweight tournament wraps up as Bellator veteran Straus takes on Corey. Straus, a powerful wrestler with eleven decisions in eighteen wins, hopes to pick up his fifteenth victory in sixteen fights and get his shot at $100,000. His opponent, the tournament dark horse Corey, is a solid wrestler who brings an undefeated record under the Bellator banner into this bout. While grappling is his bread and butter, he has good submission skills and his Arm-Triangle Choke is something to stay away from at all costs. While Corey caught me off guard against Ronnie Mann, I don’t feel as if lightning will strike twice for the Team Curran featherweight. While there is some mystery surrounding where Daniel’s head is at following the untimely death of his training partner and friend Chris Smith this past week, I think Strauss can hang in their mentally and should be able to take home the W with a fitting tribute to his fallen comrade following his victory. Winner – Daniel Straus defeats Mike Corey via Unanimous Decision Zach Makovsky (14-2) vs. Eduardo Dantas (13-2) In the main event of the evening, bantamweight champion “Fun Size” defends his belt against season five tournament winner Dantas. Makovsky used his wrestling to get to the top of the 135-pound pool, but he has come into his own as of late. I personally have Makovsky in my Top 10 in the division and I feel a great performance here will put him up another notch or two. Dantas is a beast. With six wins in his last seven bouts, “Dudu” tore his way through all opposition en route to the season five tournament finals, where we derailed the Vila hype train and handed him his first loss. The 23-year old Nova Uniao fighter looks to add his name to the ever growing list of championship caliber fighters involved with the camp. In what should be the best fight of the evening, look for Makovsky to time his shots well, change levels quickly, and take the Brazilian to the mat as often and as hard as possible. While on the ground, Dantas should be able to come close to, if not be able to complete some solid submission attempts, but in the end I think Makovsky survives and starts to pull away on the judges scorecards as the bout wears on. I expect a decision, but not an Askren-style outpointing because you will be entertained! Winner – Zach Makovsky defeats Eduardo Dantas via Unanimous Decision. Friday, Friday.. oh you get it. Let’s get on with the damn show which fans can catch at 7:00 PM EST on Spike.com and an hour later on MTV2 (or TheScore.ca in Canada). Enjoy the fights! PHOTO CREDIT – BELLATOR

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Posted in: winner, charle, charles olivera, olivera, neokeynesian

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Oh, Canada! I’m happy to see such exposure in my homeland. Tonight’s the night to crack open a Molson while watching some fighters crack open some skulls; a night to grab a large double-double at Tim Horton’s and watch some wrestlers shoot in with some double leg takedowns; a night to.. okay, enough Canada references. Bellator 64 is LIVE tonight from Caesar’s Windsor in Windsor, Ontario with some awesome MMA action. The Season 6 bantamweight tournament gets under way, the first semifinal of the featherweight tournament goes down as well, and most importantly Ben Askren defends his welterweight strap against Douglas Lima. A solid undercard precedes the main card with enough CanCon to make the CRTC happy. Let’s get down to business, eh? Taylor Solomon (3-3) vs. Jason Fischer (3-0) Hailing from Ohsweken, Ontario, “The King” Solomon enters this fight looking for his second consecutive Bellator victory. This man is not a fan of decisions with all of his three victories coming in less than two minutes. Michigan-based Fischer is an unknown outside of his local circuit, but this local attraction fight should provide a good chance for him to make a big statement. To be clear, I don’t know anything about Fischer. Sherdog has him at 0-1, while MMA.TV has him at 3-0, so it’s confusing. I’m going to go out on a limb and say Fischer weathers whatever Solomon throws at him early, and wins a decision. Winner – Jason Fischer defeats Taylor Solomon via Unanimous Decision Nordine Taleb (6-1) vs. Matt Secor (1-0) Taleb is a man to watch out for on the Canadian MMA scene. With his most recent victory coming over Pete Sell back in November, the adept striker loves to stand and bang but has proven he can go the distance if needed. Across from him is undefeated New Yorker Secor. Of his three recorded fights, two of his wins have come by submission, so although there’s not much known about him he appears to favor BJJ in the cage. I don’t know enough to call this a striker vs. grappler bout, but for the sake of this prediction I’ll say the striker wins. Winner – Nordine Taleb defeats Matt Secor via TKO Round 1 Chris Horodecki (18-3-1) vs. Mike Richman (11-1) IFL and WEC vet Horodecki enters the Bellator cage for the third time. Noticeably absent from the lightweight tournament, a win tonight could very easily guarantee him a spot in the next incarnation. The Team Tompkins product has quite an impressive record for a 24-year old and most would agree the sky is the limit for the popular Canuck. Richman, aka “The Marine”, may not have faced much well-known opposition, but this solid grappler is no slouch. He has never been finished, and is known for having quality chokes. I like Richman. He’s a tenacious dude with serious skills, but he’s running into a “frate trane” here in Horodecki. Horodecki has made quick work of stiffer opposition, and I expect “The Polish Hammer” to pick him his third win in four fights. Winner – Chris Horodecki defeats Mike Richman via Unanimous Decision Chad Laprise (4-0) vs. Josh Taveirne (2-2) Four fights with four first round TKO victories, Laprise looks to make it a solid 5-0 tonight with a win in Windsor. Known for his striking and ability to finish, Laprise is ready to fight on a bigger stage and this is his chance. Riding a two fight losing streak, Windsor’s own Taveirne is out to rebound and get back on track. Not even a professional fighter for two years, the welterweight has much room to grow. In a bout that pits two potential prospects against each other, I’m going to have to take the undefeated one over the .500 one . Sorry Josh. Winner – Chad Laprise defeats Josh Taveirne via TKO Round 1 Kyle Prepolec (2-1) vs. Lance Snow (1-2) In yet another local attraction, Windsor’s Prepolee is out to rebound from an October loss to Mustafa Khalil. The strong finisher has taken two of his three opponents out within the first four minutes of action with strikes and undoubtedly hopes to do so again. Across the cage is Snow, a relatively unknown and untested fighter, who looks to get back on track after suffering the first two losses of his MMA campaign. Again, not much to say about either man, but this isn’t quite a coin-flip kind of fight. Prepolic is good enough striker to where he should be able to punish Snow on the feet and likely score a TKO victory. Winner – Kyle Prepolec defeats Lance Snow via TKO Round 2 Elias Theodorou (3-0) vs. Rich Lictawa (2-2) Undefeated Mississauga-based Theodorou finally moves on up to the big show! After a solid effort against Erik Herbert just three weeks ago at Score Fighting Series 4, the solid middleweight gets a shot on a Bellator prelim card which is a hell of a lot better than fighting for HKFC.  Lictawa hasn’t fought in over two years, and before that he hadn’t had much luck going .500 in both his professional and amateur careers. The former XFO competitor seems to enjoy beating his opponents down until they’re astral traveling. I am a firm believer in ring rust, and although I’m sure Lictawa will come out more determined than ever, I expect Elias gets him on the ground and sinks in a fight ending Rear-Naked Choke somewhere in the first two rounds. Winner – Elias Theodorou defeats Rich Lictawa via Submission Round 2 Rodrigo Lima (10-0) vs. Hiroshi Nakamura (14-5-4) In the first of two Season 6 Bantamweight Tournament quarterfinals on the card, the undefeated Brazilian Lima will do his best to continue his reign of dominance. With half of his victories coming by submission, it goes without saying that “Ratinho” has a powerful choke or three, but he’s proficient in other areas as well. Longtime DEEP and Shooto vet Nakamura steps into the Bellator cage with big shoes to fill. Widely regarded as a top bantamweight in Asia, the decision-friendly “Iron” will look for his sixth win and seven fights with a solid performance against Lima. While Lima hasn’t faced anyone worth noting he has solid abilities and with a few more key victories under his belt could be someone people are talking about. Nakamura, on the other hand, has faced some great opposition in his time but isn’t necessarily a finisher or the most exciting fighter. I give the solid advantage here to Nakamura, but I feel as if Lima just might be able to do some damage and score the TKO. Winner – Rodrigo Lima defeats Hiroshi Nakamura via TKO Round 1 Travis Marx (18-3-1) vs. Masakatsu Ueda (15-1-2) “T-Train”, you’ve finally made it! After 22 professional bouts, Marx enters the tournament looking for his fourth straight win. The submission specialist hasn’t faced too many opponents worth noting but a “W” is a “W” and that’s what Marx needs here. The second decision-friendly Japanese fighter on the card, Ueda looks for his sixteenth win tonight and a chance to show the North American audience what he is capable of. The grinding Paraestra Tokyo fighter holds notable victories over Royler Gracie, Rumina Sato, and recent tournament-winner Eduardo Dantas to his credit, and is out to add Marx’s name to that list as well. Marx is a tough guy to be facing off again. I expect him to be larger, incredibly motivated, and looking for any and every opening possible. He’s a solid threat, but personally I don’t see him as quite enough of a threat to take out Ueda. I think this will be 15 minutes of what we’ve come to expect from Ueda – controlled, yet not necessarily entertaining, dominance. Winner – Masakatsu Ueda defeats Travis Marx via Unanimous Decision Marlon Sandro (21-3) vs. Alexandre Bezerra (13-1) Sandro is one step closer to redemption after falling short in an earlier tournament. The Nova Uniao featherweight will look to book his ticket to the finals tonight, and he’ll undoubtedly be ready for war as he always is. If you’re not familiar with Sandro, jump on the bandwagon quick. Even at 35, the sky is the limit for Sandro who shows little to no signs of slowing down. Eleven years younger than his opposition, “PoPo” Bezerra sure loves submissions. As he has demonstrated time and time again, the kid can throw down in any facet of a fight. Riding a fantastic streak including wins in eight straight bouts, the crafty scrapper will be just as ready for war as Sandro is even if he doesn’t come with the same hype. This is a really tough fight to call and possibly an early candidate for Fight of the Year (on paper at least). This match-up should have been saved for the final (and in my opinion will determine the tournament’s winner). I expect an insane brawl, some fantastic grappling, and a violent finish. Ultimately I envision Sandro coming out on top, though. I’ll go with a submission. Winner – Marlon Sandro defeats Alexandre Bezerra via Submission Round 2 Ben Askren (9-0) vs. Douglas Lima (21-4) The time has arrived to stop the talking and get busy in the cage. World-class smack-artist Askren returns to the cage to defend his Bellator welterweight title where the ever-improving wrestler looks to remain undefeated. With a growing list of victims behind him, the Roufusport competitor will no doubt attempt to show off his improved striking, but if you’ve seen Askren fight,you know he wants to put his opponent on the mat. Lima isn’t going to just lay around on his back though. “The Phenom” hasn’t lost a fight in nearly three years and surely isn’t planning on starting tonight. After destroying his foes along the way to the Season 5 tournament crown, in a handful of hours he’ll stand toe-to-toe with his biggest test yet and he certainly is prepared for what lies before him. Arguably Askren’s greatest challenge yet, Lima is a serious threat. Aside from his deadly striking, Lima has a fantastic bottom game and is always capable of pulling off submissions. Askren needs to be careful and continuously drive through Lima to put him on the mat. Askren loves holding people down, and if he can do it to Lima he’ll remain undefeated. However, Lima is not someone who just gets held down so I’m calling for the upset here. While Askren has the tools, Lima has the heart and he’ll be a happy man at the end of the night. Winner – Douglas Lima defeats Ben Askren via Submission Round 3 All in all, tonight has some awesome fights in store. Same Bellator time, same Bellator channel (that’s 7:00 PM EST on Spike.com and an hour later on MTV2 or TheScore.ca in Canada in case you didn’t know). So make sure to cook up a nice big bowl of macaroni and cheese, squirt some ketchup on top, and enjoy the fights!

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Former UFC middleweight champions Murilo Bustamante and Dave Menne rematched at Saturday’s Amazon Forest Combat 2 at the Amadeu Teixeira Gymnasium in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. The fight didn’t play out exactly the same as their first go-around, but the result was the same, Bustamante walking out of the cage the winner. The first time they met, at UFC 35, Bustamante walked out of the cage with the UFC middleweight championship wrapped around his waist.

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UFC veterans Murilo Bustamante, Thales Leites, and Patrick Cote were the big winners at Saturday's Amazon Forest Combat 2 in Brazil.

Posted in: winner, combat, patrick cote, bustamante, bustamante leites

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Now is the time to give away free stuff in honor of the sheer talent of a few seemingly anonymous MiddleEasy readers. Our ONE FC: War of the Lions poster design contest has wrapped up and after careful deliberation and sporadic fist fights, we finally have the grand prize winner along with the five runner-up winners. It's important to note the guy who won the grand prize is the same guy that made the 'sketched fighters' poster. Otherwise, the poster would be a runner-up winner as well -- that thing was amazing. If your poster is listed below, then expect an email from us in the next couple days and be ready to disclose your address to us. We're going to let the feds tap your phone and send helicopters to patrol your house. Grand Prize Winner   Runner-ups

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Having a “hard head” is definitely a good thing when it comes to excelling in Mixed Martial Arts. Not only can a rock-solid dome absorb more punches than someone with less constitution, but sticking to one’s guns rather than fold in the face of adversity also has a tendency to play out advantageously. Former PRIDE/Strikeforce champion Dan Henderson has shown himself to be a perfect example of both characteristics throughout his career having never been knocked out and always remaining a man of principle. The latter recently paid off after Henderson refused to accept bouts against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira or Mauricio Rua only to receive the title-shot he desired in the end. UFC President Dana White recently confirmed Henderson would get a crack at either the light heavyweight or middleweight championship in his next outing with the more likely option involving the winner of Jon Jones-Rashad Evans‘ 205-pound tilt next month at UFC 145. Henderson Wants Winner of Jones vs. Evans “Yes, Dan Henderson will get the winner of that fight or the winner of the Anderson Silva fight (against Chael Sonnen),” explained White in an interview with Fight Day. “You know, there was a lot of talk about the stuff I said. Here is the thing. I offered Dan Henderson two fights. Dan Henderson wants this fight. Normally I don’t do that. Guys don’t sit around and wait and pick their fights. There’s been very specific cases where that has happened and it’s guys who have earned it or deserved it. Dan Henderson is one of those guys. Listen, Henderson has been around forever. He is forty-something years old. He has been knocking guys out left and right and if he wants to sit around and wait for this title shot, he can do it.” Henderson earned his status as a contender by beating Rua in an all-time classic this past November in addition to holding consecutive wins over Rafael Cavalcante, Renato Sobral, and Fedor Emelianenko in his three previous in-ring appearances. Evans-Jones fight on April 21, while Silva vs. Sonnen is expected to take place on June 23 at UFC 147. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC Tweet

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Another week, another Bellator, another bunch of words by me. Bellator 63 is live this evening from the Mohegan Sun with the Season 6 Welterweight Tournament. Featuring some UFC vets, some Bellator vets, and some newcomers, the main card and preliminary card are both serious business and this will definitely be an awesome night of fights. Plainly put, I can’t wait for the Bellator 63 highlight reel! As with most Bellator events, not everyone made weight, so.. ..wait, what?!?? Everyone made weight?!?! Okay, I wasn’t expecting that, so let’s get down to business, shall we? Pete Rogers (0-0) vs. Brandon Fleming (0-0) Not much is known about these two gentlemen. Through my research, I discovered that Fleming went 2-0 as an amateur with one TKO and one decision, a stat that doesn’t really say anything about his fighting style. I actually couldn’t find ANYTHING on Rogers, so.. I’m going to literally flip a coin and guess that guy will win a decision. Totally scientific stuff here. Winner – Brandon Fleming defeats Pete Rogers via Unanimous Decision Ryan Quinn (6-3-1) vs. Marc Stevens (14-6) Quinn beat Dhiego Lima once, so there’s that. Not much to say when it comes to Quinn other than that. He’s an alright fighter with a limited skill-set, but he’s always improving. The experience advantage goes to Stevens, who competes in his 21st fight. He has nine stoppages in his fourteen wins, so he’s no slouch when he’s locked in the cage. Anything is possible, but, I have the more experienced man taking home his third straight victory. Winner – Marc Stevens defeats Ryan Quinn via Unanimous Decision Parker Porter (5-3) vs. Randy Smith (14-10-1) Porter might not sound like someone you know, but this man has fought both Jon Jones and, most recently, Gabriel Gonzaga. While he wasn’t victorious in either bout, he’s no stranger to tough opposition. On the other side of the cage “The Wolf” hasn’t faced really anyone of note, but he put together some impressive winning streaks in his career. I actually see this fight as being very even, but it’s the inconsistencies in Smith’s game that have me giving the win to Porter. Winner – Parker Porter defeats Randy Smith via TKO Round 1 Saul Almeida (12-1) vs. Matt Bessette (7-3) Keep your eyes on Almeida. While he may not be the most exciting fighter, the dude can get it done in the cage. Currently riding a five-fight winning streak, he’ll likely be looking for his sixth straight decision victory tonight. Meanwhile, “The Mangler” Bessette is looking to rebound from a loss to Joey Proctor back in October of last year. With most of his wins coming by submission it could be said that he excels in BJJ though I think the difference here is that Bessette doesn’t particularly have any incredibly strong point in this game, whereas Almeida is a grinder of Jon Fitch proportions. Almeida takes home the win after a fifteen solid, dominant minutes. Winner – Saul Almeida defeats Matt Bessette via Unanimous Decision Andrey Koreshkov (8-0) vs. Tiawan Howard (9-8) Koreshkov is another prospect to watch out for. Undefeated in his career, he has never gone the distance and even holds a victory over Kyacey Uscola. The Russian fighter looks to earn his way into next season’s welterweight tournament with a win or two under the Bellator banner. Howard has struggled to find footing in the MMA world, going 2-5 in his last seven scraps. His skill set has been thwarted by his recklessness, and at 37 he’ll need to keep it together if he wants to make a splash anywhere in the MMA world. Unfortunately for him, the 21-year old Russian should make short work of him, likely with strikes and likely early. Winner – Andrey Koreshkov defeats Tiawan Howard via TKO Round 1 Dan Cramer (7-3) vs. Jeff Nader (5-4) Remember Cramer from TUF/UFC? Neither do I, but his first two fights took place there, and he even picked up a victory in his debut. Since then, the decision-friendly fighter has put together six more wins and takes on his sixth opponent in the Bellator cage. “Scary Nickname”, his opponent, can’t quite keep it together, but when he’s on he’s on in a violent way. With all but one win coming by knockout, Nader is always a threat on the feet. This is a rematch of their fight at Bellator 48 in which Nader scored the TKO victory late in the fight. That was the only time Cramer has ever been stopped, and honestly I don’t see lightning striking twice. Perhaps in a few months I’ll be breaking down the rubber match? Winner – Dan Cramer defeats Jeff Nader via Unanimous Decision Marianna Kheyfets (5-0) vs. Munah Holland (3-1) The undefeated “Crushen Russian” Kheyfets finally makes her way to the bigger stage after going 5-0 to open her career. Known for having a pretty serious ground game, Kheyfets has basically had her way with every single fighter that has been put in front of her. Holland beat up Kim Couture. I like her already. With sufficient striking and the ability to dictate where a fight goes, Holland is a heavily underrated fighter and can cause problems for anybody/everybody in the division. I see this fight looking like a standard Kheyfets fight., i.e. a frenetic pace will be displayed and fans will be treated to one hell of a fight. Ultimately, Kheyfets scores the submission victory by, let’s say, Triangle Choke. Winner – Marianna Kheyfets defeats Munah Holland via Submission Round 3 Bryan Baker (16-3) vs. Carlos Alexandre Pereira (33-9-1) Baker makes the move down to 170 after a successful run at 185. Despite his success, he was unable to overcome Alexander Shlemenko and Vitor Vianna, so he’s coming to bring the pain to the smaller guys. A violent striker, Baker has power, but often gets dragged into a senseless brawl. Pereira has faced some of the best fighters out there – Thiago Alves, Gleison Tibau, and Siyar Bahadurzada just to name a few. He has 22 knockouts to his credit and is very clearly proficient on the feet. 15-1-1 in his last seventeen fights, it goes without saying that Pereira has earned his way into the Bellator welterweight tournament. Call me crazy, but I think Baker gets way too excited in this fight. He can win, violently, and if he does so I expect it to be early, but, I think Pereira hurts him, shocks the fans at home, and advances to the next round of the tournament. Winner – Carlos Alexandre Pereira defeats Bryan Baker via Knockout Round 1 Jordan Smith (17-2-1) vs. David Rickels (9-0) Oh Smith, look at you! After a ton of fantastic wins, fourteen of which have come within the distance, “Mata Ele” makes his debut on the second (third?) biggest stage in MMA. The well-rounded 27-year old looks to extend his win streak to three with a victory tonight, and he is more than capable of doing so. To be quite honest, he very well may be the dark horse in this tournament. Looking to play the spoiler, “The Caveman” hopes to score his tenth win in as many fights. Well known for his submission game, Rickels can make anyone tap to his Triangle Choke and has done so in all three of his Bellator fights thus far. Undoubtedly he’ll be looking for another one tonight when he steps into the Bellator cage. While Rickels has all the potential in the world, Smith is a serious contender. Both of these fighters have serious potential and big futures ahead of them, but I think that at this point Smith just has the better tools to make it happen. Winner – Jordan Smith defeats Jordan Smith via TKO Round 3 Raul Amaya (9-0) vs. Ben Saunders (12-4-2) Finally making his way out of the AOF promotion, Raul Amaya enters the Bellator welterweight tournament as an undefeated fighter. Having never gone the distance, “Smash Mode” loves to put his opponents out whether it be with punches or with chokes. A UFC veteran and arguably the most notable fighter on the Bellator roster, “Killa B” Saunders was a finalist in the last welterweight tournament, and will be seeking redemption following his heartbreaking loss to Douglas Lima. The vicious striker who has shown an affinity to Eddie Bravo-esque grappling is arguably the tournament favorite and is out to prove way this evening. Sorry Raul, but this just won’t be your night. “Killa B” will do what he does and that’s find the mark with strike after strike, probably even showing off some of that fantastic ground game he’s begun to display. Winner – Ben Saunders defeats Raul Amaya via TKO Round 2 Karl Amoussou (13-4-2) vs. Chris Lozano (9-2) The Frenchman, Amoussou, returns to Bellator in hopes of dishing out damage. With eleven finishes in thirteen victories, he definitely fits the description “Psycho”. Amoussou is a fan favorite due to his love of violence, and oh boy does he bring it! Oh War Machine, oh War Machine, where for art thou, War Machine? After being forced, legally, to drop out of this fight and the tournament, War Machine has been repalced by Lozano. Lozano is a serious striker with some ridiculous power, and the Cleveland based welterweight plans to make the Frenchman’s stint in this tournament a very, very short one. Amoussou is good, maybe even great, but the problem is he is only great early in the fight. His gas tank is far more limited than his skill-set. In my opinion, Amoussou wins this fight early but loses if it goes longer than five minutes. Basically it all comes down to whether or not Lozano can survive early and capitalize later on. And, honestly, I think he can. Winner – Chris Lozano defeats Karl Amoussou via TKO Round 2 Oh the potential for violence! I think I’ve caught the vapors! Someone hold me! As always, the action goes down at 7:00 PM EST on Spike.com before the evening’s highlighted bouts head over to MTV2 (or TheScore.ca in Canada) an hour later. Enjoy the fights! PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

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Legendary light heavyweight Dan Henderson cleared up speculation on his future plans over the weekend in an interview where he confirmed notions his sole interest at the moment lies in receiving a shot at the winner of Jon Jones’ upcoming title-defense against rival Rashad Evans. Prior to his recent statements on the matter Henderson had only denied turning down a match-up with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira rather than dismissing all other opponents as options save for Jones/Evans. “The only fight that makes sense is a title shot, I was hoping to jump the line in front of Rashad, but I’ve got to wait until Rashad fights Jon Jones and then I’ll fight the winner,” said Henderson to ESPN. “I guess Dana promised Rashad he was next for the title shot,” the 41-year old continued before expressing his opinion that the UFC had erred in going that route. “Timing wise, it would have been better for me to fight Jones, and then have Rashad fight the winner. That would have been better than having Rashad come right back after fighting Phil Davis, and (timing) is probably going to be pushed again if Rashad wins because he’s going to have to fight me pretty quickly as well.” Henderson Wants to Fight at Least Four More Times Before Retiring Jones and Evans meet on April 21 in the main event at UFC 145. Henderson has been twiddling his thumbs since November when he turned in a Fight of the Year performance with Mauricio Rua. Including the decision nod over “Shogun”, the 29-8 former PRIDE and Strikeforce champion has won his last four bouts including finishes of Rafael Cavalcante, Renato Sobral, and Fedor Emelianenko. PHOTO CREDIT -  STRIKEFORCE Tweet

Posted in: fight, jone, henderson, rashad, winner

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Continuing with the series of in-depth divisional breakdowns that started yesterday with a look at the Bantamweight division (read it here), Featherweight division (read it here), the Lightweight division (read it here) and the Welterweight division, (read it here) we move on to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight division. With the world's leading mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion in the middle of one of its longest stretches of down time in months, (and with the summer season jam-packed with events), I thought now would be the perfect opportunity to take an in-depth look at all the divisions to clearly identify who is in the title picture, who isn't, who is building themselves into a contender and whose jobs are on the line. The UFC is essentially an endlessly on-going tournament, with two brackets: One for match winners and one for match losers. Just about the only time that Joe Silva and Dana White match up a guy coming off a win with a guy coming off a loss is if the guy coming off a loss was fighting for a title. Otherwise, it's almost always winner vs winner and loser vs loser. It's a pretty sensible way of doing things, ensuring that there will always be guys with a few wins in a row and others with a couple of losses in a row, opening up the chance for new blood to enter into the company. So anytime you are looking at a division and trying to see what the future will hold, it's mandatory to know who are the fighter's on win streaks and who are the fighters on losing streaks. As such, I've been organizing each division by wins and losses for a few months now and throughout today I'll be posting up my take on each division based on this data. I'm not going to be doing an in-depth feature on the flyweight division, as there has only been two fights in the division thus far. Therefore, we move on to the Middleweight division (185 pounds): Fourteen Wins: Anderson SilvaFour Wins: Mark Munoz, Chris WeidmanThree Wins: Alan Belcher, Tim Boetsch, Rousimar Palhares, Ed Herman, Constantinos PhilippouTwo Wins: Vitor Belfort, Nick Catone, Chael Sonnen, Rafael Natal, Ronny MarkesOne Win: Francis Carmont, Andrew Craig, Nick Ring, Wanderlei Silva, Chris Camozzi, Riki Fukuda Rookies: Magnus Cedenblad, Sean Loeffler, Buddy Roberts, Karlos Vemola, Caio Magalhaes, Rich Franklin One Loss: Court Mcgee, Jared Hamman, Tom Lawlor, Cung Le, Chris Leben, Aaron Simpson, Jason MacDonald, Alessio Sakara, Mike Massenzio, Brad Tavares, Brian Stann, Dongi Yang, Jason Miller, Michael Bisping, Clifford Starks, Michael KuiperTwo Losses: Tim Credeur, C.B. Dollaway, Dustin Jacoby, Yushin Okami, Kyle Noke, Steve Cantwell A pattern that is becoming fairly clear is that the champions are dominant, with only the lightweight division devoid of a champion on a double digit win streak thus far, and Anderson is the crown jewel fighter of the UFC. Mark Munoz and Chris Weidman lead the rest of the pack, although recent title challengers Chael Sonnen and Vitor Belfort have picked up where they left off. Sonnen will challenge Silva again this summer and Belfort might not be far behind, especially if he destroys Wanderlei Silva in quick fashion. Rousimar Palhares is a favorite of many because of his spectacularly violent submissions, but he has yet to get a signature victory in the division. BOOKED FIGHTS: Brian Stann vs Alessio Sakara, UFC on FUEL TV 2 Francis Carmont vs Magnus Cedenblad, UFC on FUEL TV 2 Rousimar Palhares vs Alan Belcher, UFC on FOX 3 Mike Massenzio vs Karlos Vemola, UFC on FOX 3 Jason MacDonald vs Tom Lawlor, UFC on FUEL TV 3 Brad Tavares vs Dongi Yang, UFC on FUEL TV 3 C.B. Dollaway vs Jason Miller, UFC 146 Caio Magalhaes vs Buddy Roberts, UFC on FX 3 Wanderlei Silva vs Vitor Belfort, UFC 147 Anderson Silva vs Chael Sonnen, UFC 147 Nick Catone vs Chris Camozzi, UFC on FX 4 Constantinos Philippou vs Riki Fukuda, UFC 148 Rich Franklin vs Cung Le, UFC 148 Michael Bisping vs Tim Boetsch, UFC 148 Not a lot of big matches coming up in the division, having just had a handful of important bouts recently. Alan Belcher and Rousimar Palhares is a fairly important fight, with the winner cementing himself as a contender. Wanderlei and Vitor is a big fight, but I think Belfort would still need a couple of wins before getting another crack. I'd like to see the winners of those fights meet up. Rich Franklin returns to the division against Cung Le with the hopes of making one last run. It'll be tough to do, but a win over Le and a date with the winner of Bisping/Boetsch (a real possibility in my opinion) will make Rich one to watch going into the fall. Other fights that should attract some interest are Stann/Sakara and Philippou/Fukuda. UNBOOKED WINNERS: Mark Munoz, Chris Weidman, Ed Herman, Rafael Natal, Ronny Markes, Andrew Craig, Nick Ring This should be pretty easy. Weidman and Munoz make a great fight. Both men are coming off four straight wins, both are powerful wrestlers first, with Weidman preferring submissions while Munoz likes to ground and pound. It'd be a great battle. Ed Herman has three straight and should take on the winner of Stann/Sakara in what will be a pretty big fight, especially if the favored Stann comes out on top in Sweden. Natal and Markes match up with two straight, and Craig and Ring both have a single victory. Those four could also be mix and matched. UNBOOKED LOSERS: Court Mcgee, Jared Hamman, Clifford Starks, Michael Kuiper, Tim Credeur, Dustin Jacoby, Kyle Noke, Steve Cantwell Like the winners, most of the losers are booked up. Jared Hamman was booked against Kyle Noke, but had to withdraw because of injury. They could be matched up again. Court Mcgee and Michael Kuiper would be a nice fight, as both men had long winning streaks before dropping their last matches. Not much to say about the rest of the group's prospects. There is a lot of middleweight action coming up, making it a division to watch for sure. Anderson won't be around forever and when he finally does concede the title the division is going to be full of would be kings. The jockeying for position has begun, and we should see a lot of good action in the next few months. What do you guys think of Bisping/Boetsch? This fight broke the rules in terms of winner vs loser. Bisping did very well against Chael Sonnen and that might have earned him the chance to take on a winner. Boetsch is no picnic though, so it could be more of a curse than a blessing for the Brit.

Posted in: ufc, fight, vs, division, winner

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Another week, another hilarious Bellator heavyweight story. As it is on every Friday, Bellator is back, this time in Texas with Bellator 62 where the promotion kicks off the Season 6 lightweight tournament with a few familiar faces and a few new cast members. Before we get started here, in case you didn’t already know, the previously announced Season 5 heavyweight final Eric Prindle vs. Thiago Santos has once again been cancelled, this time due to Santos’ inability to make weight. After last week’s disaster, which included a sick Prindle and an overweight Santos, the Brazilian came in over eleven pounds heavy. As a result, the bout was not only cancelled, but the tournament has been awarded to Prindle by default. Prindle receives the remaining cash in the $100,000 prize and an upcoming title shot at Cole Konrad. What a perfect end to the disastrous Bellator heavyweight tournament, no? Okay, take a moment to catch your breath, and on with the show! Dave Jansen (16-2) vs. Jacob Kirwan (9-3) Submission specialist “The Fugitive” Jansen makes his third Bellator appearance on the preliminary card. The M-1 and WEC vet looks for his third straight victory after two losses cost him his spot in WEC. With submission skills of his own, “The Hunter” Kirwan looks to make good on his name, tracking down “The Fugitive”. The one-time Jake the Snake Promotions fighter looks to make a serious statement in his second Bellator fight. While this fight does carry several unknown factors, I expect “The Fugitive” keeps his freedom for yet another day, scoring a submission over “The Hunter”. Winner – Dave Jansen defeats Jacob Kirwan via Submission Round 2 Steven Peterson (6-1) vs. Chris Jones (0-0) Well-rounded fighter Peterson makes his first appearance in Bellator since September 2010 on the strength of a four-fight winning streak. With half of his wins coming by submission, Peterson is clearly adept on the mat. In his professional debut, Jones faces a stiff challenge. Chris was relatively unsuccessful as an amateur, and even though it’s so early in his career he’s taking a step up from his appropriate level of competition. I don’t like to sell anyone short, but I think Peterson makes short work of Mr. Jones. Winner – Steven Peterson defeats Chris Jones via Unanimous Decision Joseph Daily (4-2) vs. Sean Spencer (7-1) Trading wins and losses in most of his professional career, Daily looks for consistency in his Bellator debut. Not one to go to a decision, the Texan loves to scrap and hopes his opponents bring the same attitude into the fight. Spencer however, tends to favor going the distance. With four Unanimous Decision victories in his seven career wins, the Imperial Fight Management competitor has a grinding style, powerful hands, and the skills to pay the bills. While Daily is good on the ground, he has not really shown too much skill off of his back where he is likely to spend most of this fight. Winner – Sean Spencer defeats Joseph Daily via Unanimous Decision Rad Martinez (11-2) vs. Douglas Frey (10-7) A totally radical professional fighter for over four years, Martinez may have one of the coolest first names in MMA. Known for heavy hands, and the ability to dictate the pace of a fight, Rad looks to make it 2-0 in Bellator in this preliminary bout. The Texan, Frey, has had a bit of a rough go of things in his MMA campaign. With just one win in his last four bouts, Frey, who often finishes his opponents, needs to put together some sort of streak if he wants to be relevant in his division. Rad has heavy hands, but Frey has only been TKO’ed once, so perhaps his chin is strong enough to survive the early onslaught. I see this likely going the distance, but for fun I’m calling it a TKO. Winner – Rad Martinez defeats Douglas Frey via TKO Round 1 Sonny Luque (1-2) vs. Luis Vega (7-2) Luque is 1-2 in his MMA career. One decision victory, two submission losses are not much of a resume to his credit. Sonny is a local boy, which explains his appearance on the card, but to me he seems very over-matched. Vega is on a six-fight winning streak, and four of those wins have been first round finishes. Forgive me for being so blunt, but seriously, what is this fight doing on a semi-major card? Winner – Luis Vega defeats Sonny Luque via Submissions Round 1 Thiago Michel (9-2) vs. Rene Nazare (10-1) In the first fight of the lightweight tournament, the devastating striker Michel makes his Bellator debut. With nine knockouts, six of which took less than five minutes, the kickboxer with particularly nasty knees looks for another quick finish and a chance to advance in the tournament. Across from him is “The Brazilian Bomber” Nazare. With ten wins, only two having gone the distance, Nazare is a finisher of his own. He’s 3-1 under the Bellator banner, and the dude is just almost never in trouble in a fight. He has earned the nickname “The Brazilian Bomber” and he’ll look to cause some serious explosions on the chin of Thiago. Call me crazy, but Michel is one underdog I would throw some serious coin on. With the sheer violent ability he possesses on the feet, I think he stands a fairly good chance to knock Nazare out very quickly. No matter how this fight goes, someone is being finished, and I think for the first time in his career it will be Nazare. Winner – Thiago Michel defeats Rene Nazare via TKO Round 1 J.J. Ambrose (17-3 1 NC) vs. Brent Weedman (18-7-1) 15-1 1 NC in his last 17 fights, Ambrose is kind of a bad dude. He has only gone the distance four times in twenty fights and he was victorious in three of those bouts. Ambrose has some serious Muay Thai chops and he’ll have a significant advantage in the striking department despite giving up some reach. Weedman is no stranger to Bellator fans. He is well-rounded, powerful, and has seventeen finishes in his eighteen wins. Despite dropping two straight fights under the Bellator banner, Weedman was allowed to take part in this tournament after moving down from welterweight to lightweight. A size advantage is one of his best weapons in this fight, and his tenacity just might carry him to the next round. Weedman knows what he needs to do to win – use his size/reach advantage and fight smart. However, I think it’s more likely that he gets hit, gets reckless, and gets beaten. Ambrose may not be known to many, but he’s definitely someone to keep an eye on. Winner – J.J. Ambrose defeats Brent Weedman via Submission Round 2 Rick Hawn (11-1) vs. Ricardo Tirloni (14-1) Hawn is a beast. The Judo Olympian had a good run at 170 in Bellator, but fell short to Jay Hieron nearly a year ago. Making his return to the cage, this time as a TriStar fighter and at lightweight, Hawn will undoubtedly have a size advantage not to mention some new skills to demonstrate during the fight. Having only suffered one loss in his career (to UFC lightweight kingpin Benson Henderson), Tirloni brings experience and technical prowess to the lightweight tournament. The Brazilian scrapper has finished all but two of the men he has defeated and can cause problems for anyone that has the misfortune of being locked in a cage with him. This fight could very well be the most evenly-matched bout of the evening. If I could to throw down money on what would be Fight of the Night, this would be it. I like Tirloni in this tussle, big time. His grappling skills are far above average, and his experience could work out in his favor. Having said that, Hawn is damn good fighter and, should he show up completely prepared for this fight, he should be able to take the fight to Tirloni and at the very least win a close decision. Winner – Rick Hawn defeats Ricardo Tirloni via Split Decision Patricky Freire (10-2) vs. Lloyd Woodard (11-1) In the new main event, one half of the amazing “Pitbull Brothers”, Freire, returns to the Bellator cage. Following a quick victory over Kurt Pellegrino, the Brazilian, who may be best known for turning Toby Imada into a zombie, looks to make his way back to the top and get his revenge against lightweight champion Michael Chandler. With his only loss coming to the lightweight champ, “Cupcake”, as he is known, is looking to get back to his winning ways. An established grappler who is a little more than adept on the feet, Woodard is returning after nearly a year away from the cage and will no doubt seek to make short work of the tournament favorite en route to his exacting his own revenge. Woodard needs to fight smart if he wants to win. It is no secret that Freire has the striking and power advantage and this fight is likely to stay on the feet for the most part. I expect a slow start, a scrappy brawl to ensue, and the “Pitbull” to devour the “Cupcake” by the time the curtain closes. Winner – Patricky Freire defeats Lloyd Woodard via Knockout Round 2 With arguably the deepest talent pool in the whole promotion, the season six lightweight tournament has all the potential to steal the show. As always, the action goes down at 7:00 PM EST on Spike.com before the evening’s highlighted bouts head over to MTV2 (or TheScore.ca in Canada) an hour later. Enjoy the fights!

Posted in: fight, bellator, vs, winner, defeat

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As Brazil tries to keep up with its 2014 World Cup preparations, aging tyrant Ricardo Teixeira has resigned from his posts as president of the country's football federation and World Cup organizing committee due to health reasons (and yet another corruption scandal ). And his resignation letter was just as humble as you would expect from a FIFA Executive Committee member. From the AP : "I leave the presidency of the CBF (national federation) permanently with the sense of mission accomplished," Teixeira wrote in the letter. "It's not easy to preside passion. Football in our country is associated with two things: talent and disorganization. When we win, talent is praised. When we lose, it's about disorganization. I did what was within my reach, sacrificing my health. I was criticized in the losses and undervalued in the victories." Don't worry, since Brazil is already busy with World Cup related construction projects, Teixeira has gone ahead and built several monuments to himself in his own mind. But while a man with nearly two decades of corruption scandals to his credit won't be missed, his successor, Jose Maria Marin, seems a bit less subtle in his grifting. A former footballer and politician in Sao Paulo, Marin was caught pocketing a winner's medal intended for Sao Paulo Juniors Cup winners Corinthians, leaving their goalkeeper without one back in January. Marin has denied stealing the medal. He probably also claims to be mistaken for Brad Pitt all the time. Video via The Fiver

Posted in: winner, world cup, cup, passion football, federation

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At today's UFC on Fox 3 press conference in New York, UFC president Dana White confirmed what a lot of people had been thinking for a while. While he was clear that no one is sure what will be next for UFC lightweight champion Ben Henderson, he did state that the winner of the UFC on Fox 3 main event between Nate Diaz and Jim Miller would be getting a title shot at some point: "Well, I’m still obviously still dealing with the whole Frankie Edgar thing. I’m talking to Frankie and we’ll figure this thing out. We did, we said the winner of (Nate vs. Jim) would get the shot." He was asked to clarify the point by a fan, Dana re-confirmed that the winner would indeed fight for the title. Henderson stated yesterday that he's ready to defend against anyone so it's possible that the winner of Diaz vs. Miller could meet Henderson for the title next. But it could also be (and is more likely to be) Frankie Edgar or Anthony Pettis. We'll have to see how it plays out, but the five-rounder on May 15th just became a little more interesting. SBN Coverage of UFC on Fox 3: Diaz vs. Miller

Posted in: ufc, title shot, title, miller, winner

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submitted by MattyBlayze [link] [7 comments]

Posted in: ufc, winner, shot, mattyblayze, lighweight

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Add the winner of Nate Diaz vs. Jim Miller at UFC on Fox 3 in May to the UFC lightweight championship merry-go-round.

Posted in: ufc, vs, miller, winner, jim

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Anyone that follows sports has probably heard the line, "The best referees are the ones you don't know." While officials are a necessary evil of athletic events, the hope is they do their job, stay out of the way and don't do anything to get noticed. The NBA's refs? Not so great at this. You've read enough about bad judging and bad stoppages in the last few years to fill several repetitive books and this column isn't going to be about that. But after hearing that somehow the judges' scorecards for the Demetrious Johnson vs. Ian McCall fight at UFC on FX 2 were misread and thus a fight that should have been a draw wasn't announced as such, a simple question has to be asked. It's 2012 and this is actually an issue? If you're new to the party, Johnson and McCall fought in a bout where the winner moved on to get a shot at the newly created UFC flyweight title. As it was a mini-tournament, both guys agreed to a sudden death round if the scorecards were locked after three rounds. The goal of that, of course, is to eliminate the possibility of a draw and have a decisive winner. Cue irony horn. It was a close fight and when the cards were read, Johnson was announced as a majority decision winner. However, that wasn't the case. Sal D'Amato gave two 10-9 rounds to Johnson and one 10-8 to McCall, a 28-28 tie, read as a decision for Johnson. Kon Papai had two 10-9s for Johnson and a 10-9 for McCall, a correctly read 29-28 for Johnson. Anthony Dimitriou had a 10-9 for Johnson, a 10-9 for McCall and a 10-10 draw for a 29-29 draw, incorrectly read as McCall winning. It wasn't until the post-event press conference that the issue was brought to light with Craig Waller of the New South Wales, Australia, Department of Sport and Recreation taking full responsibility for not compiling and relaying the correct information. That's great and all, but why didn't D'Amato or Dimitriou say something immediately when their scores were being read? Is there a system of double checking? Simply put, how does this happen? Look, I understand that people make mistakes but this is simply dumb. The UFC now has to figure out when to rematch these two, thus delaying plans for their title fight by months. Flyweight finalist Joseph Benavidez now has to wait longer because of the error. Johnson thought he won and was then told he didn't, which is bad. People are talking about commission work Saturday instead of in-cage action. Fans were robbed of what would have been a great fourth round. It's sloppy all the way around because a system wasn't in place to prevent this. I know I'm asking a lot, but I hope the Association of Boxing Commissions takes note and is proactive in making sure these types of issues don't happen in the U.S. Move to an electronic method, have several people in place to ensure the scoring is received and read accurately and have the judges actually listen to make sure the scores are being read correctly. It sounds like a lot, but Friday night proved that apparently some people need more help than others. However, the chances of any ABC change are as likely as the antiquated MMA scoring system suddenly correcting itself. Food for thought: how often do you think there are errors that we don't hear about, either with addition or otherwise? I stand corrected on an earlier statement as there was one winner in all of this: McCall, who will get the chance to avenge what many perceived as a bad decision to begin with. If there's one guy who is happily twirling his mustache today at how this all turned out, it's "Uncle Creepy." SBN coverage of UFC on FX 2

Posted in: ufc, round, johnson, winner, mccall

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) might only come to town once a year or so, but fortunately for Asian mixed martial arts (MMA) fans big things are happening much closer to home. ONE FC has hit the ground running, booking shows in multiple cities across the continent and today it was announced that Tatsuya Kawajiri, widely regarded as the number two featherweight in the world, was the latest addition to the March 31st card at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. The Crusher has an outstanding 30-7 record and has consistently faced the very best fighters in the featherweight division. The identity of his opponent has yet to be announced and there is widespread speculation that unbeaten Filipino Eric Kelly will get the call, although he is in the midst of a managerial dispute which might affect his availability. Two fights have been confirmed for ONE FC 'War of the Lions' with Kevin Belingon taking on Masakazu Imanari in the bantamweight division and lightweights Eduard Folayang and Ole Laursen facing off in a match which was originally scheduled for the main event of ONE FC 1. Both Imanari and Kawajiri have DREAM contracts but are beneficiaries of the 'ONE FC Network' which allows fighters to move freely between selected promotions. Belingon is the current URCC bantamweight belt holder and has beaten some decent opponents such as Justin Cruz, Nam Jin Jo and Richard Lasprilla but will have his work cut out if he wants to improve his perfect professional record to 10-0. Imanari is probably the foremost leg lock specialist in the entire MMA world and while not the most well rounded of fighters only needs the slightest of invitations to slap on a heel hook or knee bar. Belingon has strong Wushu based striking and wrestling skills but will need to showcase some outstanding submission defence if he is to overcome the much more experienced Japanese opponent. Folayang is the most famous mixed martial artist in the Philippines and is legendary for his ability to bounce back from adversity in order to win exciting fights. He defeated A Sol Kwon by decision at ONE FC 1 despite having his nose badly broken in the opening round and earlier this year improved his record to 11-1 after some brutal ground and pound left Brazilian Wadson Teixeira unconscious on the canvass Laursen recently suffered a setback when he was stopped by Felipe Enomoto in the second round of a highly entertaining contest, but having promised the fans this fight last September ONE FC decided to go ahead and stick it on the card for the second show. Evolve MMA is located in Singapore and has rapidly developed a reputation as being the most sophisticated training facility in Asia. As was the case with ONE FC 1, they are likely to have a large contingent of fighters on the March 31st card including BJJ world champion Zorobabel Moreira, who is one of the top lightweight prospects in the world, and another 155 lbs stand out, Hong Kong's Eddie Ng. Another Asian based fighter to be added to the card is BJJ black belt Ray Elbe who is the head of the MMA program at Tiger Muay Thai and an MMA veteran with a 23-11 record. He has only fought intermittently in recent years but is very well known in the region and acquired something of a bad boy reputation when he fought twice for Martial Combat in Singapore in 2010. ONE FC also announced that ESPN Star Sports would begin broadcasting shows as early as March. The two organizations signed a deal which guarantees ONE FC television coverage in 24 Asian countries for the next 10 years. At the opposite end of the mixed martial arts spectrum India's longest running MMA promotion, Full Contact Championship, put on their fifth card in Mumbai on Saturday night. Amongst the notable winners are Sagar Kadu, Sangram Bhakre, Rajinder Singh Meena and Sandeep Yadav who all improved their records to 3-0 and took a step closer to being ready for international competition. FCC 5 Fight Results BOUT 1: (60 kgs) Sagar Kadu vs Perumal Swamy. Winner Sagar Kadu via Submission. BOUT 2: (65kgs) Sangram Slammer Bhakre vs Mukesh Thakur. Winner, Slammer Bhakre via Arm Bar. BOUT 3: (69 kgs) Rajinder Knockout Meena vs Dinesh Shelar. Winner, Rajinder via Standing Guillotine. BOUT 4: (FEMALE BOUT 45kgs) Jeet Toshi vs Pooja Mehra. Winner, Jeet toshi via Unanimous decision. BOUT 5: (72 kgs) Sandeep Power Yadav vs Amjad Khan. Winner, Power Yadav via Knockout. BOUT 6: (75 kgs)Akshey vs Gaurav Pandey : Winner, Gaurav, via Unanimous Decision. BOUT 7: (85kgs) Nitin Gaikwad vs Raju Shirsagar. Winner, Nitin via TKO. BOUT 8: (85 kgs )Alfan Hashmi vs Shibashish Mad Dog Banerjee. Winner, Alfan via Submission. BOUT 9: (WILD CARD BOUT) 65kgs. Aditya Deshpande vs Vinayak More. Winner, Aditya Deshpande via TKO

Posted in: bout, vs, winner, kg, fc

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Following every fight, fans love to try and come up with the match ups that make the most sense divisionally to create new contenders and resolve rankings issues. With so many underdogs victorious at UFC 144, every division finds itself in a state of flux. As I'm great at pretty much everything, I've decided to lend UFC matchmaker Joe Silva a hand and book fights for everyone from UFC 144. People say he has the toughest job in the sport but this was pretty easy. I don't see what the big fuss is all about. Ben Henderson vs Anthony Pettis 2: This is a rematch of the absolutely classic fight the two fighters had at WEC 53 in 2010. After Pettis' knockout of Joe Lauzon the time is right to make the rematch. It's marketable and they already have a backstory to build the fight. Pettis was supposed to get at the title but injuries to Edgar and Maynard prevented it. Now he gets his chance to prove he's the better fighter and the true champion. Frankie Edgar vs Jose Aldo: Dana has been pushing for Frankie to drop to featherweight and now is the time to do it. Aldo doesn't have any apparent title challengers and a fight with Frankie Edgar is an interesting fight on many levels. Either Edgar is redeemed and gets join B.J. Penn and Randy Couture as two division champions or Aldo picks up a big win over a recognizable name further cementing his status and legacy. Ryan Bader vs Dan Henderson: I couldn't decide on Bader/Hendeson or Bader/Davis and decided to go with Henderson. Both fighters are riding huge wins and with Jon Jones and Rashad Evans fighting in April, they need to stay busy in the short term. It's a perfect fight for both as no matter how you slice it, it's a competitive matchup. Quinton Jackson vs Mauricio Rua: I'll be completely honest. After last night I don't believe that Rampage deserves this fight. He looked fat and slow against Ryan Bader. However, the UFC's objective is making money and Rampage/Shogun 2 has the ability to still create interest. Other option for Rampage is a fight with Phil Davis. It depends on if the UFC wants to build Phil's resume or take the immediate money in the Shogun/Rampage fight. Mark Hunt vs Stefan Struve: Prior to the UFC 144 fight, Mark Hunt was ranked 22 and Kongo was 12. We're living in a world where Mark Hunt is on the brink of becoming a top 10 heavyweight and the fight to book is against Stefan Struve. Struve either picks up a win over a veteran or Hunt picks up win number four. Fans win either way. Cheick Kongo vs Dave Herman: Kongo has never been able to rise above the status of gate keeper in the UFC and Dave Herman is coming off a knockout at the hands of Stefan Struve. This is the perfect match to set up to decide who stays and who goes. More after the jump... SBN coverage of UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson Jake Shields vs Martin Kampmann/Thiago Alves winner: Jake Shields bounced back from back to back losses at the hands of GSP and Jake Ellenberger with a win over Sexyama. He's likely pretty far away from contention which is why fighting the winner of Kampmann/Alves makes so much sense. The winner will be back in title talks while the loser essentially becomes a gate keeper. Yoshihiro Akiyama vs Diego Sanchez: This fight sounds insanely fun. Akiyama will likely not be cut from the organization despite his 1-4 record. Both fighters are known for bringing it every time they step in the cage and this is the kind of fight that makes me love fantasy booking. Tim Boetsch vs Mark Munoz: Tim Boetsch scored one of the biggest upsets in UFC history when he came from behind in incredible fashion to stop Yushin Okami in the third. This puts the UFC in a weird position where a top 10 guy loses to someone who probably shouldn't have been ranked. Mark Munoz is currently healing from an injury which means the time table should work out. Two heavy handed middleweights? Yes please. Yushin Okami vs Demian Maia: Demian Maia probably shouldn't be in the UFC after his awful performance against Chris Weidman but he's still a top fighter at Middleweight. Why not put together Okami/Maia? The winner is back in contention. The loser is probably fired. Hatsu Hioki vs Erik Koch: In his post-fight interview Hatsu Hioki said that he wanted another fight in the UFC before challenging for Jose Aldo's title. Erik Koch was supposed to fight Dustin Poirier at UFC 143. This is a great fight any way you look at it and will provide a real challenger to Aldo's belt. Bart Palaszewski vs George Roop: Bart Palaszewski is big for 145 but he's just not all that good. A fight with George Roop is a good way to figure out which of these two guys deserves to keep their jobs. It doesn't hurt that they will also slug it out and put on a great fight for fans. Joe Lauzon vs Donald Cerrone: A fight between two guys who were on the brink of a title shot. Lauzon and Cerrone are both known for bringing it and have similar skill sets. It's a great fight to rebuild the lightweight division and create new future match ups. Takanori Gomi vs Anthony Njokuani/John Makdessi winner: Let all the talk of "the old Gomi is back!" stop. Gomi looked good in the second round but the first was vintage UFC Gomi. He's far from contendership and needs an opponent. A fight with the winner of Anthony Njokuani/John Makdessi will give a good idea of if Gomi still has "it" or if he just got lucky in front of the Japanese crowd. Eiji Mitsuoka: Cut. Solid first round but he looked completely gassed out at the start of the second. He doesn't bring anything to the division and when it comes to the UFC, if you have nothing to offer, you have no spot on the roster. Vaughan Lee vs Ivan Menjivar: Vaughan Lee picked up the biggest win of his career by tapping out the legendary Kid Yamamoto. Unfortunately, due to Yamamoto's fall, it doesn't really elevate him too much in the rankings. A fight with Menjivar answers questions about both fighters and allows for either to move up the ladder organically. Norifumi Yamamoto: Cut. It's difficult to continue to book someone who is 1-3 in the UFC and doesn't draw fans. Yes, this is different than Akiyama and Dan Hardy who still have an ability to move the needle. Steve Cantwell: Cut. He's 1-5 in the UFC. I'll repeat that again in case you were as shocked as I was. Steve Cantwell is 1-5 in the UFC. If there's ever been a more obvious cut I don't know what it is. He'll do well on the regionals if he stops allowing opponents to tee off on him. Chris Cariaso vs Takeya Mizugaki 2: Let's be honest with each other. The judges got this fight completely wrong. If there is any justice in the universe the UFC will go with an immediate rematch. Issei Tamura vs Cub Swanson: Tamura looked good against Zhang but I still have questions about his lack of size at featherweight. I've never viewed Cub Swanson as a "good" fighter but he did just pick up a huge win over George Roop. This fight answers the question of if Tamura should drop to 135 or if Swanson has turned the corner mentally and improved as a fighter. Tiequan Zhang: Cut. And good riddance. That he stuck around this long is the biggest travesty of the new millenium. Maybe OneFC will pick him up or something?

Posted in: ufc, fight, fighter, vs, winner

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A quick look at who had the best night and who didn’t at Saturday’s UFC event in Japan.

Posted in: ufc, event, brydon, saturday, winner

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I recorded a segment for Press Row with Jordan Breen over at Sherdog last night and during the discussion of all things UFC 144 and Japanese MMA, Breen posed the question of what fighters on the undercard would be likely to get a shot at a title in 2012. In my initial response I glossed over the winner of the lightweight bout between Joe Lauzon and Anthony Pettis. My thinking was that the UFC's method of setting up title shots and handling the Fox shows had been very clear, they have two guys fight in a main event with a clear "next fight" with the current champion. In my mind that meant that the winner of the Nate Diaz vs. Jim Miller fight would be set to face the winner of the UFC 144 main event between Ben Henderson and Frankie Edgar. But as we talked and Breen argued that the Pettis/Lauzon winner should get a shot, I was a bit swayed, and after sleeping on the idea? I think I'm convinced it is a great idea. First, some of the segment from Press Row: Breen: Walk with me for a second, Brent. Tell me when I'm spitting garbage, okay? Because of the fact that they're on the same card and therefore it makes for great timing, it makes the most sense for the UFC...so desperate for anything resembling main events and bankable stars and so forth, that the winner of Frank Edgar/Ben Henderson, if it does end up being Anthony Pettis taking out Joe Lauzon. Do that in late June, early July assuming everybody's totally healthy. Get these guys fighting. What's one of the beefs of champions in the lower weight classes (135, 145, 155)? They're making more money now but they don't make as much money as other dudes. Most of these guys are physically healthy enough to stay that active. Jose Aldo? Maybe not. Dominick Cruz's hands? We'll see. But Frank Edgar seems to be a guy who has the physical ability to fight every 4-5 months. Isn't the real step to fast track the UFC division, even if you were to grant the winner of Miller/Diaz a title shot, you could have the next title fight happening two months after that particular fight so they're waiting six months total for the next fight. I think you have a real chance with so many cards and deeply wanting to avoid the risk of headlining cards with things like Rashad Evans against Thiago Silva again. How CAN'T you be really, really all in with trying to fasttrack as many light weight guys to fight 3, 4, 5 times a year? Brookhouse: I think they SHOULD be doing that, but I just look at the way they've been operating and the way they like to do these Fox shows and they like to have the contender status up and have it be very clear who they're going to be fighting. And it's just...if it follows that exact path, then it goes to Miller/Diaz, whoever wins that. But in terms of what makes the most sense, I feel like Edgar gets just straight forgotten by a lot of people. Which is just horrible since he's just one of the best guys to watch in the sport. (We then go into a whole thing about Edgar's relative place in lightweight history and his chances to be the best 155'er in MMA history by the end of 2012. But circled back to the need to keep Edgar active to build his profile.) Brookhouse: ...it's this kind of weird situation with Edgar where everyone is waiting for that "yeah, he's really good but..." and waiting for him to screw up in some way and lose. ...I don't know if that's vulnerability shown in the first Penn fight where a lot of people felt he lost and then Maynard fights where he was clearly hurt so he's not exactly St. Pierre and Silva and even Aldo in the level of consistent dominance. He's just exciting and wins. It's a situation where I would almost hope if Pettis wins...If Pettis AND Edgar win I should say...that they would go ahead and do Pettis vs. Edgar and then do the winner of that against the Miller/Diaz winner and keep Edgar in everyone's face and try and build him into what I think he actually is. But get him that kind of recognition from everybody. I mean, we're constantly engaged with our readers at Bloody Elbow and it seems like EVERYBODY on the UFC roster comes up more often than Frankie Edgar, which is just bizarre to me. Breen: Well, dude! The fact that Clay Guida is ten times more popular than Frank Edgar is...not that there's anything wrong with Clay Guida and you can see how his personality resounds with people...but the general overlooking of Frank Edgar is something incredible. More thoughts after the jump.. SBN coverage of UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson It does make sense that if you are annoyed (as I am) with the way Edgar gets lost in the shuffle (even by media types like myself) you should want him fighting as often as possible. And maybe a lot of this is too based on some sort of assumption that Edgar wins a very legitimate, very tough fight against Ben Henderson. But even a Henderson win should demand Ben fight often. A win by Pettis presents a new challenger who was supposedly in line just two fights ago (three after the Lauzon fight). It's not some crazy idea for him to fight for the title despite losing a hard fought decision to Clay Guida in a fight that was only three rounds but would be five under the sort of "new world" rules for the UFC. If Edgar wins that is simply a great fight and if Henderson wins you're getting the Pettis/Henderson rematch with highlights galore, including maybe the MMA highlight. As for Lauzon, if he wins that'd be his second straight win over a top ten level challenger who had been in that title challenger range. Despite earlier career failings in big fights, that should be the kind of momentum one needs to put himself in line for a title shot. While it may break the still young pattern of the Fox shows determining the very next challenger, I think I've come fully to agree with the idea that these two UFC 144 fights should determine the next title fight with the Jim Miller vs. Nate Diaz fight setting up the next challenger and establishing a clear, easy to follow divisional picture.

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submitted by boredinfovore [link] [8 comments]

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When UFC President Dana White announced that the bout between Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz scheduled for UFC 143 would be for the UFC Interim Welterweight Title it made sense. Both men were scheduled to face reigning champion Georges St. Pierre at one point in time or another. Diaz lost his first opportunity because of his inability to follow directions and like Condit before him lost an opportunity when GSP was injured. The reason the interim title was created in the first place was because of the severity of the knee injury GSP had suffered. Surgery would force the Canadian to be out of action until late fall of this year. By having Diaz or Condit become interim champion the UFC could keep the title active until St. Pierre was healthy enough to face whoever was champion at the time of his return. It’s not like there was a shortage of competent challengers waiting to face the winner of the UFC 143 match-up. After what many felt was a controversial decision that went in Condit’s favor the talk turned to having the two rematch sometime in the middle of the year. This would allow the title to be defended at least once before GSP was ready to unify the championship. As luck would have it Diaz was popped for smoking pot and is facing a lengthy suspension. There goes a high profile rematch between the two, but does that mean Condit should remain on the shelf for the next 9-10 months? I can name a few legitimate challengers to Condit’s title beginning with Jake Ellenberger. Back in September of 2009 Condit narrowly defeated “The Juggernaut” in his UFC debut. During the first round Condit was floored three times but came back to win a Split Decision. Ellenberger has since won six fights in a row highlighted by a first round knockout over Jake Shields and last night’s thrilling unanimous decision victory over a dangerous Diego Sanchez. Not only is the story line already in place, but Ellenberger is a legitimate threat to both Condit and St. Pierre. Fans and media are both clamoring for the match-up not only to see the title defended but to see what could be a potential fight of the year. Both fighters have been on a tear since they fought and a case could be made that Ellenberger has improved greatly; that if not for some Octagon jitters would have walked away the victor that night in Oklahoma City. If not Ellenberger why not the winner of the Josh Koscheck-Johny Hendricks bout scheduled for May in New Jersey? Koscheck has been near the top of the division for years now and would give Condit all he could handle should he be able to get by the man who knocked out Koscheck’s former teammate Jon Fitch in just twelve seconds. Hendricks is 7-1 in the UFC and 9-1 overall under the Zuffa umbrella. He is a dynamic fighter with power in his hands and an ever growing legion of dedicated fans. Assuming the winner came away injury free they could be ready to face Condit in August or September. That would set up a bout between the winner and GSP for the New Year’s Eve card in Las Vegas. Not only would the UFC be giving fans a great fight between Condit and anyone of the three contenders I have mentioned, but they would allow GSP to be fully prepared to face the winner on a card that has historically been a very successful show. No matter who Condit faces it is completely unfair to ask him to sit on the sidelines for nearly a year while waiting for St. Pierre to rehab his knee. It also is a slap in the face of the fans that paid good money to watch Diaz and Condit vie for a title that will never be defended. What sense does that make? It’s not like everyone is dying to see Condit take on “Rush” anyway. In all likelihood GSP will out-wrestle “The Natural Born Killer” on his way to another dominating decision. Against Hendricks or Ellenberger he would face two very good wrestlers who can use their grappling both offensively and defensively all the while having the ability to land that one punch knockout to the long reigning champion. Obviously the only drawback to having Condit face the Hendricks-Koscheck winner is the possibility of GSP having to face “Kos” for a third time. If that’s the case let Ellenberger and Hendricks go at it with the winner facing Condit. The timing makes sense and so do the match-ups, make it happen Dana! PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Posted in: ufc, title, face, winner, condit

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With UFC on Fuel: Ellenberger vs. Sanchez in the books, it’s time to look forward at what’s next for the competitors on the card. In a bit of fantasy matchmaking, I’ve written who I think some of tonight’s fighters should fight next, and why said scraps should happen. Tim Means vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov Both are very experienced fighters, both recently made their successful debuts inside the octagon, so let’s match them up together and get a better idea of the pecking order moving forward. Jonathan Brookins vs. Mark Hominick / Eddie Yagin The Ultimate Fighter 12 winner rebounded from his first loss at featherweight with a quick knockout of Vagner Rocha. While he has a long way to go, a match-up against the winner of Hominick vs. Yagin could be a good start for him, as whoever wins the upcoming UFC 145 bout, will be rebounding from a loss as well. T.J. Dillashaw vs. Ivan Menjivar Both bantamweights picked up impressive wins. Barring injury, both could be looking at a quick turnaround, and given the timeline, this match makes perfect sense. Dillashaw needs to test himself against an experienced fighter, and Menjivar needs to test his great jiu-jitsu against a wrestler with the chops of Dillashaw. Dave Herman vs. Matt Mitrione Two heavyweights with heavy hands coming off losses? I’d like to see Herman maybe work on that whole stamina issue before this fight is made, but I see no reason why this fight shouldn’t happen. Fireworks. Stipe Miocic vs. Stefan Struve Miocic needs a step up in competition, but not a giant leap. Struve matches the criteria, and with the two competing on the same card, the timing couldn’t be better. Perhaps the two could throw down this summer with the loser staying in the mid-tier of the division, and the winner moving up. Ronny Markes vs. Tim Boetsch / Yushin Okami Although it would be a step up in competition, Markes needs to face a larger middleweight to see where he really stands. He used his size to stifle the wrestling of Aaron Simpson, and I’d like to see how he fairs against the larger 185ers. With Boetsch and Okami fighting in just over a week, I’d like to see the winner fight Markes while the top of the division sorts itself out. Diego Sanchez vs. Jon Fitch Both fighters had neared the top of the welterweight division before a better fighter knocked them back down. To work their way back up, this rematch is necessary. The two met before at UFC 76 in 2007 with Fitch getting the nod via Split Decision, and the timing for the rematch is perfect. Both men have name recognition and can easily open up a PPV card or take the co-main spot on an FX or Fuel TV card. Jake Ellenberger vs. Johny Hendricks / Josh Koscheck While Ellenberger could campaign for a rematch with interim champ Carlos Condit, it appears as though Carlos will be deciding to wait to unify the titles against Georges St. Pierre. It makes sense that the winner of Hendricks/Koscheck would be right at the top of the pack with Ellenberger, so let’s have the two top contenders fight to see who gets the next shot at whoever the welterweight champion will be at the end of 2012. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

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It turns out Dan Henderson doesn’t want to wait to fight the Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans winner after all. Dana White said last week that he did, but Hendo recently told ESPN he said no such thing. “That was never what I said or anything. I don’t know who said that, but it wasn’t me. My thoughts were I was waiting to see what happened with Rashad [Evans] and Phil Davis. That was the only thing I was going to wait for.” He may not want to sit on the sidelines, but Hendo also realizes the problem with wanting to fight. There’s really no one to fight that makes sense. “Obviously you can’t guarantee that nobody gets hurt. I don’t know what the plan is, but I’d fight whoever it is they think would be a good match-up. The problem is there’s really nobody right now who fits the bill for a title contention fight, that would make sense to fight me. I don’t know. Maybe I’d fight at a different weight class. I don’t know if they see anybody at heavyweight that would make sense? But I would prefer to fight someone in April or May.” The reporter asked Hendo if he would be interested in fighting the Rampage Jackson vs. Ryan Bader winner. Hendo showed interest in it, but wasn’t sure if the timing would work out. It’s an idea, but fighting at a different weight class probably makes more sense at this point. The last thing the UFC wants to do is risk eliminating Hendo from light heavyweight title contention right now. Any ideas who Hendo should fight? Image via James Law for MMA Fighting

Posted in: fight, ’t, hendo, winner, sense

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The UFC has announced its Twitter bonus winners for the fourth quarter of 2011. The categories and winners are: Most Followers: Anderson Silva @SpiderAnderson Junior dos Santos @Junior_Cigano Brendan Schaub @BrendanSchaub Cung Le @CungLe185 Biggest Percentage Growth: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira @MinotauroMMA Roy Nelson @RoyNelsonMMA Jake Ellenberger @EllenbergerMMA Cung Le @CungLe185 Most Creative: Tim Kennedy @TimKennedyMMA Joseph Benavidez @JoeB135 Duane Ludwig @DuaneBangCom Pat Barry @HypeOrDie The top

Posted in: winner, twitter, bonus, barry hypeordie, cungle

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A look at the biggest winners and biggest losers of the UFC’s Super Bowl weekend show in Las Vegas.

Posted in: ufc, brydon, winner, ufc ’s, loser

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UFC President Dana White today announced the winner of Nick Diaz vs. Carlos Condit at UFC 143 will win a brand new Harley Davidson. Now that's incentive!

Posted in: ufc, nick, vs, winner, harley davidson

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Before Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit go head-to-head for the UFC interim welterweight title Saturday at UFC 143, UFC Undisputed 3, in stores Feb. 14, predicts the fight's winner.

Posted in: ufc, nick diaz, winner, carlos condit, carlo

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A common criticism of “interim” champions is the belief those who wear the label are not actually in possession of a legitimate belt. However, in the case of this weekend’s UFC 143 headliner between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit, injured title-holder Georges St. Pierre has a much different viewpoint on the matter. In his mind, the gold being handed to either Diaz or Condit at the end of their bout is very much real and will mark the end of his reign. “The way I see it, I am not the champion anymore on Saturday night. I have not fought since April, against my will, but I understand the champion must fight,” said St. Pierre in an interview with the UFC’s website. “You have to put the belt on the line in order to call yourself champion, the best in the world. Right now I am not the best in the world, I am injured. The winner of this fight on Saturday will be more than just the new #1 contender, but he won’t be the new champion either. The winner of this fight will have to beat me to become the true world champion and I will have to beat the winner of this fight in order to call myself the best in the world again.” St. Pierre Back in the Gym “I like the format where the winner of this fight will have to fight me and I have to fight the winner to truly become the UFC champion,” GSP continued. “That is what the UFC is about…competition. This is fair to all of us, we have to beat each other to be the undisputed champion.” St. Pierre will clearly be tuned in on Saturday night to see who wins though he admits he’s rooting for Diaz. “I respect Carlos Condit, but I want Diaz to win. It will be a weird feeling, sitting at the Mandalay Bay wanting Nick Diaz to win. I want this fight with Diaz so badly, as badly as I wanted the title shot when I got down on my knees. I have never asked Dana White for anything, but I did ask to fight Nick Diaz. I was (crushed) when I had to pull out of this weekend’s fight hurt, but I am determined to get back to the Octagon as soon as possible to fight this guy. He needs to hold up his part and beat Carlos Condit on Saturday to make this fight happen.” PHOTO CREDIT – UFC Tweet

Posted in: fight, diaz, st, champion, winner

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It wasn’t long ago Evan Dunham was considered one of the lightweight division’s brightest prospects, picking up wins in his first four UFC fights to improve his overall record to 11-0. However, back-to-back losses including an opening round TKO to Melvin Guillard cost Dunham of his spot towards the top of the contendership ladder. The 30-year old has since reclaimed it to an extent, picking up consecutive victories over Shamar Bailey and Nik Lentz, the latter of which came this weekend at UFC on FOX 2 and was named Fight of the Night. Dunham spoke about his divisional standing after the bonus-winning performance where he mentioned already having an opponent or two in mind for his next bout.   “I don’t feel I’ve lost two. I feel I’ve lost one,” Dunham explained to MMAJunkie while putting an asterisk on a hard-fought outpointing to former champion Sean Sherk at UFC 119. “I did not lose that Sherk fight. I’m willing to fight him again to show that. I feel I’ve only lost to a real tough guy (Guillard), so I think I’m right up there fighting for that shot.” Dunham Talks Bittersweet Loss to “Muscle Shark” If Dunham can’t get a rematch with Sherk, who himself has not fought since the September 2010 win, he has an alternative in mind with two of the top 155ers on the roster set to face off in a few weeks. “I want to fight whoever else is too (like) the winner of that Lauzon and Pettis fight. I’d love to fight the winner of that,” said Dunham while pointing to the UFC 144 match-up between Joe Lauzon and Anthony Pettis. Dunham’s success against Lentz was the ninth stoppage of his career. He also holds past wins over Efrain Escudero and Tyson Griffin. Tweet

Posted in: ufc, fight, dunham, winner, evan dunham

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THQ predicts the winner of Saturday's Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis bout using simulation in its upcoming UFC Undisputed 3 video game release.

Posted in: ufc, winner, phil, thq, evansdavi

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The UFC’s return to Rio de Janeiro on Saturday night was chalk full of stunning finishes and tremendous battles, so whittling down the UFC 142 Rio: Aldo vs. Mendes post-fight award winners couldn’t have been easy.

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A pair of winners of "The Ultimate Fighter" will meet in a lightweight bout when the UFC returns to Montreal in march. TUF 6 winner Mac Danzig faces TUF 8 winner Efrain Escudero at UFC 145.

Posted in: ufc, winner, ufc returns, escudero, efrain

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Former Ultimate Fighter winner Mac Danzig will apparently return to the cage in Montreal on March 24th, and it looks like he'll be facing off with a fellow TUF winner. Danzig tweeted about the proposed fight this afternoon: @macdanzigmmaMac Danzig Just signed to fight in March... Opponent is tough as hell, but they all are...Jan 06 via webFavoriteRetweetReply @macdanzigmmaMac Danzig Efrain Escuerdo March 24th MontrealJan 06 via webFavoriteRetweetReply Danzig coming off a hard-fought loss to Matt Wiman in their rematch at UFC on Versus 6 in October. Escudero came up short last weekend against Jacob Volkmann at UFC 141, but had him in major danger at the end of the fight and earned another shot in his second stint with the organization. This makes just the sixth time that two Ultimate Fighter winners have faced off. Danzig was involved in the most recent TUF winner battle as well when he knocked out Joe Stevenson at UFC 124. SBN coverage of UFC 145

Posted in: ufc, fight, winner, danzig, march

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A lightweight match-up of former 'Ultimate Fighter' winners has been added to UFC 145 in Montreal with season 6 winner Mac Danzig facing season 8 winner Efrain Escudero.

Posted in: ufc, fighter, season, winner, fighter winners

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Helwani is calling for Nate Diaz to get winner of Lauzon/Pettis, but if that's the case, who's gets the next shot at the title and when? Is there anyone in lightweight that should get the shot before Diaz? I don't really think so. Diaz won't get a title shot until Oct-Dec if they make him go through the Lauzon/Pettis winner and that'll almost force the UFC to put the title up for grabs in the July-Sep timeframe (are you going to bench the champ for 9 months??) against someone who isn't Diaz/Lauzon/Pettis unless they give the shot to the winner of Lauzon/Pettis. What do you guys think? submitted by Phargo [link] [25 comments]

Posted in: diaz, winner, nate diaz, shot, pettislauzon helwani

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The injury bug has struck again as 'Ultimate Fighter' winner Amir Sadollah has been forced out of his bout at UFC 143 against Jorge Lopez.

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Showdown Joe recaps last night's action and weighs in with his thoughts on what's next for the winners and losers.

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A look at the biggest winners and biggest losers from Friday’s UFC 141 in Las Vegas.

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Hopefully one day we can have brief acceptance speeches from every MiddleEasy award winner. Layzie can film the speech, and if the winner rambles on for too long one of us can be off camera with a boom box ready to play the orchestra music that signals the winner to wrap it up. Future MiddleEasy award winners include Steve Jobs, Ayn Rand and Stephen Hawking. In the present Ariel Helwani was the first person to ever accept a MiddleEasy award on camera. Which will be an interesting piece of trivia twenty years from now. View Ariel's speech in all of it's glory below. Props to this guy for the illustration of Ariel.

Posted in: winner, ariel helwani, ariel, award, acceptance speeches

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In every hockey fight there is a winner whether it be winner or fan. In this case it’s the latter, as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Arron Asham and Winnipeg Jets’ Tanner Glass throw down with neither getting the edge but both turning in an extremely entertaining affair. Tweet

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In a video preview for next week’s UFC 141, THQ and UFC Undisputed 3 ran simulations of the battle between two of the largest heavyweights on the UFC roster, Brock Lesnar and Alistar Overeem.

Posted in: ufc, overeem, winner, lesnar, video preview

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Filed under: MMA Media Watch, UFC, StrikeforceShowtime and Strikeforce have agreed to a new deal for more fights on the premium cable network, an announcement that comes as something of a surprise following months of speculation that the UFC would completely absorb the promotion it purchased early this year. That news will have a wide-ranging impact on the mixed martial arts world, including the fighters, the promoters, the networks and the fans. We examine who the winners and losers are in the new Strikeforce-Showtime deal below. Winner: Strikeforce women's champions Cris Cyborg and Miesha Tate It was a little jarring to hear UFC President Dana White, who's far from the biggest supporter of women's MMA, talk on the conference call announcing the new Strikeforce-Showtime deal about how great this will be for female fighters. But he's right: Showtime made a specific point in this announcement of singling out Cyborg and Tate as champions who would be involved in big events going forward. The UFC isn't ready to feature women's MMA, but Strikeforce and Showtime are. Loser: Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez White insisted that Melendez is excited about the opportunities he has ahead of him to continue defending his Strikeforce belt, starting on Saturday night against Jorge Masvidal. That may be true, but it's also true that Melendez is a great competitor who craves top-level competition, and he's just not going to get that outside the Octagon. If Melendez beats Masvidal, he'd be very worthy of the next UFC lightweight title shot, against the winner of the upcoming Frankie Edgar-Ben Henderson fight. Instead, Melendez will remain in Strikeforce, no doubt putting on solid performances -- but not getting the opportunity to do what he really wants to do, which is prove that he's the best lightweight in the world. Winner: Showtime Even though the new Strikeforce won't be quite as good as the old Strikeforce (the UFC has, after all, already taken away some of the biggest stars, like Alistair Overeem, Dan Henderson, Cung Le, Jake Shields and Nick Diaz), this deal still means that Showtime will be the home of the biggest names in MMA outside the UFC. As a subscriber-based business, Showtime is less interested in attracting broad audiences than in attracting the kinds of loyal viewers who are willing to pay for content. That perfectly describes hard-core MMA fans: The people who love the sport really love the sport and are willing to show that love on their cable bills. Keeping Strikeforce means keeping tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of MMA fans who only subscribe to Showtime to watch Strikeforce. Loser: MTV2, Spike, HDNet and any other network airing MMA It's already tough to get attention in the MMA media world if you're not with the UFC, and for MTV2 (current home of Bellator), Spike (future home of Bellator), HDNet (home of several smaller and international promotions) and any other channel that's thinking about getting into the MMA business, keeping Strikeforce alive on Showtime makes it tougher. Winner: Strikeforce heavyweights Strikeforce will conclude its heavyweight tournament with Daniel Cormier vs. Josh Barnett, then give one more fight to the winner of that, and then move all the heavyweights remaining on the roster over to the UFC. That's big news for the biggest guys getting to fight in the biggest show, and it's the logical conclusion of a movement that is already underway: Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem is already in the UFC, set to fight Brock Lesnar, and the last man Overeem beat, Fabricio Werdum, is headed for the UFC now. Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva is surely set to fight in the Octagon soon, and promising heavyweights like Shane Del Rosario, Chad Griggs, Lavar Johnson and Shawn Jordan will have great opportunities to prove themselves on a big stage. Loser: Strikeforce light heavyweights Although Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Dan Henderson has already vacated his belt and returned to the UFC, it appears that the other Strikeforce light heavyweights will stay where they are. That means good Strikeforce 205-pounders like King Mo Lawal, Rafael Cavalcante, Gegard Mousasi, Ovince St Preux and Lorenz Larkin -- all of whom could have a place in the UFC light heavyweight division -- will be denied that opportunity. Winner: MMA fans With Zuffa planning 40 live events (32 UFC, eight Strikeforce) plus the new live Ultimate Fighter on Friday nights, Bellator looking at a couple dozen events spread over two seasons, HDNet airing a couple shows a month and your random one-off events from other promotions, it's going to be a rare weekend night when MMA isn't on TV. If you're an MMA fan, you've already got plans for almost every weekend. Loser: Spouses/significant others of MMA fans With Zuffa planning 40 live events (32 UFC, eight Strikeforce) plus the new live Ultimate Fighter on Friday nights, Bellator looking at a couple dozen events spread over two seasons, HDNet airing a couple shows a month and your random one-off events from other promotions, it's going to be a rare weekend night when MMA isn't on TV. If you're married to an MMA fan, you're not going to be able to make plans for many weekends. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

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"With Demetrious Johnson joining the flyweight division, former bantamweight champ Eddie Wineland will now be facing TUF 14 standout Johnny Bedford on January 28th in Chicago," said UFC president Dana White today. Both fighters have verbally agreed to the bout.More Middleweight Matchups for UFC on FOX 2 updated December 7The televised card for UFC on FOX 2 was revealed today to be a triple-header, with last weekend's TUF 14 Finale winner Michael Bisping returning to action January 28 against Demian Maia. The winner of that bout will be next in line for a middleweight title shot after the winner of Sonnen-Munoz, taking place the same night. 1024x768 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} Another middleweight matchup has been verbally agreed to for the undercard of that event, as 6-1 Dustin Jacoby takes on 15-5 Chris Camozzi.Seven Fights Set for UFC on FOX 2 updated December 5The fight card for UFC </a>on FOX 2 is gathering steam as a number of bouts have been verbally agreed upon by the athletes, UFC president Dana White announced today. In the night’s main event, former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans battles the unbeaten Phil Davis to determine the next challenger to the 205-pound title. Plus, in the night’s co-feature, controversial middleweight contender Chael Sonnen takes on “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” Mark Munoz in a bout that will decide which fighter gets the next crack at champion Anderson Silva.In lightweight action, 12-0 undefeated submission specialist Paul Sass will face 12-2 lightweight contender Evan Dunham. Plus, Ultimate Fighter veterans Michael "The Menace" Johnson will take on the freshly-shorn Cody McKenzie. More bouts in the works include:- Cub Swanson will take on the always-dangerous George Roop in the talent-packed featherweight division.- One of the bantamweight division's toughest competitors, Eddie Wineland, will meet one of the UFC's fastest, Demetrious Johnson.- UFC 131 Fight of the Night winner John-Olav Einemo will face Chicago’s 14-1 Mike Russow in a heavyweight throwdown

Posted in: ufc, bout, fox, winner, middleweight

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UFC 140 winner Igor Pokrajac talks with Megan Olivi about his victory over Krzysztof Soszynski.

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With UFC 140 on tap for Saturday at the Air Canada Centre, we ask you to predict who will win all the marquee bouts. Vote now …

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Who says the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) doesn't like tournament format? On Jan. 28, 2012, at the United Center in Chicago, Ill., questions will be answered and championship contenders will rise. UFC on Fox 2 will feature a pivotal light heavyweight clash when former UFC light heavyweight champion, Rashad Evans, takes on undefeated wrestling powerhouse, Phil Davis, for the right to face the winner of Jon Jones vs. Lyoto Machida, which is set to go down this weekend (Dec. 10, 2011) at UFC 140. UFC President Dana White also laid out the middleweight division landscape for reporters at the UFC on FOX 2 press conference that took place earlier today in "Chi-Town." According to White, the event, which actually kicks off the UFC and Fox deal, will have not one, but two, middleweight title contenders rise once the dust settles in what will mark the promotion's second venture on network television. Serving as the evening's co-main event, Chael Sonnen vs. Mark Munoz will determine who gets next shot at current title holder against pound-for-pound kingpin, Anderson Silva, who is currently on the sidelined until the mid- 2012 because of a shoulder injury. In the opener of the evening's triple main event card, submission specialist Demian Maia will take on Michael Bisping, who is coming off of a third round technical knockout victory of Jason Miller at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 14 Finale this past weekend (Dec. 3, 2011.) The winner of that fight will take on the winner of Anderson Silva vs. Mark Munoz or Chael Sonnen. But, don't take my word for it, check out what UFC head honcho Dana White had to say: "The way that Munoz and Chael Sonnen works out, the winner of that fight fights Anderson Silva and then Demian Maia and Bisping, the winner of that fight would then fight the winner of the fight between either Munoz or Sonnen against Silva. And then obviously, Rashad Evans and Davis, the winner of this fight would fight the winner of Machida and "Bones" Jones." No division logjams here. Maia and Sonnen have already had their respective title shots against "The Spider," both coming up short in their attempts to dethrone Silva. Maia went the distance with the champion, but lost a unanimous decision in Abu Dhabi at UFC 112 back on April 10, 2010, in what was a bizarre performances from Silva, as he spent the majority of the fight taunting the fellow Brazilian. Four months later (Aug. 7, 2010,) at UFC 117, Sonnen was two minutes way from becoming the new UFC middleweight champion. Sonnen had his way with Silva through 23 minutes of action before "The Spider" trapped him in a triangle choke that forced the tap in the final frame. Since then, Sonnen has been putting his political experience to use as he has been campaigning for a rematch against his arch-nemesis Silva any chance he gets. Standing in his way is another man who has been patiently waiting for his chance at UFC gold; Mark Munoz."The Count,""The Filipino Wrecking Machine" and "Mr. Wonderful" have yet to compete for a UFC title; however, if they find a way to prevail in Chicago, each will earn their long desired title shots. Barring any injuries, the UFC's middleweight and light heavyweights division's future heading into 2012 is pretty crystal clear. Take your picks, Maniacs. Who comes out on top in "The Windy City" and who will be the UFC middleweight and light heavyweight champions by the end of 2012?

Posted in: ufc, fight, silva, winner, sonnen

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Main-event winner and "The Ultimate Fighter 14" head coach Michael Bisping was the big winner at this past weekend's TUF 14 Finale event, and he earned $425,000 for his efforts. The payday, which included a $150,000 win bonus, accounted for the majority of the event's $708,000 payroll. MMAjunkie.com today requested and received the list of disclosed paydays from the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

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Former TUF 13 winner Tony Ferguson discusses his close decision win over crafty veteran Yves Edwards.

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Undersized but not overmatched, John Dodson became the first-ever bantamweight winner of “The Ultimate Fighter” on Saturday, finishing T.J. Dillashaw in less than two minutes in the live season finale at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.

Posted in: bantamweight, winner, tj dillashaw, season finale, fighter ”

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“The Ultimate Fighter” Season 3 winner Michael Bisping handed Jason “Mayhem” Miller a beating he will not soon forget.

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submitted by MattyBlayze [link] [2 comments]

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Filed under: MMA Videos, UFC, MMA Fighting Exclusive, News, VideosLAS VEGAS -- Watch below as Tony Ferguson talks about his upcoming fight against Yves Edwards, how this weight cut compares to his first cut to 155, why he decided to stay closer to home for this fight camp, and his advice for the future TUF winners.  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: mma, winner, ferguson talks, yves edwards, fight camp

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The 2011 World MMA Awards will be aired on December 11, at FOX Sports Net, but was filmed on Wednesday night, so we now have all the results for those who are interested. Chael Sonnen and Molly Querim hosted the show, and handed out awards to several of the personalities in the sport including Jon Jones, Alistair Overeem, Arianny Celeste, and one of our new SBN writers from MMA Fighting, Ariel Helwani. Note: These are for achievements done from Sept 2010 - August 2011. This means Hendo vs. Shogun will only be eligible for next year's Fight of the Year award. Check out the complete results after the jump. Full results courtesy of our friends from MMA Fighting: International Fighter of the YearMichael BispingAlexander GustafssonJoachim Hansen Alistair OvereemDennis SiverWinner: Alistair OvereemGym of the Year Alliance MMA Black House Jackson's MMA Roufusport Xtreme CoutureWinner: Black HouseReferee of the Year Herb Dean "Big" John McCarthy Dan Miragliotta Josh Rosenthal Mario YamasakiWinner: Herb DeanComeback of the YearMarloes Coenen vs. Liz Carmouche (Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson)Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry (UFC Live 5)Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (career)Tito Ortiz (career)Joe Warren vs. Joe Soto (Bellator 27) Winner: Cheick Kongo Best Technical Equipment Bad Boy Everlast Hayabusa Rival VenumWinner: EverlastJournalist of the Year John Morgan Gareth A. Davies Josh Gross Ariel Helwani Ben FowlkesWinner: Ariel HelwaniCoach of the Year Rafael Cordeiro Eric Del Fierro Cesar Gracie Greg Jackson Shawn Tompkins Winner: Greg JacksonBest Lifestyle Clothing Affliction Bad Boy Form Athletics RVCA TapouT Winner: TapouTPromotion of the Year BAMMABellator Fighting ChampionshipsDREAMStrikeforce UFC Winner:UFCMedia Source of the Year "Inside MMA" on HDNet MMAFighting.com "MMA Live" on ESPN MMAjunkie.com Sherdog.comWinner: MMAJunkie.comBest Technical Clothing Bad Boy Hayabusa Jaco Sprawl Venum Winner: Bad BoyPersonality of the Year Bruce Buffer Jacob "Stitch" Duran Joe RoganBas Rutten Burt Watson Winner: Joe RoganFemale Fighter of the YearMarloes CoenenZoila GurgelSarah KaufmanRonda RouseyMiesha Tate Winner: Miesha Tate Entrance of the YearYoshihiro Akiyama (UFC 133)Vitor Belfort (UFC 133)Dave Herman (UFC 131)Mark Hominick (UFC 129) Jason "Mayhem" Miller (DREAM.16) Winner: Jason "Mayhem" MillerBreakthrough Fighter of the YearDonald CerroneDaniel CormierPhil DavisDemetrious JohnsonBrian StannWinner: Donald CerroneSubmission of the YearChan Sung Jung vs. Leonard Garcia (UFC Fight Night 24) Pable Garza vs. Yves Jabouin (UFC 129)Richard Hale vs. Nik Fekete (Bellator 38)Vinny Magalhaes vs. Viktor Nemkov (M-1 Challenge 25)Tito Ortiz vs. Ryan Bader (UFC 132) Winner: Chan Sung JungRing Girl of the Year Arianny Celeste Kelli Hutcherson Brittney Palmer Chandella Powell Mercedes Terrell Winner: Arianny CelesteLeading Man of the Year Scott Coker Lorenzo Fertitta Marc Ratner Bjorn Rebney Dana White Winner: Dana WhiteKO of the Year Patricky "Pitbull" Freire vs. Toby Imada (Bellator 39) Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry (UFC Live 5)John Makdessi vs. Kyle Watson (UFC 129)Lyoto Machida vs. Randy Couture (UFC 129)Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort (UFC 126)Winner: Anderson SilvaFight of the YearJose Aldo vs. Mark Hominick (UFC 129)Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber (UFC 132)Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard (UFC 125)Nick Diaz vs. Paul Daley (Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley)Diego Sanchez vs. Martin Kampmann (UFC Live 3) Winner: Edgar vs. MaynardFighter of the YearDominick CruzNick DiazDan HendersonJon JonesAnderson SilvaWinner: Jon JonesLifetime Achievement Award Winner: Shawn Tompkins

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submitted by MattyBlayze [link] [2 comments]

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The 2011 World MMA Awards ceremony took place tonight at The Pearl at the Palms Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The awards honor acheivements in MMA from September of 2010 to August of 2011. UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones took home the Charles “Mask” Lewis Fighter of the Year for a banner year in 2011 that has seen the young champion pick up the UFC light heavyweight title and three wins. Jones will look to continue his recent success when he faces Lyoto Machida at UFC 140 on December 10. The late Shawn Tompkins was honored with a special lifetime acheivement award for his service to MMA before his sudden death earlier this year. The Fighters Only organized event was not aired live via television or internet stream but will air December 11 on Fox Sports Net. UFC fighter Chael Sonnen and CBS Sports Network’s Molly Qerim. Results: INTERNATIONAL FIGHTER OF THE YEAR Nominees: Michael Bisping, Alexander Gustafsson, Joachim Hansen, Alistair Overeem and Dennis Siver Winner: Alistair Overeem GYM OF THE YEAR Nominees: Alliance MMA, Black House, Jackson’s MMA, Roufusport and Xtreme Couture Winner: Black House REFEREE OF THE YEAR Nominees: Herb Dean, “Big” John McCarthy, Dan Miragliotta, Josh Rosenthal and Mario Yamasaki Winner: Herb Dean COMEBACK OF THE YEAR Nominees: Marloes Coenen vs. Liz Carmouche at “Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson,” Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry at UFC Live 5, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (career), Tito Ortiz (career) and Joe Warren vs. Joe Soto at Bellator 27 Nominees: Cheick Kongo BEST TECHNICAL EQUIPMENT Nominees: Bad Boy, Everlast, Hayabusa, Rival and Venum Winner: Everlast MMA JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR Nominees: John Morgan, Gareth A. Davies, Josh Gross, Ariel Helwani and Ben Fowlkes Winner: Ariel Helwani COACH OF THE YEAR Nominees: Rafael Cordeiro, Eric Del Fierro, Cesar Gracie, Greg Jackson and Shawn Tompkins Winner: Greg Jackson BEST LIFESTYLE CLOTHING Nominees: Affliction, Bad Boy, Form Athletics, RVCA and TapouT Winner: TapouT PROMOTION OF THE YEAR Nominees: BAMMA, Bellator Fighting Championships, DREAM, Strikeforce and UFC Winner: UFC MEDIA SOURCE OF THE YEAR Nominees: “Inside MMA” on HDNet, MMAFighting.com, “MMA Live” on ESPN, MMAjunkie.com and Sherdog.com Winner: MMAjunkie.com BEST TECHNICAL CLOTHING Nominees: Bad Boy, Hayabusa, Jaco, Sprawl and Venum Winner: Bad Boy MMA PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR Nominees: Bruce Buffer, Jacob “Stitch” Duran, Joe Rogan, Bas Rutten and Burt Watson Winner: Joe Rogan FEMALE FIGHTER OF THE YEAR Nominees: Marloes Coenen, Zoila Gurgel, Sarah Kaufman, Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate Winner: Miesha Tate RING ENTRANCE OF THE YEAR Nominees: Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 133, Vitor Belfort at UFC 133, Dave Herman at UFC 131, Mark Hominick at UFC 129 and Jason “Mayhem” Miller at DREAM.16 Winner: Jason “Mayhem” Miller BREAKTHROUGH FIGHTER OF THE YEAR Nominees: Donald Cerrone, Daniel Cormier, Phil Davis, Demetrious Johnson and Brian Stann Winner: Donald Cerrone SUBMISSION OF THE YEAR Nominees: Chan Sung Jung vs. Leonard Garcia at UFC Fight Night 24, Pablo Garza vs. Yves Jabouin at UFC 129, Richard Hale vs. Nik Fekete at Bellator 38, Vinny Magalhaes vs. Viktor Nemkov at M-1 Challenge 25, and Tito Ortiz vs. Ryan Bader at UFC 132 Winner: Chan Sung Jung vs. Leonard Garcia at UFC Fight Night 24 RING GIRL OF THE YEAR Nominees: Arianny Celeste, Kelli Hutcherson, Brittney Palmer, Chandella Powell and Mercedes Terrell Winner: Arianny Celeste LEADING MAN OF THE YEAR Nominees: Scott Coker, Lorenzo Fertitta, Marc Ratner, Bjorn Rebney and Dana White Winner: Dana White KNOCKOUT OF THE YEAR Nominees: Patricky “Pitbull” Freire vs. Toby Imada at Bellator 39, Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry at UFC Live 5, John Makdessi vs. Kyle Watson at UFC 129, Lyoto Machida vs. Randy Couture at UFC 129, and Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort at UFC 126 Winner: Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort at UFC 126 FIGHT OF THE YEAR Nominees: Jose Aldo vs. Mark Hominick at UFC 129, Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber at UFC 132, Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard at UFC 125, Nick Diaz vs. Paul Daley at “Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley,” and Diego Sanchez vs. Martin Kampmann at UFC Live 3 Winner: Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard at UFC 125 CHARLES “MASK” LEWIS FIGHTER OF THE YEAR Nominees: Dominick Cruz, Nick Diaz, Dan Henderson, Jon Jones and Anderson Silva Winner: Jon Jones

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submitted by BoosterJuice [link] [1 comment]

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Knockout of the Night winner Mike Russow gets a hometown fight against Fight of the Night winner Jon Olav Einemo at UFC on Fox 2 in Chicago.

Posted in: winner, mike, mike russow, chicago knockout, hometown fight

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On December 3rd, four fighters will compete for two UFC contracts in the season finale of The Ultimate Fighter’s 14th season. Yet while the focus is primarily on the fighters at this time, being the coach of the winning competitor is also a prestigious honor, and over the past 14 seasons, UFC Hall of Famers, champions, and top contenders have held the reins for the hopefuls trying to fight their way into the Octagon.So what better time than now to turn the spotlight in the direction of the coaches? Who has produced the most TUF champions, and whose selections have gone on to the most success in the UFC after the show? Let the numbers tell the tale…Michael Bisping (seasons nine and 14 – 14 not included here)Fighters coached: 8Season Winners: 2Season Finalists: 3Fighters still in UFC: 2UFC Champions: 0Fighters’ Post-TUF winning percentage in UFC: 47% (10-11)Dean Amasinger - David Faulkner -Jeff Lawson -Nick Osipczak 2-3Ross Pearson* 4-2Martin Stapleton -James Wilks* 2-2Andre Winner** 2-4Randy Couture (season one)Fighters coached: 8Season Winners: 0Season Finalists: 1Fighters still in UFC: 4 UFC Champions: 0Fighters’ Post-TUF winning percentage in UFC: 60% (37-24)Stephan Bonnar** 8-6Alex Karalexis 1-2Chris Leben 12-7Nathan Quarry 7-3Chris Sanford 0-1Lodune Sincaid 0-1Mike Swick 9-3Jason Thacker 0-1Junior dos Santos (season 13)Fighters coached: 7Season Winners: 0Season Finalists: 1Fighters still in UFC: 3UFC Champions: 0Fighters’ Post-TUF winning percentage in UFC: 33% (3-6)Shamar Bailey 1-2Mick Bowman -Zach Davis -Justin Edwards (replaced Keon Caldwell) 1-2Ryan McGillivray 0-1Ramsey Nijem** 1-1Javier Torres -Rashad Evans (season 10)Fighters coached: 8Season Winners: 1Season Finalists: 2Fighters still in UFC: 3UFC Champions: 0Fighters’ Post-TUF winning percentage in UFC: 62% (17-10)Jon Madsen 4-1James McSweeney 1-2Matt Mitrione 5-1Roy Nelson* 3-2Brendan Schaub** 4-2Darrill Schoonover 0-1Mike Wessel (previous UFC fights not included)Justin Wren 0-1Rich Franklin (season two, season 11 (partial)Fighters coached: 8Season Winners: 1Season Finalists: 2Fighters still in UFC: 2 UFC Champions: 1Fighters’ Post-TUF winning percentage in UFC: 55% (40-31-1)Marcus Davis 9-6Rashad Evans* 11-1-1Melvin Guillard 10-5Jorge Gurgel 3-4Brad Imes** 0-3Keith Jardine 6-7Seth Petruzelli 0-4Anthony Torres 1-1Forrest Griffin (season seven)Fighters coached: 8Season Winners: 1Season Finalists: 1Fighters still in UFC: 3UFC Champions: 0Fighters’ Post-TUF winning percentage in UFC: 50% (13-13)Matt Brown 5-5Tim Credeur 3-2Nick Klein -Dante Rivera 0-1Amir Sadollah* 5-3Jesse Taylor 0-1Cale Yarbrough 0-1Luke Zachrich -Dan Henderson (season nine)Fighters coached: 8Season Winners: 0Season Finalists: 1Fighters still in UFC: 1UFC Champions: 0Fighters’ Post-TUF winning percentage in UFC: 45% (5-6)Santino DeFranco -Jason Dent (previous UFC fights not included) 1-1Cameron Dollar 0-1DaMarques Johnson** 4-3Frank Lester 0-1Mark Miller -Jason Pierce -Richie Whitson -Matt Hughes (seasons two and six)Fighters coached: 17Season Winners: 2Season Finalists: 4Fighters still in UFC: 1 UFC Champions: 0Fighters’ Post-TUF winning percentage in UFC: 39% (24-37)Dan Barrera 0-1Blake Bowman -Josh Burkman 5-5Dan Christison 1-1Luke Cummo** 3-4Mac Danzig* 4-5Paul Georgieff 0-1Rob MacDonald 1-2Billy Miles 0-1Sammy Morgan 0-2Tom Murphy 1-0Dorian Price 0-1Jared Rollins 0-1Tommy Speer** 0-2Joe Stevenson* 8-8Jason Von Flue (Replaced Burkman) 1-2Mike Whitehead 0-1Quinton Jackson (seasons seven and 10)Fighters coached: 17Season Winners: 0Season Finalists: 1Fighters still in UFC: 3UFC Champions: 0Fighters’ Post-TUF winning percentage in UFC: 53% (15-13)Paul Bradley 0-2Dan Cramer 1-1Mike Dolce -CB Dollaway** 5-4Gerald Harris 3-1Zak Jensen –Marcus Jones 0-1Scott Junk (previous UFC fights not included)Jeremy May -Matthew Riddle 5-3Demico Rogers -Patrick Schultz -Brandon Sene - Kimbo Slice 1-1Wes Shivers -Wes Sims (previous UFC fights not included)Abe Wagner -Josh Koscheck (season 12)Fighters coached: 7Season Winners: 0Season Finalists: 0Fighters still in UFC: 1UFC Champions: 0Fighters’ Post-TUF winning percentage in UFC: 20% (1-4)Sako Chivitchian 0-1Jeff Lentz -Sevak Magakian -Andy Main -Nam Phan 1-2Marc Stevens -Aaron Wilkinson 0-1Brock Lesnar (season 13)Fighters coached: 7Season Winners: 1Season Finalists: 0Fighters still in UFC: 3UFC Champions: 0Fighters’ Post-TUF winning percentage in UFC: 50% (4-4)Nordin Asrih -Len Bentley -Chris Cope 1-1Tony Ferguson* 2-0Clay Harvison 1-2Chuck O'Neil (replaced Myles Jury) 0-1Charlie Rader -Chuck Liddell (seasons one and 11)Fighters coached: 15Season Winners: 3Season Finalists: 4Fighters still in UFC: 8 UFC Champions: 1Fighters’ Post-TUF winning percentage in UFC: 67% (60-29)Rich Attonito 3-1Charles Blanchard -Josh Bryant 0-1Kenny Florian** 12-5Forrest Griffin* 9-5Joseph Henle –Sam Hoger 2-3Josh Koscheck 14-5Court McGee* 3-0Kyle Noke 3-1Josh Rafferty 0-1Diego Sanchez* 12-4Alex Schoenauer 0-1Bobby Southworth 0-1Brad Tavares 2-1Frank Mir (season eight)Fighters coached: 8Season Winners: 0Season Finalists: 1Fighters still in UFC: 4UFC Champions: 0Fighters’ Post-TUF winning percentage in UFC: 47% (17-19)Junie Browning 1-1Dave Kaplan 0-2Tom Lawlor 3-3Vinny Magalhães** 0-2Eliot Marshall 3-3Shane Nelson 2-2George Roop 2-4Krzysztof Soszynski 6-2Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (season eight)Fighters coached: 8 Season Winners: 2Season Finalists: 3Fighters still in UFC: 2UFC Champions: 0Fighters’ Post-TUF winning percentage in UFC: 50% (14-14)Ryan Bader* 6-2Jules Bruchez 0-1Rolando Delgado 1-2Efrain Escudero* 3-2Kyle Kingsbury 4-2Phillipe Nover** 0-3John Polakowski 0-1Shane Primm 0-1Tito Ortiz (seasons three and 11)Fighters coached: 15Season Winners: 2Season Finalists: 4Fighters still in UFC: 3 UFC Champions: 0Fighters’ Post-TUF winning percentage in UFC: 55% (33-27)Danny Abbadi 0-2Seth Baczynski (Replaced Chris Camozzi) 2-1Michael Bisping* 11-3Kendall Grove* 7-6Matt Hamill 9-4James Hammortree 0-1Josh Haynes** 0-3Noah Inhofer - Kris McCray** 0-3Clayton McKinney -Nick Ring 2-1Rory Singer 2-2Mike Stine -Kyacey Uscola -Jamie Yager 0-1BJ Penn (season five)Fighters coached: 8Season Winners: 0Season Finalists: 0Fighters still in UFC: 3UFC Champions: 0Fighters’ Post-TUF winning percentage in UFC: 59% (26-15-1, 2 NC)Allen Berube 0-1Rob Emerson 3-3, 1 NC Gray Maynard 8-1-1, 1 NCJoe Lauzon (previous UFC fights not included) 7-3Gabe Ruediger (previous UFC fights not included) 0-2Andy Wang 0-1Matt Wiman 8-4Noah Thomas -Jens Pulver (season five)Fighters coached: 8Season Winners: 1Season Finalists: 2Fighters still in UFC: 3UFC Champions: 0Fighters’ Post-TUF winning percentage in UFC: 54% (19-16)Nate Diaz* 9-5Manny Gamburyan** 2-4Brian Geraghty 0-1Corey Hill 1-2Brandon Melendez 0-1Cole Miller 7-3Marlon Sims -Wayne Weems –Matt Serra (season six)Fighters coached: 9Season Winners: 0Season Finalists: 0Fighters still in UFC: 1UFC Champions: 0Fighters’ Post-TUF winning percentage in UFC: 55% (15-12)Matt Arroyo 1-2Richie Hightower 0-1John Kolosci 0-1Jon Koppenhaver (replaced Roman Mitichyan) 1-1Troy Mandaloniz 1-1Roman Mitichyan 1-1Ben Saunders 4-3Joe Scarola -George Sotiropoulos 7-2Ken Shamrock (season three)Fighters coached: 8Season Winners: 0Season Finalists: 1Fighters still in UFC: 1 UFC Champions: 0Fighters’ Post-TUF winning percentage in UFC: 36% (9-16)Tait Fletcher -Jesse Forbes 0-3Ed Herman ** 6-5Solomon Hutcherson 0-1Mike Nickels 1-1Ross Pointon 0-2Kristian Rothaermel 0-1Kalib Starnes 2-3Georges St-Pierre 12Fighters coached: 7Season Winners: 1Season Finalists: 2Fighters still in UFC: 4UFC Champions: 0Fighters’ Post-TUF winning percentage in UFC: 38% (5-8)Jonathan Brookins* 1-1Alex Caceres 1-2Michael Johnson** 1-2Cody McKenzie 1-2Spencer Paige -Dane Sayers -Kyle Watson 1-1***MOST SEASON WINNERSLiddell 3Bisping, Nogueira, Ortiz, Hughes 2MOST FINALISTSLiddell, Hughes, Ortiz 4Nogueira, Bisping 3Franklin, Pulver, St-Pierre, Evans 2MOST FIGHTERS STILL IN UFCLiddell 8St-Pierre, Mir, Couture 4Lesnar, dos Santos, Evans, Griffin, Pulver, Jackson, Penn, Ortiz 3BEST POST-TUF UFC WINNING PERCENTAGELiddell 67%Evans 62%Couture 60%WORST POST-TUF UFC WINNING PERCENTAGEKoscheck 20%Dos Santos 33%Shamrock 36%COACHES WHO HAVE COACHED MORE THAN ONE SEASON OF TUFLiddell, Hughes, Franklin (partial), Ortiz, Jackson, Bisping (season 14 not included here)*TUF winner** TUF finalistEd. Note – Since season four of TUF didn’t have team-specific coaches, that season is not included here. Plus, Rich Franklin’s late season replacement of Tito Ortiz on TUF 11 is not counted towards his coaching tally.

Posted in: ufc, fighter, season, winner, posttuf

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) just completed its first-ever network television broadcast as UFC on Fox 1: "Velasquez vs. dos Santos" took center stage at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., on Sat., Nov. 12, 2011. A champion was unseated and a new heavyweight king was crowned. A lightweight number one contender was determined in a thrilling three-round, whirlwind affair. There were submissions. There were knockouts. As usual, the UFC delivered a card that was packed with thrills from top to bottom. Unfortunately, a good deal of viewers missed the majority of this card because it was only offered via streaming Internet. (Hang, tight. We'll get to that.) We've had a day to critique, analyze statistics and feel all the aftershocks of the earthquake that was UFC on FOX. It wouldn't be a UFC weekend on MMAmania.com without a close look at the events big winners and lowly losers. Here we go: WINNERS Junior dos Santos -- I know, I know. It's too easy to pick the winner of the main event as the main "winner" of the "winners and losers" recap post. However, "JDS" was the underdog by every sense of the definition. "His hands are great, but what about his cardio?" -- "He's got knockout power, but can he stop a Velasquez takedown attempt?" If you tell me today that you expected dos Santos to come out and put Velasquez to sleep in just over a minute, you're probably full of it. On the flipside of the coin, if you're telling the truth, you might be a very rich man. "Cigano" is one of the nicest guys in all of mixed martial arts (MMA). Even if you're a Cain Velasquez fan, it's hard not to feel good for this guy. Well done. Ben Henderson -- Again, not a lot of drama in this pick, but it is what it is. "Bendo" came in having won his first two UFC fights. Most recently, he absolutely dismantled Jim Miller at UFC on Versus 5 in Milwaukee, Wisc., on Aug. 14, 2011. Guida was on a tear of his own, coming into Saturday night's event with a four-fight win streak. For three thrilling and fast-paced rounds, the two long-haired firecrackers flew back and forth at each other. There were fantastic stand up exchanges. There was a plethora of near finishes by way of deep submission attempts. At the end of the day, Henderson was a little quicker to the spot and just a little better in every area. Though the fight was closely contested (deservingly taking home "Fight of the Night" honors), Henderson was clearly the better man and will get his title shot against Frankie Edgar on Feb. 25 in Saitama, Japan. Ricardo Lamas -- After an inconsistent run in the lightweight division, Lamas looks like he's really found a home against the 145-pounders. After beating Cub Swanson with a beautiful arm-triangle submission that earned him the "Submission of the Night" bonus, "The Bully" has now won his first two featherweight fights in impressive fashion. Look for Lamas to get a bigger name in his next fight and to be truly tested to see what he's made of.  Alex Caceres -- "Bruce Leroy" was quickly becoming a joke in the eyes of many MMA fans and pundits. During his time on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 12, Caceres was loud and obnoxious, both with his words and his wardrobe. He talked a lot and delivered very little. After losing his first two UFC bouts by way of rear naked choke, it was time for a new look. That look came in the way of a drop down to bantamweight for Caceres. In his debut, he looked great. His upset win over Cole Escovedo was something that no one anticipated.  The UFC -- As an organization, this was a HUGE night. The coverage was sensational. If you have Fuel TV, you were privileged to enjoy insightful and entertaining pre- and post-fight shows, which were unlike anything we've really ever seen before as fans. Anybody who is anybody in Hollywood was in attendance. Many new fans tuned in to see just what the UFC is all about and they were treated to a thrilling heavyweight knockout. By most methods of measurement, this was a massive success for an organization that has come a long way since its inaugural foray just a short 18 years ago. LOSERS The UFC -- Confused? How could the UFC be one of the big winners AND be the number one lowly loser? It's simple. Dana White and his organization won big, but they left a lot on the table. By committing to broadcast only one fight, they needlessly painted themselves into a corner. I'm a huge UFC and MMA fan. So are most of you, Maniacs. A good deal of us were not thrown by having to watch the other fights on Facebook or FoxSports.com. We're used to it. But, that's the problem. Uncle Dana wasn't trying to win us over. He's already got us in his corner. Millions of new viewers tuned in at 9 p.m. ET. They didn't see the Facebook fights and they may never do so. All they know is that after a huge build-up and a ton of hype, they saw one minute and four seconds of fighting and a heavyweight put to sleep. The new fans don't care about the pre-fight coverage or the post-fight wrap-up. That's exciting to us, but we're veteran fans. I've had to tell countless friends and family (whom I convinced to tune in) that this isn't what a standard card will look like. The shows usually go longer than this. You'll get to see more fights. Some of them will give it another chance. For others? That was the one opportunity they were going to give the UFC and the jig is up. They're moving on. If the point of UFC on Fox 1 was to put on a great show that was rich in MMA coverage depth, then it was a huge success. If the goal was to win over a bunch of new fans and carve a niche into the mainstream, I'm not sure the goal was achieved. It's okay. They'll get there. Norifumi Yamamoto -- "Kid" really needed a win in his fight against Darren Uyenoyama. After being dominated in his UFC debut by Demetrious Johnson at UFC 126 on Feb. 5 in Las Vegas, the world was watching to see if he could rebound and live up to the hype that originally drew the UFC to his doorstep in Japan. There aren't many bantamweights that can stand up with Yamamoto. The problem is that they don't have to. This is mixed martial arts. So far, in his two UFC fights, Yamamoto has been pretty much taken down at will and outwrestled very badly. If he gets another chance to prove his merit after this, he'll need to pull out all the stops. Cole Escovedo -- After essentially acting as a human punching bag for Alex Caceres on Saturday night, Escovedo has now lost five of his last six fights. None of the losses were really that close. There's really not a whole lot more to say. Escovedo will be fortunate if he is allowed to continue to work for the UFC after losing his first three fights for the promotion. Either way, it's time for some introspection and re-invention.   That's all, folks. Certainly there were other winners and losers, but this was our list. What does your list look like? Give us your best shot, but be gentle. It's been a long weekend. To check out complete UFC on FOX results and detailed blow-by-blow coverage click here.

Posted in: ufc, fight, fan, winner, loser

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Hey fight fans! We’re back this week with a bigger and better MMA Giveaway. First, I’d like to congratulate Fighters.com reader Jerome Taylor who walked away with the Chris Leben prize pack last week as the only person who predicted a Mark Munoz TKO. Don’t forget to send us pictures of your Kool-Aid hair! For this weekend’s monumental UFC on FOX: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos card, we’ve got multiple TWO giveaways. It’s your chance to win one of the following: -A 2011 Topps Finest UFC Dustin Poirier 1st Autograph (Finest is the first set to have his autographs in it) OR -A 2010 Leaf MMA Clay Guida autograph This week will have two winners for one entry! To enter the contest, please do the following: 1) Follow Fighters.com (@FightersMMA) and follow me (@paliontology) on Twitter. Those links will take you to our respective profiles. 2) Tweet me your predicted winner of the main event, along with the way you think he’ll win. This week’s tiebreaker is a bit more fun, though. Tweet me the local broadcast time in which the fight will end. As a rule of thumb, the event begins at 9:00 PM EST. Confused as to what I’m looking for? Here’s a sample tweet Sample Tweet: @paliontology: Cain Velasquez via KO. Fight ends at 6:42 PM Pacific Time. Winners will be determined by whom is able to pick the time closest to the fight end. The person closest will get to choose the autograph they want, while the second winner will get the other. In the event of any unsuccessful entries, remaining prizes will go back into the Prize Vault for a future giveaway. Entries will be accepted up until 9:00 PM EST Saturday evening. Good luck in advance to all of you entering. Don’t forget you can watch Guida and Poirier fight live through a streaming feed on Facebook starting at 4:45 PM EST. See you cageside! Tweet

Posted in: fight, week, winner, autograph, tweet

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submitted by MattyBlayze [link] [3 comments]

Posted in: ufc, fox, winner, mattyblayze, edgar

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Hey fight fans! We’re back this week with a bigger and better MMA Giveaway. First, I’d like to congratulate Fighters.com reader Jerome Taylor who walked away with the Chris Leben prize pack last week as the only person who predicted a Mark Munoz TKO. Don’t forget to send us pictures of your Kool-Aid hair! For this weekend’s monumental UFC on FOX: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos card, we’ve got multiple TWO giveaways. It’s your chance to win one of the following: -A 2011 Topps Finest UFC Dustin Poirier 1st Autograph (Finest is the first set to have his autographs in it) OR -A 2010 Leaf MMA Clay Guida autograph This week will have two winners for one entry! To enter the contest, please do the following: 1) Follow Fighters.com (@FightersMMA) and follow me (@paliontology) on Twitter. Those links will take you to our respective profiles. 2) Tweet me your predicted winner of the main event, along with the way you think he’ll win. This week’s tiebreaker is a bit more fun, though. Tweet me the local broadcast time in which the fight will end. As a rule of thumb, the event begins at 9:00 PM EST. Confused as to what I’m looking for? Here’s a sample tweet Sample Tweet: @paliontology: Cain Velasquez via KO. Fight ends at 6:42 PM Pacific Time. Winners will be determined by whom is able to pick the time closest to the fight end. The person closest will get to choose the autograph they want, while the second winner will get the other. In the event of any unsuccessful entries, remaining prizes will go back into the Prize Vault for a future giveaway. Entries will be accepted up until 9:00 PM EST Saturday evening. Good luck in advance to all of you entering. Don’t forget you can watch Guida and Poirier fight live through a streaming feed on Facebook starting at 4:45 PM EST. See you cageside! Tweet

Posted in: fight, week, winner, autograph, tweet

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Frankie Edgar's next defense of the UFC lightweight title could come in February in Japan against the Saturday winner of Clay Guida vs. Ben Henderson.

Posted in: winner, edgar, frankie, guidahenderson winner, saturday winner

Read the full article at Heavy MMA

LOS ANGELES - Maybe fighting on Facebook isn't the worst thing in the world. While many MMA fans and pundits have expressed their frustration that a key UFC on FOX lightweight matchup between Clay Guida and Ben Henderson has been relegated to the evening's Facebook-streamed undercard, it appears UFC brass is still dangling a rather large carrot in front of the winner. MMAjunkie.com has learned from multiple sources close to the promotion that the winner of the Guida vs. Henderson matchup is expected to receive an immediate title shot against current lightweight champ Frankie Edgar.

Posted in: ufc, henderson, winner, mma fans, guida

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will put on a heavyweight mash up of epic proportions when current champion Cain Velasquez defends his belt against Junior dos Santos at UFC on FOX 1 in Anaheim, Calif., on Sat., Nov. 12, 2011. It is a fight that mixed martial arts (MMA) fans have looked forward to for some time now. It may end up being the most high-profile heavyweight fight in the history of the UFC because it will air live on network television, serving as the conduit to convert millions of unsuspecting mainstream fans into loyal, long-term supporters. When the Octagon door slams shut, the world will witness two of the most well-rounded, 265-pound fighters who have ever fought under the Zuffa banner. But then when, "IT'S ALL OVER," the debate will soon begin to swirl: Who got next?  The first option is the least exciting, so let's get it out of the way.  There is a possibility that when the fight between Velasquez and dos Santos is over, fans will still wanting more of the same. If it isn't decisive, be prepared for UFC President Dana White to run it back. It doesn't happen often, but it's not outside the realm of possibility (see Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard 2). Meanwhile, former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem is adamant that the winner of his fight with former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar at UFC 141 on Dec. 30 in Las Vegas, Nevada, will receive an instant title shot with whoever happens to be the champion at that time. It's tough to argue with that kind of a match up. Lesnar fought Velasquez once before and got bludgeoned. The storyline of redemption in a potential rematch would be a huge seller. Really, any combination of the four of them, respectively (Velasquez, dos Santos, Lesnar and Overeem) would garner a ton of pay-per-view (PPV) buys. A less enticing pairing may include the winner of Frank Mir and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira when the two square off at UFC 140 on Dec. 10 in Toronto. For this to happen, we'd either have to see a very unimpressive winner in the bout between Overeem and Lesnar, or an injury would have to occur. Inside the UFC, there's not a lot more to offer. Roy Nelson is available and would love a title shot, but let's not get crazy. He'll need another impressive win before that conversation could even happen. And what about Strikeforce? Is it sticking around? Is the promotion on borrowed time? If San Jose, Calif.-based promotion really does bite the dust in the next 12 to 18 months (as many believe that it will), the winner of the heavyweight grand prix, which features Josh Barnett vs. Daniel Cormier, may be "in the mix," too. There are clear front runners, as well as dark horses. Factor in misfortune in the form of injuries, which has been a thorn in the side UFC matchmaker Joe Silva seemingly the entire 2011 fight season, and it's possible that any of the aforementioned fighters will be called upon to step up next. Who do you think will ultimately fight the Velasquez-dos Santos next?

Posted in: ufc, fight, heavyweight, velasquez, winner

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Here we give you some of the best posts from the four winners of the UFC's most creative tweets bonus as part of its incentive campaign.

Posted in: ufc, winner, bonus, campaign, tweets bonus

Read the full article at sportsnet.ca

What's next for Mark Munoz, Renan Barao and a host of other UFC 138 winners? Let's take a look.

Posted in: ufc, fight, winner, renan, what

Read the full article at Heavy MMA

submitted by col0rado [link] [2 comments]

Posted in: submission, winner, knockout, spoiler, night winners

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Thanks to all you fight-fans for participating in last week’s first ever MMA Giveaway from Fighters.com . Reader Jesse Reynoso walked away with the Donald Cerrone Topps Finest Autograph, a perfect prize to cap off Cerrone’s “Submission of the Night” win at UFC 137 and continued run towards the title. For this weekend’s event, UFC 138, we’ve got multiple pieces from one of this weekend’s co-headliner. First, we’ll be giving away a Chris Leben two-pack of cards the winner of this week’s contest with one of these pieces coming courtesy of Fighters.com Twitter follower Jon Tam (@12buckmafia) – Thanks Jon! Here’s what the winner will receive the following two cards, one of which is featured in this article’s headline image.   2011 Topps Finest Fighter Threads Gold Parallel (Serial numbered to just 88 copies available – This one is 13/88) 2011 Topps Finest Fighter Jumbo Threads As a special Leben-inspired bonus, I’ll include a package of Cherry Kool-Aid. Use it to dye your hair like the Crippler…or chicken out and just use it to quench your thirst. Last week, we asked you to string together your entire main card picks, with the tiebreaker being the method of victory. This week’s easier. To enter the contest, please do the following: Follow Fighters.com (@FightersMMA) and me (@paliontology) on Twitter. Those links will take you to our respective profiles. Tweet me your predicted winner of the main event, along with the way you think he’ll win, and at what time of the fight. Sample Tweet: @paliontology: Mark Munoz via KO 3:24 2nd Round or @paliontology: Chris Leben via Decision The winner will be the time predicted style (closest without going over.) In the event of a tie there, we’ll revert to a random draw to pick the winner. If there are no winners, the cards will go into the prize pool for a future giveaway. See you cageside! Tweet

Posted in: week, card, winner, topp, prize pool

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Thanks to all you fight-fans for participating in last week’s first ever MMA Giveaway from Fighters.com . Reader Jesse Reynoso walked away with the Donald Cerrone Topps Finest Autograph, a perfect prize to cap off Cerrone’s “Submission of the Night” win at UFC 137 and continued run towards the title. For this weekend’s event, UFC 138, we’ve got multiple pieces from one of this weekend’s co-headliner. First, we’ll be giving away a Chris Leben two-pack of cards the winner of this week’s contest with one of these pieces coming courtesy of Fighters.com Twitter follower Jon Tam (@12buckmafia) – Thanks Jon! Here’s what the winner will receive the following two cards, one of which is featured in this article’s headline image.   2011 Topps Finest Fighter Threads Gold Parallel (Serial numbered to just 88 copies available – This one is 13/88) 2011 Topps Finest Fighter Jumbo Threads As a special Leben-inspired bonus, I’ll include a package of Cherry Kool-Aid. Use it to dye your hair like the Crippler…or chicken out and just use it to quench your thirst. Last week, we asked you to string together your entire main card picks, with the tiebreaker being the method of victory. This week’s easier. To enter the contest, please do the following: Follow Fighters.com (@FightersMMA) and me (@paliontology) on Twitter. Those links will take you to our respective profiles. Tweet me your predicted winner of the main event, along with the way you think he’ll win, and at what time of the fight. Sample Tweet: @paliontology: Mark Munoz via KO 3:24 2nd Round or @paliontology: Chris Leben via Decision The winner will be the time predicted style (closest without going over.) In the event of a tie there, we’ll revert to a random draw to pick the winner. If there are no winners, the cards will go into the prize pool for a future giveaway. See you cageside! Tweet

Posted in: week, card, winner, topp, prize pool

Read the full article at Fighters.com

The UFC has released its Twitter bonus winners for the quarter ending on Sept. 1. If you recall, the organization announced in May that, starting June 1, UFC and Strikeforce fighters were divided into four categories, based on how many Twitter followers they currently had. At the end the quarter, three fighters from each category were awarded a $5,000 bonus. The winners were be based on who had gained the most followers since the start of the quarter, who gained the highest percentage of new followers and who wrote the most creative tweets. Below are the winners for the first quarter. If you needed another indication of the rapid growth of the UFC in Brazil, here's one more: Most followers: Anderson Silva Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Demian Maia Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos Highest percentage of growth in followers: Anderson Silva Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Demian Maia Paulo Thiago Most creative: Forrest Griffin Joe Lauzon Ben Henderson Joseph Benavidez Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: ufc, winner, bonus, follower, quarter

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At the UFC 137 post-fight press conference, winners Roy Nelson, Cheick Kongo and Donald Cerrone talk about what their fights meant to them and what's next.

Posted in: ufc, fight, conference, winner, donald cerrone

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Filed under: UFC, MMA Fighting Exclusive, News, UFC on FOXLAS VEGAS -- Up until now, it's been assumed that the winner of UFC on Fox 1's co-main event will be the next man up to face current lightweight champion Frankie Edgar. But that's no guarantee. UFC president Dana White told MMA Fighting that on the heels of Edgar's stirring comeback knockout win over Gray Maynard, he's yet to determine the champion's next challenge. Asked whether it was a sure thing that the Clay Guida vs. Ben Henderson winner would earn a chance to fight for the belt, White initially said no. But that's not necessarily his final answer. Moments later, he clarified his thoughts, saying that his unrelenting schedule hasn't afforded him the opportunity to sit down, examine the situation and make a decision. "I don't know. I have no idea," he said. "We're going to have to see what happens. I haven't even thought about it. You have to understand, the only thing I'm thinking about now is FOX. I've just got to get past this event. Everything else is taking a back seat. All the other s--- will work itself out." After a decision win over Anthony Pettis, Guida (29-11) is currently riding a four-fight win streak while Henderson (14-2) has won seven of his eight fights under the Zuffa banner, most recently dominating Jim Miller en route to a decision at UFC 129. Despite the possible importance of the bout, the Guida-Henderson bout will not be televised, airing on Facebook.com and FOX.com. Still, the Guida-Henderson winner seems like the most likely option for Edgar. Other possibilities include the Donald Cerrone-Dennis Siver winner from Saturday night, or Gilbert Melendez if he is brought over from Strikeforce. Both Jim Miller and Melvin Guillard recently had win streaks snapped that likely removed them from the conversation.  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: ufc, decision, winner, edgar, jim miller

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Former 'Ultimate Fighter' 1 winner Diego Sanchez is on the mend and shooting for a return to the Octagon in early 2012.

Posted in: diego sanchez, winner, diego, sanchez, return

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The Ultimate Fighter Season 14 Finale fight card, still a month and a half away and usually loaded with fighters from the series, is already starting to flesh itself out.

Posted in: fight, fighter, card, winner, finale

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submitted by MattyBlayze [link] [1 comment]

Posted in: bellator, winner, mattyblayze, bellator prelims, escudero

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UFC president Dana White on Saturday revealed UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva as the winner named as the cover athlete for UFC Undisputed 3.

Posted in: ufc, silva, anderson silva, winner, anderson

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Top ranked lightweight Gilbert Melendez is making his statement clear. He wants to face the winner of Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard after UFC 136 concludes.

Posted in: winner, gilbert melendez, frankie edgar, maynard, frankie

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NBC Sports’ Ariel Helwani caught up with several of the night’s winners to talk about their fights after UFC on Versus 6.

Posted in: ufc, night, winner, helwani, post-fight

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This is easily the most stacked division in MMA. What makes it my favorite is there's no GSP or Silva dominating. There's no undisputed "GOAT" either at the weight class. Champion Edgar Maynard as #1 contender Contenders in UFC: Jim Miller Ben Henderson Anthony Pettis Melvin Guillard Close: Evan Dunham Charles Oliveria George Sotiropoulis Dennis Siver Contenders outside of UFC: Melendez, Eddie Alvarez, Kawajiri, Aoki Contenders currently in different weight classes: BJ Penn Jose Aldo Fights I want to see: Winner of Edgar / Maynard vs. Gilbert Melendez Melendez is booked in December vs. a nobody. Every Strikeforce champion has come over, it's time for Melendez. He's in the prime of his fighting career and he would be an amazing champion since he brings it. Winner of Henderson / Guida vs. Loser of Edgar / Maynard If the winner of Henderson / Guida can win this matchup, I feel they should get the shot after Melendez. Winner of Guillard / Lauzon vs. Winner of Pettis / Stephens Fuck I would love to see Guillard vs. Pettis. This match can determine who's going to be a champion one day. The future: I can see Aoki and Kawajiri making their way to the UFC eventually. I'm not sure how much impact Aoki can make since you can say Melendez really showed the game plan to beat him. I don't see Eddie Alvarez coming anytime soon. Seems like he's getting paid well over at Bellator and is content with being the big fish in a small pond. Jose Aldo will come to lightweight eventually. I'm guessing within 3 fights. If he can get past Chad Mendes and Hioki....he's cleared the division imo. But the main reason why he'll move up is the weight cutting is getting too hard on his body. His body is telling him to pack on more muscle. BJ Penn's kind of the x factor. He can't beat Edgar...but I would love to see him fight Maynard and Melendez. What I'm hoping is that the loser of Edgar vs. Maynard won't become the lightweight "Fitch". They can beat everyone else in the division except the Champion...and we're not exactly going to be shouting for Edgar vs. Maynard 4 anytime soon. submitted by DrNgo [link] [comment]

Posted in: vs, winner, melendez, edgar, maynard

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MMA fans in the Birmingham area can meet British bangers Paul ‘Semtex’ Daley and Andre Winner on Saturday October 6th.The two are guests of...

Posted in: winner, mma fans, birmingham area, andre winner, birmingham

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Posted in: ufc, winner, belfort, sonnen, /stann

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After long months of news, reports and analysis, LowKick.com finally returns with a competition that will blow your socks off! It's "LowKick.com Everywhere" -  show your support for LowKick.com Community by taking a picture of LowKick.com Homepage (can be mobile) in awkward, special, unusual or just crazy places. In the middle of the ocean, on top of your girlfriend, on Mount Everest... wherever and however! It has to be surprising and crazy! (Yeah, both!!!) The winner of "LowKick.com Everywhere"

Posted in: winner, competition, lowkick.com, lowkick.com community, lowkick.com homepage

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According to Dana White, the winner of the UFC 139 fight between Dan Henderson and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua is likely to get to get the next UFC light heavyweight title shot after Rashad Evans. He made the following statement to a media scrum in the aftermath of the UFC 135 pre-fight press conference that was attended by MMA Nation's Luke Thomas: "It would be tough not to give the winner of that fight the next shot after Rashad. Rashad's next." Henderson was the reigning Strikeforce light heavyweight champion when he re-signed with the UFC, and Shogun held the title from March until November of this year when he was defeated by current champion Jon Jones. Obviously Rashad Evans is in line to face the winner of the UFC 135 main event title fight between Jones and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, and presumably either Henderson or Rua would face whomever is still the king of the mountain sometime next year. More SBN coverage of UFC 139

Posted in: ufc, title, henderson, winner, rashad evans

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The veteran discusses UFC 135 match-up with TUF 13 winner Tony Ferguson, his thoughts on Nick Diaz and more.

Posted in: nick diaz, tuf, aaron riley, tuf graduate, winner

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