Alex Davis, manager for Gesias "JZ" Calvancante spoke with MMAWeekly.com this week to discuss his prized lightweight's return to the Strikeforce cage and who he would like to see across from him when he does:
"I’ve heard from Strikeforce that he’ll probably be fighting in January or February. They didn’t have enough space on the December card. JZ had been awhile without fighting. He took the fight in Japan in which he did well, he fought real safe, and then it took a little while for him to catch speed in that fight. The third round (against Thomson) that was really JZ. I think if we see another fight against Josh Thomson, that’s the fight we will end up seeing. JZ wants a rematch. I don’t think AKA or Josh Thomson would want to give him an immediate rematch cause they want (Gilbert) Melendez, so JZ is just going to have to go and beat somebody else up and get another chance at him. It will happen, he’ll get it."
WEC Lightweight Champ Ben Henderson will make his transition to the UFC beginning in January but prior to that will have one more WEC title defense in December. Henderson has a chance to defend that title and follow that up with a title unification bout between himself and either Frankie Edgar or Gray Maynard. He talked about moving over to the big house:
"Come January, we're going to find out how WEC guys stack up against the UFC guys and my prediction is we're going to do very well. There's a chip on our shoulders. There always has been us WEC guys not getting the notoriety and same respect as the UFC guys. Not from our peers, not from other fighters, but from fans and media. They saw a difference between WEC guys and UFC guys. Now we'll show it. You better believe every WEC guy who steps in the cage against a UFC guy, they're going to fight their butt off. I am definitely looking forward to the pay increase. I'm going to move out of my apartment, buy a house and make sure I save enough to pay my taxes. It's cool. It's not the only factor, but it's a big factor for us WEC guys."
Leonard Garcia Meets Tyler Toner At TUF 12 Finale On Dec 4
Posted on October 30, 2010 by Damon Martin
The influx of the WEC into the UFC will begin before 2010 is over as featherweights Leonard Garcia and Tyler Toner have agreed to meet at the “Ultimate Fighter” season 12 finale show on Dec 4.
Leonard Garcia George Roop WEC 47
The fight was confirmed to MMAWeekly.com by sources close to the situation on Saturday, with verbal agreements in place for the early December contest.
The news came just earlier this week that the WEC would merge with the UFC in 2011, and it looks like with a couple of cards left to go in 2010, the promotion will start to showcase a few featherweights and possibly some bantamweights before the year is out.
Leonard Garcia (14-6-1) is familiar with the UFC having fought there three times before dropping down to 145lbs and a move over to the WEC. The former title contender is coming off a loss to Mark Hominick in his last bout, and hopes to be welcomed back to the UFC with a win in December.
Coming off a loss of his own in his last fight in September, Tyler Toner (11-2) will look to turn things around when he gets his first crack at competing in the world famous Octagon in December. A product of the Grudge Training Center in Colorado, Toner had gone 1-1 in the WEC and will try to up that record when he make his UFC debut in five weeks.
There’s been no word if the bout between Garcia and Toner would make the televised broadcast for the Spike TV show or not, but both are known for exciting styles so there’s a good chance the featherweights may be seen at some point during the show.
More fights like the Garcia/Toner match-up could be added to the last couple of cards to close out 2010, although no other bouts have been confirmed at this time.
Bellator boss Bjorn Rebney has been aggressively pushing for fights between his lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez and Strikeforce champ Gilbert Melendez. This last week Bellator middleweight champ Hector Lombard called out Strikeforce champ Ronaldo Souza, aka Jacare.
Bjorn Rebney upped the ante in an interview with The Fight Nerd after Bellator 34. Transcribed by Fight Opinion:
INTERVIEWER: "I'm not even going to say a question here, I'm just going to say a phrase. You can respond... Bellator vs. Strikeforce."
BJORN REBNEY: "I love it. I keep talking about it. I'm hopeful that it could occur. I'm hopeful that it could occur beyond just Eddie Alvarez vs. Gilbert (Melendez). I would love to set up a Welterweight fight, a big super fight at Welterweight. I would, you know, I would do anything to set up a Middleweight fight. I can only imagine that if there's hesitancy on their part in terms of taking a Lightweight fight that they're probably going to be very, very hesitant to take on a Middleweight fight as well. We would do it. We would do it without problem."
INTERVIEWER: "Co-promoting is not a problem?"
BJORN REBNEY: "No! Not only is it not a problem, but we wouldn't even have to do a typical orchestration of a co-promotional event where everybody argues and fights and scratches and claws. We would go to San Jose, I know some... I married a woman in my first marriage from San Jose, there's some spectacular restaurants and great hotels, we would make ourselves at home, we would come in and we would take three fights. It would be great. From a fan perspective, with the CEO hat off, I mean can you see Ben Askren fighting Nick Diaz? Can you see Eddie Alvarez and Gilbert Melendez? Jacare versus Hector Lombard?"
...
INTERVIEWER: "What are your thoughts about a Bellator PPV?"
BJORN REBNEY: "I mean, I don't mean to keep going back to it, but you know, in and around New Year's and the kind of fights we're talking about in terms of the potential for co-promotion with Strikeforce, I think that would make for a spectacular PPV. I always look at stuff, I separate myself and I say, would I buy that? Would I pay for that? And there are some shows that I look at and go, ‘ehhhhh, probably not. And then are some shows that I look at and go, whoa, I would stay at home for that, you know, and I would irritate the kids, etc. and I would buy it and I would watch every piece of it. That's the kind of show that I would buy. So, that might have the makings of a PPV but it's going to take, it's just like a marriage, you know, you can't get into without the acquiescence of both parties so they need to say yes."
For his part Strikeforce boss Scott Coker denies that Rebney has contacted him. From Sherdog:
"Let's face it: Gilbert's fought everybody," Coker responded Friday. "He beat the guy that Eddie lost to. For them to say, ‘Oh, Gilbert's ducking him' -- come on, let's be real. Gilbert has ducked nobody, and neither has Eddie. These are two great fighters. The thing is, if Bjorn's serious about doing this, then there has to be a business component that has to be worked out. Unfortunately that hasn't started yet. It's just been a bunch of stuff in the media. He's chosen the media to use it as a platform to try to push this thing along, but I think it's maybe a PR move."
Coker explained that he understands why Bellator wants the matchup, but he questions Rebney's motives for lobbying publicly.
"It's very obvious to me he's using the media as a platform to try to do his business, but that's not how we're going to do business," Coker said. "If he wants to do business, call me or fly out here, come sit down with me. If there's a deal to be made, we'll try to make it, but I'm not going to do it in the media. That's for sure."
In the full entry there's a video of Rebey claiming that he's attempting to contact Coker daily.
This is a classic fight promotion situation, the sort of pointless bull that boxing fans have become so intimately familiar. Rebney is clearly using this situation to get attention for his tiny promotion. He's done a great job of that.
Bellator does two things well -- sign talented fighters and generate online news stories about their product. That's not to say they have a top notch PR operation or that they're easy to work with. Regardless, they do have a knack for getting more attention than, strictly speaking, they truly merit.
Strikeforce has absolutely nothing to gain by co-promoting with Bellator. The hardcore fan audience that is aware of Bellator and their roster of champs already watches every Strikeforce event anyway. Getting us lathered up with thoughts of Gilbert Melendez vs Eddie Alvarez, etc doesn't do anything to sell Showtime subscriptions, get Strikeforce back on CBS and certainly won't sell a significant number of PPVs.
The combined brand awareness of Eddie Alvarez, Hector Lombard and Ben Askren among casual MMA fans is virtually nil. Rebney is bringing nothing to the table here and he knows it. And that's why I tend to believe Scott Coker when he says Rebney isn't actually attempting to contact him.
Scott Coker may be doing a piss poor job of competing with the UFC. He couldn't get his biggest star, Fedor Emelianenko, to participate on his second CBS card in April. He paid a lot of money for Dan Henderson and pushed him as a virtually guaranteed victor over Jake Shields only to have Henderson flop on CBS and lose the fight.
But Coker's failings are the failings of an honest man. He's too weak, not too ruthless.
Bjorn Rebney on the other hand...
Here's how Sugar Ray Leonard, his former partner in two failed boxing promotions, described Rebney to USA TODAY:
"That guy (Rebney) I worked with is suing me," Leonard says. "My company could have blossomed, but I had a cancer in my company."
This old piece from Total-MMA is the best one-stop shopping if you are interested in learning more about the very interesting history of Bjorn Rebney the boxing promoter. Here's how they sum up his ventures with Leonard:
Among them include a completely absurd business plan that pulled in 1/10th the expected revenue, a lawsuit with Joe Mesi, the signing Juan Carlos Gomez (who, as it turned out, was legally signed to Universum and also ended up resulting in a lawsuit), fraudulent weighins, confrontations with sportswriter Tim Graham, and more. You might think this is enough dirt to bury the company among MMA bloggers on its own, but believe it or not, there is actually more.
Read the whole thing, and be sure and check out the stories by boxing writer Charles Jay and Thomas Hauser. It's not pretty. Those stories touch on pretty much every unseemly aspect of fight promotion from nasty lawsuits with fighters to allegations of fight fixing, fraud, and violations of federal law.
Those who've been paying attention to the outside the cage news about Bellator this year have also learned to be skeptical of Rebney. There's the FBI investigation of their majority shareholder for fraud, the lawsuit by the UFC accusing Bellator of theft of trade secrets, and the contractual mess with talented heavyweight Dave Herman.
There's an old joke about the fight game. How can you tell when a fight promoter is lying? His lips are moving.
Scott Coker seems to be a very rare exception to that rule.
I'll let you make up your own mind about Bjorn Rebney.
The highly anticipated showdown between Jon Jones and Ryan Bader was made official on the latest edition of UFC's web show "The Ultimate Insider" earlier this week on UFC.com.
You can officially pencil in a Jones vs. Bader bout for UFC 126, underneath the rumored main event of Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort for the UFC middleweight title.
Also likely for UFC 126 is a very intriguing bout between fan-favorite light heavyweights Rich Franklin and Forrest Griffin.
UFC 126 emanates from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 5, 2011. The card will be broadcast live via pay-per view.
You can officially pencil in Jose Aldo vs. Josh Grispi for the first-ever UFC featherweight title fight at the UFC 125 pay-per view event in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 1.
The bout will serve as the first championship fight to come out of the recent UFC/WEC meger that was revealed by company president Dana White earlier this week.
Aldo-Grispi will co-headline the 1/1 card at the MGM Grand Garden Arena along with the Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard rematch for the UFC lightweight title.
With the addition of Aldo-Grispi comes the removal of "Big Country" Roy Nelson from the scheduled card. Nelson was originally slated to fight recent heavyweight title contender Shane Carwin. Carwin was forced to pull out due to injury, and with the unfortunate timing, Nelson has been removed from the lineup altogether.
Also official for the UFC 125 show is the exciting lightweight battle of Clay Guida vs. Takanori Gomi.
UFC 125 emanates from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 1.
UFC 122: Marquardt vs. Okami is an upcoming mixed martial arts event to be held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 13, 2010 at König Pilsener Arena in Oberhausen, Germany. This event will air on the same day, via tape delay, on Spike TV in the U.S.
This will be the UFC's second event in Germany and second in continental Europe. The sport has been met with severe criticism by German media, which led to the banning of minors from the first German UFC event (UFC 99).
The sport itself was actually banned from broadcast altogether in Germany in March 2010 due to the "extent of violence [being] shown to be unacceptable."Regardless, UFC plans to combat the opposition, after stating: "Not getting TV isn't going to stop us; we're going to keep going. We can't get into Ontario; we're opening an office there. It doesn't bother us."
Vitor Belfort was set to face Yushin Okami in the main event, with the winner receiving a middleweight title shot. However, on September 21, 2010, Belfort withdrew with what was first said to be an injury. It was later reported that Belfort pulled out of the fight to face Anderson Silva. Nate Marquardt will now face Yushin Okami in the main event in what will be a title eliminator bout.
Vladimir Matyushenko was scheduled to face Jason Brilz at this event, but Brilz was forced off the card with an injury and replaced by Alexandre Ferreira.
Pascal Krauss was expected to make his promotional debut against fellow newcomer Kenny Robertson[10], but Robertson was forced from the card with an injury. Mark Scanlon will replace Robertson.
Main card
* Middleweight bout: United States Nate Marquardt vs. Japan Yushin Okami
* Middleweight bout: United States Jorge Rivera vs. Italy Alessio Sakara
* Lightweight bout: Germany Dennis Siver vs. England Andre Winner
* Welterweight bout: United States Amir Sadollah vs. Germany Peter Sobotta
* Light Heavyweight bout: Poland Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Croatia Goran Reljic
Preliminary card
* Middleweight bout: Australia Kyle Noke vs. United States Rob Kimmons
* Light Heavyweight bout: Belarus Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Brazil Alexandre Ferreira
* Welterweight bout: Germany Pascal Krauss vs. England Mark Scanlon
* Welterweight bout: United States Duane Ludwig vs. England Nick Osipczak
* Light Heavyweight bout: United States Seth Petruzelli vs. Czech Republic Karlos Vemola
* Welterweight bout: United States Kris McCray vs. Brazil Carlos Eduardo Rocha
UFC Light Heavyweight Champ Shogun Rua has a number of top ranked light heavyweights number on his door but while the 205lb. picture has taken a new shape over the last few months with the likes of Jon Jones and Ryan Bader making names for themselves, the injured champ is more concerned with the number one contender, Rashad Evans right now:
"Rashad is a great fighter, has a good boxing and Wrestling. On my weight class there're only tough guys, so it'll be like any other... I really don't know if it'll be him and I don't know the date, but I believe it'll be against him ... This is one of the most disputed divisions, since Pride, years ago... And it's good to have all these guys here, but I can't keep thinking about the second and the third guys on the line... I'll have a tough fight with Rashad and it'd be disrespectful to think about Jon Jones, Ryan Bader when I'll fight Rashad ... I'll give my best and I'll be focused for my next fight, not on the second and third to go."
Jose Aldo can now be considered the UFC featherweight champion and will make his next title defense on Jan 1 as a part of UFC 125.
The announcement was made as a part of the major news by UFC president Dana White on Thursday that the WEC would be merged with the UFC starting in 2011.
“Jan 1st Jose Aldo will defend his title,” White said.
Aldo had previously been offered a move to the UFC and a chance to go up to 155lbs and face Kenny Florian in his debut fight. Aldo and his team opted to turn down that fight, but the Brazilian phenom will still get the chance to compete in the Octagon on New Year’s Day.
Aldo is the first WEC champion to have his title rebranded as he will now be referred to as the UFC featherweight champion.
As as opponents go, White said at this time there was nothing confirmed stating, “we don’t know yet.”
Mark Hominick had been a possible opponent for Aldo, but a more likely candidate would be Josh Grispi if he is able to win his Nov 11 fight against Erik Koch at WEC 52. White didn’t rule out the possibility of a UFC 155lber dropping down in weight to face the featherweight champion either.
Aldo’s title defense will now take over the co-main event status for the Jan 1 card also featuring lightweight champion Frankie Edgar defending his belt against Gray Maynard.
Following his loss to Brendan Schaub at UFC 122, former UFC title contender Gabriel “Napao” Gonzaga has been released from the UFC.
The Brazilian heavyweight made the announcement via his personal Twitter page
“Official now, out of UFC,” Gonzaga wrote. “Back to normal life and BJJ forever.”
During his time with the UFC, Gonzaga went 7-5 overall and hit his biggest mark when he landed the head kick heard round the world as he knocked out former Pride open weight Grand Prix champion Mirko CroCop.
Gonzaga went on to face UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture in a title fight, but lost by TKO in the third round. Following that loss, Gonzaga went up and down with wins and losses, before dropping his final two fights to Junior Dos Santos and as previously mentioned Brendan Schaub at UFC 121.
Training out of Team Link in Massachusetts, Gonzaga’s message was somewhat cryptic as far as his future with MMA goes, but it’s hard to imagine the former top ten heavyweight wouldn’t sign on with another organization at some point down the road.
It was confirmed at the UFC 113 Q&A that the winner of the Josh Koscheck and Paul Daley bout at UFC 113 would coach against Georges St-Pierre and also fight for the Welterweight Championship that St-Pierre currently holds. Koscheck eventually won the fight to coach opposite St-Pierre.
The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck is the twelfth installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)-produced reality television series The Ultimate Fighter.
Following a loss to Tom Lawlor at UFC 121 last Saturday night, former middleweight title contender Patrick Cote has been released from the UFC.
The Canadian fighter made the announcement via his personal Twitter account on Wednesday.
“I had a little hope, but finally got the release word from the UFC,” Cote wrote. “It’s been an awesome experience, I’ll be back!”
Cote went 4-7 in his time with the UFC over a span of six years and two different stints with the promotion. Debuting in 2004 on short notice, Cote made an impression with a hard fought battle against former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz, but then went on to lose a couple of more in a row before leaving the promotion.
Battling his way back to the UFC during Season 4 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Cote lost in the finale of the reality show to Travis Lutter. He then turned things around with a five-fight winning streak, four of those taking place in the Octagon.
After suffering a knee injury in his title fight against Anderson Silva in October 2008, Cote underwent two different surgeries to repair the damage and, after more than a year away, he returned at UFC 113, but suffered defeat at the hands of Alan Belcher.
The loss to Lawlor at UFC 121 was Cote’s third in a row. The UFC has decided to part ways with the Canadian heavy hitter at this time.
Obviously a popular fighter all over, but especially in his home country of Canada, it likely won’t take long for the calls to come in bidding for Cote’s services. With a few quality wins under his belt, there’s no doubt he can earn his way back to the UFC.
Number one welterweight contender Josh Koscheck will get a chance to dethrone Georges St. Pierre in December when the two meet up to fight for the 170lb. title in Montreal and for Koscheck, he is going into the fight looking to take the wind out of the Montreal fans:
"I think the first time me and Georges faced off, I think mentally I was all ‘this guy is a karate guy.’ I didn’t believe he could possibly take me down. I didn’t think that was an option. Throughout my camp my mental game was work on my stand-up, work on my stand-up, because this guy isn’t going to be able to take me down, one of the things about Georges St-Pierre is he’s a fast learner. There’s definitely a lot more to it than wrestling. And that’s something I’ve learned over the past couple of years is it’s just not wrestling, I gotta become a complete fighter. I think I’ve become a better fighter than the first time Georges fought me. I’m coming here well prepared. I’m gonna be ready to come in here and put on a good show and come out with a victory. My goal coming into this fight is definitely to knock Georges out. They’re gonna be yelling for Georges and my goal is to piss 22,000 people off and come out of here with a nice new shiny belt and hop on a plane and get home as quickly as I can."
Highly touted welterweight Jake Shields squeaked out a split decision win over Martin Kampmann in his UFC debut at UFC 121 and Shields, like many critics online were not impressed by his performance:
"It was horrible. After the first round I sat down and I was just completely exhausted. I was like ‘oh (expletive) ten minutes to go.’ I knew at that point I was just going to have to dig deep and keep fighting. I knew it was too important not to lose my UFC debut. I’m a little embarrassed by the whole situation, but all I can do from here is move forward and learn from my mistakes, and usually when you make a big mistake you end up getting a loss off that. I guess I made a big mistake and I was still able to get the ‘W.’ If I was fighting GSP that night I don’t think I would have won, to be honest. I just don’t see myself beating GSP being the way I felt that night, but I also don’t feel that’s me. I feel like I can go out there and beat him still."
Following his grinding victory over former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz at UFC 121, Matt Hamill will once again take a step forward in competition.
UFC president Dana White discussed Hamill’s future, and stated very clearly his intentions for the rugged wrestler, “I think we’ve got to get Matt a fight in the top 10 in the 205 pound division, which is obviously the meanest and nastiest division, as always.”
It’s a logical maneuver following Hamill’s win over Ortiz, but it’s a dangerous maneuver all the same. The last time Hamill toed the line with a legitimate top 10 foe at 205 pounds, was at the Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale where he was mauled by surging prospect Jon Jones before Jones was disqualified for an illegal elbow.
While the risk of defeat looms as “The Hammer” rises in the ranks, White assures it’s an advancement that need be made, “I’m sure his next fight will be a top 10 opponent.”
Kim Couture just can’t seem to put two of anything together consecutively, be it a win, or a loss. Now seven bouts into her career, Couture is just 3-4, with a clearly defined pattern in her fight results.
Kim made her MMA debut in 2008, suffering a decision loss to Kim Rose at Banner Promotions - Night of Combat. She followed that loss up with a first round TKO victory over Lina Kvokov at Strikeforce: Destruction less than six months later, but once again found herself on the losing end of battle when she collided with wife of Brandon Vera, Kerry Vera, at Strikeforce Challengers 5.
That pattern hasn’t changed one bit. After earning an impressive submission victory over Felicia Wells on October 2nd, she dropped a unanimous decision to Munah Holland this weekend at Ring of Combat 32. The woman looks to be redefining unpredictable… and you can take that statement a couple of different ways, each of which rings true.
Other Ring of Combat 32 Results:
Melissa Bopp defeats Ashley Nee via Decision
Giedrius Karavackas defeats Chris Connor via Submission
Liam Kerrigan defeats Evan Chmielski via Submission
Claudio Ledesma defeats Michael Murray via Decision
George Sheppard defeats Tim Troxell via TKO
Randy Smith draws Brendan Barrett
Joshua Key no-contest Erik Oganov via illegal strike
Robert Conner defeats Mark Berrocal via Submission
Marcus Finch no-contest Costantinos Phillippou via illegal strike
John Cholish defeats Rich Moskowitz via Submission
Rumors swirled about an incident back stage at the last Strikeforce event between Nick Diaz and Jason Miller, and although things weren't completely clear, Miller now has told his side of what
happened:
"I had just finished doing interviews in the back room, and I was walking the same way that he was coming down, and I was actually going to be like, 'Hey, good job, Nick.' But he's coming towards me and he starts mad-dogging me! I was like, really? You're really going to mad-dog me right now? You just fought for 25 minutes! Before I knew it, he had a water bottle hidden down by his side and he threw it at me. I moved out of the way and it hit [training partner] Ryan Parsons in the stomach. I was like, 'Man Ryan, he doesn't like you.' Then we got into some kind of juvenile 'F--- you' match. I was like, 'F--- you bro, you're not even going to do anything.... Actually, as he was walking off or being ushered off, I was like, 'Hey, it's cool, just stay at 170.' Since that's his whole thing is, he won't fight me because he's at 170 [pounds]. Even though he'll fight KJ [Noons], who's not at 170. That's cool for KJ to have to come up, but he won't fight me even though he's talking all this sh-t on me for like five years now, and jumped me on national television." 
Earlier today Shane Carwin announced that he was pulling out of his fight with Roy Nelson which was scheduled for the co-main event of UFC 125 on January 1st.
Now the scramble is on to find a replacement, and Mirko Cro Cop has thrown his hat in the ring as a possibility.
“I know nothing about it, this is the first I heard of it, but it would be an interesting fight for sure,” Cro Cop told Fighters Only earlier today. “I think Roy’s style matches very well with mine, we could have a good fight. I didn’t hear anything from the UFC yet, but lets see if they call me.”
It should be noted that so far there’s no indication that Cro Cop is in line for the fight, and I’ve got to say I hope it stays that way.
UFC 125 needs a strong co-main event and to my mind this is not it. Cro Cop’s last fight, headlining against Frank Mir at UFC 119 was nothing short of a disaster for the Croatian. Not only did he fail to perform, he also ended the fight spreadeagled on the canvas after suffering a third round KO.
It’s not the first time Cro Cop has put on a sub-par performance in the octagon and given Dana White’s anger at the quality of that bout (he was so furious he refused to do post-fight interviews with the media) I doubt he’ll be in a hurry to book Cro Cop for another high profile fight so soon. He’d have a hard time selling the event to fans if he did, with many already somewhat skeptical over the Edgar Vs Maynard main event.
I still think bringing in Frank Mir makes the most sense under the circumstances. So far the former champion has stayed quite on the situation though. Prior to UFC 121 last weekend he stated that he wanted to fight the loser of lesnar Vs Velasquez.
In the aftermath of UFC 121 there’s a huge amount of talking points, amongst them being the future of former UFC champion Tito Ortiz after losing to Matt Hamill.
At the post-fight press conference Ortiz was determined that he still had a future in both the sport and the UFC despite now having gone 0-4-1 in the past four years.
“It’s not even close to the end of my career,” Ortiz said defiantly when asked about retirement by one reporter.
“That hunger’s there. My heart hurts, my mind stays strong,” he said.
Of course the final decision as to whether he remains in the UFC or not does not lie in his hands.
“I don’t think Tito looked absolutely horrible tonight,” White said at the presser, damning with faint praise.
Later in an interview on ESPN 2 for ‘MMA Live’s post-fight show White gave the strongest hint yet that Ortiz day’s in the UFC may be numbered.
“He’s lost what, 4 in a row? And I think we know what happens when you lose 4 in a row,” he said.
“One of the things that is an absolute fact is I don’t care who you are, how long you’ve been around, or who you’ve beat, you have to stay active in the fight game. If you do not stay active, it’s hard to come back.”
Ortiz and White have had a difficult relationship over the years, and with ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ no longer the major box-office draw he once was, prone to injuries and unable to regain his form in the octagon it seems the UFC president may now be ready to wash his hands of him altogether.
Former WEC Bantemweight Champion Brian Bowles was arrested last week for suspicion of driving under the influence in his hometown of Athens, GA.
A rep from the Clarke County Sheriff's Office confirmed the arrest to MMANews.com this morning.
Bowles, who was expected to return to action at WEC 52 against Wagnney Fabiano, had been forced off the card due to an injury. It was his first fight since losing the bantemweight title to Dominick Cruz at WEC 47.
Number one UFC Heavyweight title contender Junior Dos Santos has a future tile shot against Cain Velasquez lined up and feels his hands will take him to the top of the heavyweight ladder:
"For me it doesn't matter who was gonna be my opponent. What matters is that I get that title for me. Yeah, [Cain Velasquez] is tough, but I'm tough too. I believe so much in me and my hands. I think he's gonna try to put me down but I have a good defense for takedowns and if he can get past my hands, he gonna try to take me down."
Shane Carwin made the announcement today that he will be forced to pull out of a scheduled UFC 125 Heavyweight bout against Roy Nelson due to an injured back. He posted the following on his blog:
I am going to pull out of the fight with Roy Nelson. As many of you know I have been having some back pain. I had an MRI yesterday and I have some damage that may really require surgery. If the doctors do not have to perform surgery then I will be out 8-12 weeks. If they do have to perform surgery I do not know how long I will be out of action.
I was really looking forward to fighting again and obviously this is a very disappointing turn of events. My manager said "You can't fight the best fighters in the world with just heart, it is time to stop limping to the top of the mountain and get healthy so you can climb it on your terms." I have been up all night thinking about this decision and what I may be missing by making it.
In the end my family and manager are right. I owe myself, I owe my fans the best show I can give them. I need to get healthy. I am going to be speaking with the surgeon this week about the surgery. My thoughts are if the surgery fixes it why add 8-12 weeks of physical therapy, epidurals and traction if surgery may still be needed.
The good news is the doctors said I can work on my cardio (they must have seen my last fight lol) with this injury.
This is a hard decision but the right one and I home #TeamCarwin can stand by me through this period of my career. No one wants to get me back to winning more than me. I just need to be healthy to do it.
This type of thing is MMA. I know I am saying that a lot but it is the truth. We sacrifice our minds and bodies on our own time and our own dimes to prepare for battle. in hopes that we get the call for battle. In that process things can go wrong and if we don't compete we don't get paid. The time, money and sacrifices are lost and your opportunity might pass you by. Some fighters choose to fight injured as the risk is worth any part of the reward they may receive.
This is why sponsors who support fighters outside of when they fight are critical to this sports success. This is why I am always thanking my sponsors.
If it wasn't for my sponsors I would not be where I am and I surely would not able to make this very difficult decision right now. Thank you Dethrone, Budlight, Good4UDrinks, and performancemma.com for your continued support. Thank you to my other sponsors and to all of those helping us fighters chase this dream of being a Champion.
Thank you to Jason Genet for being able to make sure that all of my efforts in and out of the ring have value. You and your team have done so much for me and my family words cannot describe how grateful we are.
To my fan's, we will get there and in the end this is all for you. I hope to continue to entertain you and interact with you as much as possible.
After trying to sit through an episode of American Dad one day, I made a vow to myself that despite my appreciation for Family Guy, I'm pretty much done with Seth MacFarlane side-projects and spin-offs. I've never watched The Cleveland Show. I kind of assumed it was just an outlet for all the cringe-worthy racial humor that was left on Family Guy's cutting-room floor, and that MacFarlane will eventually create The Joe Swanson Show, so that he can make more jokes about handicapped people. Maybe that's an unfair bias. I wouldn't know.
Anyway, here's a clip of Quinton "Rampage" Jackson doing a guest turn on The Cleveland Show as an avenging super-slave named Kunta Kinte 9000 who shoots missiles out of his arms. Jackson thinks it's hilarious. He also thinks this is funny, so take that with a grain of salt.
(The UFC should make it interesting and let Leben get hammered for the bout)
UFC middleweight Wanderlei Silva is pretty sure his next opponent will be Chris Leben and that the fight will take place in Toronto in April.
He revealed the news in a recent interview he did with Fighters Only.
“I think I want to fight in April in Canada -- I want to fight in Toronto. I think against Chris Leben. I want to fight with him next,” Silva informed Fighters Only when asked about his eventual return to the Octagon.
“I think he is interesting, he is my size, he is aggressive, he fights to the front (comes forward)," he explained. I think we are going to make an interesting fight.”
The fight will have to get through a few roadblocks before becoming official -- namely Silva's recovery from a torn ACL he incurred preparing for a UFC 120 bout with Yoshihiro Akiyama and a pending DUI case involving Leben, which may prevent "The Crippler" from crossing the Canadian border.
According to "The Axe Murderer" his injured joint is nearly healed sufficiently enough to begin training on it again.
“This time [I had only] one [operation], but I had one on the other knee before, but now I feel good; I start[ed] my recovery and I feel really good right now. I tore my ACL, it was a really bad knee injury, but now I feel good -- its ok,” Silva says.
Leben will have his first court appearance in November to answer charges that he was driving under the influence of more than the legal limit of alcohol in his system last weekend in Hawaii. During the incident, the 30-year-old native of Portland, Oregon crashed his pick-up truck into a guard rail of a Honolulu highway. This is Leben's second DUI arrest in the past two years. In April, 2008 he was sentenced to 35 days in jail in Portland for a nearly identical offense as well as a parole violation and was forced to pull out from a UFC 85 meeting with Michael Bisping which was rescheduled for UFC 89.
Leben is scheduled to face Brian Stann at UFC 125 in January, but it looks like the UFC is making alternative arrangements, possibly in anticipation that he will likely have to do additional time behind bars for his latest infraction.
So, Cain Velasquez came as advertised at UFC 121. Brock Lesnar? Not quite so much. When Lesnar’s early Caveman Smash offense failed and he couldn’t keep Velasquez on the mat with his vaunted wrestling prowess, shit got ugly in a hurry. Of all the things the newly minted UFC heavyweight champion did well on Saturday night – face-punching being the most obvious – the most important and impressive may have been his ability to scramble back to his feet. As it turns out (and as some of you already suspected) the only thing Velasquez had to do to win this fight was keep it vertical, size and strength be damned.
Clearly, Lesnar’s standup game is still a disaster of the approximate size and scope of the Hindenburg and the cracks that emerged in his repertoire during his previous fight with Shane Carwin busted wide open against Velasquez. He lashed out with some knees and good straight punches early, but they didn’t seem to faze the undefeated AKA product. As soon as Cain marshaled the troops and went on the offensive it was clear Lesnar had no plan B. And lo, there was much rejoicing and celebration. The Dark Lord hath fallen.
The most pressing question now may be what unforeseen calamity will befall Velasquez? Motorcycle wreck? Lengthy contract dispute? Hole in his colon? The only thing we’ve been able to conclusively prove about the UFC heavyweight title over the years is that winning it is typically not good for your health. As for Lesnar? Well, it’s funny how you can go from ruling the roost to looking like a chump in just under five minutes. Now even The Undertaker wants a piece. That video is after the jump.
Though it may be physically impossible to knock Lesnar out cold – the area that would traditionally house his neck is surrounded by a mountain of muscle that may not yet have a scientific name – in a practical sense, his chin may not be the greatest, either. In fact, the more we see of him in the cage, the more he looks like the classic bully. Lesnar loves to be on top of people (No, we don’t mean his wife. This time.) terrorizing them with his bulk, but he does not like to get punched. Not at all.
Watching it in real time, it was easy to miss the clipping left hook that sent Lesnar stumbling across the Octagon like an afternoon drunk midway through the first. Maybe it’s just his cartoonish physique, but there is something uniquely hilarious about watching Lesnar get put on queer street. For a while there it looked like he might spin out and survive, just like he did at UFC 116, but not even Carwin put a beating on Lesnar like Velasquez did last night. With a smiling cut gashed open underneath his eye and no real intelligent defense for the onslaught, Herb Dean had no choice but to wave the fight off with about 30 seconds left before the bell.
In a weird way, the real interesting part of Lesnar’s career begins right now. Brock has never been the kind of guy who could sit still in one job for longer than a few years, so seeing how he reacts to no longer being “the toughest SOB around” will be pretty telling. His general demeanor suggests a man who has never had to overcome much adversity, athletically speaking anyway, and at 33 years old his window for improving may not be as wide open as we once thought. Guys of his size typically don’t age well, even if they do look like the bouncer at the scariest Viking bar in town.
You can bet that over the next few days we media types will dissect everything Lesnar’s done to this point since taking up MMA fulltime, particularly his decision to shun other top training camps in favor of staying home in Alexandria with his exclusive team and his handpicked coaches. There’s a certain arrogance in that, obviously. You have to admire how far he’s been able to come in such a short time, but you also have to kind of wonder: Wouldn’t he be better off at Jackson’s place? Or American Top Team? Or even with Cesar Gracie, who will clearly train absolutely anyone.
It also remains to be seen if what happened on Saturday night represents a significant promotional setback for the UFC. Losing its biggest draw as heavyweight champion clearly hurts, but the company also made a pretty boldfaced effort to market Velasquez to the Hispanic community leading up to this bout, in the process effectively (and kind of weirdly) defining UFC 121's main event on the basis of ethnicity. If Velasquez can appeal to that historically fight-friendly demographic in the way the UFC hopes he can, he’ll be no slouch when it comes to drawing power himself.
If Dana White woke up with a brain tumor and the Owners got hooked on crack, they decided to buy Strikeforce, keeping Scott Coker (mainly because the owners think he might have some awesome rocks...Coker..Coke..Crack). Who do you think would win in a Match to unify the titles?
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CompuStrike Stats sent along the following to UFCEVENTS.NET:
UFC 121
10/23/10 - Anaheim, CA
CompuStrike Stats
UFC Heavyweight Title
Cain Velasquez KO 1 Brock Lesnar
Inside the Numbers: Velasquez dominated Lesnar, landing 65 total strikes, including 48 ground strikes. A huge Velasquez knee turned the fight his way. Lesnar landed 13 total strikes. Velasquez even took the defending champ down. Velasquez has now outlanded his seven UFC opponents 614-82 in total strikes, landing 64%.
Fight Time
Standing Time: 2:07 | Ground Time: 2:06
Check out the full statistical breakdown, which includes numbers for 20 different categories pertaining to the individual fight between Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez
After watching the Shields vs. Kampmann fight, while I could admire Shields' BJJ positioning skills, it dawned on me that there is a huge risk of having the UFC's Welterweight division becoming locked up for any non-Lay-n-Pray top contenders to face GSP (assuming he remains WW champ for some time).
I mean, Jon Fitch by himself is already doing that. Then add Jake Shields (assuming he doesn't find ways to finish fights, which time will tell). And finally throw in Antonio McKee, the notorious LnP master himself.
Don't get me wrong. I admire a good wrestling match but damn if these 3 guys make it to the top (and all of them can't beat GSP), we are going to see some serious boring ass fights in a weight division that is supposed to have the most exciting fights (IMO, because 170 lbs has the best KO power-hitters, fastest grapplers and lasting cardio compared to all the other weight classes when these categories are combined).
I think of these 3 fighters, Jake Shields has the best chance at losing the LnP characteristic. I don't see Fitch or McKee changing a damn thing in their lifetimes.
"Tito (Ortiz) should retire. He should retire. I was up there yelling at him like, get your old ass out of the Octagon."
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UFC 121: Lesnar vs. Velasquez was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on October 23, 2010 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, United States. The event was the fourth time the UFC has hosted at the Honda Center (formerly Arrowhead Pond) in Anaheim, California following UFC 59, UFC 63 and UFC 76 and the sixth event held in the Greater Los Angeles Area along with UFC 60 and UFC 104
Preliminary card
* Heavyweight bout: United States Jon Madsen vs. Netherlands Gilbert Yvel
Madsen defeated Yvel via TKO (punches) at 1:48 of round 1. This bout aired on the live broadcast following the Lesnar vs. Velasquez fight.
* Middleweight bout: United States Chris Camozzi vs. South Korea Dong Yi Yang
Camozzi defeated Yang via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28).
* Lightweight bout: Canada Sam Stout vs. England Paul Taylor
Stout defeated Taylor via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27).
* Welterweight bout: United States Mike Guymon vs. United States Daniel Roberts
Roberts defeated Guymon via submission (anaconda choke) at 1:13 of round 1. Roberts received submission of the night. This bout aired last on the live broadcast following the Lesnar vs. Velasquez fight.
Preliminary card (Spike TV)
* Middleweight bout: Canada Patrick Côté vs. United States Tom Lawlor
Lawlor defeated Côté via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
* Middleweight bout: United States Court McGee vs. United States Ryan Jensen
McGee defeated Jensen via submission (arm triangle choke) at 1:21 of round 3.
Main card
* Heavyweight bout: United States Brendan Schaub vs. Brazil Gabriel Gonzaga
Schaub defeated Gonzaga via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
* Light Heavyweight bout: United States Tito Ortiz vs. United States Matt Hamill
Hamill defeated Ortiz via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).
* Welterweight bout: United States Diego Sanchez vs. Brazil Paulo Thiago
Sanchez defeated Thiago via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-28, 29-28).
* Welterweight bout: United States Jake Shields vs. Denmark Martin Kampmann
Shields defeated Kampmann via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27).
* Heavyweight Championship bout: United States Brock Lesnar (c) vs United States Cain Velasquez
Velasquez defeated Lesnar via TKO (Punches) at 4:12 of Round 1 to become the new UFC Heavyweight Champion.
Bonus awards
Fighters were awarded $70,000 bonuses.
* Fight of the Night: United States Diego Sanchez vs. Brazil Paulo Thiago
* Knockout of the Night: United States Cain Velasquez
* Submission of the Night: United States Daniel Roberts
UFC 121: Lesnar vs. Velasquez was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on October 23, 2010 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, United States. The event was the fourth time the UFC has hosted at the Honda Center (formerly Arrowhead Pond) in Anaheim, California following UFC 59, UFC 63 and UFC 76 and the sixth event held in the Greater Los Angeles Area along with UFC 60 and UFC 104.
Preliminary card
* Heavyweight bout: United States Jon Madsen vs. Netherlands Gilbert Yvel
Madsen defeated Yvel via TKO (punches) at 1:48 of round 1. This bout aired on the live broadcast following the Lesnar vs. Velasquez fight.
* Middleweight bout: United States Chris Camozzi vs. South Korea Dong Yi Yang
Camozzi defeated Yang via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28).
* Lightweight bout: Canada Sam Stout vs. England Paul Taylor
Stout defeated Taylor via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27).
* Welterweight bout: United States Mike Guymon vs. United States Daniel Roberts
Roberts defeated Guymon via submission (anaconda choke) at 1:13 of round 1. Roberts received submission of the night. This bout aired last on the live broadcast following the Lesnar vs. Velasquez fight.
Preliminary card (Spike TV)
* Middleweight bout: Canada Patrick Côté vs. United States Tom Lawlor
Lawlor defeated Côté via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
* Middleweight bout: United States Court McGee vs. United States Ryan Jensen
McGee defeated Jensen via submission (arm triangle choke) at 1:21 of round 3.
Main card
* Heavyweight bout: United States Brendan Schaub vs. Brazil Gabriel Gonzaga
Schaub defeated Gonzaga via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
* Light Heavyweight bout: United States Tito Ortiz vs. United States Matt Hamill
Hamill defeated Ortiz via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).
* Welterweight bout: United States Diego Sanchez vs. Brazil Paulo Thiago
Sanchez defeated Thiago via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-28, 29-28).
* Welterweight bout: United States Jake Shields vs. Denmark Martin Kampmann
Shields defeated Kampmann via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27).
* Heavyweight Championship bout: United States Brock Lesnar (c) vs United States Cain Velasquez
Velasquez defeated Lesnar via TKO (Punches) at 4:12 of Round 1 to become the new UFC Heavyweight Champion.
Bonus awards
Fighters were awarded $70,000 bonuses.
* Fight of the Night: United States Diego Sanchez vs. Brazil Paulo Thiago
* Knockout of the Night: United States Cain Velasquez
* Submission of the Night: United States Daniel Roberts
UFC 121: Lesnar vs. Velasquez is an upcoming mixed martial arts event to be held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on October 23, 2010 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, United States. The event will be the fourth time the UFC has hosted at the Honda Center (formerly Arrowhead Pond) in Anaheim, California following UFC 59, UFC 63 and UFC 76 and the sixth event held in the Greater Los Angeles Area along with UFC 60 and UFC 104.
UFC 121: Lesnar vs. Velasquez is an upcoming mixed martial arts event to be held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on October 23, 2010 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, United States. The event will be the fourth time the UFC has hosted at the Honda Center (formerly Arrowhead Pond) in Anaheim, California following UFC 59, UFC 63 and UFC 76 and the sixth event held in the Greater Los Angeles Area along with UFC 60 and UFC 104.
UFC 121: Lesnar vs. Velasquez is an upcoming mixed martial arts event to be held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on October 23, 2010 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, United States. The event will be the fourth time the UFC has hosted at the Honda Center (formerly Arrowhead Pond) in Anaheim, California following UFC 59, UFC 63 and UFC 76 and the sixth event held in the Greater Los Angeles Area along with UFC 60 and UFC 104.
It’s one of the classic roles a team or player can have in the world of sports. While he may be an underdog heading into Saturday night’s co-main event against Jake Shields, Martin Kampmann doesn’t feel like he’s anything if not on the same level as his opponent, but he’d love Shields’ UFC debut and take away his shot at the welterweight title.
After his last fight, a win over Paulo Thiago in June, Kampmann talked about wanting to face Dan Hardy for his next bout. The UFC saw fit to have the Xtreme Couture fighter sit and wait until former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields became a free agent, and then signed with the promotion to have that be his next fight.
The way Kampmann sees it this is a much bigger opportunity.
“I think it’s a much bigger fight,” Kampmann told. ”Jake Shields has a lot bigger name than Dan Hardy, he’s also a much more dangerous opponent. Bigger risk, but bigger reward, you know?”
If Shields is the more dangerous opponent, that’s fine with Kampmann, but he also wants the Cesar Gracie black belt to know something else as he heads into his first fight in the Octagon. The UFC is Martin Kampmann’s house.
“I feel the pressure’s more on him to come in cause they’re hyping him a lot, and I feel great. I’ve fought in the UFC a lot, and the UFC’s my home,” Kampmann said. ”I’m not letting him come in here and think he’s the (expletive).
“I’m going to whoop his ass and send him back to Strikeforce.”
While most fighters tend to avoid talking too much about strategy heading into any fight, Kampmann believes he has Shields scouted out perfectly for this fight, and he doesn’t believe his opponent is going to try to re-invent the wheel with this match-up.
“It’s pretty obvious what he tries to do in fights,” stated Kampmann. “He tries to take people down and get that top position, and he likes to work from mount as well, and back mount, and he tries to go for submissions. He don’t really do much stand-up; that’s what I see every time he fights.
“I’m prepared for everything, but that’s how he fights all his fights.”
Kampmann admits that he’s focused too much on one area of an opponent’s game in the past. He feels he’s learned that lesson and won’t make the same mistake against Shields.
“You can over think sometimes. If you worry too much about the takedown, sometimes you start getting punched in the face because you’re only thinking about that shot,” said Kampmann. ”When I fought Jacob Volkmann, he punched me with some stupid punches because I was so focused on not getting taken down. You’ve just got to relax and see what happens in the fight.”
Before the two welterweights even step into the cage at UFC 121 on Saturday night, all the talk leading into the bout has mostly been about Shields making his Octagon debut and a title shot looming on the horizon. The UFC is a whole different animal than fighting for any other promotion, but Kampmann doesn’t buy into the theory that it makes or breaks a fighter just stepping foot in the legendary Octagon.
“I don’t believe in that whole UFC jitters bull (expletive),” Kampmann said candidly. ”I think it’s all excuses. If you fought on a big stage before then it doesn’t matter. Especially Jake Shields, he’s fought on CBS, and huge cards. I don’t think it’s going to make any difference. For me it didn’t make any difference the first time I was in the UFC.”
What Kampmann hopes comes from this fight is a win over Jake Shields, and if he plays his cards right, a UFC welterweight title shot. While UFC president Dana White has said a win for Kampmann would push him further in the division, he stopped short of guaranteeing a title shot.
Kampmann just wants to get the win, and then he’ll look at what’s next.
“I’ve got to beat Shields, but I’m definitely planning on whopping his ass, and then I would love to get a title shot after that.”
“I just don’t put myself out there to the fans and prostitute my private life to everybody. In today’s day and age, with the Internet and cameras and cell phones, I just like being old school and living in the woods and living my life. I came from nothing and at any moment, you can go back to having nothing.”
Deep Thoughts Man...Deep Thoughts....
__________________
Thurgood Jenkins: I'm sorry, yo. I don't wanna be the first nigga to die from a crossbow!
Scarface: Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, you're cool, and fuck you, I'm out!
Machete don't text.........
Why is everything so fucking Green?
Brock Lesnar is currently the UFC Heavyweight Champion. He claimed the undisputed UFC Heavyweight Championship when he faced Shane Carwin at UFC 116 in a unifying heavyweight title giving Carwin his first loss.
Cain Velasquez, the first Mexican American UFC heavyweight champ and the undefeated number one contender coming into the fight outlanded his last five opponents with impressive win. And a crowd favorite.
But the crowds at the weigh in this afternoon shows little respect to the champion as Lesnar got booed. There's really no reason to hate him so much unless the weigh in happened in a thick Hispanic fight fans in Southern California.
Lesnar Brock will try to prove it today October 23, 2010 at the Honda Center in Anaheim if he earns some respect. It would be a big fight event tonight.
Bellator Fighting Championships hailed from the City of Brotherly Love tonight with a star-studded and stacked card. Philadelphia fans were treated to a night of world-class MMA with the Bellator 33 which took place at the Liacouras Center in downtown Philadelphia.
The night featured a special non-title Super Fight between Bellator Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez and UFC veteran Roger “El Matador” Huerta. Also on the card was a Bellator World Title Fight between reigning champ Lyman Good and Season 2 Welterweight Tournament Champ Ben Askren.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is apparently returning to the city of Sydney Australia.
A source has informed me that UFC 127 may take place at the Acer Arena, the same venue that hosted the organization's inaugural event, UFC 110: Nogueira vs Velasquez.
The proposed dates appear to be Saturday, February 19th or Saturday, February 25th, with the organization finalizing details over the next few days.
The UFC's first show down under was held on February 20th, 2009 and drew a sellout crowd of 17,431 fans, generating a live gate of AU$2.5 million.
Merchandise sales grossed $540, 000, breaking the previous record by $38,000, originally set by Iron Maiden.
The UFC 110: Nogueira vs Velasquez main event, saw Mexican-American heavyweight Cain Velasquez, solidify the title shot he will cash in this weekend in Anaheim, against champion Brock Lesnar.
Velasquez used impeccable footwork, timing and striking to knockout the legendary Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, at 2:20 of the first round.
Also considering making a return to Abu Dhabi, as well as holding another Independence Day event on their home base of Las Vegas, Nevada.
With the news being fluid, changes and/or confirmation from the UFC is still pending. Stay tuned for more information regarding UFC 127, as it becomes available.
Wanderlei Silva and Mauricio Shogun get together at the Mr. Olympia Expo in Las Vegas and start a campaign to bring Ninja to the UFC: Tweet @ Dana White Bring Ninja to the UFC! Paulo Thiago at Mr. Olympia Expo. Wand Fight Team at TuffNuff Fights
After going on Inside MMA to claim that deaf people are easier to knock out because of their soft heads and poor "equilibium", Tito Ortiz recently took to his Twitter page to offer this retraction:
"I want to apologize to the deaf community for the remarks I made about Matt [Hamill] it was uncalled for. He is a good fighter and I was out of line."
An apology certainly helps, but to fully settle this matter, MMA Junkie enlisted their medical columnist Dr. Johnny Benjamin to answer the question once and for all. And man, Dr. Johnny didn't spare anybody's feelings. Here's what he had to say:
"This is a difficult question to answer – not because it has any basis in fact but because it is difficult to stay professional and not attack the character of a person who makes such ignorant statements.
So in fairness, I viewed the 'Inside MMA' show in question (it debuted on Aug. 6) to appreciate and evaluate Mr. Ortiz's comments for myself.
'He's been babied his whole life coming from being deaf, of course, and he's going to be babied after I knock him out,' Ortiz said. 'He's slow. He's like a big slow ox. I'm going to pick him apart, and I know his corner really can't tell him what to do and show him the mistakes he does...He's deaf, so he has a soft head.'
That prompted someone, apparently host Kenny Rice, to react in astonishment. But Ortiz continued.
'You people don't know this,' he said. 'Watch how (Rich) Franklin knocked him out quick. You hit them (deaf fighters) with soft shots because (with) their equilibrium, they don't have no equilibrium.'
Wow. One of the problems with the First Amendment's right to 'free speech' is that it also protects the statements of fools.
Deafness, equilibrium and concussions (knockouts) have little, if any, significant relationship. Deafness is a loss of hearing, not balance. The inner ear has some function in both hearing and equilibrium, but they are very separate issues.
Furthermore, what any of this has to do with an athlete's ability to withstand a blow to the head is difficult to understand. Concussions are an issue involving brain function and not the inner ear and/or vestibular apparatus.
There is not a shred of reputable medical literature that even suggests that deaf athletes are more susceptible to concussions than any other athlete.
I will not waste a great deal of your time discussing this non-issue, and I was pleased to hear that Ortiz realized the stupidity of his comments and later apologized via Twitter.
'Never argue with a fool; onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.' – Author unknown, attributed to Mark Twain
*****
On the bright side, Tito's embarassing comments (and the resulting fallout) are the only things that are drawing any heat whatsoever to his UFC 121 fight with Hamill. You still got it, champ!
Just a few days out from his UFC 121 heavyweight title fight against Brock Lesnar, #1 contender Cain Velasquez sat down with our man Ruben Vera to answer some tough questions. For instance, what exactly is Cain going to bring to the table that'll make him different than the other top heavyweights that Brock has already smashed? Velasquez also discusses the looming threat of Junior Dos Santos, the responsibility of being the new Latino standard-bearer in the UFC, and his appreciation of Fedor Emelianenko.
EMBED-Cain Velasquez talks to CagePotato.com - Watch more free videos
Paulo Thiago Alencar Artunes (born January 25, 1981) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and a member of BOPE (Batalhão de Operações Especiais), the elite special police force in Brazil. Thiago is currently signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, fighting in their welterweight division. Thiago is often ranked among the top ten welterweights in the world by leading mixed martial arts publications. MMA Weekly currently ranks him at No. 9, while Sherdog currently ranks him at No. 7.
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