Official MMA Thread!

[Horhay]

Yes, I think it's about time I start this! Place all info relating to MMA in this thread!

 

[max041104]

Did you guys check out this weekend's UFC Fight Night? So many KO's it was just great!

hellyeah, i did! JDS is a bad man and as is Johnny Bones and don't forget Doomsday! that MF'er was out!

 

[Horhay]

hellyeah, i did! JDS is a bad man and as is Johnny Bones and don't forget Doomsday! that MF'er was out!

I was surprised Gonzaga lasted more than a few minutes lol

Apparently Vera suffered bones broken in 3 different parts of his face.

Doomday's KO was sick dude!

 

[Wreck]

MMA fighter back after being shot 3 times by jumping infront of 9yr old girl blocking gunfire.

The last time Lavar Johnson had an important fight, it was the one for his life.

Right now, Johnson is in the midst of final preparations for his Strikeforce Challengers main event against fellow heavy-hitter Lolohea Mahe. But just last summer, during Fourth of July weekend, the Strikeforce heavyweight was attending a party that was part Independence Day celebration, part family reunion. There were over 50 visitors still present just after midnight as Johnson began the process of saying his good-byes when Bennie Elwood West, a 19-year-old who was wanted for ****, allegedly opened fire on the partygoers.

As the bullets sprayed the area of the home on First and T Street in Bakersfield, Calif., everyone scrambled for cover. The burly 6-foot-2, 260-pound Johnson began to do the same, but soon noticed a little girl nearby frozen in fear. He pulled her down to shield her. It was moments later when he realized he'd been shot three times.

After the gunfire ceased, Johnson's first concerns weren't for himself. Not far away, he could hear his uncle saying that his son -- Lavar's cousin -- was dead. Thirty-seven-year-old Anthony Mack Johnson died at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds, and three other family members lay wounded in a shooting that police attributed to West and two other teenagers, Laquiria Foreman and Darryl Stewart.

Even after knowing he was shot, that was the first time fear kicked in for Johnson, who initially didn't think he was badly injured.
I knew if I could make it through the night, I was alive and I was going to wake up and be alright.
-- Lavar Johnson
"My first reaction was to get up and go to the car go to the hospital," Johnson said. "But my stomach felt real nasty and I couldn't move, so I laid there and waited for help. I didn't know how serious it was until I was in the ambulance. That's when I asked the EMTs, 'Will I be ok?' And he said, 'I don't know. It's pretty bad.'"

The bullets ripped through his abdomen, hip and forearm.

At the very beginning, when he was first brought into the emergency room, his life hung in the balance. The bullet that hit him in his abdomen caused the most serious injuries. It punctured his intestine, colon, stomach and forced the removal of his appendix.

"I stayed awake the whole time until they put me to sleep," he said. "I knew if I could make it through the night, I was alive and I was going to wake up and be alright."

As that critical time passed, it became clear that Johnson was going to survive. But now another concern was entering his mind, one that wasn't so prevalent during the early moments when survival was the most immediate thought: there was the possibility that his MMA career could be over.

Just two months earlier in May, Johnson had made his Strikeforce debut, and done so memorably, knocking out Carl Seumanutafa in just 18 seconds. The end was startling in its swiftness; Seumanutafa had shot in for a takedown, Johnson side-stepped him, pushed Seumanutafa's head downward and landed a thunderous right uppercut that connected on the chin. Seumanutafa fell face forward, unconcious.

Johnson had been scheduled for a follow-up fight on a Strikeforce card in August, but by the time that date rolled around, Johnson had just been discharged from the hospital. All told, because of the massive internal injuries, Johnson spent an entire month in the hospital and lost nearly 50 pounds.

At that point, fighting still wasn't the primary thing on his mind.

"I was just worried about my health," he said. "Not so much the fighting, but as the days went by, I started feeling alright. I got cleared by the doctor and he told me to pace myself. They didn't want me to get a hernia or anything like that. It was all about healing up."

When he left the hospital, he still had an open wound on his stomach that needed frequent cleaning, his internal organs were still healing, and the scar tissue in his stomach made it impossible to stand up completely straight.

Because of those issues, his physical rehabilitation was nothing more strenous than walking. For five months, he did no hard training, prohibited from taking blows to the stomach. As soon as the wound closed, however, he was back in the gym.

Incredibly, Johnson holds no anger towards his assailants for what they did to him, though he acknowledges they have to face the penalty if convicted of killing his cousin. Police have never released a possible motive.

"For me, I could forgive them for what they did," said Johnson, who is 13-3 in his pro career. "I'm healed up, so no harm, no foul. I'm still here with my kids (Donovan, 8 and Bishop, 5). I lost some money and got a nasty scar. It was stressful for everyone but I'm OK. I'm alive and able to continue on. But they took someone's life. His family has no husband or dad, so the penalty has to be pretty severe for that."

Johnson says the tragic incident gave him time to consider some of his own decisions, and that as a result, he's taking his fighting career more seriously. He cut down on his drinking and is training with American Kickboxing Academy, alongside heavyweights like UFC star Cain Velasquez and fellow Strikeforce fighter Daniel Cormier. He says he hasn't lost any speed or power.

"Nothing's changed," he said. "I'm still an exciting fighter. I do what I do. I haven't lost a step. Hopefully, I'll come out and get another first-round knockout."

 

[Horhay]

Wow! impressive!

On Another note Jake Shields was part of Chuck's assistants in TUF, I am saying this guy is coming to UFC once his contract is up!

Gegard Mousasi is also looking to get out of Strikforce once his contract is up. If he wins his next bout his contract will extend a year more. But damn that would be great if the UFC could get these two! The middleweight division would be off the hook, but that damn light heavyweight would incredible!

Tomorrow night on UFC unleashed will air the two fights that were not on UFC fight night on Versus Sunday night. The Clay Guida fight and Bandon Schuab fight will air tomorrow night.

 

[Horhay]

After his first-round TKO of Gabriel Gonzaga on Sunday, Junior Dos Santos boldly announced that he was ready for a title shot. But there are some timing-related realities he has to deal with: The interim title fight between Frank Mir and Shane Carwin, Brock Lesnar's return this summer (hopefully), and Cain Velasquez's equally high standing in the heavyweight pecking order. So instead of pleading for a title shot, Dos Santos is angling for the next best thing:

"I don’t know who I’m gonna fight [next]. I’d like to fight against [Cain] Velasquez. He’s a tough guy, but the UFC has other great names too. I just wanna fight against the best and with the best, that’s what I’m waiting from the UFC now. [Velasquez is] a very complete guy. His wrestling is superior than mine, but I think I can surprise him on striking. I’d train a lot of ground game for this fight too, it could make some difference”

Well, we're already sold. Not only would Dos Santos vs. Velasquez establish a legitimate title contender after the Mir/Carwin winner fights Brock Lesnar, there's already a "you killed my master" storyline in place, considering that Velasquez is fresh off his drubbing of JDS's mentor, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Though to hear Dos Santos tell it, payback is not what he's after:

“It’s not about revenge, I’m cool with that, so is Rodrigo. I’d fight Cain for who he is, an undefeated fighter, a great fighter inside the UFC. I’d like to face him because of that. This revenge thing, I think Rodrigo can get that.”

If you ask me, Dos Santos vs. Velasquez is the only heavyweight contender fight that makes sense. But Dana White doesn't seem very hot on the idea — at least not yet. During the UFC on Versus post-fight press conference, DW said he has to wait to see how Mir vs. Carwin shakes out before announcing Junior's next fight:

"They're all going to fight. All these guys in that lineup are going to fight, but we've got to figure out how it's all going to go down. Mir and Carwin are going to get this thing started. We'll see what happens there, and the great thing is, we're a week away from that."

So why would a contenders' match between Dos Santos and Velasquez depend on the outcome of Mir vs. Carwin? Allow us to speculate...

— Maybe Dana doesn't want to eliminate one of his potential title contenders by making them fight each other. Instead, he'll green-light Cain Velasquez for a title shot first, and make Dos Santos knock off one more guy, like the loser of Mir vs. Carwin.

— Maybe Dana feels it's too early for Mir vs. Lesnar III. So, if Mir beats Carwin on Saturday, he'll have to fight either Velasquez or Dos Santos before he gets Brock again, "interim title" be damned.

— Maybe Brock Lesnar isn't ready to return this summer, or needs a non-title tune-up fight first. If this happens, he'd probably be stripped of his title. In that scenario, the Mir/Carwin winner would need somebody to fight. Either Dos Santos or Velasquez would do.

None of these situations are ideal. Hopefully, everyone stays healthy, the interim heavyweight champ fights Lesnar this summer, and Dos Santos and Velasquez are free to fight each other, even if it means one of them gets knocked down a peg on the contender ladder. Doing it any other way means the best aren't fighting the best.

This sounds like a great fight to me!

 

[Off_contstantly]

This sounds like a great fight to me!

+1 and the Mir/Carwin fight should be good too. I have a feeling we'll be seeing Mir/Lesnar 3. I don't think the timing would work, but I think it would be kinda fun to see a main card of all 3rd fights, Liddell/Ortiz 3, Mir/Lesnar 3, etc.

 

[Horhay]

All fighters must undergo pre-fight medicals including a CAT scan. Fighters.com second-ranked welterweight “Pitbull” Thiago Alves (16-4) underwent his CAT scan and is now off the UFC 11 fight card.

TMZ broke the news stating “UFC’s Thiago “Pitbull” Alves will not fight at Saturday’s UFC 111, because a CAT Scan shows an irregularity in his brain, TMZ has learned. Thiago was scheduled to rumble with Jon Fitch on Saturday, but a pre-fight CAT Scan revealed an irregularity. A source close to 26-year-old Pitbull tells TMZ the irregularity involves an artery in the brain.

UFC honcho Dana White tells TMZ he will fly Pitbull to a specialist for further evaluation. White says, “If it’s true, it can be career-ending.” No one will replace Pitbull on Saturday.

The last statement about no one replacing Alves is not quite true as news is breaking as I write this but I will get to that in a minute.

First, this is awful news for Alves who has been a top contender for some time now. No one wants to see such a strong fighter go out due to a brain irregularity. We at MMA Gospel and Fighters.com hope the best for Thiago and hope to see something positive come from all of this.

Now back to the UFC 111 fight card and what the UFC is doing to fix this problem. Alves was slated to face third-ranked welterweight Jon Fitch (20-3) but now it looks like the UFC has bumped Jake Ellenberger (21-5) from the card in order to give fight fans a fight between Fitch and Ellenberger’s original opponent tenth-ranked “Killa B” Ben Saunders (8-1-2).

This is a fast move by the UFC and one I will applaud. Not only are they working hard to still give fans quality fights but they have paid Jake his show and win money for the last minute change. This is a show of class and just goes to show that contrary to many reports, the UFC does care about the fighters on their roster.

Stay tuned to Fighters.com and MMA Gospel Radio for more information on Thiago’s ongoing medical problems.

I hope the best for Thiago Alves.

 

[Off_contstantly]

UFC 111 Picks

GSP v. Hardy
Mir v. Carwin
Pellegrino v. Camoes
Fitch v. Saunders
Miller v. Bocek

 

[Horhay]

I got the same picks o_c

GSP v. Hardy
Mir v. Carwin
Pellegrino v. Camoes
Fitch v. Saunders
Miller v. Bocek

 

[Horhay]

Damn I was not expecting Carwin to provide such a beating! it was vicious! Brock came back to his usual douchy self lol

On another note, Jon Fitch was pointing out what St. Pierre did wrong during his fight and why he wasn't able to put Hardy out. Haha! coming from the great wrestler who got out-wrestled by the guy who never practiced the sport before coming to the UFC....

Man it was sick that first armbar St. Pierre got on Hardy! I thought he was going to snap his arm!

Also Palhares has been fined for not letting go sooner of the opponents leg. That was vicious, looked horrible how the knee was twisting.

The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board has suspended UFC middleweight “Toquinho” Rousimar Palhares (11-2) of Brazil for 90 days following his first-round heel hook submission of “Gorilla” Tomas Drwal (17-3-1) at UFC 111 in Newark last night.

But, as Drwal tapped feverishly and Palhares cranked the technique, Palhares only awaited referee Kevin Mulhall’s official stoppage of the fight before releasing the heel hook.

Drwal had slipped on the mat mid-kick before Palhares pounced and applied the submission lock to Drwal’s left leg just seconds into round one.

Drwal was also suspended pending X-rays of his knee and ankle.

Fighters.com disagrees with the NJSACB’s disciplinary suspension. Having watched thousands of fights, I know it’s not uncommon for a fighter to release a submission or prematurely end a punching barrage before the referee ends the fight. Often this gives the opponent on the receiving end a second wind. That’s why fighters are trained to fight until the referee stops you.

Drwal was obviously and vigorously submitting to Palhares, even screeching in pain. Palhares knew Drwal was tapping. But, Palhares correctly awaited Mulhall’s official stoppage before releasing the hold.

The image of Drwal’s knee twisting gruesomely as he pleaded with Palhares to release the lock is unfortunate for mixed martial arts as the sport legitimizes itself. But, if anyone is to blame for that image lasting too long, it’s referee Kevin Mulhall. The five or six seconds Palhares held the heel hook as Drwal tapped was the same five or six seconds Mulhall watched Drwal tap before stopping the fight. Palhares’s job in the Octagon is to fight. Mulhall’s job is to stop fights. So, if any disciplinary action is deserved on this occasion, it should be due to Mulhall’s late stoppage.

Man that was tough to watch.

 

[MacDaddyOJack]

Yeah, I saw it too... he deserves a fine and a suspension

 

[Horhay]

Yeah man 5 full seconds of pure pain...

well either way I won the fight picker pool at cagepotato!!

 

[max041104]

Damn I was not expecting Carwin to provide such a beating! it was vicious!

+1

Man that was tough to watch.

+1

 

[Horhay]

It's official Liddell vs. Franklin at UFC 115

A few weeks ago this image would have represented nothing more than prevailing internet rumors and some committed fan’s proficiency with Photoshop. But it just so happens that the picture you see here was found in an email sent out by the UFC this afternoon, casually announcing that tickets for UFC 115, featuring a main event bout between Chuck Liddell and Rich Franklin, go on sale this week. No biggie, just a tacit admission that the UFC has been straight-up lying to us for the past several weeks.

Coming as it does just a couple episodes into the new season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” this announcement makes it hard not to have terrible flashbacks to last season, where we were forced to watch “Rampage” Jackson and Rashad Evans jaw endlessly at one another even after we knew the promised payoff bout wouldn’t come. Ortiz and Liddell haven’t even really started to get under one another’s skin, and already we know that it will all amount to nothing.

So what’s the takeaway lesson in all this? Maybe that TUF should be more about the fighters and less about the coaches, since it seems increasingly difficult (especially when you hire two aging greats) to ensure that they’ll actually be able to fight one another after the season ends.

Takeaway lesson #2? When everyone catches on to your plans before you’ve announced them, don’t lie, which Dana White did as recently as last week.

You don't have to come out and confirm the rumors just because somebody put your business in the streets, but if you know you're eventually going to end up doing Liddell-Franklin, there's no reason to willingly destroy whatever credibility you may have had left just to get another couple of weeks out of an imaginary fight.

http://www.cagepotato.com/ufc-comes-clean-admits-it-really-liddell-vs-franklin-ufc-115

Also, did anyone expect Frankie Edgar to beat BJ Penn on Saturday?

Anderson Silva looked meh against Maia. Too much damn running around and not much fighting.

 

[MacDaddyOJack]

I didn't catch the fights, but I'm glad to see that BJ Penn lost, that guy is a TURD. And Anderson Silva is the most OVERRATED pound-for-pound fighter in the world....

 

[Kingjames56]

There's no competition in the middleweight class for Silva. He destroyed everyone. Until he gets to change weight classes I'm done with him, there's no point in watching him run away for 15 min when someone "disrepects" him. What did Maia say to him anyway?

 

[Horhay]

There's no competition in the middleweight class for Silva. He destroyed everyone. Until he gets to change weight classes I'm done with him, there's no point in watching him run away for 15 min when someone "disrepects" him. What did Maia say to him anyway?

Absolutely nothing. I saw the pre and post commentaries from Maia. Nowhere did he disrespect Silva. Just another dumb excuse from Anderson as usual.

Dana White is trying to pit him against Georges St. Pierre, but now he is saying Anderson doesn't deserve St. Pierre lol

Middleweight has no competition whatsoever, I am hoping the UFC can pick up Jake Shields though. It's funny how he is a coach on Liddell's team and he didn't even get an introduction on TUF! lol

 

[Horhay]

Just how bad was Anderson Silva's UFC 112 performance in Dana White's eyes? So bad that DW hasn't even seen anything worse in all his years watching boxing. That's right. Boxing, playa. That's why White tells ESPN's Jim Rome that he's had enough of these embarrassing antics from his middleweight champ, and if he ever sees it again he will cut his ass.

Just take a second and let that sink in. Imagine Silva going and doing to Chael Sonnen (who, White confirms, he will face next) what he did to Demian Maia. Imagine him jumping around the cage in between fits of face-smashing, shouting things at Sonnen in Portuguese and imitating Chuck Norris' fighting style. Then imagine him waking up the next morning, still the UFC 185-pound champ, but suddenly a free agent.

If that's the situation that goes down, whose interests will have been served?

http://www.cagepotato.com/video-dan...ill-cut-anderson-silva-if-he-pulls-crap-again

He is just bluffing.

 

[Horhay]

Dan Henderson vs Jake Shields (Shields won and now he is free agent!)
King Mo vs Gegard Mousasi (King Mo won with UD)
Shinya Aoki vs Gilbert Melendez (Melendez upsets)


Here's the post fight video lol

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---------- Post added at 12:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:33 PM ----------

If you like MMA this is a great article!

Last night I was unfortunate enough to watch mixed martial arts (MMA) take a step back, a ten year step back. Strikeforce allowed the members of the Cesar Gracie camp to put a beating on a man for simply asking for a rematch live on national television.

After Fighters.com second-ranked and Strikeforce welterweight champion Jake Shields (25-4-1) won a lopsided unanimous decision victory over “Hollywood” Dan Henderson (25-8) the typical post-fight interview was about to begin.

The always colorful “Mayhem” Jason Miller (23-6) entered the cage to call out the champion, asking for a rematch. These two fought back in November of 2009 at the Fedor versus Rogers fight where Shields won by decision in a fight many thought was a snooze-fest.

Miller, known for his crazy ring walks and in general for being quite goofy, stepped up and stole some of Jake’s spotlight by asking when he was going to get his rematch. This is where all hell broke loose starting with “El Nino” Gilbert Melendez (18-2) trying to push Mayhem out of the views of the camera.

Jake Shields then decided it would be a good idea to push Miller and of course there can’t be a brawl inside the cage without Nick and Nate Diaz involved. Miller ended up being down on the ground and was kicked multiple times while being held there. All of this airing live on CBS as moronic Gus Johnson tells the audience “Sometimes these things happen in MMA”.

Gus Johnson is an ill-informed person who allowed the first-time viewers to believe that this is something that is typical in the sport of MMA. Nothing could be further from the truth.

What happened inside that cage after the licensed and regulated fights took place was paramount to a gang attack. It is felonious assault and as such those involved should have been arrested and charged. If you, a fan of MMA, got in the cage and started throwing punches and kicks to someone you can bet you would have been arrested on the spot.

Many are putting the blame on the shoulders of Jason Miller and I feel that this could not be further from the truth. Did Matt Hughes and his camp jump Georges St. Pierre after he entered the cage and said he was not impressed by Matt? So who is to blame for this event?

Strikeforce is the number one culprit here for a couple of reasons. No one actually knows if they asked, told, or gave the OK for Mayhem to enter the cage but regardless it is their job to control who can and can’t enter the cage at all times. So the bottom line is they allowed Miller inside the cage in one fashion or another. How did they think that was goinjg to turn out when you have the Diaz brothers in there? They are known for their antics and were involved in another post-fight brawl inside the cage in the during the EliteXC days.

Nate and Nick Diaz are also to blame for this event. After the cage was cleared MMA Fanhouse reporter Ariel Helwani talked to Nick Diaz who had the following to say, “I apologize, it wasn’t my fault”. Very interesting apology Nick. Nick said that he had his partners back and would expect his corner to have his back if he had just fought. This is an error in thinking because there should be no need for anyone to have someone’s back post-fight, hence the term post-fight.

The Diaz Brothers needed to realize that at that time there friend and training partner had just successfully defended his title against a man many thought would KO him in the first round. Not only that but they were live on network television as people were tuning in to catch the local news. What they found instead was the a brawl inside a cage which did nothing but solidify the opinion that MMA is brutal and nothing more than a bunch of thug bar brawlers.

Most of the MMA critics could not be more wrong when they discuss the sport but the actions of a few last night loaded the near empty guns of those critics. They now have video evidence of the fact that MMA fighters are nothing more than glorified thugs and gangsters.

Mixed Martial Arts has always been about respect and honor. Respect for you opponent and the arts as well. Mayhem Miller may have shown Shields little respect by stealing the spotlight but what transpired afterward was the complete opposite of what the sport is all about. This was not the streets of Stockton, California but rather inside the cage in Nashville, Tennessee.

The fans of MMA deserve more than they got last night and sadly, the sport took a huge step backwards. I know Dana White was happy by what he saw but he has to realize that it hurt Strikeforce but will also have an effect on all of MMA.

Such a disgrace from the Gracies.

---------- Post added at 12:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:35 PM ----------

UFC President Dana White announced during an appearance on ESPN’s “Jim Rome is Burning” that Fighters.com and UFC middleweight champion “Spider” Anderson Silva (25-4) will next defend his titles from top contender Chael Sonnen (23-10-1) and that if Silva continued his taunting, disappointing antics in the Octagon, he would be cut.

Silva won a five-round unanimous decision over Demian Maia (11-2) at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi last Saturday, but spent the first three rounds taunting Maia and the last two running from him.

“If he ever acts like that again in the ring, I will cut him,” White told Rome. “I don’t care if he’s the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. I don’t care if he is the middleweight champion. I will cut him, absolutely.”

Sonnen dominated “Great” Nate Marquardt (29-9-2) at UFC 109. White thinks Marquardt might be the anecdote for Silva’s ailment.

White said, “He’s got a real tough fight coming up. His next fight’s going to be against Chael Sonnen, and Chael Sonnen’s one of these guys who’s not going to lay back, not do what these other guys [did].”

I don't think he is bluffing now!

 

[Off_contstantly]

It's about time. We haven't seen a good fight from Silva for a long time.