Official MMA Thread!

[Horhay]

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

 

[Off_contstantly]

Main card
Lightweight Championship bout: Frankie Edgar vs. B.J. Penn
Heavyweight bout: Randy Couture vs. James Toney
Middleweight bout: Demian Maia vs. Mario Miranda
Lightweight bout: Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard
Welterweight bout: Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis

Preliminary card (Spike TV)
Lightweight bout: Joe Lauzon vs. Gabe Ruediger
Lightweight bout: Andre Winner vs. Nik Lentz

Preliminary card
Middleweight bout: Dan Miller vs. John Salter
Welterweight bout: Nick Osipczak vs. Greg Soto
Welterweight bout: Mike Pierce vs. Amilcar Alves

Those are my picks

Edgar will use the same strategy that he used in his previous fight with BJ. I am a bit curious about the James Toney vs Randy Couture though, I'd like to see what Toney brings to the table.

I agree, but I think Randy will edge Toney out. I'm not a big fan of the Cryin' Hawaiian, but he should win too.

 

[Horhay]

I agree, but I think Randy will edge Toney out. I'm not a big fan of the Cryin' Hawaiian, but he should win too.

A seasoned fighter like Couture will slowly break him down. As for BJ I just instinctively go against him

 

[Off_contstantly]

A seasoned fighter like Couture will slowly break him down. As for BJ I just instinctively go against him

Instinct tells me to go against him too sometimes.

 

[49ergirl]

My uncle is Chael Sonnen's criminal attorney.

 

[Horhay]

The number 2 Middlewieght? tell me when he represents the #1

---------- Post added at 12:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:34 AM ----------

Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva is so fed up with Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem and Fedor Emelianenko waffling over who they want to fight next that he released a public statement last night through his MMA Profit Advisor sponsorship management group calling for either fighter to take off their dress and get into the cage with him.

Overeem has stated that he only wants to fight Fedor or Fabricio Werdum under the Strikeforce banner, and since Werdum is recovering from elbow surgery and Fedor's camp hasn't shown much interest in that fight regardless of the fact that it's the bout most fans are interested in , it makes sense to have Silva fight Emelianenko. Unfortunately, neither Strikeforce or Fedor's management group, M-1 Global know who they want the Russian fighter to fight next, so Silva is waiting on the edge of the dance floor hoping some one of these two ladies will let him cut in before he gets stuck dancing with a less than desirable dance partner.

Here's Silva's take on the situation:

“I come from Paraiba, in Brazil, where we don’t back down from things! I’ll fight whoever they put in front of me; you will never see me picking and choosing opponents. It’s sad when the heavyweight champion starts whining that he will only fight this guy or that. What kind of a professional is this guy? He is the champ, isn’t he? Why be afraid to fight me? And Fedor, one of the biggest legends in the sport. Is this how he got to be a legend, by declining fights?"

"I never disrespect any opponent, no matter what his record is or what the public thinks about him. To me, he merits respect just for stepping up there and facing off, but these guys are disappointing me. They are demonstrating that they are not deserving of my respect.We are fighters, supposed to be some of the best in the world, and our job is to get up there, perform, and put on a good fight for the fans. I am ready to do this, just tell me who is next and I will be there. I am not a woman who wants to be involved in soap operas, looking forward to the next episode."

"I think that STRIKEFORCE needs to put an end to this. Give me whoever and I will fight him, and, win or lose, people will know I came to fight that day and put my heart into it. To me, this is the only way.”

You have to feel for Silva. Basically he's being told by Strikeforce:
"Listen, buddy, you're our last option for either of these guys to fight. We're going to keep trying to get them to fight each other because that fight would sell the most tickets and bring us a little credibility, so how about you just wait and we'll call you when we know what we're doing with you. Sound good?"

If Overeem is continually going to refuse prospective opponents (like he did with DREAM and is now doing with Strikeforce), he's going to be offered less fights and he could get himself stripped of his Strikeforce belt, which he has only defended once in over a year of ownership.

How many champions in other organizations get to pick and choose their opponents?

Hahaha this guy is a clown!! I bet Overeem and Fedor are feeling dumb now!

 

[Horhay]

MMAFighting has confirmed that the previously reported bout between former UFC light-heavyweight champions Quinton Jackson and Lyoto Machida will headline November 20th's UFC 123 card, which will take place at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It will be the UFC's first event in the Great Lakes State since the spectacularly bad UFC 9, which was marked by an official ban on head-punches and a 30-minute Superfight Championship between Ken Shamrock and Dan Severn, in which both future Hall of Famers refused to engage, circling each other for the majority of the bout. That ill-fated event was held at Detroit's Cobo Hall; now that Detroit has returned to wilderness, the UFC will instead head north to the suburb of Auburn Hills and the longtime home stadium of the Detroit Pistons.

At this point, the only other match reported for the event is a welterweight scrap between Matt Brown and Rory MacDonald. Brown is coming off consecutive submission losses against Ricardo Almeida and Chris Lytle, while MacDonald most recently succumbed to a TKO with just seven seconds remaining of his UFC 115 fight against Carlos Condit. You could say it's one of those "must win" fights for both sides. And yet one of them will inevitably lose. Doesn't seem fair, does it.

 

[Horhay]

Karo Parisyan is back to the UFC.

Exiled UFC welterweight Karo Parisyan is breathing a sigh of relief today now that he has re-signed with the promotion he became famous fighting for.

The news of Parisyan being welcomed back to the UFC was broken today by MMAFighting's Ariel Helwani, who reported that Karo will take on Dennis Hallman at UFC 123 in Auburn Hills, Mich.

We spoke to Karo this afternoon and he says he's going to make the best of this second chance with the UFC.

"I thank God that I'm getting another opportunity. I talked to Dana a couple times and we went back and forth on a couple things. Basically he said they'd give me another shot. He texted me and said, 'I'll give you another shot. Just don't screw me,' and I said, 'No problem."

After pulling out of a scheduled UFC 106 bout with Dustin Hazelett on the eve of the weigh-ins last November, "THe Heat" was unceremoniously dropped by the promotion and UFC president Dana White went on record saying that talented the Armenian-born judoka would never fight in the Octagon again.

But Parisyan held steadfast the past 10 months to the belief that "God willing" he would one day fight in the UFC again and now his prayers had been answered.

He says that he's glad that White kept an open mind and considered the nature of the issues he was having when he suffered what Parisyan has termed as, "a breakdown."

"I didn't kill nobody" he says. "I had problems and they were basically out of my control. It happens."

Although the Internet messageboards and MMA websites have been rife with speculation about Parisyan's alleged prescription painkiller addiction, Parisyan says that drugs weren't the major issue that led to his breakdown, but rather the straw that broke the camel's back. He has been accused of being a drug addict and a junkie ever since his former student Neil Melanson did an interview on the heels of his UFC release and basically threw him under the bus with comments he made about Karo's alleged serious drug dependency.

He has since spoken publicly about the problems that led to him pulling out of UFC 106, which included what he calls "occasional abuse of medication" he was prescribed for a torn hamstring he suffered, which has never completely healed and a recent back injury he incurred in training, but he says that the main issue was his well publicized diagnosed anxiety and panic disorder.

Parisyan was put on oxymorphone and hydromorphone by his physician -- the combination of painkillers that he tested positive for following his UFC 94 win with Dong Hyun Kim that was later ruled a "no-contest" -- to help alleviate the pain his hamstring and back were causing him and he relied on them to be able to train at the level he was accustomed to, but he says his dependancy on them turned unhealthy at times.

Relishing this new opportunity to climb back up the UFC's welterweight ladder and to "make things up to the fans and the UFC," Parisyan, who has been apologetic to both groups throughout his ordeal, says things are nearly back to normal for him both physically and mentally.

"Everything's falling into place. I should be ready for the fight, God willing. I'll have an 11-week camp to get ready. Monday I start camp and I'll hopefully be able to make everything right," Karo says. "I'm going to Vegas and I'll be going back and forthe between there and [California] to train and get in shape to take on Hallman."

We'll have an exclusive interview with Karo on next week's episode of Cage Potato's The Bum Rush Radio Show podcast.

 

[Horhay]

OMG THIS WOMAN IS TOO HOT!!! there are no nudes so it's safe to look! thank me later!

Link

File this under Least Surprising News of the Week: In the wake of getting thoroughly outwrestled by Gray Maynard at UFC 118 last month, Kenny Florian is vowing to make some wholesale changes in his training. Florian says he's hired a wrestling coach from Boston University to help him with his grappling, so that he won’t get held down en route to a unanimous decision loss again anytime soon.

And frankly, this is a good example of yet another reason why KenFlo is one of the more likable fighters in all of MMA. Rather than taking the Dan Hardy approach -- where you respond to your team's multiple wrestling-based losses by publishing a screed in the local newspaper where you insist that (and, yes, this is an exact quote): “The problem is there's beginning to be too much wrestling in the UFC Octagon, not too little of it in the (Team Roughouse) gym,” – Florian is opting to actually do something about it, trying to get better and keeping his dream of one day holding a UFC title alive.

“I kind of feel like this was one of the most frustrating losses that I've ever had and it was a fight I definitely learned a lot from,” he tells Sherdog.com. “I'm very motivated and I had to come back to training quickly. I've already started training and did a hard conditioning session (Tuesday). I'm just motivated to work very hard and get right back into it.”

Florian’s new wrestling instructor is Sean Gray, who Google tells us is a former two-time All-American at Virginia Tech entering his sixth season as an assistant for the Terriers. He graduated in 2003, but still holds the Hokies’ all-time marks in a number of statistical categories including wins (133-19), winning percentage (.850), pins (45) and pins in a single season (15). So, yeah, seems like he knows his ****.

Florian says he’s looking to March(ish) 2011 for a possible return to the Octagon. Until, then it’ll be full speed ahead with training. Names abound for a possible next opponent, including up-and-coming ground whiz George Sotiropoulos. Sotiropoulos was rumored by his own hometown newspaper this week to be next up for either BJ Penn or Florian, though reports out on Wednesday say he’ll fight Joe Lauzon at UFC 123 in Nov. Still, depending on how that goes, it’s not unthinkable that the winner could be able to turn it around to face Florian early next year.

“It looks like my training team wants me to fight in another five months," Florian says. "I'm more motivated than ever. I'm pissed, to be honest. I want to crush my training. That's what I'm focused on right now.”

I tell ya, this Florian kid is so pragmatic, it hurts.

I've always liked Kenny Florian and think his Muay Thai and Jiu-Jitsu are great, however, I think the wrestling training should of been part of his preparation for fights since the lightweight has a huge percentage of wrestlers.

 

[Off_contstantly]

UFC 119 is this weekend.

Heavyweight bout: Frank Mir vs. Mirko Filipović
Light Heavyweight bout: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Ryan Bader
Welterweight bout: Matt Serra vs. Chris Lytle
Lightweight bout: Sean Sherk vs. Evan Dunham
Lightweight bout: Melvin Guillard vs. Jeremy Stephens

 

[Horhay]

Oh, this is not good. The biggest comeback story of 2010 may well be fizzling out before our very eyes, as the California State Athletic Commission tells Sherdog that Chael Sonnen tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in the wake of UFC 117. CSAC Executive Officer George Dodd says Sonnen was notified over the weekend that he’d popped positive for PEDs after his loss to Anderson Silva at that event.

Dodd had a lot on his plate on Saturday, what with the Shane Mosley-Sergio Mora boxing match going down in Los Angeles, so maybe you can’t blame the athletic commission honcho for handing out what appears to be just one very terse quote to the Dog. Aside from confirming that Sonnen’s test came back dirty, Dodd didn’t have much to say on the subject, pending further developments.

“(Sonnen) received his notice yesterday,” Dodd said.

On Friday, Dodd told Sherdog that all fighters for UFC 117 had passed tests for “drugs of abuse,” but said the commission was still waiting on results from the PED screening.

Sonnen dominated the first four rounds of his bout with the middleweight champion on Aug. 7, only to lose to a triangle choke in the fight’s waning minutes. The pair are reportedly scheduled for a rematch in January. No word yet on whether this news puts those plans in jeopardy.

According to Sherdog, Sonnen manager Matt Lindland was on the east coast this weekend attending to other fight-related business and said he had “no knowledge” of the failed test. That seems about typical for those dudes.

We also have to assume Silva’s manager, Ed Soares, was smirking his ass off when he handed out the following quote, also to The Dog:

“If it’s true, I feel really bad for him,” Soares said. “I know he did it to himself but it is really sad, he put on such a great performance that night. It is just a shame it will be tarnished.”

This was completely unexpected. Not sure what's the need to juice up for when you train so much and you are on top shape. Too bad.

When it comes to the UFC's middleweight division, we expect chaos, bro, every day. Just two days after Vitor Belfort vs. Yushin Okami was announced as a #1 contender's match for UFC 122, new reports claim that Belfort has been forced to pull out of the match, and will be replaced by fellow top contender Nate Marquardt, who defeated Rousimar Palhares via TKO (stupidity) last week at UFC Fight Night 22. Due to the shoulder injury that benched Belfort for the better part of this year, the former light-heavyweight champ hasn't competed since his UFC return fight against Rich Franklin at UFC 103.

Adding an odd wrinkle to this story is Belfort's trainer Shawn Tompkins, who semi-responded to the reports on Facebook late last night, writing, "you will recieve Vitor Belfort news very soon...All I can tell you as his coach is that he is 100% healthy." Belfort might be physically sound, but that doesn't mean he's not withdrawing from the event for other reasons. Could the UFC be promoting him to an immediate title shot at UFC 125 in Chael Sonnen's place? We'll update you when we know more...

Velfort is always injured, this is the second consecutive fight that he backs out of because of injury. The man is good so I hope he recovers soon.

---------- Post added at 08:37 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:34 AM ----------

UFC 119 is this weekend.

Heavyweight bout: Frank Mir vs. Mirko Filipović
Light Heavyweight bout: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Ryan Bader
Welterweight bout: Matt Serra vs. Chris Lytle
Lightweight bout: Sean Sherk vs. Evan Dunham
Lightweight bout: Melvin Guillard vs. Jeremy Stephens

Matt Serra and Sherk are almost over the hill to continue compete at a top level. I think Stephens will beat Guillard.

It seems that Filipovic has found his top shape at his age and he will be dangerous. I don't like Frank Mir, but I sure hope he wins. He has 2 consecutive losses so the pink slip is only one loss away.

Ryan Bader is badass!! Little Nog looked sloppy in his last bout and he even got beaten at Jiu-Jitsu.

 

[Off_contstantly]

+1 I like Bader too. He also seemed like one of the only level headed ones when he was on TUF.

 

[Off_contstantly]

UFC 119 is this weekend.

Heavyweight bout: Frank Mir vs. Mirko Filipović
Light Heavyweight bout: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Ryan Bader
Welterweight bout: Matt Serra vs. Chris Lytle
Lightweight bout: Sean Sherk vs. Evan Dunham
Lightweight bout: Melvin Guillard vs. Jeremy Stephens

5 out of 5!

 

[Horhay]

Ha! last night's fight was awesome!!

Hamill gave a beating to Tito

Kampmann got robbed, personally I think the hype for Shields pressured the scoring. If Kampmann didn't win it should of been a tie.

Diego Sanchez was his old self! I am glad to see him back to being the furious dude always pushing forward.

Cain, what can we say? :mexico: Brock can go eat his burrito and the corona after the beating he took! hahaha! Si se pudo!

 

[Horhay]

The cat's out of the bag, and the "major announcement" turned out to be pretty damn major after all. Dana White announced during a media call today that the UFC is absorbing the WEC beginning in January 2011; the UFC will now feature seven championship weight classes. Here's how it'll work...

- Jose Aldo is automatically the UFC Featherweight Champion; he'll defend his UFC featherweight title at UFC 125 on January 1st against a yet-to-be-determined opponent.

- WEC 53 (December 16th; Glendale, Arizona) will be the final WEC event. The winner of the bantamweight title fight between Dominick Cruz and Scott Jorgensen will become the UFC Bantamweight Champion. The winner of the lightweight title fight between Ben Henderson and Anthony Pettis will automatically face the winner of Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard at UFC 125.

- The UFC's new deal with Versus includes four fights in 2011.

- Dana wouldn't discuss those network TV deal rumors, and he didn't feel like talking about Ontario, other than "it's done, and we're coming soon."

- DW: "We're already maxed out on pay-per-views...the way I see it, you'll get more free fights."

- There are no plans to add women or super-heavyweights into the UFC. However, an Ultimate Fighter season with featherweights and/or bantamweights will happen "soon."

- Sean Shelby and Reed Harris don't need to start preparing their resumes just yet. Said Dana, "we'll figure out how everybody's gonna fit in, but there's so much work to do over here that nobody's gonna be sitting around."

- No word on if Brittney Palmer will also be absorbed into the UFC, though the current Octagon Girl pit could certainly use her.

Anyway, pop a bottle of bubbly in honor of more title fights on the pay-per-views and bigger paychecks for the smaller guys. If any other important details emerge, we'll let you know...

Link: http://www.cagepotato.com/big-announcement-ufc-absorbs-wec-featherweightsbantamweights-debut-january

WOW! I didn't expect this news today. That's huge! Scott Coker can kiss his strikeforce goodbye. UFC just became a mega promotion difficult to compete with.

I am excited to say the least, that means that Jose Aldo and Ben Henderson are making their way over the UFC. This is going to be sweet...

 

[MacDaddyOJack]

Good news, you knew it had to happen soon, the WEC just couldnt deliver the same level of competition. The only thing Im unhappy about in that announcement is the addition of a bantamweight class.... I can understand adding one more class under the lights, but is two really necessary!? The UFC only recently brought back the lightweights for crying out loud, make some of those twigs beef up a little a fight/ train with other real athletes.

 

[Horhay]

Good news, you knew it had to happen soon, the WEC just couldnt deliver the same level of competition. The only thing Im unhappy about in that announcement is the addition of a bantamweight class.... I can understand adding one more class under the lights, but is two really necessary!? The UFC only recently brought back the lightweights for crying out loud, make some of those twigs beef up a little a fight/ train with other real athletes.

I never really understood that either. Featherweight is above Bantam? I can't remember...

Mark my words, Ben Henderson will be the next Lightweight champion. That dude's tolerance with pain and submission defense is freakish!

Jose Aldo needs to move up to Lightweight. He recently turned down a fight in the UFC in lightweight, but I am sure now that WEC got absorbed he will eventually move up. BJ Penn better move up to Welterweight because the lightweights just moved up a whole notch up! Aldo would destroy Penn..

 

[MacDaddyOJack]

I cant remember which is which either... all I know is that two more classes under the already existing lightweight class is too much. I'm excited to see what Uriah Faber can do in the UFC. I watched a few of his fights in WEC and never thought he was completely dominant. Good, but I'm not sure he can hold the belt in the UFC.

 

[Horhay]

Urijah Faber was ok, I never really liked him. His fights with Aldo proved his dominance to be over and he can either move up a weight class or wait until Aldo does and leaves the title behind.

 

[Horhay]

check this out!

look at the somersaults that dude does hahaha pretty funny stuff!

 

[Off_contstantly]

Chuck Liddell retires...again.

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Former light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell, one of the pioneers of modern mixed martial arts, has retired from professional fighting.

The "Iceman" said Wednesday that he will become an executive vice president for business development with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the promotion that rocketed him to stardom in the United States more than a decade ago.

Liddell announced his retirement during a news conference for UFC 125 on Saturday night.

The former collegiate wrestler made his UFC debut in 1998 and quickly became one of the sport's most popular fighters. He fought nearly every big name in mixed martial arts, including Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz and Wanderlei Silva.

His last fight was a knockout loss to Rich Franklin at UFC 115 in June.



Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/mma/12/29/liddell.retires.ap/index.html#ixzz19bGBJz5D