Cain Velasquez Chasing UFC Heavyweight Title ... And Perfection
(mma.fanhouse.com)In few sports is true perfection attainable. In baseball, a pitcher can retire 27 batters in a row (it's only been done 18 times in over 100 years). A bowler can reach perfection with strikes in 12 straight frames. In football, a quarterback can somewhat illogically boast of a perfect passer rating even in a game where he does not complete all his passes (and even in a game that his team loses).
So the concept of perfection in sports is difficult to quantify, explain and achieve. Nonetheless, it's what motivates rising heavyweight star Cain Velasquez, who faces Ben Rothwell (30-6) at UFC 104 on Oct. 24.
Despite his 6-0 record with five stoppages, Velasquez remains his own worst critic as he continues his ascent to what he hopes will soon be a date with the heavyweight championship on the line. The new father of 4 1/2 month old daughter Coral recently took some time to talk to FanHouse about his demanding personality, switching opponents from Shane Carwin to Rothwell, and his response to critics.
ACS: MMA's Next Superpower
(sherdog.com)"TEMPE, Ariz. -- The rise to power of Arizona Combat Sports as one of the top mixed martial arts gyms in the country was slow and steady. This was no overnight emergence.
ACS was started by two twin brothers who had no plans to run a martial arts school as their full-time profession. Todd and Trevor Lally just wanted a place to train after they relocated from Washington’s rain-drenched climate to Arizona’s barren desert."
Ryan Couture Maps Out Plans to Go Pro
(mmaweekly.com)"Having one of the most famous surnames in mixed martial arts, there's been a lot of attention paid to Ryan Couture's amateur fighting career. Son of legendary UFC fighter Randy "The Natural" Couture, Ryan has had five amateur bouts. With his first round submission victory over Nick Albert at Sportfight 26 on Oct. 2, Couture is eying turning pro and planning his professional MMA debut in 2010."
MMA coming to The Simpsons this Sunday
(fiveouncesofpain.com)It looks like mixed martial arts will be coming to The Simpsons for the first time this Sunday evening on Fox.
The show is titled “The Great Wife Hope”, and it appears as though the legendary mom with the blue beehive hair has a serious bone to pick with our beautiful sport.
Is CBS Going to Promote Strikeforce's Fedor Emelianenko vs Brett Rogers Bout?
(bloodyelbow.com)MMAConvert: See any Fedor commercials during CBS NFL games this past weekend?
No. There are still four more Sundays between now and Fedor's November 7 fight with Brett Rogers on CBS, so maybe we'll see plenty of commercials promoting Fedor during CBS NFL games, but as of right now, I think CBS is missing some opportunities to hype the fight.
Hard-core fans universally consider Fedor the best heavyweight in MMA, and many consider him the best fighter ever to fight in any weight class. But hard-core MMA fans are still a relatively small audience, and for this fight to get a good rating, CBS will need to appeal to casual MMA fans and people who have never watched MMA at all.
UFC 105 Couture vs Vera to Air Free on Spike TV
(mmaweekly.com)"Legendary five-time UFC champion Randy “The Natural” Couture will headline a fight card on Spike TV for the first time on Saturday, Nov. 14 (8:00pm ET/PT same day tape) in the main event of UFC 105. Emanating from the MEN Arena in Manchester, England, Couture will square off against highly regarded veteran Brandon “The Truth” Vera in a bout in the light heavyweight division."
Dream Results (Spoiler)
(sherdog.com)"YOKOHAMA, Japan -- In front of an audience of 14,039 at the Yokohama Arena, Shinya Aoki played a conservative grappling game Tuesday until catching Joachim Hansen in the final seconds with an armbar to win the Dream lightweight championship.
After taking Hansen down and grinding him with punches and hammerfists, Aoki stayed close and patiently looked for opportunities to pass. The Tobikan Judan did well in frustrating Hansen's bottom game, holding the Norwegian's feet to prevent upkicks when standing in guard. Hansen, to his credit, was able to keep Aoki in his butterfly guard for most of the bout, blocking his attempts to pass."
Coleman manager retracts "emotional" comments about Tito
(fightersonlymagazine.co.uk)Mark Coleman’s manager has been in touch with Fighters Only again today to discuss the comments he made this morning regarding Tito Ortiz and his wife Jenna Jameson. Mike DiSabato first spoke to FO in reaction to a Twitter post Ortiz made yesterday that called Coleman a ‘sissy’ for pulling out of their planned UFC 106 fight (Coleman has a torn MCL).
Having had time to reflect on this morning’s outburst, DiSabato decided a retraction was in order and contacted us to set the record straight.
“When I said what I said, I was very emotional. It was me responding without thinking, and that’s not really my style,” the businessman said. “Where that came from was, I have been a friend of Mark Coleman for over 20 years, we were in college together, and I just jumped right in to defend him. I feel he deserves a lot of respect for his achievements in this sport and I feel he does not always get the respect that he deserves.”
UFC Coming To Arizona In 2010
(fiveouncesofpain.com)After recently regulating MMA to mirror Las Vegas rules in May of 2008, the UFC will finally be making it’s way to the beautiful Arizona desert sometime in 2010.
UFC President Dana White confirmed the news in an interview with ULTMMA.com during a recent trip to “The Grand Canyon State”.
Who’s Next For Tito Ortiz?
(fiveouncesofpain.com)With Mark Coleman out of his anticipated light heavyweight showdown with Tito Ortiz at UFC 106 due to a second-degree tear in his MCL knee ligament, the question now is quite simply: Who’s up next for Tito?
“Hammer” or no “Hammer”, the show must go on.
It goes without saying that UFC matchmaker Joe Silva is currently hard at work trying to negotiate a suitable replacement for Coleman.
War Machine Is Fed Up With Life in US
(mmafighting.com)WM wants to leave US basically because he can't beat anybody up in the streets and bars due to the cops and the consequences ... He's thinking about maybe Brazil , Philippines or Ireland. Also talks about his next opponent and how he think he sucks ( the opponent) . I don't know much about streets in Philippines but would recommend Brazil or Ireland why not. There's a few tough boys there so i would picture War Machine coming back to US in a pink skirt if he doesn't get hurt worse before that .
Anyway, This is the most pathetic interview I've ever had a chance to read.
Check it out Boyz and give your opinions.
Shogun Rua: Beating Lyoto Machida is a matter of time and space
(mmamania.com)“The key to beat him is work the question of the space in the Octagon. Lyoto is very good on it, and besides that, I tried to take in account all the possibilities that may happen in the fight. I have even trained with karatecas to understand their game. Lyoto plays in the distance and counter attack also in the short distance. So I’m very confident to find the right timing and win.”
Mauricio Rua weighs in on his upcoming title fight against Lyoto Machida at UFC 104 from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, on Oct. 24.
Dan Hardy's mind games cannot penetrate the Swick mental armor
(mmamania.com)“Hardy realized that he could not only talk his way into getting the fight, but he knew he could also affect Davis’ performance. There is no question Hardy did a real great job of that. But it does not matter if Dan’s nice to me or talks crap like he did with Davis. I am a harder guy to figure out than Davis – my buttons are not so obvious. Neither of us are going to break mentally, so we have to break each other physically. It is going to be a war as there is so much at stake for us. There is so much I want to do in the UFC and this guy is not stopping that from happening. I like Dan –- but he is going down!”
The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) alum, Mike Swick, will not be rattled heading into his UFC 105 bout opposite Dan Hardy on November 14 in Manchester, England.
Overeem Faces TUF 1 Alum Hoger at Glory 11
(mmaweekly.com)Alistair Overeem's international calendar just got more crowded.
The 29-year-old Strikeforce heavyweight champion is expected to face original "Ultimate Fighter" alum Sam Hoger at Glory 11 on Oct. 17 in his home city of Amsterdam.
Triple Crown Fighter's Steve Ruisch, who brokered the deal for Hoger, told MMAWeekly.com Monday afternoon that the deal was "95 percent finalized."
Overeem recently appeared in a promotional video for Dream 12, to be held eight days after Glory 11 in Osaka, Japan. His opponent was unnamed. The event will be Dream’s first to utilize a hexagonal cage.
It has been almost two years since Overeem won the Strikeforce belt against Paul Buentello at the promotion's lone MMA tournament, “Four Men Enter, One Man Survives,” in November 2007. He was twice scheduled to make his U.S. return this year, but a lingering hand injury forced him to withdraw from bouts in April and June.
Since then, several reports have questioned Overeem's contractual status as well as his motivations for staying overseas.
Coleman's manager fires back at Ortiz
(fightersonlymagazine.co.uk)Mark Coleman’s manager Mike DiSabato has responded furiously to Tito Ortiz calling his fighter a ‘sissy’. Ortiz used his Twitter account in the early hours of this morning to reveal that Coleman was out of their UFC 106 fight. He said the MMA veteran had “sissied out”.
“Mark Coleman is not a talker, he is a fighter. He is a Hall of Famer who has fought a Who's Who of great fighters. Tito says "sissy"? Please. He can prove Coleman is sissy on January 2nd if he wants,” was DiSabato’s response to the comments during a conversation with Fighters Only.
British Invasion
(sherdog.com)"The dying embers of the Sex Pistols’ punk classic “God Save the Queen” fade to silence, and the lights are cut throughout the arena. Chris Leben stalks the darkened cage. The sporadic flicker of flashing cameras briefly illuminate an expectant capacity crowd, the fervor of which builds to crescendo at a glimpse of the man the fans have come to see.
Michael Bisping prepares to headline UFC 89."
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