Josh "The Punk" Thomson Talks Anthony Johnson, Frank Shamrock, And Much More
(fightline.com)Earlier this evening, I had the great pleasure of joining Larry Pepe of Pro MMA Radio for some post UFC 87 fight talk. We touched on a variety of issues including reactions from the event and the latest regarding rumors and possible match-ups for many of its participants. Click here to check out the audio from the show.
After our segment, Pep also welcomed in Josh "The Punk" Thomson, who had a number of very interesting takes on everything from Anthony Johnson's recovery to his budding feud with Frank Shamrock. Below are just a few of the highlights from this very candid interview:
Randy Couture Speaks
(sportsillustrated.cnn.com)Couture: Well, the language in [my UFC] contract is pretty clear. It’s 18 months or four fights and the 18 months expired on July 19, so we’re in a 30-day grace period for negotiating or re-negotiating with the UFC. If they find a way to make the Fedor fight happen, I’ll be all over it, but I don’t really see that happening realistically. The non-compete clause expires on Oct. 10, a year from when I resigned, and so I’ll be able to go back to work commentating and working with the other promotions and getting back into the business of MMA.
UFC Quick Quote: Jason MacDonald feels stupid
(mmamania.com) I don’t know what went wrong in my head. I don’t know what happened and why I chose to fight that fight on the ground. Sure I made the fight exciting and I’ve gotten lots of positive responses on how well I did on the ground with a guy like Maia. But at the end of the day, he caught me and that’s what he does best. I played into his game. It was a stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid fight on my behalf. And I take the full blame 100 percent for it. I’ll take it right on the forehead like I took those hundred elbows from Maia. And that’s that. I’m pretty disappointed because Maia was beatable if I had held that fight standing up. And I paid the price for not doing it.
– UFC middleweight Jason ‘The Athlete’ MacDonald grounds and pounds himself on Sportsnet.ca for not following his gameplan or the instructions from his corner during his submission loss to grappling phenom Demian Maia at UFC 87: ‘Seek and Destroy’ on August 9.
Jon Fitch wants to fight next ‘before the end of the year’
(mmamania.com) “I wasn’t that beat up. Just a little off in the head after the first dropedge. I’m fine and will be back before the end of the year if I have any say in it.”
Top welterweight contender Jon Fitch is eager to return to the Octagon after missing out on an opportunity to topple Georges St. Pierre at UFC 87: “Seek and Destroy” and capture his 170-pound title. Despite “being a little off in the head” early in the five-round fight, Fitch managed to hang on until the very end, delivering one of the gutsiest performances of the year. It would be no surprise to see him take on the winner of the welterweight bout between Karo Parisyan and Yoshiyuki Yoshida at UFC 88: “Breakthrough” on September 6.
Paul "Semtex" Daley Headed Stateside to Fight for EliteXC
(bloodyelbow.com)A month ago, ex-Cage Rage Welterweight Champion Paul Daley went against the express wishes of Cage Rage parent entity ProElite and competed on rival UK promotion Cage Warriors' July 12th "Enter the Rough House 7" card. To further stir the pot, the always verbose Brit spoke out against both Cage Rage and ProElite regarding what he perceived as a lack of respect on the part of both companies.
Now 30 days removed from his first round knockout of previously undefeated Slovenian prospect Bojan Kosednar, we've learned Daley's punishment for biting the hand that feeds: a spot on EliteXC's September 20th "Return to Showtime" event and, should he emerge victorious, a guaranteed shot at newly-crowned EliteXC Welterweight Champion Jake Shields:
Has anyone seen this before??
(rioheroes.com)This site is called Rio heroes. It is bare knuckle Vale Tudo fighting from Rio Di Janeiro. It is pretty cool... Check it out, here is the link..
It is pretty brutal stuff.. I stumbled across this on you tube.
Just thought I should share.
Matt Hughes Not Impressed with GSP’s Performance
(cagepotato.com)You may have noticed Matt Hughes sitting Octagon-side at UFC 87. At least, that’s where he was for most of the night. Turns out he didn’t make it all the way through the evening, and you can probably guess why. From Matt Hughes’ blog:
I went there really to watch one fight, probably not the one you’re expecting. I went there to watch Brock Lesnar. He is so interesting because he is so athletic as well as being so powerful. So that fight went just like I thought it would, Brock took him down whenever he wanted and on the ground he did whatever he wanted. I was also there watching my buddy, Roger, but he didn’t quite look the same. I don’t think him or Kenny fought their best fight on Saturday. Roger looked to have done a few things different and I would say that he needs to go back to what he was doing before.
The last fight of the night was Georges and Fitch. Georges didn’t look as big as he has before and he seemed like he had gotten tired from the first round. Fitch had the game plan of countering Georges and you just can’t do that. You can’t counter a quicker fighter. To be honest, halfway in the third round I got up and walked out of the arena and went to my hotel. The fight wasn’t the most exciting and I wanted to get out of there before everyone else was getting up to leave.
Rua’s da man? ‘Shogun vs Rampage 2' in the works says former GP champ
(mmamania.com)Get ready for Japan’s biggest rematch since Yuko Matsumiya out-winded Atsushi Fujita at last year’s 61st annual Fukuoka Marathon, which ironically, was the inspiration for the name of the UFC’s buyout of PRIDE now known as Fukuova.
“It was a business decision to kill PRIDE” according to UFC President Dana White in a recent interview.
But if comments made by Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (16-3) at a recent training seminar are any indication, PRIDE may in fact live again.
ALVAREZ WANTS HANSEN, GOMI AND GOLD
(mmaweekly.com)Coming off of one of the most impressive tournament runs ever, in the Dream lightweight Grand Prix, Eddie Alvarez is back home, his eye is just fine, and he’s got 20/20 vision locked on to several possible opponents for his next fight.
When the 2008 Dream lightweight Grand Prix was finished, Alvarez stood as the only fighter still undefeated, but unfortunately an injured eye following his fight with Tatsuya Kawajiri prevented him from fighting in the finals.
FLORIAN PLANS TO FIGHT AGAIN IN 2008 REGARDLESS OF PENN SITUATION
(mmaweekly.com)Heading into UFC 87 it seemed like a perfect scenario that the winner of Kenny Florian versus Roger Huerta would be on the fast track to challenge current lightweight champion, B.J. Penn, for his title later this year.
Now it appears Penn is on a collision course with UFC welterweight champion, Georges St. Pierre, and Florian, who won a dominant decision over Huerta on Saturday night, may have to let nature take its course before he gets his shot at the title.
Edson Drago Out Of Hospital
(fightersonlymagazine.co.uk)American Top Team recruit Edson Drago is out of hospital and recovering in his hometown of Porto Alegre.
Drago was involved in a motorcycle collision in Rio de Janeiro in June that left him with massive lung and kidney damage.
His shoulder was also severely injured in the accident, which occurred when he was riding his Yamaha R1 at high speed.
Drago told intheguard.tv that the crash happened as he was driving on what he thought was a straight road.
“I accelerated and a corner appeared faster than I imagined,” he said. “I lost control and collided with a tree.”
The accident occurred not long after Drago had announced a move to American Top Team, which is home to a number of fellow Brazilians, including Thiago Alves and JZ Calvacante.
Loiseau vs. Hutcherson to headline XMMA 5: “It’s Crow Time”
(fiveouncesofpain.com)FiveOuncesOfPain.com has learned through a source speaking on the condition of anonymity that UFC veterans David “The Crow” Loiseau and Solomon Hutcherson will square off in the main event at XMMA 5: “It’s Crow Time”.
Loiseau, a native of Montreal, Quebec, possesses a mixed martial arts record of 17-8-0. Since his release from the UFC and EliteXC, Loiseau has gone 3-1 with victories over Freddie Espiricueta, Todd Gouwenberg, and Andrew Buckland.
Hutcherson, a native of Racine, Wisconsin, possesses a mixed martial arts record of 10-4. Hutcherson appeared on “The Ultimate Fighter 3? and fought on the TUF 3 Finale losing to Luigi Fioravanti. Since leaving the UFC, Hutcherson has gone 4-0 stopping Anthony Trotter, Nabil Khatib, George Allen, and Marcus Hicks.
Baroni to fight for Palace Fighting Championships on Sept. 26
(fiveouncesofpain.com)The Palace Fighting Championships have announced that the “New York Bad Ass” Phil Baroni will be fighting on the promotion’s Sept. 26 show in Lemoore, Calif.
Baroni, expected to compete at welterweight, is scheduled to face former WEC veteran Olaf Alfonso during the promotion’s Palace Fighting Championships 10 show.
The former UFC middleweight is now 2-0 after losing via first round TKO on primetime network television against Joey Villasenor during CBS’ first-ever MMA telecast on May 31.
Soon after the loss to Villasenor, Baroni announced his intention to move from middleweight to welterweight. He made his 170 pound debut while competing for ProElite-owned Cage Rage on July 12, where he knocked out Scott Jansen at 3:18 of round 1.
Fedor says he’ll return by New Year’s Eve; rematch with Cro Cop unlikely
(fiveouncesofpain.com)Sports Illustrated was able to catch up with Fedor Emelianenko and get some comments on him in regards to when he thinks he’ll be able to step back into the ring as well as his future fight plans:
“I think definitely by New Year’s Eve I’ll be ready to go,” the 31-year-old Russian told SI.com Sunday.
“My desire at this point is to meet with the winner of the fight,” said Emelianenko, the only current WAMMA champ. “But I still have a desire to fight with whomever loses as well.
UFC worldwide: Dana White talks expansion
(mmaweekly.com)The road show that’s been the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s strategy as of late will continue to cross borders, according to UFC president Dana White.
At the post-fight press conference for UFC 87 in Minneapolis, White made some broad sketches of the future pins in the UFC’s travel map.
First on that list was a stop in the Philippines, which currently airs UFC fights. It’s also the native land of newly minted light heavyweight Brandon Vera, who counts president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo among his fans.
White also re-affirmed an anticipated trip to Mexico, in which several UFC fighters, including Roger Huerta, Eddie Sanchez, and Diego Sanchez, have ethnic roots.
"When I say we're going everywhere, I mean we're going everywhere,” White said.
Canada is also a high priority for Zuffa, LLC. Georges St. Pierre’s rematch with Matt Serra at UFC 83 was a smashing success, drawing the largest MMA crowd ever in North America. Since then, White said the company wants to expand its reach in the U.S.’s northern neighbor. “We're really focusing on opening up Canada,” he continued. “Canada has become a really big market for us. We didn't expect that.”
On the home front, White says the UFC is still focusing on getting sanctioning in Massachusetts and New York. As of yet, neither state regulates MMA.
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