Josh Koscheck vs. Paulo Thiago II Being Targeted for UFC 109
(mma.fanhouse.com)
The UFC is targeting a welterweight rematch between Josh Koscheck and Paulo Thiago at UFC 109 on Feb. 6. FanHouse learned of the potential fight on Tuesday, but the bout has yet to be made official by the organization.
Thiago defeated Koscheck in a stunning upset at UFC 95 last February via first round TKO in the Brazilian's Octagon debut. Since then, Thiago has gone 1-1 in the UFC, losing to Koscheck's teammate, Jon Fitch, at UFC 100 and beating Jacob Volkmann UFC 106 in November.
Meanwhile, Koscheck was also victorious at UFC 106 against Anthony Johnson. The American Kickboxing Academy product also picked up a win over Frank Trigg at UFC 103 since the loss to Thiago.
Following Koscheck's victory over Johnson, he told Joe Rogan in the post-fight interview that he deserved a title shot against 170-pound champion Georges St-Pierre next, not current No. 1 contender, Dan Hardy.
"I'm the No. 1 freaking contender in this weight division, right here," he said.
The UFC 109 event has yet to be made official by the organization, but it is expected to take place Super Bowl weekend at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Other fights rumored to be on the card include Randy Couture vs. Mark Coleman and Frank Trigg vs. Matt Serra.
Alistair Overeem: Compared to MMA, K-1 is easy
(mmamania.com)"Though they look similar, they are totally different sports. There is no fighter who holds the top title in both [K-1 and MMA]. If the other top eight K-1 fighters fought me in MMA, I would beat them in two or three minutes. It's a different arena. Anyway, K-1 isn't my ultimate goal. It's a side road. A checkpoint. I just want to have fun. If it's not, I'll just go back to MMA. MMA is a tough sport. There are five, five-minute rounds, and you have stand-up and ground techniques. You have not only punches, but you get kneed in the face repeatedly. Then K-1 is three, three-minute rounds. PRIDE had 10 minutes per round, right? Even with conditions like that, I am one of the top fighters. Compared to that, K-1 is easy."
Maybe Vitor Belfort Won't Leapfrog Nate Marquardt For Title Shot After All
(cagepotato.com)When it was initially announced that Vitor Belfort was getting the next crack at UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva, everyone from Ed Soares to Belfort himself acknowledged that this was at least partially bullshit. The good news is that, with Anderson Silva still sidelined due to a lingering injury, Belfort looks like he'll get his chance to prove he deserves the shot in a top contender bout with Nate Marquardt. Think of it as a rare instance of an injury pullout by a UFC champ resulting in a fight that probably makes more sense than the original title contest. When you think about how often this type of thing has been happening to the UFC of late, it only makes sense that sooner or later it would have to turn out to be a blessing in disguise. That's just the law of averages at work.
Junior dos Santos waiting for an opponent
(tatame.com)With Gonzaga’s left, Junior’s presence is a doubt, but the heavyweight wants to stay on the card, scheduled to January 2. “I’m waiting an UFC proposal, but probably they will put someone else on his place. As the most of the heavyweights are sick or have scheduled fights, there are few fighters to put, but I believe that they will find someone (laughs)“, Junior said, analyzing the possible opponents.
“I’ll tell you, I was thinking about that“, reveals, laughing. “UFC has no options. Cain Velasquez might fight Rodrigo (Nogueira) in February, it looks like (Shane) Carwin went on surgery on his hand, I don’t know. There are some new guys on the UFC, but we hope that they match with someone more known on UFC“.
Still Healing: Nogueira Fighting Staph Battle
(sherdog.com)Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, the only man to hold both UFC and Pride heavyweight titles, spoke with Sherdog.com while he was in Las Vegas to watch his brother fight at UFC 106.
Now scheduled to face Cain Velasquez at UFC 110 in Australia on Feb. 21, Nogueira explained the reason for his withdrawal from the original Jan. 2 date.
Check out this exclusive video to watch the former champ discuss his on-and-off battle with multiple staph infections over the past year.
He also discusses the possibility of fighting for a potential interim title should champion Brock Lesnar remain sidelined for the foreseeable future.
Sadollah vs. Blackburn Likely For UFN 20 Main Card
(mmajunkie.com)Virginia native Amir Sadollah likely will get a chance to fight in front of the hometown fans in January. He reportedly has agreed to face Brad Blackburn at UFN 20 in Va. on January 11, paperwork pending. The slot was left open after Mike Guymon vs. Rory MacDonald was added to the prelim card Monday.
Matt Hughes Says Next Fight Could Be 4/10
(mmajunkie.com)Although the original plan was for Matt Hughes to next fight in UFC in February, possibly at UFC 109 or 110, he now says his next fight will be April 10. No UFC event is set for that date, so presumably that's UFC 112. Hughes hasn't fought since beating Matt Serra in July.
Diaz will still fight in Cali, but Florida on tap
(mmaweekly.com)Nick Diaz will not be deterred by the California State Athletic Commission’s formal stance on medical marijuana.
Diaz’s manager, Cesar Gracie, said Monday that his fighter would continue to fight in the Golden State, though perhaps not as often.
“Just when he gets licensed, he probably shouldn’t smoke,” said Gracie. “That’s my advice to him. If you’re going to fight, don’t smoke. Besides that, there are a lot of states in the country. He could go fight in Japan. He could fight wherever he wants.”
Brett Rogers wants to strip Alistair Overeem
(mmamania.com)"[Fedor] is certainly the best heavyweight in the world. But he does have weaknesses. We all do – isn’t that what makes champions great -- they win even with weaknesses? They win even though they can be beat? He is not a machine.... I want to fight soon, and I want to fight Alistair. I’m 100% healthy and took zero damage in the fight; so I’m ready to go right now. As I said Strikeforce is my home; I love Strikeforce and in my opinion Alistair holding the title belt is an insult to every fighter in this organization, every fan and to Scott Coker. Champions defend their titles. And either Scott strips him and real fighters battle for it; or I will take it off him the hard way."
Brett Rogers reflects on his recent knockout loss to Fedor Emelianenko and is eager to put it behind him and get back inside the cage sooner rather than later. He's wants to mix it up with Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, Alistair Overeem, saying that the Dutch fighter -- who has never defended his belt since defeating Paul Buentello to capture it more than two years ago -- needs to get busy or get out.
Lift The Ban Watch: MMA Now Legal In Massachusetts
(mmajunkie.com)Boston, get ready-UFC is officially on the way. Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick today signed into law a bill, versions of which were previously approved by the House and Senate, that calls for the Massachusetts State Boxing Commission to become the Massachusetts State Athletic Commission and oversee MMA events. The move opens the door for the UFC to host a long-anticipated event in Boston. No word on how quickly the state may be ready to begin its regulatory duties but it sound like summer '10 is still on for UFC and Dana is excited-"Words cannot describe. ... [New York] is next!"
Radach Out, Lawler Awaits New Opponent for Dec. 19 Strikeforce
(sherdog.com)Benji Radach will not face off against Robbie Lawler in a featured middleweight bout at Strikeforce “Evolution” on Dec. 19 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.
Radach’s agent, Ken Pavia, said the fighter still hasn’t been medically cleared to begin training again following surgery on his right hand last April. Radach, 30, broke his hand in multiple places during his third-round loss to Scott Smith at Strikeforce “Shamrock vs. Diaz” on April 11. Pavia said Radach would be cleared “soon” to resume training, but didn’t give a specific timeline.
Jake Shields: Cung Le showed his true colors by ducking me
(mmamania.com)"I’m a little frustrated. I thought [Cung and I] were friends, but I kind of lost respect for him when he decided not to fight me and hand picked his [next] opponent. I expected it from him, honestly, because people for years were telling me that Cung Le was that way and would never fight with me, so he showed his true colors ... We have trained together and we both know what would happen, so I guess he would just prefer to give up his belt and pick fighters that he matches up well with. For a guy like me it’s hard to understand, because I try to test myself against the best."
Newly crowned Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Jake Shields slams Cung Le for his decision to vacate the 185-pound title and agree to fight Scott Smith at "Evolution" on Dec. 19 rather than defend it against the surging jiu-jitsu phenom.
Jake Rosholt Cut By UFC
(cagepotato.com)Apparently being able to jump out of a pool forwards and backwards isn't enough to save Jake Rosholt's UFC career. Despite his rather unique talents he announced today he's been released after a 1-2 stint in the promotion. He beat Chris Leben by submission for his one win but his recent loss to Kendall Grove was his last in UFC.
UFC 110: Michael Bisping Talks Wanderlei Silva
(bloodyelbow.com)"My plan is to go to Australia 2 weeks before the fight. I'll be training at the Wolf's Lair from now and keep improving." "I'm sure Wanderlei can make the cut to 185. But it's never easy making weight, it sucks. It won't be an advantage." "Zach Light is a long time trainer of Rampage and Mario Neto both know Wanderlei very well. Hopefully we'll get Rampage in the training camp as well. But that's not confirmed. No one is going to know Wanderlei better than Rampage."
Transcript courtesy of
Dave Jansen Returns At WEC 46, But Not Facing Casimir
(mmajunkie.com)Undefeated WEC Lightweight Dave Jansen is set to return to action at WEC 46, but there's been a slight change of plans. Jansen originally appeared set to face Bendy Casimir, who would be making his WEC debut, but it now appears Jansen will face Kamal Shalrous instead, who just made his WEC debut at WEC 44 this month. Casimir should debut in 2010.
UFC 107 Prelims WILL NOT Air On Spike
(mmamania.com)Sorry UFC fans, but no free rides when UFC 107 comes around. It was confirmed today that Spike would not air any live prelims before the UFC 107 PPV on December 12, breaking a stretch of such airing dating back to UFC 103 (excluding 105, which Spike aired on tape delay). The reason for no prelims this time is schedule conflicts-Spike already had its 2009 Video Game Awards scheduled for 8-10 PM ET on 12/12.
25 MIllion Watch SF's 11/7 Event Worldwide
(411mania.com)M-1 Global and Strikeforce have announced that the November 7th Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers event was viewed by 25 million homes. The show scored 5.46 million viewers in the United States on the CBS Network, along with 16 million viewers in Fedor's home country of Russia on Channel 1. The event was also broadcast in Korea, China, Latin America, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Ukraine, Finland, Africa, Turkey, Israel, Indonesia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Malta.
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