Page 27 - Top MMA News and Mixed Martial Arts Headlines

After months of lobbying for a shot at Anderson Silva, Chris Weidman finally got his wish. And while some might view the contest as a "big money" matchup, "The All American" disagrees. He's not even asking for a new contract.

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Two years to the day from his last victory, UFC heavyweight Christian Morecraft on Tuesday announced his MMA retirement. Morecraft exits the sport on a two-fight skid. The 26-year-old started his career 6-0 before signing with the UFC.

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For the 2nd year in a row, UFC announcer Jon Anik will miss the Sweden event. Last year he was part of the wildly popular TUF: Live series, which conflicted with UFC on Fuel 2 in Stockholm, and Mike Goldberg took the trip to Sweden instead. This year it's a more personal matter for Anik, as he explained in an interview with Fighters.com: Traveling has been crazy. It was China in November, Australia in December, Brazil in January, England in February and we just did Japan in March, and my wife is due with our second daughter in mid April so Goldie is going to step in for me in Sweden. Just because I can’t be that far away in case she comes early.

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As episode No. 10 of "The Ultimate Fighter 17" opens, Team Jones' Robert "Bubba" McDaniel admits he's not thrilled about the way the quarterfinal matchups were made and that Team Sonnen's Uriah Hall is basically in his head. Team Sonnen's Kelvin Gastelum, meanwhile, thinks his opponents ares till underestimating his skills. He's paired up with Team Jones' Collin Hart, who's known as a jiu-jitsu specialist. Hart admits he wasn't satisfied with his opening-round win over Kevin Casey and wants to instead throw his hands and be exciting. Chael Sonnen seems to believe that would be fantastic, as he sees Kelvin as a brawler – not the wrestler most seem to believe...

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Last night’s edition of ESPN’s Sportscenter featured a segment titled “Garrett’s Fight,” about a 23-year-old man with Down syndrome named Garrett Holeve who has transformed his life through MMA. After being introduced to the sport by his father, Holeve committed himself to training at American Top Team, which has become a supportive second-family to him. The segment follows “G-Money” as he prepares for his first amateur fight against “Monster” Mike Wilson, who makes good on his promise to show Holeve what a real punch feels like. Through three tough rounds, Garrett doesn’t quit, and comes out the other side an even stronger person

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Looks like we have our answer. The question was, "Why can't Melvin Guillard return to Jackson's MMA in Albuquerque, New Mexico?" The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight left on what he says were "good terms" back in early 2012, but this report said his request to join his former teammates was denied. MMA Junkie explains why: According to Bernalillo County (N.M.) court records, Guillard currently faces five charges: two misdemeanor counts of aggravated battery, to which he pled not guilty. Three misdemeanor counts of failure to appear in court were settled. A jury trial on the assault charges is set for April 10, where he faces six months in jail for each count, in addition to fines and probation. Sounds like Melvin's next fight will be in court.

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Canadian kickboxer Julia (The Jewel) Budd has another new opponent for next week’s Invicta FC 5, and hopefully this one will stick. The Port Moody, B.C., native take on Mollie Estes at the event in what will be her third appearance in the all-female MMA promotion. Budd (4-2) was originally supposed to face Ediane Gomes (1-1) at the event, which takes place April 5 at Ameristar Casino Hotel in Kansas City. That was before Invicta signed former Strikeforce champion Cristiane (Cyborg) Santos and decided to match her versus Gomes. Budd was then paired against Fiona Muxlow; however, Gomes was injured and again Budd’s opponent was pulled in order to face Santos. Estes, meanwhile was originally on the card against Veronica Rothenhausler, but the latter had to withdraw with an injury. The 29-year-old Budd, a protégé of former MMA star Lance Gibson and known for her phenomenal conditioning, will be seeking her third straight win, all with Invicta, since a 39-second loss to Ronda Rousey in Strikeforce, in which her elbow was dislocated. Her last two wins came by first-round TKO — both by way of punches and elbow strikes — over Elina Nilsson and Danielle West.

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Let's say, just for the sake of argument, that when it comes to the World Series of Fighting (or, really, any MMA organization not named UFC or Bellator), we can all agree on what the question is.

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In the wake of a video revealing "off the record" dealings regard the UFC 158 weigh-in procedures, a representative of Diaz's camp says that they'll be filing a complaint with the Quebec Boxing Commission.

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First there was “glove-gate.” Now, another mini-controversy has emerged surrounding the UFC 158 main event between welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz and the athletic commission overseeing it, and Diaz’ legal team is now requesting that a rematch with St-Pierre take place or St-Pierre should vacate his title. A hidden camera video taken backstage prior to the weigh-ins for the March 16 event at the Bell Centre in Montreal has revealed a suggestion of some impropriety involving the official results. In the video, the UFC’s Senior VP of Business and Legal Affairs Michael Mersh is heard talking to Diaz’ camp and saying that he and St-Pierre would be given an extra hour to make weight if necessary and that they would not have to make the exact 170-pound weight limit for the title fight but could be up to 0.9 pounds over the mark because the Quebec commission doesn’t count the decimal. A full transcription of the dialogue was provided by MMA.tv:

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Scott Holtzman is the No 1 contender for the XFC Lightweight Title, he will face Nick Newell in June, he gives his views on his latest win and facing Notorious Nick.

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Without federal regulations, mixed martial arts promoters are forced to abide by guidelines that often vary both in type and size as they hold events in different states. The World Series of Fighting (WSOF) ran headlong into this particular challenge as they held their second show overall and first in New Jersey on Saturday evening at Revel Resort and Casino in Atlantic City. As it turns out, the show came close to never happening. Aside from complications prior to the weigh-ins, the organization failed to comply with state regulations as it pertains to creating a complete, safe cage. In short, WSOF initially provided both a canvas and cage pads too small for their own cage. Bloody Elbow was the first to report the news...

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An "off the record" conversation with a UFC official telling the Nick Diaz camp that there were unusual rules in play for the UFC 158 weigh-in for his fight with Georges St. Pierre has drawn a generic answer from the Quebec commission.

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The day before mixed martial artists compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC), they pose with each other in a staged face-off. A new study has analysed photographs taken at dozens of these pre-fight encounters and found that competitors who smile are more likely to lose the match the next day (pdf via author website). Michael Kraus and Teh-Way David Chen recruited four coders (blind to the aims of the study) to assess the presence of smiles, and smile intensity, in photographs taken of 152 fighters in 76 face-offs. Fighter smiles were mostly "non-Duchenne", with little or no crinkling around the eyes. Data on the fights was then obtained from official UFC statistics. The researchers wanted to test the idea that in this context, smiles are an involuntary signal of submission and lack of aggression, just as teeth baring is in the animal kingdom. Consistent with the researchers' predictions, fighters who smiled more intensely prior to a fight were more likely to lose, to be knocked down in the clash, to be hit more times, and to be wrestled to the ground by their opponent (statistically speaking, the effect sizes here were small to medium). On the other hand, fighters with neutral facial expressions pre-match were more likely to excel and dominate in the fight the next day, including being more likely to win by knock-out or submission.

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Manny Gamburyan's injury woes continue, and he has been forced out of May's UFC on FX 8 event. In his place steps Nik Lentz (23-5-2 MMA, 7-2-1), who now meets Brazilian Hacran Dias (21-1-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC). UFC officials today announced the switch...

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If nothing else, Chan Sung Jung may have helped teach the MMA world a history lesson. "The Korean Zombie" on Sunday took to his official Facebook page to issue a challenge of sorts to UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. The featherweight contender didn't want to fight GSP, of course. He wanted him to stop wearing his walkout gi. St-Pierre's walkout attire, made by apparel company Hayabusa Fightwear Inc., for his UFC 158 win over Nick Diaz earlier this month was a white gi adorned on the left side with a red sun-like symbol. To most, that might seem innocent enough. The Japaense theme has long been a part of St-Pierre's walkout gear, including a white headband with a red circle on the front to resemble the current flag of Japan...

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Just got off the phone with my Marvel source who gave me an Exclusive scoop… I’ve been told that mixed martial artist and current UFC Welterweight Champion, Georges St-Pierre aka GSP has been cast in Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”. GSP will play one of the villains, Batroc the Leaper!!!

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Trainer Firas Zahabi has been with Georges St. Pierre for years. He knows how hard the UFC welterweight champion works, and in a recent interview with the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Cheap Seats” show, Zahabi explained why GSP’s preparation can’t be sustained for several more years of competition. The trainer also discussed the use of the jab in MMA and more. On whether St. Pierre is less likely than other champs to be fighting when he’s 35: “I think so because his training camps are not sustainable forever. His training camps are very difficult. I’ve done a lot of training camps. I could tell you the energy, time and money and hours spent doing a GSP training camp is ridiculous. It’s borderline insane. There’s a lot of effort going into preparing him for his fights. Can he live this lifestyle for another four or five years? I don’t know. Because it’s not a balanced lifestyle. It’s not a balanced lifestyle for him. “He’s giving up a lot of free time and leisure time and experiences he could be having in life to maintain his title, to maintain this excellence. It’s a difficult thing to do. He’s going to have to make that choice one fight at a time. Does he want to go through another training camp? Right now at this time, yes, for sure. There’s no doubt in my mind he wants to do another one, but down the line, two or three more training camps, is he still going to want to do it? That’s up to him. Does he still have the fire and the passion? We’ll see.”

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Despite rumors to the contrary, Melvin Guillard will not be returning to train at Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts. The UFC lightweight recently announced via Twitter that he has left the Blackzilians and has rejoined the Albuquerque, N.M.-based team. “I’m no longer a Blackzilian. I went back to where I belong [at] Jackson’s,” Guillard wrote. However, a source close to the situation confirmed to Sherdog.com on Monday that the fighter known as “The Young Assassin” will not be granted access to train with the renowned camp, which he once called home for more than a year and a half. Jackson’s MMA currently houses a bevy of 155-pound talent, from “Fight of the Night” staple Donald Cerrone to up-and-coming Russian prospect Rustam Khabilov. Guillard, meanwhile, has lost four of his last five fights. “Until it presents a problem as far as my coaching goes, then I’ll deal with it when it comes,” Guillard told Sherdog.com in 2011. “I’m my own boss; my coaches work for me, so it’s whatever I choose that I want to do to be successful in this game. I’m going to take those options.”

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UFC WW Dan Hardy suffers wolf heart syndrome scare. Considering his future and possible second opinion

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