Page 584 - Top MMA News and Mixed Martial Arts Headlines

The lightweights will go to battle as the WEC invades Columbus, OH when former IFL stand-out, Bart Palaszewski, takes on rising star, Karen Darabedyan, in a 155lb contest on the undercard of the Saturday night event. The bout was announced by the WEC on Tuesday.A winner in his last two fights, Palaszewski is looking to build upon his last victory in the WEC, a split decision nod he got over Anthony Pettis back in December.

Add your comment  

A pair of recently reported bouts was today made official for the UFC's debut on Versus, and at least one fighter might be a little disappointed with his position on the card.Shannon Gugerty vs. Clay Guida and Rob Kimmons vs. Mike Pierce were today announced for the evening's preliminary card and the 11-bout "UFC on Versus 1: Vera vs. Jones" event is now complete.UFC on Versus 1 is slated for The Odeum in Broomfield, Colo., and features a light heavyweight headliner between Jon Jones and Brandon Vera. The main card airs live on Versus.

Add your comment  

Last week, Melvin Guillard, Ronnys Torres’ opponent on his debut on UFC, revealed that he likes to face Jiu-Jitsu athletes because he had more chances to take the knockout of the night bonus at UFC 109. One week before going to the United States, Ronnys talked to TATAME and answered Guillard’s comments.

Add your comment  

That would be his opponent, Krzyzstof Soszynski. "He usually comes to fight. In the last fight with Coleman it felt more like he wanted to get takedowns and hold me down more than anything. Not like he was trying to beat me up. Krzysztof will try to come in there and beat me up and, hey, that’s what I want! He’s just a big strong guy. But I feel technically I’ve got him beat in both the striking and the submission game. I know I can submit him, I know I could beat him standing up, and, if he lasts long enough … I’m pretty sure I could break his spirit, too. I’ve seen him kind of fold in fights and, you know, if that’s happened before, that person’s got it in them." He really has to-a loss means 3 straight for Bonnar...and despite his past contributions to UFC that could still mean Das Boot.

Add your comment  

Michael Bisping says so. In his latest online entry for The Daily Telegraph, Bisping says he's over his KO loss at UFC 100 and his confidence is sky-high going into his fight with Wanderlei Silva. "I’ve seen interviews this week with Wanderlei saying he’s going knock me out and that I am scared of him. He’s mistaken on both counts. Bring it on, Wanderlei…"

Add your comment  

Already with an established reputation in female mixed martial arts as one of the most commonly avoided fighters in the business, Strikeforce 145 pound title threat Erin Toughill has once again seen an anticipated bout fall through due to not being able to find an opponent with the nerve to face her. FiveOuncesofPain.com was recently able to learn from sources close to the situation that a total of seven women were contacted as potential opponents for the bout, and all seven have refused the matchup, leaving Toughill without a fight on January 30. 5 Oz. was the first to report that Erin was originally expected to return to action at FCF (Freestyle Cage Fighting) 39 on January 30 from the Firelake Grand Casino in Shawnee, Oklahoma. The card will still feature an extremely intriguing eight female 135 pound tournament with the winner being granted a title shot in the division over at Strikeforce in the near future.

Add your comment  

New York Times Letters to the Editor In “A Leaner Budget for Lean Times” (editorial, Jan. 20), you call mixed martial arts, which Gov. David A. Paterson is proposing to legalize, “controversial.” In fact, the sport is not only legal in all but eight states, but if it should come to New York, our State Athletic Commission already has the mechanisms in place to ensure that such competitions follow the highest guidelines of health and safety.

Add your comment  

Fedor Emelianenko and his promotional team survived a first-round attack Monday in a legal battle that pits them against their former business partner, Affliction Entertainment. Affliction’s attorney, Michael Bassiri, confirmed to Sherdog.com that a Los Angeles federal judge had denied Affliction’s motion to dismiss several claims made in a breach of contract lawsuit filed Oct. 28 by Emelianenko and M-1 Global. The case is set to go to trial on Nov. 16.

Add your comment  

Some media outlets called it the upset of the year. It was shocking to see Brian Bowles take out Miguel Torres at WEC 42 and it did upset the former bantamweight champ. Torres realized he had gotten into a comfort zone, was surrounded by yes men and was fighting with the wrong approach. "I've used the same training partners for 11 or 12 years, and I haven't brought any of them back for this fight," Torres told the Las Vegas Sun. "What ended up happening was — I wasn't getting cocky, they got cocky. They would say, 'Oh, you're going to kill this guy. He's only got seven fights.'"

Add your comment  

When Karo Parisyan withdrew from UFC 106 at the last minute, UFC President Dana White said Parisyan would never fight in the UFC again. But Parisyan says he will be fighting somewhere soon. "I promise you I'm going to fight again," Parisyan told Aaron Tru. "I don't know when or where but I promise the fight is going to happen pretty soon, within the next few months. I'll be back, better than ever. I've always said I'm asking for a chance for my fans and my friends. I'll be back and I'll do sensational, I promise."

Add your comment  

Teammate versus teammate. It has been a controversial subject that seems to gain more steam every time UFC president Dana White mentions the possibility of one fighter getting in contender status and a teammate climbing up the ladder right behind them. To this date, no one has been forced to make that decision, but at American Kickboxing Academy they have three top ranked welterweights and it's always a hot topic to bring up. White mentioned recently that he thought a great fight to determine a top contender would be Jon Fitch vs. Josh Koscheck, but again they didn't have to make that choice and each of them have different opponents. AKA fighter Mike Swick talked about the impossible situation with MMAWeekly Radio recently.

Add your comment  

Nick Diaz takes on Dream champion Marius Zaromskis on Jan. 30 in Sunrise, Fla., for the vacant Strikeforce welterweight title. Diaz’s last two fights were out of his weight class, but he’s eager to return to the 170-pound division, the division he’s competed in for most of his career. “I’m very happy to fight at that weight. I look the best at that weight. I like it, I feel the best at that weight,” said the Cesar Gracie trained athlete. “I’ve been waiting for a long time to fight in here at this weight class. Those last two fights weren’t my idea. I’ve fought at welterweight most of my life, so this isn’t a new thing to me.”

Add your comment  

An intriguing welterweight matchup between Strikeforce newcomer Andre Galvao (3-1 MMA, 0-0 SF) and promotional veteran Luke Stewart (6-2 MMA, 6-2 SF) appears likely for the as-yet-unannounced "Strikeforce Challengers VII" event. Sources close to the event today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that verbal agreements are in place for the matchup, and bout agreements are expected to be finalized shortly. While Strikeforce has yet to officially announce the event, "Strikeforce Challengers VII" is expected to take place March 26 in Fresno, Calif. The Galvao vs. Stewart matchup is expected for the main card of the Showtime-broadcast event.

Add your comment  

It's not TV, but it's something. Five days from the first bell of the Jan. 30 event, "Strikeforce: Miami," the promotion has taken extra steps to ensure a welterweight clash between Jay Hieron (18-4 MMA, 1-0 SF) and Joe Riggs (32-10 MMA, 3-2 SF) can be widely seen. EA Sports, the software developer of video game "EA Sports MMA" and a strategic partner of the San Jose, Calif.–based Strikeforce promotion, announced today via Twitter that it will stream the preliminary card fight live on EASportsMMA.com. The stream begins at 9 p.m. ET and will be the sole undercard fight broadcast on the web.

Add your comment  

LAS VEGAS – Former UFC champion and MMA legend Chuck Liddell (21-7 MMA, 16-6 UFC) understands that his back is against the wall. After a stretch of four losses in five fights, Liddell's longtime friend and current boss, UFC president Dana White, doesn't want to see the "Iceman" in the cage again. But with a rematch with fellow "The Ultimate Fighter 11" coach Tito Ortiz on the horizon, Liddell has his sights set on one more run at the title. And along the way, he hopes to prove all of his doubters – including White – wrong about what he's got left in the tank. "I don't think I have anything to prove, but I would like to prove [White] wrong," Lidell told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) at Monday's "TUF 11" media day. "I'm not too old. I can still fight.

Add your comment  

Sengoku, Bellator and EliteXC veteran Dave Herman (16-1), better known to most MMA fans as "Pee Wee," is the latest addition to the rapidly expanding Shine Fights roster. The organization announced the signing late Monday night via Twitter. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has learned from sources close to the promotion that near-12-year veteran Jeff Monson (32-9) is likely to welcome Herman to the organization. Monson signed a deal with the upstart Shine Fights promotion this past December.

Add your comment  

The fight card for the WEC's debut in Columbus, OH is filling up fast as the promotion announced the addition of a lightweight bout pitting Danny Castillo against Anthony Pettis in a preliminary fight on the show. The promotion made the announcement about the fight on Monday evening. Castillo currently holds a 3-2 record in the WEC with wins over notable fighters such as Ricardo Lamas and Rafael Dias. His losses come by way of two of the top fighters in the WEC's lightweight division in Donald Cerrone and Shane Roller.

Add your comment  

Carlos Newton, the former UFC Welterweight Champion, is set to face Chris Clements at the Canadian based W-1 MMA show on March 20 in Montreal according to Top MMA News. Just yesterday, news broke that W-1 had also signed recently released UFC fighter Denis Kang. Newton (15-13), best known for being on the receiving end of a Matt Hughes power bomb at UFC 34, is coming off a unanimous decision win over Shonie Carter in a W-1 match last October. This will be Newton's third fight with W-1.

Add your comment  

Former 135-pound kingpin Miguel Torres goes back to basics after a stunning defeat at the heavy hands of new bantamweight champion Brian Bowles at WEC 42 back in August 2009. Bowles will make his first title defense at WEC 47 on March 6 in a bout that will have Torres driving the Cruz bandwagon so that he can get back into the cage with Bowles and prove his loss was a fluke. Will Torres get his revenge? Or has his storied championship reign come to an end, much like Urijah Faber's did at WEC 36 now that the WEC has a stacked roster?

Add your comment  

Former Shooto welterweight champion and first-ever Dream lightweight champion Joachim Hansen is expected to move down to featherweight to challenger current Dream featherweight titleholder Bibiano Fernandes.MMAWeekly.com sources on Monday independently confirmed the bout’s probability. It was first reported by FiveOuncesOfPain.com.

Add your comment