UFC Quick Quote: Dana White says 'huge fight' coming to free TV to make up for UFC 112
(mmamania.com)"What I'm going to end up doing is probably taking a big, huge fight that should have been on pay-per-view and put it on free TV. I'm actually working on it right now. I said I'd make up for that, and trust me, I'm gonna."
The above picture says it all. UFC President Dana White was flat out embarrassed and enraged by UFC 112's main event, particularly by Anderson Silva's peculiar antics. If you remember, directly after the fight, White promised to make it up to the fans who paid their hard-earned money for that atrocious display of mixed martial arts in some way, shape or form. Via MMA Weekly, Dana details his plans for how he is going to do that. It looks likely that a legitimate, big time main event is coming to Spike TV or Versus in the near future. Any thoughts on what that fight may be? Or, better yet, take this time to let D.W. know what kind of fight will rid your memory of that woeful April night in Abu Dhabi.
Thats the whole article.
Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker believes Jake Shields has overvalued himself
(mmamania.com)Quoteworthy:
"We continue to have dialogue with his dad, who's his manager, and Rich [Chou], who's our matchmaker. He has a good relationship with Jake and his father, and they've done the numbers dance and they'll continue to do that until Jake makes a decision. But where he is going to end up, who really knows? At the end of the day, Jake has something he feels his value is and we feel the value is in a certain area, and there's a discrepancy there... It has nothing to do with a bidding war, it has to do with, what is the value of the fighter? And the value of the fighter, to me, is based on: does he get great TV ratings? Is he a great fighter? Does he put butts in seats? And every fighter is different. Does he have that X factor to become a superstar. So every athlete we evaluate differently, and most of the time, the fighter feels that their value is slightly higher than the promoter is willing to pay."
Scott Coker makes it clear that what Jake Shields believes he is worth to a MMA promotion, isn't quite on par with what Strikeforce values him at. Coker mentions that aspects involved in evaluating a fighter's worth for his company include how big of a draw they are, something that Shields has never been known for. These sentiments sound eerily similar to how UFC President Dana White described Dan Henderson's before he split for Coker's show. Anybody see this situation playing out differently? Or, is the coffin already nailed shut?
Thast the whole article but I posted the link anyway.
Fedor: ‘I’m Not A Fan of the UFC’
(sherdog.com)
Fedor Emelianenko had some strong criticisms for the UFC during a Friday teleconference call touting his June 26 bout against Fabricio Werdum at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.
The 34-year-old Emelianenko was asked which upcoming heavyweight bout between UFC 116’s Brock Lesnar-Shane Carwin and his own fight against Werdum had more relevance. The stoic fighter predictably gave credence to his own affair. However, Emelianenko dropped an eye-opening remark while doing it.
“I think both fights are very important because you’ve got basically four world-class heavyweights in the top 10 of their sport, but I’m not a UFC fan,” said Emelianenko, who has two fights left with Strikeforce under a co-promotional agreement with M-1 Global. “So, I would invite all the fans to watch our fight that I believe is more important because we’re not in the UFC.”
When asked later why he didn’t approve of the world’s No. 1 promotion, the most sought-after fighter in the sport said it was a combination of how the UFC presented its events and how its fighters carried themselves.
"What I meant to say was I’m not a fan of watching their fights,” said Emelianenko. “Compared to a lot of the commercials and the promotion and anticipation of their fights and compared to a lot of the shows that I’ve seen, there seems to be a negativity involved in a lot of their shows, so I’m just not a fan of watching their programs.
“I think the combination (of presentation and fighter attitude) -- in some ways how the fights are presented and the manner they're presented and also in some ways the actions and behavior of a lot of the fighters from the UFC -- it takes away from the sport."
UFC weigh-in results for The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 11 Finale
(mmamania.com)
Everyone was on weight. Only Fisher had to use the towel. It was not the same w/o Rogan... 
Main event:
185 lbs.: Court McGee (185) vs. Kris McCray (184)
Main card (Televised):
205 lbs.: Matt Hamill (205) vs. Keith Jardine (205)
185 lbs.: Chris Leben (186) vs. Aaron Simpson (186)
155 lbs.: Spencer Fisher (156) vs. Dennis Siver (156)
185 lbs.: Rich Attonito (186) vs. Jamie Yager (185)
Under card (May not be broadcast):
155 lbs.: John Gunderson (155) vs. Mark Holst (154)
265 lbs.: Travis Browne (251) vs. James McSweeney (231)
185 lbs.: Seth Baczynski (185) vs. Brad Tavares (185)
185 lbs.: Josh Bryant (185) vs. Kyle Noke (185)
185 lbs.: Chris Camozzi (185) vs. James Hammortree (186)
Kamal Shalrous Is The Toughest Guy You've Never Heard Of
(mmamania.com)His opponent at WEC 49, Jamie Varner, thinks so. "This is a really crazy fight because we're both wrestler/boxers, and I feel like where I lack, he exceeds, and where he lacks, I exceed. I feel like I'm definitely the better boxer and technical striker, but he hits really, really hard, but yet he's a better wrestler. He's nationally decorated, he's an Olympic alternate for Britain; I mean, he's no joke. Kamal Shalorus is the toughest guy you've never heard of."
Brock Lesnar's Surprise Training Partner
(5thround.com)Despite handing Randy Couture a 2ndRound TKO loss en route to jacking his title at UFC 91, reigning heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar has remained in fairly close contact with Captain America. Couture is one of the few men in the sport the former WWE superstar actually respects.
Court McGee: From Half-Naked Drug Addict To TUF Finalist
(mmamania.com)Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 11 finalist Court McGee is one fight away from completing an unlikely (and somewhat miraculous) turnaround in his life. The last time McGee was in Las Vegas he was wandering the streets with no pants looking for meth. Now he's back as one of TUF's biggest success stories, which he can cap off on Saturday night (June 19) against Kris McCray.
UFC 118 gets "UFC Prelims" Spike TV special
(mmajunkie.com)The recently announced "UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn II" event in Boston airs on pay-per-view, but the August event also will get a one-hour "UFC Prelims" special on Spike TV.
A source close to the event today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that two preliminary-card fights will air prior to the night's PPV airing.
Officials, though, have not decided which fights will air as part of the Aug. 28 special.
UFC 118 takes place at TD Garden and marks the UFC's Massachusetts debut. Lightweight champ Frankie Edgar rematches B.J. Penn in the headliner, and Randy Couture meets boxing champ James Toney in the co-main event.
Traditionally, "The Ultimate Fighter" cast members and UFC Fight Night regulars are featured in the "UFC Prelims" specials. Therefore, a lightweight bout between "TUF 5" cast member Joe Lauzon and British fighter Terry Etim is a leading candidate for a "UFC Prelims" spot, as is a middleweight bout between "TUF 4" competitor Jorge Rivera and veteran Alessio Sakara.
Pulver, Rizzo, Bustamante, Goes to compete Aug 14 on hybrid MMA/Boxing card
(mixedmartialarts.com)CagePotato.com has been able to confirm with a source close to the show the participation of several former UFC and PRIDE veterans in an August 14 hybrid boxing and MMA card in San Diego, California.
War on the Mainland's self-titled event will take place at the San Diego Sports Arena and will feature Murilo Bustamante, Thales Leites, Alan Goes, Pedro Rizzo, Jens Pulver and Jason Lambert among others. Rizzo was originally scheduled to take on former UFC heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia for the WOTM heavyweight title, but is currently waiting on another opponent as Sylvia injured his foot in his May 21 Moosin bout with Mariusz "The World's Strongest Man" Pudzianowski.
Matchups Announced for Sengoku Bantamweight Asia Tournament
(mmafighting.com)The first round matchups for the Sengoku Raiden Championship Bantamweight Asia Tournament 2010, which starts at SRC Asia Volume 1 on July 4th at Differ Ariake, was set Friday via random draw.
The second round of the tournament will be held in late August at SRC 14. One seeded fighter from Shooto, Pancrase, Cage Force and ZST will face the second round victors in the third round of the tournament to be held in late October presumably at SRC 15. The eventual champion of the tournament will have to win five times if they are an unseeded fighter or three if they are seeded.
Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Kazuhisa Watanabe Added to July 5th K-1 WORLD MAX
(mmafighting.com)K-1 President Sadaharu Tanikawa today unveiled four additional matches for July 5th's K-1 World MAX 70 kg Final 16 and 63 kg Japan Tournament Finals. Notably for MMA fans, Sydney Olympic Wrestler Kazuyuki Miyata will by making his K-1 debut against former Japanese featherweight boxing champion and K-1 bad boy Kazuhisa Watanabe. Miyata is coming off a close split decision win over Takafumi Otsuka at DREAM.14 and is undefeated as a featherweight.
Simpson, Bader and Dollaway to open a new Gym in Arizona
(mmaweekly.com)
A group of fighters including UFC mainstays Ryan Bader, Aaron Simpson, and C.B. Dollaway will open a new gym later this year in Arizona, hoping to bring in more top competitors to work with.
Previously training at Arizona Combat Sports, the group of fighters saw an opportunity to pursue a dream that many mixed martial artists have and that is to open a gym of their own.
Freddie Roach: 'The UFC is just trying to use older boxers to make their sport look better'
(mmamania.com)Past-his-prime pugilist James Toney will finally get the chance to prove that boxing (with takedown defense) trumps mixed martial arts on any given Saturday when he takes on former light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Randy Couture at UFC 118 in Boston.
Can he do it?
Not according to famed boxing trainer Freddie Roach, who was asked to give his thoughts recently on "Lights Out" coming over to the UFC to fight "The Natural."
Courtesy of East Side Boxing:
"I think it's a bad decision. I don't think it will work. I think the UFC is just trying to say they're better than boxing because if James fought Couture in a boxing match James would absolutely destroy him, but if he fights him in a UFC/MMA style fight James does not have a ground game, once he goes to the ground it's over. It's completely two different sports and they're just trying to use older boxers to make their sport look better."
E3 2010: UFC-branded fitness game on the way
(mcvuk.com)THQ is working on a unique exercise game.
The publisher confirmed at E3 this week that it is working on a UFC-inspired fitness game for Kinect, PS Move, and Wii.
Unlike other games in the genre the game will be targeted primarily at men, MCV understands. (Men aspiring to be massive man-mountains with necks thicker than their heads - just like the best UFC fighters - we assume.)
But like other exercise games THQ expects it to do well in the post-Christmas season when consumers think about getting in shape and shaving kilograms of mince pies from their physiques.
The game is due in January and is called UFC Trainer.
It's a spin-off of THQ's surprise success UFC, the Ultimate Fighting Championship game that debuted strongly last year - a sequel was released just last month.
But the new game is not on show at E3 - THQ only revealed the game during an investors meeting.
THQ's core games boss Danny Bilson said he wants to demo it only when the game ready for the market.
"We want this thing tuned to perfection without lag," GameSpot quotes him as saying - which suggests THQ's developers are also still getting used to perfecting making content for Kinect.
"And I'm not going to ship it until it's the coolest fighting thing in the world."
Forrest Petz Replaces Julio Paulino At UFC 116
(mmajunkie.com)A late change was just announced for UFC 116: Julio Paulino is now off due to an undisclosed injury. He was to have faced Daniel Roberts. Former UFC fighter Forrest Petz, who is on a 4-fight winning streak, has been reportedly confirmed as the replacement but bout agreements have not yet been signed.
Quinton Jackson Blames Secret Knee Injury & The Boredom Of Greg Jackson For UFC 114 Loss To Rashad Evans
(mmamania.com)So apparently it wasn't ring rust and his A-Team layoff that caused his poor performance, according to Page. "I apologize for the fight not so much because I lost but because of how it went down. I always like to put on exciting fights for the fans but Rashad came out to use that ‘Greg Jackson’ plan: be boring and squeak out a victory. So that bothers me more than the loss. I remember one other thing he was doing - he was punching me in my knee! It was weird because I had suffered a real bad knee injury in camp but we kept it secret, we didn’t say anything about it and we didn’t even tell the UFC. I told my doctor and that was it, he helped me out but I was going to back out of the fight. The only reason I didn’t back out was the fight had been so hyped and I didn’t want to disappoint the fans. Why was he punching me in the knee though? That’s kind of weird - did he find out about the injury? I don’t know. Its weird."
Strikeforce boss confirms signings of Sergei Kharitonov and Valentijn Overeem
(mmajunkie.com)LOS ANGELES – Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker has confirmed the promotion's acquisition of two former PRIDE heavyweights: Sergei Kharitonov (16-4 MMA, 0-0 SF) and Valentijn Overeem (28-25 MMA, 0-0 SF).
Overeem, 33, is the older brother of current Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem, and Kharitonov is a former sparring partner of top-ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko.
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