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December 2008 MMA News Archive - Page 2
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Dana White is unhappy with Steve Mazzagatti
(mmabay.co.uk) And when Kongo was pounding out Mostapha Al-Turk, the Beirut native’s face quickly turned into a messy site, and yet the pounding continued. Dana White criticised Mazzagatti’s actions with the following statement.
“He’s a nice guy, but he’s not a referee,”
Minowaman Returns at FEG FiELDS Dynamite!! 2008
(bloodyelbow.com) Yet another fight was announced today for the absolutely monster FiELDS Dynamite!! 2008 year end event. According to Nightmare of Battle it was made official today that Minowaman, real name Ikuhisa Minowa, would be facing off against K-1 fighter Errol Zimmerman in an MMA rules fight. Minowaman is looking to bounce back from a quick heel hook submission loss at Dream.6 against Masakatsu Funaki. Meanwhile Zimmerman is coming off a pretty good showing at the K-1 World Grand Prix Finals 2008. In the tournament the Dutch-Surinamese kick boxer was able to make it to the second round of the tournament before being KOed by former K-1 World Heavyweight Champion Badr Hari.This will be Zimmerman's first MMA fight.
Jardine Will Not Fight Liddell in March
(mmaweekly.com) Despite several reports assuring the fight, a source close to Jardine's camp says he will not lock horns with Liddell at UFC 96 on March 7 in Columbus, Oh.
Jardine will, however, return against an unnamed opponent during the "Arnold Classic" weekend card.
Nogueira Addresses KO; Talks Fight Against Couture
(fightline.com) "It was the first knockout of my career, said the ever-gracious Nogueira at the post fight press conference. "I feel like I didn't fight well tonight; I didn't fight my distance. He had a great fight tonight. He was a great fighter. He had better distance than me, he had some good shots at the beginning of the fight that changed everything I was planning. He's just great, he had a great night tonight and fought very good... he threw some strong hands.
Nogueira was a bit somber, but appeared in good spirits following the fight; stating that he's committed to improving his game and insisting that he'll come back stronger and faster.
As for an upcoming opponent? How about Randy Couture?
"Yep. For sure I would accept this fight against Randy Couture," Nogueira said. "He's a great fighter. He just lost his last match but he's a true legend in this sport and I'd love to fight him. It would be a good promotion; we're both very experienced fighters and it would be a nice match."
JOE STEVENSON VS DIEGO SANCHEZ HEADLINES UFC 95
(mmaweekly.com) UFC president Dana White, at the UFC 92 post-fight press conference on Saturday night, confirmed a previously rumored lightweight bout between Joe "Daddy" Stevenson and new 155-pounder Diego Sanchez for UFC 95 in London, England.
'Rampage' Eyes Griffin Rematch, Not Title Shot
(sherdog.com) Quinton "Rampage" Jackson wants to wear the UFC light heavyweight championship again, but what he desires most is another crack at the last man to defeat him.
SATOSHI ISHII STARTS EXCLUSIVE NEGOTIATIONS WITH UFC
(ufc.com) Ishii yesterday started exclusive negotiations to enter into a contract with the UFC.
Despite wanting Griffin, Jackson could be first to challenge for Evans' title
(mmajunkie.com) With his violent knockout victory over Wanderlei Silva at Saturday's "UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008" event, former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson (29-7 MMA, 4-1 UFC) could get an immediate shot to reclaim his belt.
UFC 92 bonuses and awards for ‘The Ultimate 2008’ PPV fights
(mmamania.com) Knockout of the Night — Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
Submission of the Night – N/A
Fight of the Night — Rashad Evans vs. Forrest Griffin
Rampage Jackson Talks Changes; Wanderlei Silva
(fightline.com) When Quinton "Rampage" Jackson left Juanito Iberra and the US to train at Wolfslair Academy in England, he also claims to have left behind baggage that has prevented the UFC former champion from realizing his enormous natural potential.
He claims to live a spartan lifestyle now, complete with zero distractions and an overhaul of his diet and workout routines.
Overeem vs. Hari At Dynamite Now Official
(mmajunkie.com) The match that Alistair Overeem has been saying he'd be in on his website is now official for K-1 Dynamite!! FEG has officially announced Overeem vs. Badr Hari in a K-1 Rules match.
UFC 92 Weigh-In Results
(mmajunkie.com) The weigh-ins for UFC 92 have just been completed. Everyone made weight, making the entire fight card official.
2008 Olympic judo gold medalist Satoshi Ishii to Attend UFC 92
(411mania.com) 2008 Olympic judo gold medalist Satoshi Ishii has been formally invited to attend UFC 92 next weekend by UFC President Dana White. According to a report by Nikkan Sports, Ishii will accept the invitation and will be at the MGM Grand Garden Arena next Saturday.
Justin Eilers Murdered
(mmaweekly.com)
Mixed martial arts fighter Justin Eilers was shot and killed late Christmas night in Nampa, Idaho. Eilers' manager and friend, Monte Cox, confirmed his death to MMAWeekly.com on Friday morning.
Mir doesn't understand why he's fighting five rounds
(sports.yahoo.com) "Having the November 14th fight (Couture v. Lesnar) took some of the air out of the sails of this fight," said Mir. "It made it very confusing with the title with Nogueira and myself. I've had to train for five rounds for no reason."
The Top Ten Fights of 2008
(fiveouncesofpain.com) The qualifications for this top ten list of top fights were a combination of pre-fight drama, excitement during the fight itself, and the greatest repercussions of the results.
Pros Picks: Griffin vs. Evans
(sherdog.com) Sherdog.com spoke with dozens of professional fighters and trainers to get their take on the clash between “The Ultimate Fighter” season one and two winners. Who will get it right?
Quick Quote: Fedor Means MMA Business
(mmamania.com) Fedor Emelianenko recently explained that preparations for his upcoming fight with Andrei Arlovski were to blame for his recent-and very rare-loss at the World Sambo Championships. He also was not upset with only winning bronze instead of gold.
TUF 8 Finale Drug Tests Clean
(mmaweekly.com) NSAC executive director Keith Kizer has announced that all 12 fighters given post-fight drug tests at the TUF 8 Finale passed. The fight winners and main event fighters were all tested.
Jackson vs. Silva: The psychology of being KO'd
(mmafighting.com) Jackson vs. Silva: The psychology of being KO'd
Posted by Robert Rousseau 12/25/08—2:15 AM
When Quinton “Rampage” Jackson takes on Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva at UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008, Jackson has something to prove. New fans may not realize this, but while fighting for Japan’s PRIDE organization in both 2003 and 2004 Rampage was knocked out rather viciously by his soon-to-be UFC 92 opponent. After the second knockout, in fact, Rampage didn’t look like the same fighter in defeating Murilo “Ninja” Rua by controversial decision and then getting stopped by his brother, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua by TKO.
In other words, it took him awhile to get over that second defeat at the hands of Silva.
“It didn’t have the outcome that I wanted to have (in earlier fights against Silva) but this is my time to make it right in my mind,” Rampage recently said at a UFC 92 conference call. “I’m a little bit older and more mature now. I’m a lot better with my skills and everything. So I feel like this time right here, this is the time where I can go and give it my all, my hundred percent.”
The fact is that Rampage certainly has grown in all facets of his game since those losses to Silva. In fact, his cardio and technical striking skills have improved to the point that he’s hardly the same fighter. So when he says, “this is a whole new Rampage,” he’s not making that up. Still, it’s widely believed that coming back from a knockout is a difficult thing. It gets in your head. Of course, that ideology is usually used to address fighters coming back from being knocked out in their last fight, something that is not plaguing the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. On the other, losing to someone in the past by way of submission or decision is one thing. These were two nasty knockout losses (particularly that last one). And like this time, Rampage had believed it would be his time to overcome Silva way back then.
So how much do those knockouts plague him? Well, he certainly has gone on record to say that he needs to make this whole situation right in his mind. The question is, how do you go about beginning to do that from a training angle?
Change things up, that’s how. For Rampage, that in part meant traveling over to the Wolfslair Academy in England, home of Michael Bisping. “My training went really well. . . I had some really excellent sparring partners and stuff like that. So I was really happy about that. . .You know, a lot of people don’t want to do that (train with good sparring partners) because there’s a good chance they’ll get their ass kicked when they step out of their element. So I got some guys who fight like my opponent and training went very well this time. . . It was kind of like a cold area so I had to man up and really work my ass and train hard,” Rampage said.
In the end, this is a different fight than those these two rather legendary competitors partook in several years ago. Even Silva agrees to that. Still, the questions are plentiful. How much better is Jackson on his feet than before? Has Silva lost skills since their previous encounters? Will Rampage choose to try and take his opponent down and ground him down to bits? If he gets hit with a big shot, will the past come back to haunt him in his own mind? Will he begin to doubt himself?
Or will he make this whole situation right in his mind, as he plans to?
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Frank Mir should be great. Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans will be a match between two fighters that always demonstrate tremendous heart. But this fight, for hardcore MMA fans, has been a long time coming and could be the most interesting one of the night.
Rampage doesn’t appear to have thrown a rock in the water with his opponent’s name on it like Georges St. Pierre did before his rematch against Matt Serra. Regardless, we’ll find out if he was able to exercise his Wanderlei Silva demons on December 27, 2008.
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