Gilbert Melendez mulls move to UFC
(mmamania.com)“I have one fight left with Strikeforce. Right now, I’m really happy with them…. There is the possibility I could stay there with them, but I don’t know, we will see how it goes. The UFC has always been a big dream of mine. The UFC is a great organization. I love that show. But MMA is a business now and I have got to make sure things are in my best interest. The fighter in me wants to just go to the UFC and just go test myself with everyone. I’m under contract right now part of my contract is we cannot discuss it so I wouldn’t do that. But I hope and believe they are interested. It’s something I would consider. At the end of the day I’m a fighter and I have a life so I have to do what is in the best interest for me.”
Bowles Next In Line For Torres
(mmajunkie.com)Get those mullets back into shape. WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres has a verbal agreement in place for his next title defense-he'll defend against Brian Bowles in April at a to-be-announced event likely to be held in Chicago.
McCullough vs Cerrone Video...Finally
(bloodyelbow.com)
Potential Fight of the year that we all missed on the Undercard of WEC 36.
Even if its only clips of the fight its nice to see they finally put it up online.
These clips are available to insiders only for a short time; Versus will air the fight in its entirety as part of WEC® Best of 2008, a two-hour special presentation on December 28 at 9 p.m. ET.
Amatuer MMA to be Fully Sanctioned in Florida in 2009
(fightticker.com)Steve Bruno got his feet wet in unlicensed mixed martial arts fights known as "smokers" notorious for no-holds-barred mismatches and a lack of adequate on-site medical care. The American Top Team Coconut Creek rising star is one of many professional mixed martial arts fighters who came up the hard way.
That's all about to change thanks to a law spearheaded by Tom Molloy, executive director of the Florida Athletic Commission, and Cory Schafer, president of the International Sport Kickboxing Association. With the safety and development of the fighters in mind, mixed martial arts will be a fully sanctioned amateur sport in the state beginning in January. "
UFC 92: Forrest Breaks Down Rashad
(mmaweekly.com)Known throughout the industry as one of the hardest working competitors to fight in the sport of mixed martial arts, Forrest Griffin will have the opportunity to defend his UFC light heavyweight title for the first time on Dec. 27 when he squares off against Rashad Evans at UFC 92 in Las Vegas.
While Griffin's physical abilities have never been questioned, it's his mental game that has earned him a place among the best fighters in the world. He has a distinct ability to pick his opponents apart in such a way that he takes them out of their game on his way to a victory.
Free From AFL, Assuncao Going Big In 2009
(mmaweekly.com)Raphael Assuncao, ranked as the No. 9 featherweight fighter in the world, has been very successful to this point in his career, all without the backing of a major fight promotion. That is something that should change as he heads into 2009.
Assuncao says that he's in the midst of negotiations that would land him on the biggest stage of his 12-1 professional career in the coming year.
"2009 is going to be a year that everything is going to fall in place for me," he told MMAWeekly.com recently.
Bob Sapp Returns To MMA On NYE (*UPDATED*)
(mmaweekly.com)K-1 on Monday announced that Bob Sapp will make his return to Japan one year to the day of his last appearance.
Adding him to the Fields Dynamite!! New Year's Eve event at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, Sapp will face the mysterious Kinniku Mantaro in a mixed martial arts bout. Little is known about Mantaro and even the K-1 announcement contained no information about him.
EDIT: Kinniku Mantaro is actually the name of a Japanese anime character. NightmareOfBattle.com is reporting that the true name of the person facing Sapp on New Year's Eve is Akihito Tanaka, a seven-time All Japan Wrestling champion. The bout with Sapp is being sponsored by the creators of the Japanese anime that features Kinniku Mantaro and Tanaka will actually wear a mask of the character when he fights.
The one-hour "Countdown to UFC 92" special
(mmafighting.com)
The preview show for Saturday's UFC 92 "The Ultimate 2008" premieres tonight, Dec. 22 at 11 p.m. ET on Spike TV.
The one-hour "Countdown to UFC 92" special will cover the light heavyweight title fight between Forrest Griffin-Rashad Evans, the heavyweight title fight between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira-Frank Mir and the third encounter between Quinton "Rampage" Jackson-Wanderlei Silva.
Replays will air Thursday, Dec. 25 at midnight and Friday, Dec. 26 at 6 p.m. ET.
UFC 92 "The Ultimate 2008" takes place in Las Vegas and will air live on pay-per-view Saturday at 10 p.m. ET.
jeff monson wins-gold-world-grappling-championship
(mmafighting.com)Former UFC heavyweight Jeff Monson won a Gold medal on Saturday in Ucerne, Switzerland at the first official World Grappling Championship.
Monson, who last week avenged a loss against Ricco Rodriguez from UFC 35, won Gold in the 125kg division.
The other pro MMA fighter walking away with Gold was Fatal Femmes Fighting flyweight champ Lisa Ward, who was first in the women’s 48kg division.
Miesha Tate, who defeated EliteXC vet Elaina Maxwell in June at Strikeforce, took home Silver in the women's 72kg division.
The World Grappling Championship was organized by the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA) and the Swiss Wrestling Federation.
Stefan Struve Offered Fight With Junior Dos Santos For His Debut @ UFC 95
(fightersonlymagazine.co.uk)Dutch heavyweight Stefan Struve has been offered a fight with Junior Dos Santos for his UFC debut, Fighters Only has learned.
A source close to the fight confirmed that Dos Santos has been offered to Struve, who will make his first appearance for the organisation at UFC 95.
However, the source added that Dos Santos was one of several potential opponents and that nothing has been confirmed as yet.
Speculation had been rife that Struve would face Neil Grove, the UK-based heavyweight who was signed within days of the Dutchman.
But Fighters Only was told on Friday that the two would definitely not be facing each other in their UFC debuts.
MMA Mania's 10 Best Knockouts Of 2008
(mmamania.com)The knockout.
It’s the most feared and decisive ending in all of combat sports. Unlike a submission, where a fighter may be working for position or already have a hold applied, a fight-ending knockout is almost impossible to see coming.
And perhaps that’s what makes it so exciting. A knockout can cause an entire arena to gasp in unison, or force a once prominent fighter to forever change his strategy or weight class.
From Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic’s near-death experience at the foot of Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 70 to the pinpoint precision of Anderson Silva’s dismemberment of Chris Leben at Ultimate Fight Night 5, a knockout can come in all shapes and sizes.
And 2008 was full of them.
Big In 2008, Strikeforce Plans Expansion In 2009
(mmaweekly.com)It has been a banner year for mixed martial arts. Viewership and popularity grew to record numbers, but that success was not without a cost.
While the Ultimate Fighting Championship soared above all others, 2008 saw the downfall of the International Fight League and apparently ProElite and its MMA promotion EliteXC.
Still, there were survivors, most notably California-based promotion Strikeforce, which achieved its highest levels of exposure and revenue since its inception two years ago.
Lister faces tall task as he prepares for Okami
(usatoday.com)How do you see Okami from a technical standpoint?
Okami is a really good neutralizer. If you're a real good striker, he can take you down, and ground and pound you. If you're a good grappler, he's hard to take down. He's going to be able to make your strong point not as strong. He has pretty good endurance. He keeps going a constant pace in a fight. I've heard he's very strong. He's real tall and he's a good counterpuncher.
Mike Patt vs. Brandon Vera set for UFC 96 in Ohio
(mmajunkie.com)
While there have been no officially announced bouts by the organization, light-heavyweights Mike Patt (12-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) and Brandon Vera (9-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) have verbally agreed to meet at UFC 96.
Sam Caplan of Fiveouncesofpain.com first reported the likelihood of the bout earlier today, and MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) was able to confirm the agreements with multiple sources close to the bout.
UFC 96 is scheduled for March 7 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
Ohio-native Patt will be looking for his first win in the octagon. The BodogFIGHT veteran made an unsuccessful first appearance for the organization at UFC 88 in September. Patt entered the bout having won eight of his previous nine outings, but was stopped in the first round by Tim Boetsch after taking the fight on less than three week's notice.
Despite the unsuccessful initial outing, Patt told MMAjunkie.com that he hoped to become a permanent fixture in the UFC.
"There are plenty of places to fight, and some guys will tell you how they want to fight here or there," Patt said. "But given the chance, they would all fight for the UFC regardless of what they might say. It validates everything you do as a fighter. I would be very happy to call the UFC home."
Vera will enter the bout looking for just his second win in his past five bouts. After establishing himself as a UFC contender with wins over Frank Mir, Assuerio Silva, Justin Eilers and Fabiano Scherner, Vera would drop his next two bouts to Fabricio Werdum and Tim Sylvia. Those losses prompted Vera to make a cut to 205 pounds.
Vera was victorious in his debut at light-heavyweight over Reese Andy, but lost a close split-decision to Keith Jardine in his most recent bout at UFC 89.
Gilbert Yvel cleared to fight by California commission (*UPDATED: Yvel Not Cleared Yet*)
(fiveouncesofpain.com)One of the more controversial fighters of the past decade is heavyweight Gilbert Yvel. Yvel is scheduled to face Josh Barnett in the co-main event at Affliction Entertainment’s “Day of Reckoning” PPV on January 24. The problem with signing Yvel is that he has had a multitude of licensing issues with the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
The VP of Affliction Entertainment, Tom Atencio, confirmed that Yvel can fight in California.
“Yvel has been cleared through the CSAC (California State Athletic Commission),” said Atencio.
Yoshida Recovering, Planning Spring Return
(mmaweekly.com)Following a knockout loss to Josh Koscheck at the UFC "Fight for the Troops" show, Japanese judoka Yoshiyuki Yoshida was taken to the hospital and later released. MMAWeekly.com received word from Yoshida's camp on his condition and his plans for a return.
Ryan Bader: Not Just A Wrestler
(mmaweekly.com)Ryan "Darth" Bader made his professional mixed martial arts debut on March 31, 2007, and within a year's time the former Arizona State wrestling stand out had racked up a 7-0 record heading into The Ultimate Fighter season 8. With his technical knockout victory over Vinicius Magalhaes in the season finale to become The Ultimate Fighter, Bader showed he's not just a wrestler anymore.
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