February 2010 MMA News Archive - Page 5

“If you’ve ever known how we do it, when we come in and we’re as successful as we were in this market, we make it an annual event, so we’ll be coming back here obviously,” UFC president Dana White to the media at the UFC 110 post-fight press conference in Sydney.

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“Akiyama wants to fight Wanderlei very bad,” said White. “It’s a big fight that he wants. We offered him another fight and he said he wants Wanderlei.” White said he’d wait for the battling Brazilian to heal before discussing the bout, but Silva left little to contemplate, stating later that he’d also like to face the ethnic Korean in his next bout.

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With a dominating victory over what he called "probably the best heavyweight of all time," UFC president Dana White has reiterated an earlier promise and said UFC 110 main-event winner Cain Velasquez is on standby for a title shot. If the winner of next month's UFC 111 interim-title fight between Frank Mir and Shane Carwin is injured or sidelined, Velasquez instead gets the title with champion Brock Lesnar.

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It was, perhaps, to be expected. After native son George Sotiropoulos (12-2 MMA, 5-0 UFC) turned in the fight of his life against the highly respected Joe Stevenson (31-11 MMA, 8-5 UFC) at UFC 110 in Sydney, Australia, the local media immediately wanted to know what the local boy's chances were for a shot at the title. UFC president Dana White let the Australian media know to tap the brakes on that discussion, but he did say Sotiropoulos had definitely carved out a spot in the lightweight title picture with the one-sided unanimous decision win.

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George Sotiropoulos, Joe Stevenson, Cain Velasquez and Chris Lytle each earned $50,000 fight-night bonuses at Saturday's "UFC 110: Nogueira vs. Velasquez" event. Sotiropoulos and Stevenson took home "Fight of the Night" honors, Velasquez earned the "Knockout of the Night" award, and Lytle picked up the "Submission of the Night" bonus at the Feb. 20 pay-per-view event.

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While the UFC's first-ever trip to Australia certainly delivered on in-cage action, "UFC 110: Nogueira vs. Velasquez" didn't do too bad at the box office, either. At the UFC 110 post-event press conference, UFC president Dana White said the event drew 17,831 attendees to Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia, for a reported $2.5 million gate.

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While it certainly wasn't quite vintage "Cro Cop" at UFC 110, Mirko Filipovic's second-round TKO over late-replacement Anthony Perosh (10-6 MMA, 0-3 UFC) did get the Croatian back in the win column.

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To borrow a line from Georges St-Pierre, Michael Bisping (18-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) was not impressed by his opponent's performance at UFC 110.

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Seemingly slipping past everyone’s notice, on November 3, 2009, the UFC filed a lawsuit against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson seeking declaratory relief on Jackson’s contract in a Las Vegas courtroom. The complaint details the dispute with Jackson over his decision to pull out of UFC 107, as well as the communications between Jackson’s management and the UFC. According to the complaint, on September 22, 2009, Jackson posted a blog on his website stating he was done fighting. The UFC took this to be an official statement of retirement, and exercised their right under the promotional agreement to suspend the contract pending Jackson’s return to the UFC. After sending Jackson a letter notifying him of the suspension, Jackson’s manager, Anthony McGann, responded with a letter stating that Jackson was ready to renegotiate his contract. The letter also threatens to proceed "in the courts" if Zuffa is unwilling to renegotiate. The complaint asserts that Jackson is intentionally trying to extort the UFC into renegotiating his deal under threat of running out his promotional agreement. The UFC brought this action to get a declaratory judgment stating that Jackson’s refusal to fight and statements that he was "done fighting" constitute a retirement that allows them to exercise their rights under the promotional agreement, including the right to suspend the agreement and thus toll the term of the contract. A letter from Jackson’s attorneys argues that retirement requires certain notice provisions under the promotional agreement, and because Jackson did not meet those requirements, his "blog" does not constitute a real retirement. There has been no further action on this issue since the initial complaint. To boil the dispute down to simpler terms, the issue is Jackson's current contract and when it ends. Jackson wants his period away from the UFC to count towards his contractual term; the UFC is arguing that since he retired they were able to properly suspend the term for that period.

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"It won't affect me at all. I really do not pay a lot of attention to smack talk. Whatever my opponent needs to do to get themselves ready to fight me is fine. At the end of the night the better fighter (that evening) should have his hand raised and really that is all I care about."

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"I’m ready for all situations. When you face a good opponent who fights standing and on the mat you must be ready for everything. He’s a very good wrestler besides having an excellent conditioning. In this aspect I’m also feeling very well."

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Keeping the momentum going, undefeated light heavyweight prospect Ryan Bader will return for his fourth UFC appearance when he steps in the Octagon at UFC 110 in Sydney, Australia.

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"It really says a lot about the guy, he's been busy filming the A-Team movie, and he's just finished that and he's come out here. I really do owe that guy a beer shall we say," Bisping said about Rampage when speaking with MMAWeekly Radio.

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Many were shocked when "The Ultimate Fighter 8" cast member George Roop (10-6 MMA, 0-1 WEC) made the drop from lightweight to bantamweight while skipping over the featherweight division.Now it appears Roop will fill in that gap.

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Former UFC ttile contender, Thales Leites, who recently debuted at MFC with a unanimous decision victory over Dean Lister, replaces Paulo Filho at Bitetti Combat’s next edition, scheduled to February 25 at Brasilia, Brazil.

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"I want to fight Brock Lesnar. I hate who he is as a person. I want to break his neck in the ring. I want him to be the first person that dies to Octagon-related injuries."

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NEW YORK – A winner of four in a row, Shamar Bailey (10-1), of Chicago, will face Justin "The Silverback’’ Wilcox (8-3), of San Jose, Calif., on a stacked STRIKEFORCE Challengers mixed martial arts (MMA) fight card at Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif., on Friday, March 26.

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Atlantic City, NJ — It was a good night if you were from the Bellmore Kickboxing Academy in Bellmore, New York. First, Ryan LaFlare was able to remain undefeated after knocking out Kurt Pellegrino protégé, Justin Haskins in the second round of their welterweight title bout.

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Which of the following UFC heavyweight contenders has the best chance to beat champion Brock Lesnar? 28% - Shane Carwin 25% - Frank Mir 18% - Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira 18% - Junior Dos Santos 11% - Cain Velasquez

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Despite his big fan following and the role he played in a vital 2005 fight with Forrest Griffin that brought mixed martial arts – and particularly the Ultimate Fighting Championship – into the mainstream, Stephan Bonnar would appear on thin ice.

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