For a few UFC fighters, there are some terrible moments that just won't die
(mmajunkie.com)Former UFC welterweight Frank Trigg has a running joke with Zuffa matchmaker Sean Shelby, who also happens to be heavily involved in putting together the UFC's highlight reels. It's a familiar routine that often plays out via text message right before the UFC runs it's pre-event video package of great moments from fight cards past, all set to The Who's "Baba O'Riley."
"Before it starts I say, 'Sean, are you about to hurt my feelings again?'" Trigg told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
It's not exactly a serious question, because Trigg already knows the answer. He knows that, just as surely as clips from the classic fight between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar will make it into the highlight reel, so will he. It's just that he'll be on the wrong end of one of those memorable UFC moments. He'll be getting carried across the cage like a bag of fertilizer by former 170-pound champ Matt Hughes. He'll be getting slammed on the mat and then choked into submission at UFC 52, right before Hughes is lifted up in triumph to the sound of soaring guitars and a wailing Pete Townsend.
"I can't even listen to that song anymore," Trigg said. "It was seven years ago."
Varner - "Guillard is a living, breathing human being and he can be beat"
(punchdrunkgamer.com)“Everyone keeps telling me he’s so fast, he’s so powerful, he’s so athletic. Well yeah, but so is Edson Barboza,” Varner says of Guillard. “I compare it a lot to the Edson Barboza fight, another guy who is fast, powerful and athletic. But, (Guillard’s) a living, breathing human being and he can be beat. He’s been beaten before. He’s really tough, I just have to be the best Jamie Varner there’s ever been. My defense has to be on point, I can’t be lazy, I have to be in good shape and I have to bring the fight to him. That’s going to be the biggest thing, not making any mistakes, keeping my chin down, my hands up and watching out for his one big shot happening and being able to catch him with the big shots.”
Cung Le Unsure About His Future: “I Know My Clock Is Ticking”
(mmaweekly.com)Once upon a time, Cung Le said his dream was just to get the chance to compete inside the UFC Octagon.
Now with a 2-1 record including Saturday’s one-punch knockout of former middleweight champion Rich Franklin, Le has done more than just “compete” – he’s winning fights in a big way.
“It’s like a dream, I feel like I’m in a dream right now,” Le said to Fuel TV after the knockout victory.
Explaining the set up for Franklin’s inevitable doom, Le says it all came down to timing, and knowing what his opponent was looking for and how to land the perfect counter strike.
MMA pioneer Dan Severn wants late peer Jeff Blatnick in UFC Hall of Fame
(mmajunkie.com)UFC Hall of Famer Dan Severn will remember friend and 1984 Greco-Roman wrestling American gold medalist Jeff Blatnick for his ability to stretch the imagination.
They'd known each other since the late 1970s because Blatnick's Greco-Roman style had few practice spaces, so he sought out freestyle wrestling haunts that Severn frequented.
They last saw each other Sept. 15, a few months before Blatnick's untimely death.
Cung Le Had to Leave “Super Camp” To Get Personal Attention Needed for UFC Success
(mmaweekly.com)The nature of training is different for every fighter heading into a big bout in the UFC.
One staple throughout MMA in recent years, however, has been the explosion of the “super camp” featuring a number of top fighters all working together under one roof, and one set of coaches to get ready for upcoming competition.
Gyms like Team Greg Jackson, American Top Team, and American Kickboxing Academy have become synonymous with great training and building champions.
Recently, however, more top fighters are shying away from the “super camp” atmosphere because, for all the rave reviews about the great coaching and training, there seems to be something lost when it comes to personal attention when preparing for a fight...
Inaugural World Series of Fighting card deemed a success
(lasvegassun.com)Across the board, there was nothing but high praise for the first World Series of Fighting card.
Fighters were impressed and felt taken care of. Trainers got the same vibe.
The WSOF brought it all — sparkling production values, big names, good fights and a few highlight reels.
For all accounts, it was a smashing success.
"I couldn't ask for a better start," WSOF President Ray Sefo said. "I'm so happy and proud with the turnout. Like I said, there are a lot of great emotions. This is our first event, and, of course, we're going to get better and better and better."
Whether fans give the WSOF the same approval will be decided on future cards, but if Saturday's card is any indication, the more than 5,000 fans who showed up at the PH Live venue at Planet Hollywood have something to look forward to.
Anthony Johnson, who scored a knockout victory against D.J. Linderman in the card's co-main event, praised the company, adding they got close to everything right on the first try.
"I didn't think it would be like this," Johnson said. "Usually, people have a promotion and don't do it right at first. (The WSOF is) on the ball and doing exactly what they should be doing."
Johnson, a former UFC fighter, provided the night's biggest highlight.
After Johnson was poked in the eye, referee Herb Dean didn't give Johnson a chance to recover. Linderman rushed in and got caught by a Johnson straight right hand. Linderman fell face-first onto the canvas as Johnson threw down his mouthpiece in celebration at the 3:58 mark of the first round.
"He got careless and rushed me and left himself open," said Johnson, who has a bad history of getting poked in the eye. "Every time I get hit in the eye, it stuns me, but I work through it."
DREAM hosts Thursday press conference, New Year's Eve event expected in Japan
(mmajunkie.com)Perhaps the DREAM promotion still has some life to it.
Inactive for the past 10 months, the Japanese promotion has announced it's hosting a Thursday press conference.
There, officials are expected to announce an event for New Year's Eve, and DREAM featherweight champion Hiroyuki Takaya, veteran Tatsuya Kawajiri and former title challenger Satoru Kitaoka are scheduled to attend.
The presser takes place in Tokyo at 6 p.m. local time (5 a.m. ET in the U.S.) and streams online. It's open to the public.
Dana White: New surgery offers '70 percent' chance of Meniere's disease improvement
( mmajunkie.com)UFC President Dana White admittedly was in a good mood this weekend at UFC 153, but it followed trips to England and Toronto in which he was a "mess."
And that's the problem with Meniere's disease: One day you're fine, and the next you can barely stand upright.
White, though, said he'll soon undergo a new outpatient surgery that offers him a 70 percent chance of real improvement after being diagnosed with the disease earlier this year.
Dana White Opens Up About His Only Regret – Offensive Tirade from 2009
(mmaweekly.com)UFC president Dana White is not a man who lives with regret.
Through more than a decade of building and cultivating the UFC, White has remained the figurehead and leader of the business that has seen mixed martial arts hit new heights never before imagined when the sport first landed on television screens in 1993.
White has had his fair share of tumultuous relationships over the years: very public feuds with employees like Tito Ortiz and B.J. Penn, a longstanding pursuit of former Pride champion Fedor Emelianenko and the inside dealings with his management team, and even bridges burnt and rebuilt with promotions and several promoters.
When asked, however, if he had any regrets through his time spent with the UFC, White could only point to one time where he made a major mistake and it still haunts him to this day...
Dana White: (Spike TV) Is the Worst Channel in the History of the World
(mmaweekly.com)Divorce is always hard and while both parties involved try to remain amicable, it happens quite often that things break down and end up in a shouting match between the two parties.
It’s no different in the world of sports and television because when relationships are going well, there’s nothing but smiles and handshakes all around. But when things break down, and the mud starts slinging, it’s open season on any and all comments made towards each other in the press.
For months after leaving Spike TV in favor of a new 7-year deal with Fox, UFC President Dana White remained on fairly solid ground with his former television partner.
He wasn’t likely going to send much business their way, but still White stayed fairly friendly towards his competitors at Spike TV after their long relationship helped build the UFC and the network to new heights.
Now, the gloves are off and both seem ready to aim and fire at one another whenever the gun is loaded, and following UFC 152 on Saturday night, White blasted off a few shots at his former television home...
K-1 star Tyrone Spong announces MMA debut for Titan FC event on Nov. 2
(mmamania.com)That's because K-1 kickboxing star Tyrone Spong recently announced his mixed martial arts (MMA) debut on Inside MMA, which the Dutch-Surinamese fighter says will take place under the Titan FC banner in Kansas City on Nov. 2, 2012.
this is exciting news to me!..as Buakaw has also started training in mma..thats where the money and a steady job is at, lol..but i hope they both dont fall into the striker only category, with decent TDD..but i will def be waiting for Spongs debut..and Buakaws..
Invicta FC President Shannon Knapp taking road less traveled to build women's MMA
(mmajunkie.com)In Shannon Knapp's estimation, women's MMA isn't quite as bad off as some critics would lead us to believe.
And she's going to go about doing what she can to push the women's side of the game forward, developing fighters and changing attitudes until people can only vaguely remember a time when depth was an issue.
Knapp, the president of Invicta Fighting Championship, differs slightly from UFC President Dana White, who long has maintained there isn't enough depth in women's MMA.
"Depth, by definition, is there," Knapp recently told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "There are tons of girls out there that want to fight. But the truth of the matter is, when you get into that upper echelon, to that top tier, it's pretty thin."
And that may fall in line a little more with what White has been outspoken about – that it's hard to imagine, in the current landscape, women's MMA in the UFC because the weight classes aren't stacked enough to make for regular UFC-quality fights...
The fighter Anderson Silva didn't try to finish
(mixedmartialarts.com)UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva has failed to finish his opponent in only two UFC fights. At UFC 112 he spent five rounds toying with Demain Maia, while taunting him with terms like "playboy" (it's a long story).
The other was at UFC 97 in 2009, which also went the full five rounds.
In an interview with Benjamin Back of the Brazilian newspaper O Lance (The Lance), Silva was asked if he had ever held off finishing an opponent to keep a PPV going longer.
“There’s no such thing as holding back" replied Silva. "I want to finish as soon as possible. The only time I did it was because he was a friend of mine. It was against Thales Leites. We went until the last round because he’s a friend of mine and I respect him."
Curiously, in an Brazlian Portuguese language interview with Leites by Tatame today, he denied that they are friends...
Anderson: "A Lot of People Thought I Was Gay"
(fightersonlymag.com)“A lot of people thought I was gay,” Anderson Silva admits.
It has been observed numerous times over the years that the middleweight champion has an unusually high-pitched voice for such an alpha male and Silva says that when he was a teenager, more than one person thought he was gay.
That probably wasn’t helped by the fact that until around the age of 14 he thought it was “normal” to allow his sister to dress him up with girl’s clothes and play with dolls...
Sarah Kaufman: No nerves for Ronda Rousey armbar ahead of Strikeforce title fight
(mmajunkie.com)Sarah Kaufman has a pretty good idea of how Ronda Rousey would like their Saturday fight to go.
Including three amateur fights, Rousey (5-0 MMA, 3-0 SF) has finished all eight of her MMA opponents with first-round armbars. That little bit of MMA math (Rousey + Fight = 100 percent armbar finish) is one of the sport's easiest equations.
It's certainly not lost on Kaufman (15-1 MMA, 6-1 SF). But she has a way around what has arguably become the most feared finish in the sport these days – just snap the streak.
Kaufman, a former champion, challenges Rousey for her Strikeforce bantamweight title in the main event of "Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman," which takes place Saturday at Valley View Casino Center in San Diego. The main card airs on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET. Prelims air on Showtime Extreme at 8 p.m.
"I don’t think that it’s unstoppable," Kaufman said of Rousey's armbar on a recent call with media members. "… It doesn’t make me nervous. It’s something that could happen. It’s also something that I’m prepared for. It’s an armbar and people can have a mystique behind someone because they’ve had the same submission over and over and over again. And it does create kind of an aura of, 'Whoa, she’s won every fight by the same thing.' I did the same thing when I had eight knockouts in a row...
Shogun and Ninja Go Separate Ways After Tension with Coach
(fightersonlymag.com)Internal tensions in Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua’s camp have caused a rift between him and his older brother Murilo ‘Ninja’.
Since his first days of competition, Ninja has always been in the corner when Shogun fights but he was absent for the weekend’s bout against Brandon Vera, which headlined UFC on FOX 4. The reason is Andrea Dida, Shogun’s head coach. Ninja does not like him and does not agree with his training methods, nor the way that he coaches.
“Guys, I was not with Mauricio in this fight because I have a problem with Dida. I do not agree with the way he corners and drills him,” he wrote on Twitter at the weekend, responding to queries about his absence...
Alistair Overeem Responds to Junior dos Santos: ‘I Think He’s Afraid to Fight Me’
(mmaweekly.com)Last weekend following the action at UFC on Fox 4, UFC President Dana White revealed the news that heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos has requested to face Alistair Overeem next instead of Cain Velasquez.
Velasquez was the de facto No. 1 contender after his win at UFC 146, and originally he was rumored to face the man that took the UFC heavyweight title from him at UFC 152 in Toronto this September.
Delays kept happening and the fight never materialized, but then it was revealed that dos Santos had asked to face Overeem instead because he was a ‘punk’ and had been running his mouth too much of late.
Now Overeem has responded after speaking to UFC Tonight, and his belief is that dos Santos really doesn’t want the fight to happen in the first place.
Frank Mir Excited by Matchup With Daniel Cormier, Explains TRT Usage
(mmafighting.com)Frank Mir was smack in the middle of taking the summer off to spend time with his family when the powers-that-be came to him with an unexpected offer. Just two months after unsuccessfully bidding for the UFC heavyweight championship, Mir was given an option to move over to sister company Strikeforce, just for one night, to face its recent Grand Prix winner, Daniel Cormier.
It was only months earlier when the UFC had asked B.J. Penn to move to Strikeforce and fight lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez, so while what they were asking him to do was not unprecedented, his answer was...
With Mike Van Arsdale's Departure, Mario Sperry in as New Blackzilians Head Coach
(mmafighting.com)One of MMA's powerhouse teams has a new head coach. Mike Van Arsdale, who has been the man running the show since the group's inception, has decided to relocate to Arizona to be closer to his family and start his own gym. In as his replacement is grappling legend Mario Sperry, who has been coaching at the gym since earlier this year.
Authentic Sports Management CEO Glenn Robinson confirmed the changes to MMA Fighting on Monday, saying they had been in the works.
The news first trickled out through social media, with Van Arsdale soon confirming his departure through Twitter. But, Robinson said, Van Arsdale's westward move does not mean the end of the relationship between the two sides.
"Mike is a good friend and always will be," he told MMA Fighting via e-mail. "His kids missed him as they lived in Arizona and he lived here and went back and forth. He went home to be more with his wife and five kids. He will come back here whenever we need him for a camp and is always part of our family and will be back a lot."
ONE FC CEO Victor Cui says “Billions will be watching live events” on the ONE FC Network
(mmaopinion.co.uk)Victor Cui is the CEO and Owner of ONE FC, the Largest and most Prestigious Mixed Martial Arts promotion in Asia. I have been a fan since their first show, ‘Champion Versus Champion’. In less than one year they have become easily the second most viewed promotion in the world. I was truly honored to have Victor call me on the phone to discuss the present and future of ONE FC and MMA in Asia.
It wasn’t a Q & A type of interview, it was more like a genuine discussion about ONE FC. Victor is genuinely excited about everything they are doing right now and has an amazing grasp of the situation he and his company are in.
Victor, thank you so much for the call, how is everything on the 25th floor of the North Tower in Singapore today?
Its great Zeus, and its good to speak with you again.
I was talking to one of my friends who isn’t a big MMA fan, and I was trying to tell him what makes ONE FC different than every other MMA promotion. I came up with this: ONE FC is like an Art Gallery,the biggest and best Art Gallery you could ever want to see. ONE FC displays art(Fights) from their own talented artists (fighters), but they also work with other studios (Smaller promotions) to put together a huge exhibit. By being a venue more than being a brand, ONE FC lends credibiltiy to other promotions and fighters as well as their own.
That’s a great analogy of what we do, Zeus.
We are just a little over a month away from ONE FC: Pride of a Nation, and everyone is really looking forward to that.
Is it coming that soon? I’d lost track. (laughs)
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