MMA Personalities News - Page 10

Police ticketed popular MMA fighter Houston Alexander for child abuse after the 39-year-old became upset with his 16-year-old and made him box with him. Police reports say officers were called to a home near 44th and Maple for a domestic disturbance. The older Alexander told them he was having trouble with his teen son, who was "having explicit sexual contact on Facebook with some unknown females." The 16-year-old reportedly lied and "made him very upset." According to police reports, "Alexander then retrieved boxing gloves and told his son, 'If you are going to lie to me, then we are going to box.'" The two reportedly boxed in the basement. Officers describe the teen as having a "slight bloody nose and pain to his right side." Alexander was cited for misdemeanor child abuse.

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For his first eight years or so, Adlan Amagov liked to play outside, particularly soccer. He has four brothers and one sister, and the large family was close, living in the village of Sernovodsk in the Republic of Chechnya. Then, when he was 8 years old, Amagov's school was bombed in the opening stages of the First Chechen War. Life changed. "In 1994, it all stopped," Amagov told MMAjunke.com (www.mmajunkie.com) through interpreter and manager Sam Kardan. -Interesting read on the guy that's fighting Robbie Lawler in January.

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For his next title defense, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones could face the winner of the Jan. 28 matchup between Rashad Evans and Phil Davis. He could also face Dan Henderson, who’s coming off a win in November over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Jones’ trainer Mike Winkeljohn likes how the champion matches up against all three possibilities. “They all present different challenges,” Winkeljohn told the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Savage Dog Show.” “I’m not sure which one’s the biggest. Dan’s big right hand is always a big challenge. [He’s] somebody that could be able to close that gap and find a hole and try to get to Jon’s chin. That’s probably the dilemma with him, but he’s small. I don’t think he can outwrestle Jon. I think Jon beats him everywhere. I don’t think he can hit [Jones] with that right hand.”

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Interview with Randy Couture on the Sweep The Leg Podcast where he describes Jon Jones & Anderson Silva as "Lazy & being on auto pilot." Also, discusses his sons future prospects in MMA and a bit about The Expendables II.

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Glover Teixeira finally got a visa to fight in the U.S.. After months of waiting, the light heavyweight granted permission to enter the country and its destination should be the UFC. "I knew that the visa should leave, but the interview was scheduled for today. All went well and my passport arrives 10 days with a visa, "he said," I'm very close to signing with the UFC. In fact they called me to fight in the UFC against Fabio Maldonado Rio, but I'm a hand injury and did not have time to train. Ed Smith talked to Joe Silva, who told me to rest assured that my place in the UFC would be guaranteed. In the coming weeks, I will meet with them and sign, everything is well underway. " Glover explained his injury and revealed that hopes to fight in the first quarter of 2012. "I hope my next fight is already in the UFC in February or March," he said, "I hurt in the fight against Ricco Rodriguez. My hand injury is not serious, it is only in cartilage, but bothers. So I'm trying not to be always bothering me about it. I think here about 20 days I can train, but I'm doing physical conditioning and everything else. I just can not punch, because it is precisely the part that bothers."

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During Steve Cofield’s Vegas-based ESPN Radio show today, Donald Cerrone recalled an incident he had recently with Nate Diaz, and to put it lightly, he isn’t impressed with the level of disrespect his UFC 141 opponent showed him.

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After having the wino n his hands and wasting it trying to choke Frank Mira t UFC 140, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira had to pay a high price, since he was submitted with a kimura and broke his arm. The defeat might have been one of the most painful ones on the legend’s career, due to the way it happened, since Mir was the first one to ever knock the Brazilian out, and now the first to submit Rodrigo. On his official website, the tough guy talked about what happened and tried to explain it to his fans.

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At this time last year, Jon Jones was considered a bright prospect, but one who still had a ways to go before he could be considered a truly elite fighter. In the December 2010 Yahoo! Sports pound-for-pound Top 10 poll, Jones fell squarely in the “votes for others” category, with just four points.

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The best heavyweight in MMA history will make his return to the ring on New Year's Eve in Japan, when Fedor Emelianenko faces the former Olympic judo gold medalist Satoshi Ishii, and the fan reaction to that fight has been decidedly mixed. On one hand, you have fans who loved seeing Fedor's glory days in Pride who figure that there's nothing wrong with seeing him back in Japan on New Year's Eve, which was once an annual tradition. On the other hand, you have fans who are disappointed that Fedor won't be facing a high-level opponent, as Ishii is just 4-1-1 in his MMA career and doesn't have anything close to the kind of MMA resume that Fedor has.

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Junie Allen Browning visited a police station on Phuket late today in the latest twist to the American fugitive fighter's battle to tell his side of a brawl that started in a bar and continued at a local hospital. Browning's surprise appearance with his wife Louna and a lawyer came at the Chalong Police Station in southern Phuket. At the police station at the same time were others who participated in a now-notorious Phuket brawl. The wounds inflicted in Browning's fight with tourists and staff 10 days ago at a bar on Phuket and in Patong Hospital, where the injured were all taken, were real. However, the varying accounts of what actually took place and who was the aggressor leave the facts yet to be decided.

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If Dan Hardy had his way he would have shaved the mohawk by now. Five minutes with some clippers, one quick swoop down the middle of his head, and the signature hairstyle that makes him so recognizable to fight fans could be gone. Maybe then he could blend in. Maybe then he could get a moment to be alone with himself and figure out just what in the hell is going on. He'd do it if he had it his way. But he doesn't. It's a UFC fight week in Toronto and Hardy has come at the request of Xyience, a sponsor of his that has him scheduled for autograph signings and fan meet-and-greets all week. And Xyience? You better believe Xyience wants the mohawk. That's because the fans want the mohawk. They expect it. You book Dan Hardy and he shows up with a shaved head, it's like having Carrot Top show up as a blonde. The fans want the guy they've seen on TV. They want the brash, cocky Brit with the punk rock swagger. But after a rough stretch of four straight losses in the UFC -- a 17-month span that dropped him from top contender to just barely employed -- he's not even sure where that guy went, or if he's ever coming back. "I don't feel like myself right now," Hardy says. You look in his eyes and you know he means it. He sits slumped in a plush leather chair in the lobby of a posh downtown Toronto hotel. He speaks so softly you have to lean in close just to hear him. The last thing he wants to do these days is draw attention to himself. He knows what people are thinking. And even if they aren't thinking it, they might as well be, since he hears their accusations in the wordless glances from across the room. It's not just the fans, either. "I start to feel like other fighters are looking at me like, why is he still in the UFC? And I don't want people looking at me like that."

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As a massive 6-foot-3 heavyweight who cuts weight to make the 265-pound heavyweight limit, former UFC champion Brock Lesnar (5-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) is no stranger to questions regarding performance-enhancing substance use. But as he prepares for his UFC 141 contest with former Strikeforce titleholder Alistair Overeem (35-11 MMA, 0-0 UFC), all the question marks have been centered around his chiseled Dutch opponent. Pay no mind, says Lesnar. When you're in the spotlight, you can expect some scrutiny. A shot at UFC heavyweight champ Junior Dos Santos hangs in the balance, and there's simply no time for distractions.

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Mir talks to ESPN 1100/98.9 FM's "MMA Insiders" show (via Yahoo Sports): "We don't have the type of depth that the other weight classes have and I think it's only a benefit to move them (Strikeforce heavyweights) over to us. I guess I have a bad taste in my mouth because of what happened when I first started my career. I had to always hear about, 'Oh, you guys are good, but the PRIDE guys would kick your butt.' There is no comparison and then that frustration of not being able to get to them. And then when Nogueira came over and Mirko, ( I ) got a hold of them. 'Yeah, but there is still Fedor.' I don't want to hear that. I want to know that anybody that is in the division, it's like if you think you can beat me, 'Hey Joe Silva, is he clear?' Okay, cool, let's fight. Now we can solve it you know? That whole unattainable thing just drives me insane."

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"At this moment, for us, the key thing is the level of the opponent, and not how much we get paid. I can say that if we were unable to agree with Ishii, we wouldn't participate in this tournament. We had concurrent offers with other DREAM fighters, but this is not for Fedor's level, and we didn't want to have a fight with mediocre fighters, taking a step backwards. We want to be taking steps forward and we will follow this in the future. We want to have three fights. One in Russia, one in Europe, and one in the USA. We really want to get a rematch with Werdum, but he is locked up in the prison called UFC, and because of that arranging for him to fight Fedor would be very difficult. Dana White is like a dog on hay -- he neither eats it himself, nor lets the others eat it. There are many other good fighters, whom we are considering. For instance, Josh Barnett. We need to wait for the Strikeforce heavyweight tournament to end and then we can see how likely it is that we can arrange a fight."

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Dana White has hinted that he would like Anderson Silva's final fight to be against either Jon Jones or Georges St-Pierre. Silva is widely recognised to be heading into the final fights of his career, with speculation over whether he has two, four or even more bouts left in his tank.

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Former 'Ultimate Fighter' bad boy Junie Browning is currently the target of a city wide manhunt in Thailand after two incidents over the weekend.

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For now, at least, former Strikeforce champion Alistair Overeem (35-11 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will face Brock Lesnar (5-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) in the main event of December's UFC 141 event. The Nevada State Athletic Commission today granted Overeem a conditional license to face Lesnar on Dec. 30, subject to a pre-fight drug test to be submitted in Europe within the next 72 hours, as well as an additional screen submitted in the U.S. when the Dutch heavyweight arrives for the contest. Overeem's conditional license also includes two post-fight drug screen orders, to be completed less than six months after the bout. The decision was made during Monday's Nevada State Athletic Commission monthly meeting, which took place at the Grant Sawyer State Office Building in Las Vegas. Overeem's status for the bout was in doubt after he failed to comply with out-of-competition testing ordered by the NSAC on Nov. 17...

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Here's an interesting video making the rounds following the UFC 140: "Jones vs. Machida" pay-per-view event last night (Dec. 10, 2011) in Toronto. In it, Greg Jackson, lead trainer and cornerman for Jon Jones, tells his fighter to go check on his fallen foe, Lyoto Machida, after Jones choked him unconscious in the main event. What makes it interesting, though, is that Jackson tells him to do this to "get some fans."

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Fight day is here! As I get set for my fight at UFC 140 Saturday night, I take great confidence from the belief that I have more ways to win than my opponent Antonio (Minotauro) Nogueira. Although a great fighter in his own right, I truly don't think "Big Nog" has the same options as me going into this fight. Let me explain. If I'm not happy with the way the fight is going on my feet, I have the option of taking it to the floor and maintaining control there, and the same applies if I'm unhappy with how my grappling is working out. Nogueira will have to be resigned to do whatever I want him to do in this fight. Sure, he can fight me jiu-jitsu versus jiu-jitsu, but if there comes a point where he doesn't like what's going on down there, he's not going to be able to change that. I can change where this fight takes place, he can't. If he starts getting hurt on his feet in a striking battle, I really don't see how he is going to take me down and take me away from what I was doing with punches and kicks.

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When you get offered a fight by the UFC, you have a choice: either embrace it, get ready for it and win it, or sulk and question whether you are even a fighter in the first place. I was offered a fight against Antonio (Minotauro) Nogueira on Dec. 10 at UFC 140 and, although I already held a win over the man, I jumped at the chance. It was another big fight in my career, against a legend, and one that will move me a step closer to another UFC heavyweight title shot. What is there not to like about that? Naturally, some people look at this weekend's fight and think to themselves, 'Damn, Frank already holds a win over that guy -- isn't he going over old ground,' and, in a sense, I guess they are right. I beat Nogueira inside two rounds back in December 2008 and, three years on, it does kind of feel as if I'm going through it all again, especially as I personally believe this rematch will bear an uncanny resemblance to the first fight. I am a fighter, though, and fighters can't afford to ever think like that. I knew this was a fight I had to take seriously, despite the fact I had already beaten the man. Nogueira is someone I have a victory over, but, right now, that only means he is hungry for revenge and will be much better in this rematch than he was in the first fight.

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