UFC News - Page 293

Rich Franklin "Can't Get no Respect" "Rich Franklin has lost to four men in his career: Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, Vitor Belfort, and Dan Henderson. The loss to Dan Henderson, in my view, was one of the worst decisions of 2009, but we'll leave that for another day. Rich Franklin is intelligent, well-spoken, highly skilled, and exactly the type of spokesman that MMA's diehard fans should respect. So why don't they? Because he's the UFC's ..."

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields (25-4-1) made another cameo appearance at a UFC event – this time at Saturday's UFC 115 card in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Shields has attended a handful of UFC events in recent months, and UFC president Dana White this week admitted for the first time he's actively negotiating with the Strikeforce star. "[Shields] was here," White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "I talked to him. We're in negotiations with him right now."

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia – After reports of a 30-minute sellout, Saturday's night's UFC 115 event drew a reported 17,000 fans to GM Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The pay-per-view event was the promotion's first trip to a Canadian city other than Montreal. UFC president Dana White released the figure at the evening's post-event press conference while also reporting a live gate of $4.2 million.

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White said Thursday that if Liddell (21-8 MMA, 16-7 UFC) went unconscious again, the two would come to the same conclusion: it's time to hang it up. "Yeah, and I hope he agreed tonight," the UFC president said at the post-event press conference when asked if Liddell's career is over. "I don't think he won't."

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Looks like it's one and done for David Loiseau in his latest UFC return. Loiseau, a popular French-Canadian fighter and former top UFC middleweight contender, fought his way back to the organization for a spot on Saturday's UFC 115 card. But following a loss to Mario Miranda – one in which Loiseau's limited ground skills again were exploited – UFC president Dana White predicted a contract termination is likely. "David's been in this sport a long time, and again tonight he got dominated on the ground," White said following Loiseau's preliminary-card bout at GM Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. "That's his problem." Loiseau initially was slated to fight John Salter as an injury replacement at UFC 113 in Montreal, but his fight license was delayed when the the Quebec Athletic Commission had concerns over the sale of his regional MMA promotion to individuals with possible mob ties.

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He thinks he proved that last night. "I wanted to prove to everyone that I'm not old and they are wrong. My preparation for this fight was the hardest it has been my entire life. I want the grand prix in 2006 with Pride, but tonight, my condition was better.... I was really dedicated.... I never felt so comfortable [inside the cage] in my career.... Pat caught me twice -- the punches were good ... especially the second one. It was good, but I was able to stand up right away. And I just felt a pain in my eye -- that's all I felt. I wasn't dizzy, just had a little double vision for about 10 seconds. Later on I was okay. I was just doing my thing, trying to involve him in the clinch to get him tired, take him down and to finish him.... I just felt good this time to tell you the truth."

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OFFICIAL RESULTS Rich Franklin def. Chuck Liddell via KO (punch) - Round 1, 4:55 Mirko Filipovic def. Pat Barry by submission (rear-naked choke) - 4:30, Round 3 Martin Kampmann def. Paulo Thiago by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27 Ben Rothwell def. Gilbert Yvel by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-28, 29-28) Carlos Condit def. Rory MacDonald by TKO (strikes) - Round 3, 4:53 PRELIMINARY CARD Evan Dunham def. Tyson Griffin via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28) Matt Wiman def. Mac Danzig via submission (guillotine choke) - Round 1, 1:45 Mario Miranda def. David Loiseau via TKO (strikes) - Round 2, 4:07 James Wilks def. Peter Sobotta via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-28, 30-27) Claude Patrick def. Ricardo Funch via submission (guillotine choke) - Round 2, 1:48 Mike Pyle def. Jesse Lennox via technical submission (triangle choke) - Round 3, 4:44

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Rich Franklin, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, Carlos Condit and Rory MacDonald each earned $85,000 fight-night bonuses for their performances at Saturday's "UFC 115: Liddell vs. Franklin" event. Franklin earned the "Knockout of the Night" award, Filipovic earned the "Submission of the Night bonus, and Condit and MacDonald both earned "Fight of the Night" honors.

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia – In a supposed four-year campaign for the UFC middleweight belt, contender Chael Sonnen has cast a lot of stones in the direction of current 185-pound title-holder Anderson Silva. And a Friday appearance at a UFC Fight Club Q&A session at GM Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, gave him free reign to trash the champion – with often hilarious results. But Sonnen, a man whose political aspirations have prompted him to run for the Oregon Legislative Assembly, risked an unpopular stance when he cast a stone at the Olympic aspirations of a Canadian hero, UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia – UFC welterweight and self-described adrenaline junkie Paulo Thiago (13-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) says it's much easier than you'd think to be a fighter and a special forces police officer. "[My] commanders do the best they can," Thiago, who faces Martin Kampmann at UFC 115 on Saturday, told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) on Wednesday. "Whether I win or lose, I always have the best support." But as far as he goes in MMA, there's one thing he won't give up, and that's his day job. Thiago lives in Brasilia, Brazil, where he's a member of Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais, a special Brazilian police squad that takes on high-risk missions. His team regularly takes on a sordid cast of underworld characters: drug dealers, prison inmates, thieves and the like.

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With his mixed martial arts debut about two months away, former multi-division boxing champion James Toney has enlisted ex-UFC star and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Dean Lister to tutor him in a crash course on the ground game, MMA Fighting has learned. According to two separate sources, Lister has been working with Toney for about one month in preparation for his August UFC 118 bout against UFC legend Randy Couture. Lister did not respond to messages seeking comment.

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Chuck Liddell is ripped, yes. He's rejuvenated, and he's rededicated to fighting. But fans who expect to see a fighter who headhunts at the expense of MMA's other disciplines may be surprised on Saturday night when he meets Rich Franklin (25-5 MMA, 12-4 UFC) at UFC 115. Liddell (21-7 MMA, 16-6 UFC) is usually the guy to wall-walk when an opponent wants him on his back, and with his heavy hands, that's often. He's made a career on counter-grappling and minted the sprawl-and-brawl style. But his fight style and lifestyle have caught up to him – he has lost four of his past five fights and been knocked out in his most recent two fights – and UFC president Dana White wants him to hang up the four-ounce gloves and work in the UFC office (or any place other than inside a cage throwing punches).

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It's not that he doesn't want more money, but simply because Fight Of The Night means it was a close fight and he doesn't want a close fight tomorrow. "I think one of my biggest strengths when it comes to this situation is that I might be a little too nice in the gym. I don't like to hurt my training partners. If I land a punch and he's rocked, I'm not going to jump on him. I think one thing he might be surprised with is how mean I am in the cage as opposed to how I am in the gym. I feel like I’ve learned a lot, I’ve gained tons of experience, and learning that when I fight more patient, my abilities really shine as opposed to going in there and just scrapping. Yeah, Fight of the Night bonuses are great, but Fight of the Night means it was a close fight, and I’m not trying to have anymore close fights."

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The rash of alleged Twitter identity thefts continues in the MMA world, or so we are told. The latest supposed victim is top UFC middleweight contender and current Republican nominee for Oregon State Representative Chael Sonnen, who's taking heat in an article today on the Huffington Post for remarks on a Twitter account that purports to be his. The complicating factor – and this is where the story starts to sound familiar to anyone who followed the Jamie Yager saga last week – is that Sonnen has, according to the Huffington Post, called the account (Twitter.com/sonnench) a fake after he was contacted by reporters about some off-color comments that appear on the page.

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Even with a gaping wound over his right eye that UFC broadcaster Joe Rogan would almost certainly compare to some aspect of a goat's anatomy, Martin Kampmann (16-3 MMA, 7-2 UFC) still wanted to fight. But with just six weeks from the time of the injury until his schedule fight with Ben Saunders at March's UFC 111 event, Kampmann was advised by doctors to stand down. He did, but the urge to fight has been building for months, and the "Hitman" is ready to unleash his fury on potent Brazilian Paulo Thiago (14-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) at this Saturday's UFC 115 event in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

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Either way, Pat Barry apparently is going to spend the next 2 years staring out a window, but where might depend on if Mirko Cro Cop can throw one of his signature high kicks. "[Pat Barry] said, in the case of him winning, that he will spend two years staring outside a window, but he must also have one thing else on his mind: In case he loses the fight, and I am lucky and throw a high kick, he might stare outside the window for two years, too. With a nurse by his side."

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Newly minted UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio Rua's first title defense likely will be delayed due to a recent knee surgery. Rua was expected to face Rashad Evans later this year Dana White is unsure when the Brazilian champ will fight again. "He just got out of the hospital; it was a successful surgery," White said. "He had the surgery in [Los Angeles], and he's going to be doing all his therapy in (Las) Vegas. "So he'll be in Vegas for the next five weeks." White said Rua's injury occurred during the fight with Machida, though a report from ESPN's "MMA Live" the night of the May 8 event stated Rua's knee was already injured. "He got hurt in the fight," White asserted. No comment yet from Rua.

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Breaking his silence about his neck injury, withdrawing from his fight with Chuck Liddell and being replaced on The Ultimate Fighter, Tito Ortiz said he plans to be back in the cage around October or November, and hopes to return against Liddell. Speaking on Spike's Inside the Ultimate Fighter podcast, Ortiz said he will actually be rooting for Liddell in his UFC 115 bout this weekend against Rich Franklin, but said win or lose, Liddell should have to face him later this year. "I think we should still fight, just because of the s--- he's been saying. Saying that I'm afraid of him and I'm a p----, this and that. Go f--- yourself man. Are you kidding me? Has he ever defended his world title longer than me? No. Has any light-heavyweight ever defended the world title longer than me? No. I'm only 35 years old. I'll be back in the cage again, and I'll be dominating."

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One last fight between TUF 11 castmates has been announced to complete the TUF 11 Finale lineup, Kyle Noke vs. Josh Bryant was announced by UFC for the prelims. Noke reached the quarterfinals and Bryant the semis before they were eliminated, both by Kris McCray.

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Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic had reached a breaking point. A few minutes earlier, he’d slipped almost unnoticed into a ballroom in a downtown hotel, where several of his peers were going through a workout for the benefit of the media covering UFC 115. The Croatian was testy, to be kind, as he fielded questions about the upcoming fight Saturday at GM Place and clearly looked like a guy who’d rather be just about anywhere other than where he was. Sucks that if a guy dosn't want to market himself and simply allow his highlight reel to do the work for him that his contract won't allow it. But he signed it. Heres hoping Mirko can give a Pride showing this weekend! Sadly I think I'm taking Barry in this one.

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