UFC News - Page 495

For Japanese judoka Yoshiyuki Yoshida, the excitement to finally get his second fight in the Octagon is about to hit a fever pitch. He will headline the upcoming UFC Fight for the Troops card on Dec. 10 in Fayetteville, N.C. against Josh Koscheck. After Karo Parisyan was forced out of their scheduled bout at UFC 88 in September just 24 hours away from the bout, Yoshida had to face disappointment instead of a challenge, but he remained hopeful for a big fight in his future. "It was really hard. I trained very hard for that fight and of course I cut weight for that fight. So if I have a chance, I do like to ask Karo how is he doing though, but since I am not the one who pulled out of that fight, I believe I had a right to fight first (before Karo), and UFC did make a fight for me, so I really appreciate that," Yoshida told MMAWeekly.com in an exclusive interview. "This (opponent canceling the fight) also does happen a lot in an intense sport like MMA, so I am not thinking too much about it anymore. I just wait for UFC to decide my opponent and I train hard to win that fight. That's all now."

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Tim Credeur is looking to give back a little to the troops on Wednesday night when the Ultimate Fighting Championship puts on its Fight for the Troops card. Being a navy veteran himself, he was excited about the prospect of being on a show of this importance.

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That was perhaps, according to a quick quote today, the one positive Junie Browning took from his time on TUF 8, a side not shown on TV. He says he's training but broke and says he's "eating beans and bologna".

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So says famed boxing trainer Freddie Roach about Anderson Silva. Roach referred to Silva's early boxing work at the Wild Card Gym in comments made before the De La Hoya-Pacquiao boxing megafight this past Saturday.

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Thiago Silva-who is certainly not short on confidence-is already beating his war drum several weeks out from his clash with fellow unbeaten light heavyweight Lyoto Machida at UFC 94. Perhaps it’s part of his pre-fight plan to rattle the cage of the “ghostly” Brazilian and get him to engage more often on fight night.

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Former Oklahoma State University wrestler and recent World Extreme Cagefighting light heavyweight Mark Munoz (5-0 MMA, 2-0 WEC) is headed to the UFC. Munoz is one of the chosen few WEC light heavyweights and middleweights who will head to the UFC following the WEC's recent elimination of its 205- and 185-pound weight classes. Munoz sealed the deal with a first-round TKO of Ricardo Barros at the Dec. 3 WEC 37 event. Ron Kruck confirmed the move during the Dec. 5 edition of "Inside MMA" on HDNet.

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Not regarding the non-signing of that contract thing that's gotten almost all the camp kicked out of UFC (or close to it), but regarding Josh Koscheck's fight Wednesday against Yoshiyuki Yoshida. Kos apparently didn't follow the plan against Thiago Alves and lost.

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"Did you see the production? And that was HBO. Maybe they should give us some of their Emmys. The pacing was awful. There was no energy in the crowd. They had to loop Pacquiao’s music when he came out because he had to walk so far." -- Dana White, UFC president, trashing the horrendous production (and by extension the undercard matchmaking) from last night's De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao pay-per-view on HBO.

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Eddie Sanchez (8-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) gets it. The 26-year-old may not be at the top of the heavyweight ladder. But as Sanchez recently told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), he knows what it takes to make it in the UFC. "I always feel every fight is a must-win situation for me, especially being in the top fighting organization in the world," Sanchez said." Either you've got to be well-liked by the fans, you've got to put on a superb show, or you've got to win and put on a superb show."

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“I was originally preparing for Mr. Yoshida before I stepped up and took the Thiago fight. .. (It’s) definitely a different style. He poses some interesting threats, but I definitely have a lot of good training partners at American Kickboxing Academy and I think I’ll be ready. I’m a good wrestler, so I think our styles are going to make for an exciting fight…. Dave Camarillo is a judo guy and we are working on the judo throws. And I have San Jose State former judo coach who comes over. And there’s a lot of judo guys at our gym — Dave Camarillo teaches a judo class. So I’ve been doing judo for some time . … I have no worries.”

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Former top middleweight contender Martin Kampmann (13-2) could make his welterweight debut against Octagon newcomer Alexandre Barros (13-5) at UFC 93: “Franklin vs. Henderson” at The O2 in Dublin, Ireland, on January 17, acoording to MMA Insider Blog. The “Hitman” recently had his nine-fight win streak snapped after getting wrecked by Nate Marquardt in short order via bruising first round technical knockout at UFC 88: “Breakthrough” back in September. It was apparently a wake up call for the Danish kickboxer that perhaps he is better suited to compete in a division 15 pounds lighter.

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The UFC may be fighting for the troops Wednesday night, but newcomer Brandon Wolff (7-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will be battling for his MMA future in his preliminary card bout with "The Ultimate Fighter 6" veteran Ben Saunders at "UFC Fight Night 16: UFC Fights for the Troops." Wolff recently told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) his future as a full-time fighter hinges on his performance in the bout. "If I do good on this fight, I'm going to be training full time," Wolff said. "I'll be able to fight four or five times a year, whenever the UFC wants me to. That's my goal, is to be real active after this fight. Just do it full time."

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When heavyweight Justin McCully (8-4-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) enters the cage for Wednesday night's "UFC Fight Night 16: UFC Fights for the Troops," he will be at a crossroads. But as the 32-year-old recently told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), he feels that all paths lead to a successful destination. "You go from a semi-main event to an undercard with a guy like Gabriel Gonzaga, then back to the Ultimate Fight Night," McCully said. "But I feel very comfortable on the Ultimate Fight Night, and especially fighting for the troops. It's going to be an honor."

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Looks like Koscheck will be leaving the UFC very soon....... During this week’s edition of ESPN.com’s MMA Live, Franklin McNeil of the NewarK Star-Ledger stated that UFC welterweight Josh Koscheck has not signed the infamous merchandising and licensing agreement that was one of the contributing factors for Jon Fitch’s brief release from the UFC last month. Koscheck is a teammate of Fitch’s at the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose and is also represented by the same management company, Zinkin Entertainment. The former NCAA wrestling standout is set to face Yoshiyuki Yoshida at “UFC Fight Night 16: UFC Fight for the Troops” on Dec. 10 in Fayatteville, North Carolina. McNeil expressed uncertainty as to whether Koscheck will continue fighting for the UFC following the bout’s conclusion.

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Josh Koscheck: "I'm looking forward to a good opportunity to step up and headline this event. It's going to be a historical event, where the UFC is giving back to the foundation. It's just a good honor. I think the UFC is doing a good thing and everybody that's fighting on this card can hopefully put on a great show for these troops and give them the show they deserve."

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UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Silva could be about to face off against rising light heavyweight star Luiz Cane in the main event at UFC 95 in London, England.

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Most fighters just returning from their honeymoon after being married only a few weeks earlier would never entertain the idea of taking a fight on only eight days notice, but Jim Miller is not most fighters. Without a blink, he stepped in for injured teammate Frankie Edgar, who had to drop out of his scheduled fight against Matt Wiman, and helped keep the bout on the main card of the upcoming UFC Fight for the Troops card on Dec. 10. "Tuesday I got the call, like around noon, and came right down to the gym and warmed up and did a fight simulation to see where I was at, almost puked. I've just been training, trying to get a little bit of the rust out, and get ready to start cutting weight," Miller told MMAWeekly.com about his decision to accept the fight.

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Junie Browning became one of the most polarizing figures in the eight seasons of The Ultimate Fighter, gaining notoriety for his aggressive fighting style and one liners before generating endless discussion on mixed martial arts forums and around water coolers for his drunken exploits and short temper. Browning wants to put the reality show persona behind him and focus on becoming a better fighter.

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Standout British heavyweight David Haye has told fellow British pugilist Enzo Maccarinelli he would be "foolish" to try and fight Mike Bisping under MMA rules. Haye, who stopped Maccarinelli in the second round of their fight earlier this year, says that MMA and boxing "are two completely different disciplines". "It would be foolish to expect to switch between the two and dominate" he told Britain's Sun newspaper. "If Enzo Maccarinelli and Michael Bisping were to meet in the Octagon it would be a no contest - Bisping would beat Maccarinelli 10 times out of 10." "Michael knows the MMA game inside out, whereas Enzo would be completely new to it," he added. He was responding to comments made earlier this week by Maccarinelli, who said he would fancy his chances against Bisping in an MMA fight. Haye has long expressed admiration for mixed martial artists, who he describes as "very physically strong and are very dangerous in the clinch and on the ground. Those are two positions that pro boxers are not used to." He also noted that when he sparred under MMA rules, "despite always starting on my feet with these guys, I was finding myself taken to the mat eight times out of 10." Both Haye and Maccarinelli have trained in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and both compete in tournaments when not preparing for boxing matches. Haye has said he would like to compete in mixed martial arts when he retires from boxing, but he is currently set on dominating his present sport's heavyweight scene.

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BooYaa Fight Wear, an MMA clothing line that wanted to sponsor UFC fighter Mike Budnik in his upcoming fight, won't be heard from or seen now in the Octagon because Zuffa has banned them from both UFC and WEC. The main reason appears to be that BooYaa is closely with another MMA promotion-King Of The Cage.

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