UFC News - Page 518

Junior Cigano’s job in his UFC debut is not one fo the most easy. The fighter from Minotauro Team will face at UFC 90 the BJJ World Champion and ADCC champion, Fabrício Werdum, that has in his history great fights in UFC and Pride. “It could be a little late to debut in Ultimate and face a guy like Werdum, but I have all the conditions to beat him. I train with one of the best, Rodrigo Nogueira, and he said I can defeat him, so I’m pretty confidence that I can put him down”, said Cigano, that is training hard at Minotauro Team. With seven fights and only one loss in MMA, Junior is developing his Wrestling and Muay Thai to keep this fight standing up and get another victory. “I hope keep this fight stand. I watched some of his fights with Minotauro and he gave me some tips”, said Cigano. With a victory against Werdum, the fighter guarantees that wouldn’t face his friend, the interim UFC heavyweight champion. “It’s impossible to face my master. As long as he keeps the belt, I’ll be his guardian. To face him, people will have to beat me first”, guarantees.

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Pointed as the best pound for pound MMA fighter of the world, Anderson Silva commented the fight between Rousimar Palhares and Dan Henderson, that ended with the unanimous decision victory for the former Pride champion. “I didn’t see the fight, but everybody said that Den Henderson was very superior, as I was expecting. Toquinho (Palhares) is very young, has a lot of thing to go through in the sport and it was a good experience”, said the UFC middleweight champion, that doesn’t believe that only BJJ can bring the fighter to victory in the octagon. “You have to train everything… People are wrong about MMA. The time when the Gracie’s supremacy was total, when Jiu-Jitsu was the most important, but Gracie’s time is past. That thing about the weak fights the strongest, everybody knows something, avoid the ground, defend a leg-lock, nobody is fool nowadays”, analyzed Anderson. “But who is Andeson Silva to say about it, it happens… It could be the opposite, he could have catch his foot and finish him, but isn’t easy, that guy needs to be respected and Toquinho hasn’t much experience to fight him”, said Anderson to TATAME.com.

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While there are cynics that like to downplay the relevance and importance of the UFC and Spike TV's hit reality television series The Ultimate Fighter, Rashad Evans' upset knockout of Chuck Liddell last weekend during the main event of UFC 88 has proved the show's impact on the sport undeniable. While not yet official, it's expected that in December during New Year's Eve weekend, Forrest Griffin will defend his UFC light heavyweight title vs. Evans. Once the bout is finalized, it will mean that the light heavyweight winner from Season 1 of TUF will be taking on the show's Season 2 heavyweight winner in the main event of the biggest show of the year with arguably the sport's most prestigious title at stake. It doesn't get any thicker than that. There still might be a pocket full of skeptics who claim that many of the show's top graduates are nothing more than "manufactured reality TV stars," but that argument seemingly weakens with each fight card that passes. The argument that the show has manufactured some fighters might have some validity, but the vast majority who have appeared on the show were already legitimate guys who were only lacking exposure.

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Despite currently holding UFC gold, interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira believes he's still two fights away from being the true world champion. And as Nogueira recently told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), he wants to go through Randy Couture to get there. "When I fought against (Tim) Sylvia, I was thinking about being the world champion," Nogueira said of his UFC 81 interim title bout. "And I made it. "Randy Couture came back, and he has the title, too. I think I have to fight against him, and whoever wins is going to be the real world champion of the UFC." Couture will first have to get past his UFC 91 battle with WWE-import Brock Lesnar. Although Lesnar will enjoy a 40-pound weight advantage in the bout, Nogueira feels confident that Couture will prevail. "I think Randy Couture is going to win the fight," Nogueira said. "That's my opinion. He's much more experienced. He's got a big history as a fighter."

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Joe Lauzon didn't have your typical Ultimate Fighting Championship debut. He was brought in originally to take on the former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver in what was supposed to be Pulver's big return to the UFC. Lauzon had other plans though and pulled the upset of the year, knocking Pulver out in 48 seconds. He then went onto “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show, where he came up short in the semi-finals. He then went on to defeat fellow cast member Brandon Melendez on the Ultimate Fighter finale by triangle choke. Keeping the success going, he subsequently submitted Jason Reinhardt. Following that bout, Lauzon was tapped for main event status to take on top lightweight contender Kenny Florian in Denver. Both fighters had an intense first round of action in the fight with many transitions. In the second round, Florian took control and was able to finish Lauzon with punches and elbows. Now “J-Lau” is looking to get back to his winning ways when he takes on Kyle Bradley on Wednesday night at UFC Fight Night 15 in Omaha, Neb. “I'm definitely excited,” Lauzon said confidently. “I want to erase that last one.”

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This past April at Colorado’s Broomfield Event Center, Josh Neer stepped into the Octagon with all odds stacked against him. With an extended absence from the UFC, untested mettle in a new weight class, and a formidable veteran opponent, a potential win would not come easy. To add to the burden, this wasn’t an ordinary fight— its outcome would determine his standing in the organization.

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Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt from American Top Team, Marcus Aurélio will do his fourth fight in UFC’s octagon needing a victory. The Brazilian fighter will face his former pupil Hermes França at UFC 90, which happens in October 25th at United States, and guarantees that knows the way to defeat his opponent. Directly from Florida, Marcus Aurelio spoke to TATAME.com, when he talk about his training, the expectation for the fight and his problems with Hermes França.

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Two mixed martial arts legends and two fighters whose paths intertwined for a very important 90 seconds, will be competing over the next several months in what comprises the biggest heavyweight MMA tournament ever in North America. At stake is the UFC heavyweight championship, which has been a matter of confusion over the past year.

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Anthony Johnson’s appeal to the Nevada State Athletic Commission of a controversial July 19th TKO loss to Kevin Burns due to an eye poke at UFC Fight Night 14 has been denied. TOTAL CRAP!!!!!!!

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With filming of the eighth season of "The Ultimate Fighter" complete, former UFC-heavyweight champion Frank Mir is now free to focus on his December UFC interim heavyweight title clash with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

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A look back at the five biggest career moments for former UFC middleweight champion Evan Tanner, who was found dead Monday at the age of 37. Also check this out

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Evidently at least one UFC fighter didn't learn from recent incidents about fighters getting in trouble for what they said-the latest case is War Machine. The former Jon Koppenhaver reportedly was cut this week by UFC due to controversial (and rather incendiary) postings about fighter pay and one clearly aimed at Evan Tanner.

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UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St.Pierre is back in Brazil sharpening up his Jiu-Jitsu skills for his next fight.

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Ed Soares-the manager who represents top light heavyweight contender Ryoto (Lyoto) Machida-says that he and his fighter would prefer to wait until Thiago Silva heals from a back injury and fight him rather than someone else. Soares says they "don't see the advantage of fighting a newcomer" and wants to wait for Silva to see "who can get to 14-0 first".

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Dan Henderson this week filed a lawsuit against MMA Authentics, a California-based clothing company, claiming breach of contract. The lawsuit stems mainly from royalty payments Henderson claims the company owes him from a contract signed in '07 but has not yet paid.

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Earlier this week, we mentioned that in light of Thiago Silva's recent back injury, the UFC offered light heavyweight contender, Lyoto Machida, a new fight against an Octagon newcomer. MMARated.com spoke to Machida's manager, Ed Soares, today and found out that his camp turned down that proposed fight.

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Murilo ‘Ninja’ Rua Update: ‘Coming to CBS’ EliteXC Middleweight Contender Murilo ‘Ninja’ Rua talked with PDG about his victory over Tony Bonello, his upcoming fight against Benji Radach on the EXC-CBS Saturday Night Fights on October 4th and his brother ‘Shogun’ Rua.

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PDG: Your brother Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua is rumored to return later this year against Quintin ‘Rampage’ Jackson and other fighters. How is his knee and how often are the two of you training together? NINJA: A lot of rumors about ‘Shogun’ are running around on the internet. I read about ‘Rampage’ and Mark Coleman a few weeks ago and now most recently about Lyoto Machida. They are all just rumors; right now he is in the USA, training in San Diego. He was in Canada for a month conducting special training on the knee with a specialist and we kept contact by phone and radio. ‘Shogun’ is coming home next week and then I think that we will have the official news about his next fight. Right now the most important thing is to have him 100%, focus on the hard training and I’m sure that we will see him fighting again at the end of this year, for sure.

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The big fight that may appeal to a lot of fans is a potential match up with England's Michael “The Count” Bisping, who is headlining UFC 89 against an opponent that MacDonald has already defeated, Chris Leben. “I'd be interested to see the Bisping-Leben fight. Of course I already fought Leben. I'd love the opportunity to step up and take on Michael Bisping. He's getting a lot of hype in the middleweight division these days. Anyone that fights with the guys in the top half of this division that can continue to move my career forward.”

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A year's worth of legal battles began their conclusion with one obscene joke by "Captain America." As UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture today told the crew of TAGG Radio, the official radio partner of MMAjunkie.com, his year-long conflict with UFC executives needed a creative solution. Couture discussed that story, as well as explaining the changes he's worked hard to make within the UFC. "In kind of coming up with some strategies with my attorneys to open some dialogue with the UFC, I sent (UFC President) Dana (White) a nice text," Couture explained. "I told him I was on [an MMA forum], and there were some guys that were bagging on him -- no surprise there. They were saying that he likes to eat [expletive] sandwiches. "I told [Dana] that I stuck up for him, and that there was no way that could be true because he doesn't even like bread. "It's true. I sent him that text, and he texted me right back -- laughing his ass off -- saying, 'I'd love to talk to you. We can enjoy some [expletive] sandwiches together.' That started the whole thing."

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Sources close to Wanderlei Silva (32-8-1) have indicated that the explosive (and long-rumored) third showdown between “The Axe Murderer” and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (28-7) is indeed set, according to MMACanada.net. The blockbuster light heavyweight match up will co-headline UFC 91: “Couture vs. Lesnar” at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on November 15.

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