UFC News - Page 581

UFC legend Matt Hughes' new training team, H.I.T. Squad, has recently recruited several up-and-coming fighters to groom for the big time. One of its brightest pupils, Air Force Staff Sgt. Jacob Hey (4-1), is not only focusing on MMA, but also attempting to qualify for the 2008 U.S. Olympic team for Greco-Roman wrestling.

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Showing the quick thinking and rapid-fire reflexes that made him a world bantamweight boxing champion, UFC public relations associate Wayne McCullough helped avert a tragedy Sunday when he jumped into action to help a fellow passenger who had lost consciousness on the flight ‘The Pocket Rocket’ was on.

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Many outlets have erroneously reported that a crazed fan attacked 6-4, 296 pound UFC referee Dan Miragliotta who promptly put the fan in a rear naked choke before other authorities arrived to make the arrest. Miragliotta recounted his side of the story about his run-in with the fan in an email to Mr. Sunshine: The only thing, is that he wasn’t going after me he was charging either GSP or the ring. I just happened to be in between him and his targets. I was asked by the UFC to help with security when the 2 fighters entered the ring area. They where more worried about Matt then GSP.

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The hamstring injury to former light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell has forced the promotion to shuffle the UFC 85 deck once again for the show at the 02 Arena in London, England, on June 7. And while no official announcements have been made about what to expect, MMAmania.com has learned a few things throughout the day. A 185-pound showdown between Michael Bisping and Chris Leben — a match up we teased earlier this afternoon — is expected to headline the show. In addition, James Irvin has agreed to step up and replace Liddell to take on Evans. In addition, and this is the shakiest bit of information we are passing along, the show will possibly air on SpikeTV for FREE similar to UFC 75: “Champion vs. Champion.” If all this pans out — and there is still one fight to be announced — fans would have little to complain about. It’s a solid card even though it may lack a “big” name such as Liddell or Georges St. Pierre. Stay tuned. .

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I'd love nothing more then to see Bisping try and trade with Leben. Edit it won't let me put in a link but http://mmamania.com/2008/04/22/ufc-85-fight-card-rumored-updates/

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"I hyperextended it," Liddell said. "I probably didn't warm up enough, or it was a freak injury. "I think I can fight by August," said Liddell, who will need four to six weeks to rehab before he can begin hard training... Liddell said he was lucky that the partial tear was in the belly of the muscle and not the insertion, so it should heal faster. After the injury, he continued to train his upper body and was swimming without much stress on his legs, while doctors advised him against fighting.

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I think they'll be able to maintain their plan if Chuck wins, which is to have him fight for the title in December. I guess the question now is whether he will fight Rashad Evans or Shogun, who is rumored to be returning around that time.

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) contender Brandon (The Truth) Vera, who is half-Filipino, said he hopes to bring pride to the Philippines like his idol Manny Pacquiao by winning the heavyweight and lightheavyweight championships, possibly within a year, during a recent visit to Manila.

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Although it hasn't been formally announced yet by UFC, sources within both camps have confirmed that James Irvin will replace Chuck Liddell and face Rashad Evans at UFC 85.

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In my opinion, it was inappropriate to make public statements regarding my character and my future and so on the way that he has, especially without having the courage and the respect to call me up and speak with me personally,” Starnes said. “All of these comments come from a man that has never had a fight in his entire life who claims to be the ultimate authority on fighting and courage. I couldn’t be happier than to be released from the most oppressive contract I’ve ever been under in my life…. Dana White wouldn’t stand and trade with a guy [like Quarry] who had an 80 or 90 percent knockout ratio with injuries like I had Saturday night. He wouldn’t cross the street for $10,000. I don’t have anything to prove to anybody. I’m not about to stand there and get smashed to pieces. After I knew my foot was broken, I was trying to back up and work off the jab and keep moving so I didn’t get knocked out.” Former UFC middleweight Kalib Starnes responds to comments UFC President Dana White made about him after a very weak performance at UFC 83 this past weekend. Starnes claims he requested to be released from his contract, while White insists he was cut. Whatever. Starnes reveals that a broken foot was the reason he essentially refused to fight Nate Quarry during their middleweight match up on April 19 and has fueled this entire fiasco. Full interview

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Thomas Gerbasi, UFC - Lightweight contender Rich “No Love” Clementi is taking no time off after his three round win over Sam Stout at UFC 83 last Saturday. Instead, the pride of Slidell, Louisiana will be back in the gym preparing for a May 24th bout against UK rising star Terry Etim on the star-studded UFC 84 card at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena. Clementi replaces Rob Emerson, who was forced to withdraw from the bout against Etim due to injury.

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Newly crowned UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre (Pictures) spoke exclusively with Sherdog.com the day after his impressive second-round TKO over Matt Serra (Pictures) at UFC 83. With the win, St. Pierre reclaimed the belt that Serra had taken from him in his first title defense in April 2007. "Yesterday was the most beautiful day of my life," St. Pierre said, his voice still raspy and full of happiness. "Everything worked out perfectly, and it is a dream come true." To get the win, St. Pierre employed a very solid wrestling game that allowed him to stay on top of Serra and punish him with countless hard knees to the body. The style contrasted greatly to the standup that Serra had used so successfully the first time. Was St. Pierre worried the few times that Serra got back to his feet?

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While it seems inevitable the the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Kalib Starnes will part ways, the manner in which the two separated appears to have been misinterpreted. Should be on main page.

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UFC is expected to make significant talent cuts, as the active roster has grown to 200 fighters under contract to the MMA organization. UFC doesn't run enough shows to keep all the fighters in a regular rotation. One of the first major casualties was heavyweight Jake O'Brien, a former Purder wrestler. As reported yesterday, Kalib Starnes was also let go. Despite the impending cuts, UFC did sign Yushin Okami to a new contract. So whose next on the list then?

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Fighters from the Ultimate Fighting Championship's partner organization, World Extreme Cagefighting, could be headed to the UFC as the organization tries to further distinguish the two fight promotions. According to an interview with Dana White that appeared on Yahoo! Canada, some of the WEC's middleweights and light heavyweights could be folded into the UFC. "We're going to make the WEC the smaller weights and the UFC will be the heavier weights," White said. "We'll probably take some of the guys in the higher weights, the champions over there and bring them into UFC. We're still trying to figure that out." ohhhh man! This could make for some VERY good fights. Condit...Filho...Stann

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In a recent interview with MMA on Tap, UFC lightweight Din Thomas, discussed a drop down to featherweight (145 lbs.). The TUF 4 veteran made mention of the two consecutive defeats he has suffered recently to Kenny Florian (UFC Fight Night 11) and Josh Neer (UFC Fight Night 13) as a reason for the cut.

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It seems that the curse of Mauricio Rua extends past Shogun himself. MMARated brings us the disappointing news that Chuck Liddell recently sustained an injury and will not be fighting Rashad Evans in the main event of UFC 85 (June 7th, London); Liddell and Evans will supposedly face each other later in the summer. Liddell was originally supposed to fight Rua in UFC 85’s main event, but Rua ruptured his ACL and was replaced by Evans. No other information on Chuck’s condition is available at the moment.

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The UFC didn’t waste much time, releasing former The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) contestant and UFC 83 main card participant, Kalib Starnes, from his contract after a puzzling performance against Nate Quarry this weekend, according to Yahoo!Sports.com

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GSP had a good game plan to take Matt Serra down and wear him out. I found myself rooting for Serra at the end of the second round, I wanted him to make it to the third round. I thought if it would get to the third round GSP would decide to stand up with him and possibly knock him out. I just wanted Matt to get beat on for five rounds, not just two; but I knew the ref was about ready to stop it. The UFC said that if Serra loses I get him, but I don’t know when that will be. I’m going to guess six to eight months, so I’ve found myself watching my diet and exercising more.”

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If you told me six months ago that one day we’d publish three posts involving Kalib Starnes within a seven-hour period, I would have thrown my scotch in your face and damned you as one of Satan’s deceitful minions. And yet here we are…

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Good morning, afternoon, evening, or whatever in-between time it is that your eyes have found their way to the Punch Drunk Hangover! I'm here with another one-stop shop for catching up on last week's Mixed Martial Arts news. As always, it's a pleasure bringing you Monday's reaction to a UFC Pay Per View event and I don't think I'm alone in my feeling UFC 83 delivered everything a fan could have hoped for and maybe even a little more. The crowd was perhaps the best in promotional history, though I also give a ton of credit to the Ohioans at UFC 68 who showed up in full force to support Randy Couture and Rich Franklin. The Montreal fans were loud from start to finish, whether raining down their adulation, disproval, or chants of "G-S-P", "Gou-let", "OLE! OLE OLE OLE!", or any of the other en masse, sometimes R-Rated, choruses of raucous cheering. Their enthusiasm, whether positive or negative, added to my enjoyment of an event featuring great action, incredible technique, highlight-reel moments, and a few laughs to boot. I thought "Ken-Flo" did a solid job acting as Joe Rogan's replacement, though I will admit, I found myself wishing Randy Couture was still in the good graces of the UFC, and vice-versa, as he would have almost certainly been acting in Florian's role were we in that alternate dimension. Ken did a nice job on color commentary and it was hard not to smile at his post-fight exchange with Rich Franklin regarding the Middleweight's resemblance to Jim Carrey. If the Canadian comedian decided to smash his nose into a wall a few times I might tend to agree with Florian's assessment (which was also made by 411's Adam Tool in his latest column). Personally, I think Matt Lindland looks like he and the LotR's Gollum were separated at birth but that's a subject for a future PDH. And, again, sorry for any delay in load times but UFC 83 had too many memorable moments to not share with the world via animated GIF file. a-Riddum,-Da-Rebel,-and-Da-UFC-Welterweight-Championship.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Link

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34-year-old Eric Armington, a trainer of current UFC star Kenny Florian, was killed Sunday afternoon after losing control of his motorcycle, striking a concrete barrier and light pole. He was declared dead at the scene.

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