You know who he is: exclusive interview with Karo Parisyan
(mmamania.com)
Dana White referred to Jon Fitch’s record-tying eight-fight win streak* and said that “he is in line, right now, for a title shot once the whole Serra-St. Pierre thing is figured out.”
Karo Parisyan: Okay. Well … (laughs). It is what it is, bro. I mean, what can I do? I thought I deserved the shot before anybody, but it looks like I gotta prove myself one more time, God willing, with Thiago Alves and then seal the deal with the title shot after that, whether it’s Matt Serra, St. Pierre or Jon Fitch.
With such a stacked welterweight division, you seem to be playing the wait game. First we have Serra/GSP at UFC83 in mid-April; and then, assuming Fitch gets a title shot, that likely won’t happen until sometime around August. That might put the next available title shot happening sometime toward the end of 2008. Do you find this frustrating, waiting, if it unfolds like this?
Karo Parisyan: Yeah, kinda. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’d probably have to get a fight in between; I just can’t sit at home and get fat. I don’t know, man. It depends on how this fight goes with Thiago Alves. God willing, if everything goes well and I beat Thiago, and if I have a guaranteed title shot after that, I’m not going to take anymore fights, I’ll just wait for my title shot. But if I have to fight somebody else, I will.
So, I don’t know what the UFC is going to throw my way. First, again, like I said, I’m taking one fight at a time. I’m thinking about Thiago right now, and not Fitch, Serra or GSP.
Rich Franklin – Seven Defining Moments
(ufc.com)On April 19th, Rich Franklin returns to the Octagon to face Travis Lutter in what may be one of the Cincinnati native’s biggest fights ever in terms of determining where he stands in the division he once ruled. Past history has shown not only Franklin’s talent, but his resilience, and it’s this grace under pressure that has defined him. Can he get back to the top? Only time will tell, but for now, we’ll revisit Franklin’s defining moments.
UFC Owners Defendants in Xyience Lawsuit
(sherdog.com)Xyience's bankruptcy proceeding is set to come to a close April 1 with a public auction, but the dispute between dissident shareholders and the company's directors appears to be far from over.
Last December shareholders, led by Ronald Soloman, who controls 35 percent of Xyience's outstanding shares by proxy, filed suit against Xyience and its directors for breach of fiduciary duty to the company's shareholders
Arbitration hearing lifts curtain on backstage world of the UFC
(canadianpress.google.com)A contract offer scrawled on a blue Post-it note. A disgruntled fighter. A manager whose cut is one-third. A powerful promoter in hardball negotiations to tie up a young heavyweight star.
The California State Athletic Commission arbitration hearing into the dispute between mixed martial arts heavyweight Brandon (The Truth) Vera and his former manager, Mark Dion, lifts a corner of the curtain on the backstage world of the UFC.
The San Diego hearing came about as a result of Vera's desire to get out of his management contract with Dion because he was irate at an alleged misrepresentation of a UFC signing bonus. This week, Dion posted the 135-page transcript of the arbitration hearing on his website, as well as the arbitrator's ruling and a slew of exhibit documents.
Privately owned by billionaire brothers Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta and outspoken president Dana White, the UFC does not like talking money. But the Vera hearing sheds some light on UFC contract negotiations, suggesting that the battles outside the cage can be just as hard-nosed.
UFC Newcomer Roberts to Face Aurelio on April 2 Card
UFC Newcomer Roberts to Face Aurelio on April 2 Card
Thomas Gerbasi, UFC - Nebraska’s Ryan "Are You Ready" Roberts will enter the UFC Octagon for the first time on April 2nd when he takes on veteran Marcus Aurelio in a lightweight bout on the UFC Fight Night Card in Broomfield, Colorado. Roberts (14-2, 1 no contest) replaces Spencer Fisher, who was forced from the bout earlier this week due to a shoulder injury. Said Roberts, “This (fighting in the UFC) is what I set out to do. Now it’s here."
On UFC.tv main page
Matt Serra Ready for 22,000 Boos
"I mean listen, that's a lot of pressure on this other guy," Serra said. "I feel great about it. I'm feeling great with everything… I'm feeling like a million dollars."
Serra said he was not upset at the UFC's decision to award the interim belt.
"I got hurt, and left them in a f***ing pickle," Serra said. "What am I going to do? They had to do what they had to do. And that's alright. I still have the belt."
While the fighters have been generally respectful toward each other throughout the build-up to each of their fights, tensions have started to grow recently as verbal jabs have been thrown by both combatants.
"I was always polite to the guy," Serra said of his relationship with St. Pierre. "After I won the title, I wasn't sticking my tongue out saying 'Ha, ha. I told you so.' I was giving the guy respect, saying he's the future of the sport."
Since that time, though, things have changed.
"I genuinely think the guy is a good guy," Serra said. "He's surrounded by a bunch of guys hanging on to his coat tails, and they're looking at him like a meal ticket… So five weeks after the fight, I heard him… giving all these excuses, saying 'If it was Matt Hughes I wouldn't have taken the fight. I wasn't training properly for Matt Serra. I figured I'd beat him easy.' I'm like, dude, how do you not take offense to that?"
Serra responded to St. Pierre with comments of his own.
"My point to him was that before the fight you're saying all this, '(Serra's) the most dangerous guy. (I've) got to be the challenger, and go out there and try to get the belt from (him)," Serra said. "Then afterwards? You're lying either way -- either before or after. Not to mention it's blatantly disrespectful.
"So, of course, for me, I'm not going to be like, 'Oh, that's ok.' So I went off. I called him Frenchie, and I told him to drink some red wine and watch a hockey game. And, he got upset about it. He's like, 'Oh, he called me Frenchie. He went over the line.' Relax. Pepé Le Pew is my favorite Looney Toon. Calm down." .
Diego Sanchez to Headline TUF Finale
(sherdog.com)
Diego Sanchez (Pictures) will return to the Octagon June 21 in Las Vegas in the main event of "The Ultimate Fighter 7" finale, sources have told Sherdog.com. He is expected to square off against Luigi Fioravanti (Pictures) in a welterweight tilt that will follow a series of bouts involving participants of the upcoming season of the UFC's reality show.
Sources: Ryan Roberts vs. Marcus Aurelio at UFC Fight Night 13
(mmajunkie.com)UFC newcomer Ryan Roberts (8-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) could fill in for an injured Spencer Fisher and fight Marcus Aurelio (15-5 MMA, 1-1 UFC) in a preliminary bout at UFC Fight Night 13.
Sources close to the fighter tell MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that Roberts has accepted the bout. However, his manager could not confirm the fight, and the UFC hasn't made an official announcement.
Liddell dishes out Angle warning
(setantasports.com)However, Angle never took up the offer - preferring instead to let his words do the talking, and Liddell did not mince his words in belittling his claims.
Liddell and the rest of The UFC world witnessed Lesnar’s promising debut, which ultimately highlighted his lack of Mixed Martial Arts as Frank Mir submitted him, and the former two-time UFC light-heavyweight champion is adamant Angle would face the same fate.
“He talks about it all the time, but he hasn’t made any movements towards doing it, to my knowledge he hasn’t done any training or cross-training,” Liddell told Setanta Sports News.
“If he’s just gonna come in and wrestle, he’s going to get beat, you can’t just be a one-dimensional fighter in The UFC".
“I don’t care how good you are, it’s not gonna work.”
"TUF 8" Likely to Feature Heavyweights and Lightweights
(mmajunkie.com)While the UFC and Spike TV have made no official announcement regarding the weight classes for "The Ultimate Fighter 8," producers are on the search for heavyweight and lightweight applicants.
The deadline to apply for the eighth installment of the hit reality series, which will likely debut on Spike TV in September, is April 5.
A new banner and link on UFC.com asks the simple question: "Heavyweights and lightweights: are you T.U.F. enough?"
Opportunity Knocked: UFC 83 interview with Jason Dooms Day
(mmamania.com)When asked about his opponent Jason had this to say:
“I’ve always said he looks good, I mean I have respect for him. I think there’s a few holes in his game that I’ve kind of picked out … he’s fast, his hands are fast. He looked sharp out there, he’s quick and he’s aggressive. I think I’m going to have the fight with Alan Belcher that I thought I was going to have with Loiseau. I think Belcher is going to be my opportunity to get out there and reveal what I’ve been working on.”
Jason is a dedicated fighter as he works full time building homes up in Calgary during the day and trains well into the nights. He is looking forward, however, to leaving that behind.
Here’s another snip:
“Hopefully over the next six months I won’t be banging nails anymore, I could just be in the gym training full time.”
Confidence is not an issue with Jason –- he’s been preparing to walk through the gates of the Octagon in the UFC for a long time. With wins over notable opponents Loiseau, Ron Faircloth and Jonathan Goulet and his only recent loss coming at the heavy hands of Patrick Cote, Jason is poised to make the most of the opportunity put in front of him.
It’s now or never.
or the full interview in audio
Shamrock dismisses Silva
(globesports.com)Veteran Frank Shamrock and EliteXC promoter Gary Shaw dismissed talk Tuesday that rival UFC champion Anderson Silva is pound-for-pound the best mixed martial arts fighter in the world.
"Well I think I've been named that guy several times over the past 14 years, so I think that it's fleeting, it's exciting but I certainly don't think he's the best in the world," Shamrock said in a conference call Tuesday to promote his March 29 Strikeforce-Elite XC middleweight title fight with Cung Le in San Jose.
"I think he's probably one of the best guys in the UFC, but all the best fighters are not in the UFC. So hopefully he can hang onto that and make something out of it and gain some fame. But I have 100 per cent confidence if I ran into him, they'd be calling me that guy."
Ben Saunders Likely to return at UFC 86
(mmajunkie.com)Sources close to the fighter tell MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that Saunders has agreed to fight at the event. However, a phone call to the fighter wasn't immediately returned today, and the UFC has made no official announcement regarding the event.
Diego Sanchez To Headline TUF Finale
(sherdog.com)
Diego Sanchez (Pictures) will return to the Octagon June 21 in Las Vegas in the main event of "The Ultimate Fighter 7" finale, sources have told Sherdog.com. He is expected to square off against Luigi Fioravanti (Pictures) in a welterweight tilt that will follow a series of bouts involving participants of the upcoming season of the UFC's reality show.
Koppenhaver returns at UFC 84 against Yoshiyuki Yoshida
ufc.com
Koppenhaver third round stoppage of Jared Rollins last December capped off one of the most action-packed bouts of 2007, and on Saturday, May 24th, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, 170-pound prospect Jon Koppenhaver will kick off his 2008 campaign when he faces UFC newcomer Yoshiyuki Yoshida in a UFC 84 preliminary bout.
Also added to the undercard is a welterweight contest between England’s Jason Tan and Korea’s Dong Hyun Kim.
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