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MMA Quick Quote: Jake Shields has a fight plan for Georges St. Pierre Posted: 29 Apr 2008 09:07 AM CDT “St. Pierre looks awesome. He’s one of the fights that I’d really love to have right now. I need to make sure I look really good against my opponents; I want go out and dominate people so I can build some momentum for that fight…. He doesn’t have a lot of weaknesses. He’s going to be a tough guy to beat, because it’s not like you can pick out one thing. To beat a guy like St. Pierre you have to be in phenomenal shape and keep the pressure on him. You’ve got to stay in his face, and if he takes you down, you better be ready to get back up and not just stay in guard and get manhandled like he’s doing to people.” – Jake Shields — Elite XC welterweight and among the top 170-pound fighters in the world — tells MMAWeekly.com about how he would approach a fight with UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre. Shields is set to battle Drew Fickett for the vacant Elite XC welterweight strap some time soon. In fact, the bout was scratched last month when Shields sustained a back injury during training, rescheduled for June 14 and now pushed back again, it appears, to July 26 — the second show for the promotion on CBS “Saturday Night Fights.”

DREAM 2 results for Middleweight Grand Prix 2008 opening round Posted: 29 Apr 2008 06:38 AM CDT The first round of the 2008 Middleweight Grand Prix took place this morning during the DREAM 2 event from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Not all went according to plan for at least one of the favorites in the field. In addition, the lightweight grand prix semifinal field is now set thanks to the “do over” fight between Shinya Aoki and Gesias “JZ” Calvancante. Check out the quick results after the jump. Shinya Aoki defeats Gesias “JZ” Calvancante via unanimous decision Taiei Kin defeats Ikuhisa Minowa via unanimous decision Dong Sik Yoon defeats Shungo Oyama via unanimous decision Zelg Galesic defeats Magomed Sultanakhmedov via submission (armbar) in round one Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza defeats Ian Murphy via submission (rear naked choke) in round one Kiyoshi Tamura defeats Masakatsu Funaki via technical knockout (strikes) in round one Gegard Mousasi defeats Denis Kang via submission (triangle choke) in round one Kazushi Sakuraba defeats Andrews Nakahara via submission (neck crank) in round one DREAM 2 will air in North America on the HDNet Network on Saturday, May 3 at 10:30 p.m. ET. For those who can’t wait we’ll put the vids in the comments section below.

UFC 84: Tito Ortiz is ‘far from soft’ and has ‘better stand up’ than Lyoto Machida (Video) Posted: 28 Apr 2008 09:34 PM CDT Props: UFC.com

Rich Clementi ‘No Love’ climbs UFC lightweight ladder Posted: 28 Apr 2008 08:05 PM CDT Rich "No Love" Clementi played spoiler for many Canadian fans at UFC 83: "St. Pierre vs. Serra 2" with his tough split decision victory over Sam "Hands of Stone" Stout. The shower of boos from some 21 000 fans didn't phase Clementi, in fact it did the opposite. Here's a snip: "Being booed pumped me up a little bit … whether it's cheers or boos it's the energy that matters, I used that a little to my favor." The Canadian fans lived up to their stereotype of being overtly polite, however, only after the fight was over: "The crowd in Montreal and the fans are just awesome … even afterwards I had fans come up to me and say 'I felt bad booing you' and they apologized and asked for my autograph." Shortly after his win, Clementi received a call to fill in for an injured Rob Emerson who was slated to face Terry Etim at UFC 84: "Ill Will" on May 24. Without a thought Clementi jumped at the opportunity. After a tough three-round war with Stout, Clementi is going to have a brief break. In fact, he said he would, "… take a few days to relax my mind and to get refocused and then I'm right back at it." And his thoughts on the 10-1 British fighter, Terry Etim: "He's another young kid, and the thing about him is he's not really great in one area and I seem to do well against guys like that." I know I should be staying away from the Starnes debacle, but it is always interesting to hear what fellow fighters, and especially ones who were on the card, thought of the whole situation. Clementi's reaction: "You never really know what is going through a guys mind when he's fighting, but at the same token, when you're paid to perform – and that's what we are, performers – go get knocked out…step in there, stick your jaw out, try to throw a punch …." Clementi is a dangerous fighter who is solid in all aspects of the game. It is hard not to be in his corner for every one of his fights. His dedication to the sport and his short turnaround between his fights speaks to his character. Of course, I was booing him in favor of the hometown Stout, but I was one of the overtly polite Canadians patting him on the back after his win. Fighting in the deepest, arguably the toughest division in all of MMA — let alone the UFC — lends itself to a complicated mix of up-and-comers, journeymen and contenders. Where does Clementi see himself in the mix? Here's a final snip: "Do I think I'm ready for that, a title shot or whatever? – No. Do I feel like I'm slowly climbing that ladder and kicking people off it as I'm trying to come up? – Damn right I am." To listen to the entire audio interview click here. Sean McManus is the Director of Media Relations for MMACanada.net. For more information on the MMA scene up in Canada check out MMACanada.net. Photo courtesy of Glenn Dextras - koshots.com

Jon Fitch and Josh Koscheck visit Walter Reed Army Medical Center (Pic) Posted: 28 Apr 2008 02:47 PM CDT Top UFC welterweight contenders, Jon Fitch and Josh Koscheck, took time away from training and their busy schedules to visit with wounded war veterans at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC, last week. Both fighters — American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) stablemates — are sponsored by Oak Grove Technologies, which set up the visit, meet-and-greet and autograph session. “Jon and Josh signed t-shirts for the soldiers, chatted with them, joked around, posed for pictures and then after the job fair we all went to visit soldiers at the Malone House,” said Mariah Haworth, Marketing Coordinator at Oak Grove Technologies. “It was really nice to see all the smiles.” We’ll have more on this outreach as soon as possible … it’s truly great stuff. For now it’s back to training — Koscheck has a tough fight coming up against Chris Lytle at UFC 86: “Jackson vs. Griffin” on July 5 and Fitch more than likely has a looming showdown with reigning UFC Welterweight Champion, Georges St. Pierre, later this year. To learn more about Oak Grove Technologies feel free to visit its Web site right here.

Jason Day: UFC 83 post-fight interview with ‘Dooms’ Posted: 28 Apr 2008 01:36 PM CDT Jason “Dooms” Day came through with a big win in his UFC debut at UFC 83: “St. Pierre vs. Serra 2,” dominating Alan “The Talent” Belcher to score a standing technical knockout victory in the first round back on April 19. He landed his four-fight contract with the UFC after his controversial split decision win over UFC veteran David “The Crow” Loiseau at a Hardcore Championship Fighting card back in February. Many felt that Loiseau won the fight and subsequently he (Loiseau) should have had the fight with Belcher instead of Jason. Day said he scored two victories that night. Here's a snip: "One of the sweetest victories I've had was letting everyone know that I do belong there … a lot of people said I didn't belong and that David won that fight … but coming out and dominating Alan Belcher in every aspect, I don't think anybody has any questions, it wasn't left to the judges…it was like getting two victories in one." For those who missed this fight because it was not aired Day looked calm, collected and very dominant in his debut. Belcher took him down early and Day worked effective elbows from the rubber guard. In fact, the “Master of the Rubber Guard,” Eddie Bravo, was so impressed that Jason had learned the technique just one month out from his fight and put it to use so effectively that he sought him out after the fight. Here’s a snip: "He came up to me in the hotel, and of course I know who Eddie Bravo is, but I hadn't seen a picture, and he was like 'that was a sick use of the rubber guard dude' and I said thanks, I thought it was just a fan, and then he told me he was going to send me his DVDs and I was like 'oh shit that's Eddie Bravo' … that was one of the highlights of my trip out there was Eddie Bravo telling me I used his rubber guard to perfection." When asked about his thoughts on the Kalib Starnes vs. Nate Quarry fiasco, he had this to say: "I was warming up with him all week and he looked like he had a good head on his shoulders … he looked ready to go … I didn't know what he was thinking, if Nate Quarry was running at me doing what he was doing to Kalib, I would be punching him in the face looking for the knockout." Jason Day is ready for whatever the UFC throws at him. For now he is satisfied with building houses for his parent's company up in Lethbridge, Alberta. And though he did take Monday off, his father was calling him wondering when he was coming back to work. To hear the entire audio interview click here. Sean McManus is the Director of Media Relations for MMACanada.net. For more information on the MMA scene up in Canada check out MMACanada.net. Photo courtesy of Glenn Dextras - koshots.com

Carlos Condit fight contract with WEC extended Posted: 28 Apr 2008 10:47 AM CDT WEC Welterweight Champion Carlos Condit (22-4) signed a four-fight contract extension with the Zuffa-owned promotion, according to USAToday.com. “The Natural Born Killer” — who was a spectator at last Saturday’s UWC show in Washington, DC — made the announcement during the event. It must be noted that prior to the extension that Condit had one more fight left on his current deal. It’s clear that locking Condit to a long-term deal means that the WEC sees him as one of its premier stars in the organization along with fellow champions Urijah Faber and Brian Stann. Condit, in fact, is undefeated in the WEC and is riding a four-fight win streak. His last defeated Carlo Prater via submission in the first round at WEC 32 last February. He’s quietly one of most underrated welterweights in the world and is awaiting his next opponent.

One-on-One with Andrei Arlovski (Video) Posted: 28 Apr 2008 10:00 AM CDT 1 on 1 with Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski prt 1 by psykojojo Part II after the jump … can someone sign this guy, please? 1 on 1 with Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski prt 2 by psykojojo

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