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| UFCs Chris Leben released early from jail and under home detention Posted: 19 May 2008 11:24 PM CDT UFC fighter Chris Leben was released from the Clackamas County Jail in Portland, Oregon, early on May 15 after serving time behind bars for a probation violation stemming from an outstanding Driving Under the Influence (DUI) arrest in 2005. He was sentenced on May 8 to a 35-day bit with credit for time already served and was originally slated to go home on May 27. He will now finish his time under “home detention,” according to jail officials. Here’s a snip from his MySpace.com administrator:
Leben turned himself in late last month with hopes that he would be able to clear up the charge and obtain a visa to fight Michael Bisping in London, England, on June 7. However, he was sentenced during a hearing on May 8 and the bout was scrapped. Jason Day was called on as a replacement for “The Crippler” because there clearly wasn’t enough time for him to prepare behind bars and get all the official paperwork in order to travel overseas. Stay tuned for more details. (Thanks to Drew Hall for the assist on this report.) |
| Jason Day ‘Count’ down to ‘Dooms’ day Michael Bisping UFC 85 fight (Part II) Posted: 19 May 2008 10:33 PM CDT I am heading into the last portion of my training camp now with three weeks remaining until my fight with Michael Bisping at UFC 85: “Bedlam” at the O2 Arena in London, England, on June 7. My conditioning coach, Kenny Seaman, breaks my routine into three phases when I fight:
I love the final phase because it is very intense and gets me ready to fight. It involves a lot of sprinting and bringing in fresh teammates to beat on me between intervals. This is actually the one time when I look forward to conditioning because it feels just like a fight and I have my team there helping me through the intensity. I took the long weekend off to relax and focus in the Rockies and now I am ready to grind out my last two weeks of training. I will train right up until the Friday before I leave and then continue to stay loose throughout the week by jogging and hitting pads. My training is going great I feel like I never missed a beat from my last fight and just picked up where I left off. I had a ton of support behind me for my first fight here in Canada but it feels like support is just gaining momentum for this one. I am the lone Canadian on the card so I feel the whole country is behind me for this fight. Jason Day is a top Canadian mixed martial artist who was successful in his Octagon debut against Alan Belcher at UFC 83: “Serra vs. St. Pierre 2″ on April 19. UFC President Dana White referred to his performance that night as “amazing” and has rewarded him with a high profile fight against The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 3 light heavyweight winner, Michael Bisping. Day is on a red hot five-fight win streak, which he will put on the line against “The Count” at UFC 85: “Bedlam” at the O2 Arena in London, England, on June 7. He’ll detail his preparation for the bout right here at MMAmania.com with frequent updates. He would like to thank his sponsors Hardcor Fightwear & Apparel and BodyArt Fitness. To check out more from Jason here at MMAmania.com click here. |
| Phil Baroni and Kaitlin Young on Yac and J tonight (Monday) Posted: 19 May 2008 03:24 PM CDT
The Yac and J show is hosted by comedians Ron “The Yacman” Yacovetti, Randy J, and “The Queen of the MMA Underground.” Miss RaRa. Kaitlin Young (4-1) will face undefeated superstar Gina Carano in a match Elite XC Live Events President, Gary Shaw, says will determine which fighter will compete later this year for the first-ever Elite XC female championship belt. “The New York Badass” (10-9), who is always good for some memorable sound bites, should be a solid guest for Yac and J. He’s fighting Joey Villasenor on May 31 in a fight that is destined to be an all out slugfest. Two comedians interviewing Phil Baroni … a definite must watch. |
| CBS announcers for Elite XC to include Frank Shamrock, Mauro Ranallo and Gus Johnson Posted: 19 May 2008 03:03 PM CDT
Elite XC and CBS announced their broadcasting team for the “Saturday Night Fights” premiere today, which includes the three-man team of Mauro Ranallo, Gus Johnson and Frank Shamrock. Indeed, the trio will be the voices that introduce mixed martial arts to the network television world. Ranallo is a long time MMA color commentator. His credentials include three years of calling fights for Pride FC with Bas Rutten and Frank Trigg, numerous jobs as a commentator for various Canadian wrestling shows, and he has been with Elite XC as its go-to play-by-play man for all Elite XC and Sho XC events since the beginning of the promotion in 2006. Johnson has been with CBS Sports since 1996, mostly as a play-by-play announcer for college basketball’s “March Madness” tournament. He also has experience covering the New York Golden Gloves boxing tournaments, as well as numerous NBA and NFL games. Shamrock has some experience behind the microphone as well. He’s served as a guest color commentator for both the UFC and Elite XC. He’s always been one who loves to speak his mind — last year he referred to Josh Thomson as the “first openly gay fighter” as he called a Strikeforce show at the Playboy Mansion in September 2007. It was inaccurate and slanderous, considering “The Punk” is not gay — him and Shamrock just don’t get along. Shamrock will clearly be right at home in this role … let’s see if CBS gives him a short leash (not like it will matter one way or the other). Johnson will serve as the primary play-by-play announcer and Ranallo and Shamrock will be the color analysts. |
| Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale card on Spike TV set to air for three hours in HD Posted: 19 May 2008 12:45 PM CDT
The special three-hour broadcast will be broadcast in High Definition (HD) for this first time ever on Spike TV. Under card bouts that have already been announced such as Spencer Fisher vs Jeremy Stephens, Jeremy Horn vs Dean Lister, Marvin Eastman vs. Drew McFedries and Josh Burkman vs Dustin Hazelett were all made official. Of course, the middleweight showdown between Evan tanner and Kendall Grove, as well as the welterweight tilt that pits Diego Sanchez against Luigi Fioravanti, will co-headline the show. And, remember, the two finalists from this season of TUF will hook ‘em up to determine the winner of the 16-man tournament style competition. Looks nice. For the most recent TUF 7 Finale fight card click here. |
| MMA double knockout video Legends of Fighting Posted: 19 May 2008 11:49 AM CDT FiveOuncesOfPain.com has the scoop and all the particulars. The reaction of guest referee, Shonie Carter, is downright priceless … and hilarious: |
| UFC 85 video preview for ‘Bedlam’ in London on June 7 Posted: 19 May 2008 11:32 AM CDT (Thanks to BloodyElbow.com for the assist.) |
| UFC 84 tickets Las Vegas giveaway from ESPN radio Posted: 19 May 2008 11:21 AM CDT
UFC 84: “Ill Will” at the MGM Grand Garden Arena is sold out for this Saturday, May 24, in Las Vegas, Nevada. However, our friend “Mr. Sunshine” Steve Cofield over at ESPN Radio 1100 wants us to pass along news that he’ll be giving away tickets, as well as closed circuit tickets and other swag, during his radio show this Wednesday at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria from 1 to 3 p.m. local time. UFC lightweight Tyson Griffin will also be on hand to talk with fans and sign autographs. Up until about four minutes ago, I never knew there was a Grimaldi’s outside of Hoboken, N.J., and the few scattered throughout New York. It’s fantastic brick oven pizza — some of the best (that says a lot for the tri-state area). Anyway, Las Vegas residents and guests enjoy … Cofield’s show ain’t too shabby, either. Sounds like a great time. If you’re in “Sin City” on Wednesday, May 21, definitely head over to Grimaldi’s for some good pizza and great mixed martial arts coverage. Who knows … you might even win some seats to watch B.J. Penn and Sean Sherk beat each other up. For more information and details on the event click here. For directions to the restaurant click here. |
| Urijah Faber Jens Pulver video training for WEC fight and more Posted: 19 May 2008 10:42 AM CDT (Thanks to MMAmania.com reader “Roy” for the assist.) |
| ShoXC: Hector Lombard, Cyrille Diabate and KOTC champ Keith Berry in action June 27 Posted: 19 May 2008 10:09 AM CDT
No opponent has been named at this time. Cyrille Diabate — another recent Elite XC acquisition — will also mix it up with Jaime Fletcher in a light heavyweight tilt. Diabate is a Muay Thai specialist who has not competed in more than one year. His last fight, in fact, was a first round submission (armbar) win over Ryan Robinson at Cage Rage 21: “Judgment Day.” Before that “Snake” had notable losses to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at Pride: “Final Conflict Absolute” in September 2006 (first round technical knockout) and to Renato “Babalu” Sobral at Cage Rage 9: “No Mercy” in November 2004 (first round submission). Diabate has been competed in mixed martial arts since 1999, but only had two fights in the last two years. Thats a long layoff in between fights. His opponent Jaime Fletcher, on the other hand, is just the opposite. His MMA career started less than two years ago, and he’s already had nine fights. Fletcher was victorious in his first five matches before losing three in a row. That came to an end with a much needed win in March over one of the promotion’s top prospects, Aaron Rosa at the ShoXC event in Santa Ynez, Calif. Both are solid fighters looking to make an impression being on the main card of a Showtime televised event.
Not to be outdone, for the first time ever a King of the Cage (KOTC) championship belt will be decided outside of the organization — middleweight kingpin Keith “The KO Kid” Berry (6-2) will defend his strap against Reggie Orr (5-5-1) in one of the main card matches. KOTC is owned by Pro Elite, which is the parent company of Elite XC and other MMA organizations. Pro Elite purchased KOTC in September of 2007. Berry is a boxer with highlight reel-type power in both hands. He has four (T)KO’s to his credit out of his 6 six wins. He’s also a very big middleweight. He primarily fought at light heavyweight before winning the KOTC title. One of his two losses was in October of 2006 against Terry Martin at WEC 24: “Full Force” at light heavyweight. The other came in February of last year at Cage Combat Fighting Championships 24: “Judgment Day” against Kawika Morton. That fight was a hard fought split decision loss. Since those two losses “The KO Kid” is on a three fight winning streak including his most recent win at King of the Cage: “Final Chapter” last December over Omar Luv (6-2). You might remember the challenger, Reggie Orr, from this season’s The Ultimate Fighter (TUF). I say might because he wasn’t on there for too long. In fact, he lost in the very first episode to Paul Bradley — the guy with the neck herpes. Orr never made it into the house. He’s had an up and down career since making the transition from Muay Thai and jiu-jitsu to mixed martial arts. His 5-5-1 record is nothing to be impressed by, but he’s reeled off three straight wins for KOTC and will be looking to impress in his first real fight with a major organization on Showtime. All in all this is shaping up to be a pretty sweet card for a ShoXC event. Stay tuned for more updates. |
Elite XC contenders and May 31 “Saturday Night Fights” main card competitors, Kaitlin Young and “The New York Badass” Phil Baroni will be on Yac and J’s MMA and boxing show tonight (May 19) at 1a.m. ET on 
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