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| Tito Ortiz: ‘Me going to somewhere else is 100% happening’ Posted: 29 May 2008 08:35 AM CDT Props: MMAWeekly.com Quoteworthy;
Former UFC light heavyweight champion TIto Ortiz confirms that he will no longer compete inside the Octagon. “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” left the door open for a possible return — despite his epic public feuds with promotion president Dana White — immediately following his loss to Lyoto Machida at UFC 84: “Ill Will” on May 24. In fact, reports circulated that the owner of the organization, Lorenzo Fertitta, offered Ortiz a new (and better) contract prior to the fight. He’s apparently had time to mull the offer, as well as the working environment, and has determined that he will be better off elsewhere. |
| Matt Arroyo vs Matt Brown Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale fight scheduled (Exclusive) Posted: 28 May 2008 11:17 PM CDT
MMAmania.com exclusively learned of the welterweight bout earlier this evening. This match is not the first meeting between the two. Brown holds a second-round TKO victory over the Cobleskill native from their November 2006 fight during Real Fighting Championship 7 at Tampa’s USF Sun Dome. TUF 6 notwithstanding, Arroyo is 2-0 since that bout, last defeating John Kolosci via submission (armbar) at the Ultimate Fighter 6 finale last December. Brown on the other hand last fought UFC veteran Chris Lytle at Indiana’s United Fight League where he was submitted in the second round by a guillotine choke. This should be an interesting rematch between two competitors who are pretty evenly matched. TUF 7 Finale will feature the middleweight showdown between former 185-pound champion, Evan Tanner, and TUF 3 middleweight winner, Kendall Grove. In addition, Diego Sanchez will meet Luigi Fioravanti in a welterweight tilt and the finalists from this season of TUF will meet in the finals to determine the tournament winner. For the latest TUF 7 Finale fight card click here. |
| The Ultimate Fighter 7: Episode 9 recap and discussion Posted: 28 May 2008 10:31 PM CDT
Two will stay at home and train with the rest of Team Brown and two will be cast aside like flotsam and jetsam. One flick later and it’s official: Forrest corners Jesse Taylor and Amir Sadollah and Rampage is stuck with Dante Rivera and Matt Brown. Back at the house Jesse gets his White Castle on and sucks down a few sliders to show off his nutritional expertise. They guys hate on him for eating like he’s going to the chair yet has a body like he’s going to the beach. Dante feels like he’s improved since his last fight and looks to come out with a better showing against Jesse Taylor. Meanwhile, Coach Rampage is so committed to the new additions that he takes a quick nap during training. Jesse Taylor is tipping the scales a bit heavy so he puts on a rubber suit and sweats his way to success after a game of full contact ping-pong. He then rewards himself with a dip in the hot tub. Unfortunately he has to bleed the lines and instead of using a toilet like most normal folks, Ol’ Jesse simply steps out of the jacuzzi and urinates through his shorts onto the pavement. Not content with being merely repulsive, Taylor graduates to reprehensible by shaking off his leg and jumping right back into the hot tub which has now become a urine cappucino. An unsuspecting Dante jumps in and bathes in Taylors lemonade. And I thought piss-Christ was offensive. Congratulations Jesse Taylor on replacing Gabe “Colonic” Reudiger as TUF’s most egregious contestant. Prior to the fight, “Gentleman” Jesse Taylor admits he doesn’t like to touch gloves before engaging but will this time because Dante Rivera is a friend. What a guy. Quarterfinal fight #1: Jesse Taylor (6-2) vs Dante Rivera (10-2) Round 1: Rivera swings and misses and Taylor takes him down and immediately rains down hammer fists. Rivera trying to hold him close without much success. Taylor is simply overpowering Rivera who is starting to take punishment. Taylor covering the mouth of Rivera and posturing up and landing. Rinse and repeat. Taylor stands up and eats an upkick and returns to Rivera’s guard. More punishment ensues. Thirty seconds left in the round Taylor seems content to simply smother. Round one ends and it was all Taylor. Round 2: Dante is busted up and Taylor is sucking wind. In a repeat of round one, Rivera swings and misses and gets taken down. Taylor can be heard grunting as he tries to land punches from the top which is a clear indication that he’s low on fuel. Rampage finally chimes in (someone must have woken him up) and screams at Dante to stand up and do something. He seems content to stay in guard and is saved by the referee (as are we) when he puts them to their feet. Taylor laughs in the face of stand-up and immediately takes him back down. Action has slowed but Taylor is landing periodically. Rivera has no answer and seems resigned to just stay in guard and take punishment. Round two ends just like round one. This one is academic (and anticlimactic). Jesse Taylor defeats Dante Rivera via unanimous decision. Not exactly a barnburner but Taylor gets the win and with only one contract that’s all that really matters. The focus quickly shifts to the second fight of the evening between Matt Brown and Amir Sadollah - who get awfully chummy before the fight. Amir is once again bursting with confidence and considers Matt Brown a trained killer. Rampage likes Matt Brown’s warrior spirit. Quarterfinal fight #2: Amir Sadollah (0-0) vs Matt Brown (9-6) Round 1: Brown stalks and lands a couple of punches and kicks. Sadollah with a front kick. Follows with a jab and a knee. They tie up and Sadollah pushes him to the cage. Nice knee to the ribs by Sadollah. Brown looking for the trip but Sadollah fights it off. Nice display of defense by Sadollah. Brown eats an elbow and tries again for the trip. He fails but backs away and sneaks in some strikes. Nice straight head kick by Sadollah. Brown retaliates with a flurry. Back to the cage for both men. Brown still looking for the trip and backs away. Nice jab lands for Brown. Then a left. A Brown low kick stumbles Sadollah. Back to the cage and they exchange knees. They break and trade punches that land. Brown with a takedown but Sadollah rolls out and they get back to their feet. A return to the cage as time expires. Action packed first round. Very close. Round 2: Brown opens with a hard flurry. Flying White Lotus kick misses for Sadollah. Brown retreats and eats a few. They end up against the cage and wrestle for position. Nice knee by Brown. Missed kick by Sadollah. Brown lands a few more. Sadollah backs him up and trips him down. Sadollah on top now looking to create space. Brown looking a little lethargic on the bottom. Sadollah punches the body. Brown almost has an escape but falls backwards. Sadollah back on top working the elbow. Brown is bushed. Sadollah resorts to a man-hug and Brown rolls out. Amir immediately looks for the armbar but Brown transitions and gets trapped in the triangle. Brown taps. Amir Sadollah defeats Matt Brown via submission (triangle choke - R2). After the fight Brown shows a ton of class and congratulates Sadollah for the performance. Brown also gets mad respect when he mans up and admits that while disappointed, he gave it 100% and got bested. This was an exciting fight and pretty much saved the episode. Anyone who doesn’t understand what was wrong with the fight between Taylor and Rivera should re-watch Brown vs. Sadollah. Kudos to both men for a great fight. Stay tuned next week as Jeremy May comes back from obscurity to start trouble with Jesse Taylor, CB Dolloway tries to punish Cale Yarbrough, and the semifinal matches are announced. See you then! |
| UFC 84 video behind the scenes at ‘Ill Will’ Posted: 28 May 2008 10:09 PM CDT It was a great night of fights … just ask Donald Trump: |
| Jamie Varner vs Marcus Hicks WEC lightweight title fight set for August 3 Posted: 28 May 2008 09:00 PM CDT
It’s the second title fight slated for the show — WEC Light Heavyweight Champion Brian Stann is also expected to defend his 205-pound title against Steve Cantwell. “The Worm” is fresh off an impressive knockout of then-WEC champion, “Razor” Rob McCullough, at WEC 32 back February, defeating the heavy-handed champion at his own game. It was his third straight win and second consecutive victory under the WEC banner. Varner will certainly have to bring his “A” game — “The Wrecking Ball” is no slouch. In fact, Hicks is one of the hottest (and most compact) fighters in the promotion, winning his last three fights in the WEC, and overall, is riding an eight fight win streak. He has defeated the likes of Ed Ratcliff and Sergio Gomez en route to being the number one contender in the division. Put simply, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt — who also has some pro boxing experience — will be a stiff challenge for Varner Stay tuned for more fight announcements and other news in the next few days as WEC 34: “Faber vs Pulver” is set for this weekend — the organization will certainly look to promote upcoming events on the biggest night in its history. |
| Phil Baroni vs Joey Villasenor Elite XC on CBS fight preview Posted: 28 May 2008 08:32 PM CDT
The second fight set for the televised main card of the night is a middleweight showdown between Phil “The New York Badass” Baroni (10-9) and Joey Villasenor (25-6). Here’s a little background on each fighter: Phil Baroni — At 32 years old, Baroni has been around the block in the fight game in nearly a decade competing in the sport. He’s definitely had his share of ups and downs. Perhaps his lowest point came last June when he tested positive for two types of anabolic steroids immediately following a second round submission loss in a Strikeforce and Elite XC co-promoted fight against Frank Shamrock. While Baroni was beat pretty soundly by Shamrock, he still showed a lot of heart. Enough, in fact, for Icon Sport — a sister company of Elite XC — to grant him a shot at their vacant middleweight title against Hawaiian, Kala Kalohe Hose. Again, Baroni showed the heart of a lion — albeit in defeat once again — as Hose ended an absolute war with a fifth round technical knockout. It’s no secret that Baroni’s game is to stand and bang, and that usually makes for an exciting fight whether he wins or loses. He has notable wins against Ryo Chonan, Dave Menne and Yuki Kondo, as well as notable losses to Matt Lindland (twice), Evan Tanner (twice), Shamrock and Kazuo Misaki. Joey Villasenor — Villasenor is also 32 years old and has been around the block himself in the mixed martial arts scene. While more than half of his professional fights have been for King of the Cage (KOTC), he has fought in eight different MMA promotions, including two fights under the Pride FC banner. Villasenor was the KOTC middleweight champion and at one time reeled off 15 straight victories. That impressive feat earned him a berth in the prestigious 2006 Pride FC Middleweight Grand Prix in June of that same year. However, he lost in the first round to Ryo Chonan via split decision. The eye-catching performance gained him another fight for the famed Japanese promotion, this time against cuurent Elite XC Middleweight Champion, Robbie Lawler. Villasenor was caught by a flying knee less than 20 seconds into the fight. Since then, he’s made his home in Elite XC where he’s 3-1. He has notable wins against David Loiseau, Jorge Santiago and Riki Fukada, as well as notable losses to Chonan, Lawler, “Ninja” Rua and David Terrell Training notes and quotes from each fighter:
Phil Baroni — Baroni used to train out of Team Hammer House, but now trains with American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) — home to three of the UFC’s top welterweight contenders, Josh Koshcheck, Mike Swick and Jon Fitch. The camp has a lot of success in taking accomplished collegiate wrestlers like Fitch, Koscheck and Baroni and helping them develop into better all around fighters. Baroni, in fact, used to train at AKA during his Pride days, and he says he’s undefeated when training out there. Here’s some quotes from Baroni during a conference call for this event earlier last week:
On his ground game:
And one more snip:
Now that’s a fighter. Joey Villasenor — Joey trains with one of the premiere camps in all of MMA, the Greg Jackson camp out of Albuquerque, alongside Keith Jardine, Rashad Evans, Nate Marquardt and UFC Welterweight Champion, George St. Pierre. Jackson’s fighters are always known to have great cardio, training in the high altitude in Albuquerque and spending a lot of time running in the mountains. Sparring with other great fighters can only be doing wonders for every part of Villasenor’s game. Here’s some quotes from the conference call from Joey:
And on Baroni’s all around game:
How the fight will go: This one isn’t hard to figure out. Both guys usually prefer to stand and trade strikes. And both have really good boxing and knockout power. This fight is definitely going to be a stand up war. Like Villasenor said, I look for him to use a lot of movement at first to avoid Baroni’s early attack. Baroni always comes out like a bat out of hell and looks for the knockout as early as possible. He has a lot of power, especially during his early runs, and Villasenor will have to weather that storm. While Baroni’s first round onslaughts are always exciting and sometimes lead to early finishes, he always wastes a lot of crucial energy in that first round. If Villasenor can use some head movement and footwork to avoid Baroni early, he’ll probably be able to use that same movement and footwork to out box him late, possibly even earn a knockout. Here’s what I see happening: Baroni will come out swinging for the fences and the two will trade some early blows. Villasenor, however, will frustrate Baroni with his boxing and he won’t be fazed by the early charge from Baroni. He’ll stick to his gameplan of good footwork, head movement and boxing. Even though Baroni has the edge in power, I don’t think he is a better technical striker. I can see him getting picked apart in this fight. And unless Baroni gets a big knockout early, I think he’s in trouble. The longer the fight goes, and the more tired Baroni gets, the more he’s going to get frustrated with Villasenor’s boxing and more importantly his cardio. We know those Greg Jackson guys are always in great shape. I think it’ll be the difference in this fight. I say it ends in the third round. Baroni won’t have enough left to be doing anything more than throwing lazy haymakers and shooting for half-hearted takedown attempts. The fresher Villasenor will still be executing his gameplan of outboxing Baroni, and Baroni is going to be vulnerable to a knockout late. His hands will be down, his chin will be up and he’ll lean right into a Joey Villasenor knockout punch. Final Prediction: Joey Villasenor via third round knockout. Check back in tomorrow as we go in-depth with a look at the ladies, Gina Carano and Kaitlin Young. |
| UFC Quick Quote: “This victory is ours” Posted: 28 May 2008 04:40 PM CDT
-UFC light heavyweight Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva sends a personal message to his fans via his blog after defeating Keith Jardine at UFC 84: Ill Will in just 36 seconds. |
| Forrest Griffins horrible week training for Rampage Jackson UFC 86 fight (Video) Posted: 28 May 2008 04:22 PM CDT (Thanks to MMARated.com for the clip.) |
| Donald Cerrone vs Danny Castillo WEC 34 fight booked with Rich Crunkilton injured Posted: 28 May 2008 04:14 PM CDT
The Zuffa-owned promotion recently confirmed the lightweight match up on its Web site. Castillo has only been fighting nearly a year and a half; however, his five victories have all ended in the first round — four via submission and one technical knockout. “Last Call” — who will make his WEC debut — is a two-time National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) All-American wrestler out of Menlo, Calif. Meanwhile, his opponent, Cerrone, is currently riding a seven-fight winning streak of his own, defeating Kenneth Alexander via submission (triangle choke) at WEC 30 in November 2007. However, it was later ruled a “no contest” because Cerrone was found to have a banned diuretic in his system after the bout. This will mark his first fight back after an eight month suspension and $2,400 fine. Both of these fighters are red hot, but someone’s zero has to go and it will take place LIVE on the Versus network at 9 p.m. ET this Sunday. WEC 34: “Faber vs. Pulver” is headlined by the biggest featherweight title fight in recent memory. Urijah Faber will defend his 145-pound strap against MMA legend, Jens Pulver, in the evening’s main event. Just another reminder: It’s FREE on Versus at 9 p.m. ET. |
| Eddie Sanchez vs Antoni Hardonk UFC 85 fight announced Posted: 28 May 2008 12:58 PM CDT
Eddie Sanchez (8-1) will fill-in for Neil Wain — who sustained a broken nose during training — and take on Antoni Hardonk (6-4) at the O2 Arena in London, England, on June 7, according to UFC.com. Here’s a snip from the “Manic Hispanic” on the heavyweight bout:
Sanchez is actually on a two-fight win streak since his technical knockout loss to Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 67: “All or Nothing” in February 2007. Since that time he has pounded out Colin Robinson at UFC 72: “Victory” and Soa Palalei at UFC 79: “Nemesis,” respectively. He’s got power, which he will put to the test against the Dutch kickboxer. Hardonk most recently also took out Robinson, winning their fight at UFC 80: “Rapid Fire” in January just 17 seconds into round one. The victory snapped a two-fight losing skid during which he dropped fights to Justin McCully and Frank Mir. Wain — who was set to make his Octagon debut — is just the latest in a long line of casualties to hit the UFC 85 fight card. Chuck Liddell, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Rashad Evans, James Irvin and Chris Leben have all been scratched from the pay-per-view (PPV) event for one reason or another since it was announced. To check out the latest version click here. |
Gladiator Challenge and Palace Fighting Championship veteran, Danny Castillo (5-0), will step in for an injured Rich Crunkilton to face Donald Cerrone (7-0) at WEC 34: “Faber vs Pulver” at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, Calif., on June 1.
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