UFC blog for latest news, videos, results, betting odds, fighter interviews and MMA rumors - UFCmania.com |
| WEC weigh-in results for Faber vs Pulver Posted: 01 Jun 2008 08:17 AM CDT
The official weigh-ins for the WEC 34: “Faber vs. Pulver” took place yesterday for the blockbuster event tonight that is set to go off LIVE from the Arco Arena in Sacramento, Calif., and air on the Versus network at 9 p.m. ET. It seems as though everything went according to plan — each fighter made his respective weight without any issues. That’s great news because this is the most star-studded show in the relatively brief history of the promotion. WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber will take on former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver in the main event and WEC Bantamweight titleholder Miguel Torress will put his 135-pound strap on the line against Yoshiro Maeda. There’s a lot more than that … this is some great mixed martial arts action. And we need it. Here are the official scale-tipping results for WEC 34:
*Note: Fighters are allowed to weigh one pound more than the division limit in non-title fights. Remember that MMAmania.com will provide results coverage of the main and prelim card action, beginning at around 7:30 p.m. ET. Definitely check in before, during and after the the “Faber vs. Pulver” event for all the coverage and discussion you can handle. |
| MMA Quick Quote: ‘Grim’ outlook on Kimbo’s performance Posted: 01 Jun 2008 02:37 AM CDT
-Undefeated EliteXC heavyweight Brett “The Grim” Rogers trashes the performance of flagship fighter Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson at the “Saturday Night Fights” post-event press conference and nearly causes an all-out melee. Rogers - as well as many fans in attendance - thought they saw Ferguson tap during the second-round onslaught by his opponent, English import James “The Colossus” Thompson. |
| Opinion: Elite XC recap for ‘Primetime’ CBS ‘Saturday Night Fights’ Posted: 01 Jun 2008 12:34 AM CDT
Controversy — a prolonged public dispute, debate, or contention; disputation concerning a matter of opinion. Is there a better word to describe Elite XC’s “Saturday Night Fights”? Let’s forget for a moment about the Scott Smith stoppage and the Kaitlin Young stoppage and let’s focus for now on the Kimbo Slice stoppage of James Thompson. First let me say this: What kind of success would Elite XC be expecting to have heading into the future if its “franchise” — Kimbo Slice — were to lose to a hand-picked opponent and get exposed as nothing more than a street fighter with no real MMA skills? Probably not too much. Everybody who knew anything about this fight going into tonight knew what each fighter’s gameplan was going to be. Kimbo was going to try and come out and look for a knockout, and James Thompson was going to come out and look to test Kimbo’s ground game with takedowns and ground and pound. Let’s review: Round 1: Kimbo gets taken down and gets pounded on for the better part of the round. Advantage so far to James Thompson. At this point in the fight he was executing his gameplan perfectly and had a fighter who had never been out of the first round completely confused and exhausted. All three judges, in fact, had James Thompson ahead through two rounds. Round 3: Both fighters are dog tired, and Kimbo needs a knockout to win. At the first sign of trouble for James Thompson, the ref steps in and stops the fight. He wasn’t knocked down, he wasn’t knocked out, and after the fight was stopped, he wasn’t the one laying on the floor. I’m not going to say that Kimbo wasn’t going to knock James Thompson out, because by the looks of things, he probably was well on his way to doing that. The thing that has me irked is that the ref stepped in and didn’t let the fight play out. If you don’t think there was something rotting in Denmark then riddle me this. Gary Shaw, at the post fight press conference, told the media that James Thompson was taken to the hospital by ambulance immediately after the fight. Cue entrance of “The Collusus.” Either someone is lying to the live events president or the live events president is lying. Or, it could be some really bad miscommunication. The kind of miscommunication, however, that gets someone fired. Fast. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the hell out of the fight. It was awesome seeing Kimbo get tested like that, and I do think he was going to eventually put Thompson down. But why not let it play out? And what’s the deal with the shenanigans at the press conference afterwards? Just too much controversy. Whats next for Kimbo? He had trouble with James Thompson’s size. Is he really going to fight Brett Rogers next? That seems like a horrible match up for him, and like I said earlier, what is Elite XC going to do if its star gets exposed? Rogers ripped Kimbo’s performance at the post fight press conference and it was obvious he wants that fight and thinks he can win it. He just kept dogging Kimbo and at one point Kimbo got so pissed off that the two had an altercation — the two had to be separated! Here’s what Rogers said that finally put Kimbo over the edge:
Rogers was referring to the second round when Kimbo was in deep trouble late in the round eating elbow after elbow. This is bad for Kimbo because now he almost has to take this fight, and, in this writer’s opinion, I don’t think he’s going to win based on tonight’s performance. I do know this though, Gary Shaw is not a happy man. Sure, he has another fight he can sell now, but at what cost? If Kimbo loses, his company is in trouble. Continuing with the controversy theme of this recap and this event … what kind of stoppage was that in the title fight? I’m convinced if this was not on network television that it would have continued. CBS wanted no part of any of these fighters getting seriously hurt on its watch. To be a fly on the wall of the prefight referee discussion. It seemed like fights were getting called by the doctor in every other match. I’ve never typed the two words doctor and stoppage so many times in my life. Scott Smith should have been given time to recover and then the fight should have continued. That stoppage ruined a great fight — perhaps the best fight in the history of Elite XC. It was one for the ages. Also, in the woman’s match, Kaitlin Young was tired and had a beat up face, but she could have continued. The problem here, again, is more than likely that CBS doesn’t want its viewers to watch people getting hurt, especially a woman. Maybe in the end this event proved that MMA belongs on pay per view and premium cable and NOT network television. These are fights and people get hurt in fights. If you’re not willing to live with that, then don’t put the sport on your channel. Over protecting fighters is not what fans of this sport want to see. These athletes know what they’re getting themselves into, and they’re highly trained. Let them compete or don’t get involved at all. Kimbo had no gas left in the tank. Who’s to say that he could have even kept throwing punches? Maybe Thompson would have landed one on Kimbo’s chin and put the exhausted fighter out. Who knows. That’s the point, we don’t know because the fight was stopped before it could play out. Much like the rest of the action all night long. |
| Elite XC results CBS ‘Saturday Night Fights’ LIVE tonight for ‘Primetime’ Posted: 31 May 2008 02:01 PM CDT
Click the banner above or right here for LIVE up-to-the-minute results and blow-by-blow coverage of Elite XC: “Primetime” coverage of “Saturday Night Fights” on CBS. Quick results of the prelim action will begin to flow around 7 p.m. ET and LIVE blow-by-blow, round-by-round coverage of the main card action is set to coincide with the television broadcast at 9 p.m. ET. If you're going to leave comments and discuss the fights with all the other MMAmania.com readers be sure to do it on the main Elite XC: “Primetime” results post and not this one. |
| ‘Ultimate Iceman’ tribute to Chuck Liddell to air on SpikeTV tonight (Saturday) Posted: 31 May 2008 01:59 PM CDT
Props: UFC.com Quoteworthy:
This is just a reminder that the UFC is offering some good old fashioned counter-programming on Spike TV tonight for those who don’t want to watch Elite XC: “Primetime” on CBS at 9 p.m. ET. It’s also a reminder for those fans who watch Elite XC to program their DVRs. |
| WEC Faber vs Pulver video and press conference Posted: 31 May 2008 01:48 PM CDT This is going to be a really, really good fight tomorrow (June 1) … there’s going to be no slapping titties and bear hugs: More one-on-one interviews with WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber and former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver after the jump.
Urijah Faber on Jens Pulver: Jens Pulver on Urijah Faber: |
| Kimbo Slice vs James Thompson Elite XC on CBS fight preview Posted: 31 May 2008 01:41 PM CDT
Elite XC "Saturday Night Fights" is set to go off live from the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., this Saturday, May 31 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS. To get us prepared for the historic event, we plan to showcase a daily feature for each main card fight leading up to the historic mixed martial arts debut on network television. These features will include information on the fighters, predictions, as well as training notes and quotes from each fighter. The main event of the historic Elite XC event is a heavyweight scrap between Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson (2-0) and James “The Colossus” Thompson (14-8). There are several folks who feel this fight is unworthy of main event status. Mainly because Kimbo hasn’t earned the right to be there and because a lot of people look at James Thompson as a fighter with a weak chin who has been hand-picked for Kimbo. We’ll find out tonight how it all works out and corresponding reaction. For now let’s breakdown the bout. Here’s a little background on each fighter: Kimbo Slice — Slice made his name knocking out thugs in backyard Miami-area street fights, then posting the video footage on YouTube.com. People took a liking to him right away. His trademark beard and “Give me my bread” quote are just two of the things that made him so popular so fast. His 15 minutes quickly turned into possible long-term stardom when he decided to turn his act pro. Fight promoter and Elite XC Live Events President, Gary Shaw, jumped at the chance to put Kimbo in the cage. Since joining Elite XC, Kimbo has made short work of his two opponents, Bo Cantrell and Tank Abbott, winning both fights in a combined one minute and two seconds. Shaw — who is a long-time promoter in the boxing world — has said numerous times that Kimbo has the ability to not only be a champion in mixed martial arts, but he could also be the next big boxing heavyweight champion. That’s how talented some people think this guy can be, whether it’s actually to be believed is up to you. At 34 years old, the clock is ticking for this guy to make his mark in MMA if he’s going to. And to do that he can’t fight “has beens” like Tank and “never will be’s” like Bo for too much longer. Eventually he’s going to have to be tested. Perhaps James Thompson is that test.
James Thompson — “The Colossus” is a 29-year-old British-born fighter who has recently moved to the United States to concentrate more on his mixed martial arts career. He made his professional MMA debut in January of 2003. He won six of his first seven fights, including a win over UFC Hall of Fame inductee, Dan Severn. That streak caught the eye of the people over at Pride FC and offered him a chance to fight Aleksander Emelianenko — the little brother of Fedor. Aleksander went on to knock him out in 11 seconds. He rebounded from that loss to win his next six fights, including three more for Pride FC. From there Thompson has kind of gone on to be the guy who gets knocked out a lot. He’s lost six of his last eight fights. And five of those six losses were knockouts. He has surprised people in the past with upset wins in Pride over Don Frye and Hidehiko Yoshida, but Thompson is literally hit or miss. It’s anyone’s guess which James Thompson will show up Saturday night. Training notes and quotes: Kimbo Slice — Since turning professional, Kimbo has been training with one of the better heavyweight fighters of all time, Bas Rutten. “El Guapo” is legendary for calling the fights in Pride as an announcer and just being an all around crazy guy. His fight resume isn’t too shabby either … 28-4-1. Kimbo is in good hands with Bas. Bas has said many times that Kimbo has the work ethic and the natural talent to become great in this sport. We all know he can hit hard and that he’s got a great left hook, but a lot of people want to see if he’s learned anything else from Bas. Here’s a quote from Kimbo on his trainer Bas Rutten:
Here’s more from the recent press conference on Thompson:
And on all the hype surrounding him:
Finally, on his ground game:
Perhaps Slice can shock the world and demonstrate his ground skills if Thompson can get him there. That’d be something. James Thompson – “The Colossus” trained mostly with the Wolf’s Lair in England for the beginning of his career, but moved over to the states and joined Extreme Couture to help train for the Brett Rogers fight. He said the guys he was sparring with weren’t big enough in England and he needed a change to help take his career to the next level. The move didn’t help him too much as Rogers was able to win with a first round knockout. Since then Thompson has left Extreme Couture and has moved back to his native England. For this fight he’s been training out of a gym called London Street Fighters. Here’s a snip from Thompson on the move again:
Here’s more from Thompson leading up to the fight:
And his prediction for the fight:
Let’s just hope it lasts longer than one minute. How the fight will go: Kimbo wants to knockout Thompson and Thompson wants to stay awake. Thompson is known for bum rushing his opponents from the opening bell. He did that against Brett Rogers and immediately went for the takedown, which he was successful in getting more than once. The problem was he couldn’t hold him there. However, Rogers is a lot bigger than Kimbo. If Kimbo gets put on the mat, Thompson might have an easier time controlling him. But that’s the mystery of Kimbo Slice as a fighter. We know he can hit. We’ve seen he can take a hit. But what’s his ground game like? Bas Rutten raves about his work ethic and fast learning pace, but is that all talk to hype up his fighter? I think Thompson will be looking for the takedown and Kimbo will be looking to avoid that. Either way, we know Kimbo has knockout power and Thompson has a glass jaw. That combination usually only leads to one outcome. Sorry, Colossus. Here’s what I see happening: Thompson will give his classic staredown and as soon as the bell rings, he’ll do his bull charge thing. Kimbo knows that’s coming and he’ll be ready … Bas will have him prepared. But it’s one thing to train to defend that kind of attack, and it’s a something else to actually be in a cage with a 6′5″ 255-pound man rushing at you trying to hurt you in front of millions of people. If in fact Kimbo does get taken down, the fight could get interesting. But if it doesn’t, it won’t stay interesting for long. I say as soon as Kimbo hits Thompson, he’s going to sleep, and that’s going to happen really early in the fight. Night-Night, Thompson. Final prediction: Kimbo via first round knockout Remember that MMAmania.com will provide LIVE blow-by-blow, round-by-round coverage of the main card action, beginning at 9 p.m. ET with the CBS broadcast on fight night. In addition, we will post the latest quick results of the prelim action at around 7 p.m. ET. Have a good night of fights all. I know I will. Feel free to leave your predictions and pre-fight thoughts in the comments section below. |
| UFC DVD, Pride DVD and other covers for sale in our store Posted: 31 May 2008 01:06 PM CDT This is just a reminder to check ‘em out when you can … some real good stuff in here:
To visit the MMAmania.com DVD store right now click here. |
| MMAmania.com returns to ‘Fight Talk Radio’ (Audio) Posted: 31 May 2008 11:44 AM CDT
In addition, we went over the World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) blockbuster show set for the Arco Arena in Sacramento, Calif., on Sunday, June 1, which features the 145-pound showdown between featherweight champion Urijah Faber and challenger Jens Pulver. Here are some specific discussion points:
To check it out click here: As always, big ups to Damon D and the gang at BetUS for having us on. If you haven’t seen the new Bet Calculator from those guys, you need to head over there by clicking here to see what all the fuss is about. It takes all the guesswork out of wagering and is particularly helpful for people who are easily confused by the (+/-) system, or for guys like Mania who are just easily confused. And don't forget to tune into CBS tonight at 9 p.m. ET and Versus at 9 p.m. on Sunday! |
| Razor Rob McCullough video training for Kenneth Alexander WEC fight Posted: 31 May 2008 11:35 AM CDT Remember that “Razor” will look to get back on track tomorrow night at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, Calif., which will air on Versus at 9 p.m. ET: |
| You are subscribed to email updates from UFC blog for UFC news, results, videos, rumors, fights, pics and tickets -- MMAmania.com To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email Delivery powered by FeedBurner |
Inbox too full?  Subscribe to the feed version of UFC blog for UFC news, results, videos, rumors, fights, pics and tickets -- MMAmania.com in a feed reader. | |
| If you prefer to unsubscribe via postal mail, write to: UFC blog for UFC news, results, videos, rumors, fights, pics and tickets -- MMAmania.com, c/o FeedBurner, 20 W Kinzie, 9th Floor, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment