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| Gary Shaw: Plans for Smith/Lawler II afoot Posted: 02 Jun 2008 09:13 AM CDT
EliteXC middleweight champion “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler had his hands full with a resilient challenger in Scott Smith during the CBS broadcast of Saturday Night Fights this past Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. With a bout that had the potential for fight-of-the-night, things were brought to an abrupt halt in the third round when Smith suffered an unintentional eye poke from Lawler. While action was stopped and Smith was given time to recover, ringside officials would not allow the bout continue. Because a championship bout is required to complete a full three rounds for a decision, Saturday’s slugfest was ruled a No Contest. Lawler retains the championship and Smith gets a pair of shiny new crutches for the broken foot he suffered during the fight. Many fans did not appreciate the stoppage and EliteXC President Gary Shaw said at the post-fight press conference that the company hopes to have the rematch headline their next CBS broadcast, perhaps sometime in early fall. Shaw already has a title in mind for the planned show: “Unfinished Business.” Shaw was also generous enough to award both fighters win bonuses as a reward for their efforts. No he can reward the fans who felt cheated out of a title fight by having the rematch as soon as both fighters are physically able to compete. |
| Children MMA makes ‘20/20′ on ABC (Video) Posted: 02 Jun 2008 08:34 AM CDT Props: ABCNews.com Quoteworthy:
ABC program “20/20″ with John Stossel aired a segment on children and mixed martial arts on the eve of the network television debut of the sport on CBS with Elite XC: “Primetime.” It was, surprisingly, very well done. We’ve asked the question here before, but let’s ask it again: Should children be allowed to compete in supervised MMA fights or should there be an age limit? Let us hear your thoughts in the comments section below. |
| WEC 34 Recap: Faber decisions Pulver to retain title in war of attrition Posted: 02 Jun 2008 08:22 AM CDT
The first round saw Faber surprise Pulver with his power as “The California Kid” connected with clean overhand rights to start the championship bout. Pulver tried to find his range with dirty boxing, but Faber would have none of it as he was changing levels and landing with that right hand. Faber’s speed clearly frustrated Pulver the entire first round as Faber bobbed and weaved away from Pulver while landing the more effective strikes. In the second frame, Faber caught Pulver with a huge overhand right that led to a flurry that rocked Pulver. Showing the heart of a true warrior, Pulver rebounded later in the round and tagged Faber with crisp clean counter strikes. A back-and-forth round ensued with Faber taking Pulver down, but both men continued to get right back up. The third and fourth rounds saw Faber pushing the pace of the fight and Pulver fading away. The key in the fight for Faber was beating Pulver to the punch with crisp striking and mixing it up with kicks as well. With the right hands landing, Pulver was beginning to show a huge mouse over the right eye. The swelling would continue as Faber was pulling away. The fifth and final round both men showed respect to one another as they hugged before the final five minutes. It was more of the same for Faber as he continued to push the pace and throw the right hand to frustrate Pulver. The question of Faber's chin was answered as he continued to take some big shots from Pulver but it didn't seem to phase the hometown favorite. In the end, Faber's standup proved to be the difference in the fight. Many thought Faber would immediately take the fight to the ground but that wasn't the case. If anything Faber proved that he does have some power in his hands and that his striking has come leaps and bounds. Another big question answered was Faber's chin. Pulver threw some big shots and connected but Faber was still there waiting to punch back. As for Pulver, this could be the beginning of the end or just another bump in the road for the former UFC lightweight champion. Faber moves to 21-1 and the distinction as the best featherweight in the world while Pulver moves to 22-9 and must climb the ladder back to a rematch. Definitely a great fight … one that would be a treat to see again. The fight of the night, however, could have easily been the bantamweight title fight between 135-pound champion Miguel Torres and challenger Yoshiro Maeda.
The fight was all over the place as both men were throwing with bad intentions. Torres picked Maeda apart in the early going but Maeda continued to stun Torres with the occasional right hand. The first round was pretty sloppy in terms of the stand up — Torres perhaps was a bit anxious and did not demonstrate the tight game that we have all come to enjoy and expect. It was still fun to watch, however. The second round proved to be easily one of the best rounds of the year. Both men were exchanging big shots with the hands and feet. Torres would catch Maeda repeatably with stinging body kicks and knees that led to the clinch. At one point, both men hit the mat and simultaneously attempted their own heel hooks. The crowd went wild! As both men got back up toward the middle of the round, Torres caught Maeda with a standing guillotine choke against the cage and then took down the Japanese fighter. Torres would steal the round and was leading on the scorecards. Finding his rhythm, Torres began to utilize the jab to start the third round and really began to take over the fight. He was clearly the fresher fighter. With Torres landing the jab at will, Maeda's right eye began to swell bad, which was the beginning of the end for the “Last Samurai.” Torres continued to pick apart Maeda with beautiful leg kicks to the body and demonstrated some fantastic ground work from his back. At the end of the round, referee Herb Dean took a look at Maeda's eye and stopped the fight. It was non-stop action from both men. And with the win, Torres could be looking at Manny Tapia as his next opponent. In other action, former NCAA Division I wrestling champion, Mark Munoz, made the most of his WEC debut with a vicious first round knockout of Chuck Grigsby. Early on, however, it was Grigsby who used his reach and height advantage in the early going to confuse Munoz and stuff Munoz' the takedown attempts. With three minutes left in the first, Munoz finally took Grigsby down and threw huge over hand rights into Grigsby's guard. The shots from the top lead Munoz into side control where the fight would end. Grigsby attempted a kneebar, but Munoz scrambled out, landed in Grigsby’s guard and rained down bombs onto Grigsby's open face. Four shots later and Grigsby was asleep. It was a brutal finish. After serving an eight month suspension because of a failed post-fight drug test, Donald Cerrone returned to cage to face Danny Castillo in other televised action. Castillo took the fight to Cerrone, taking him down to the ground early and attempting to unleash some ground and pound. As Castillo attempted to drop elbows from the guard, Cerrone was able to secure an armbar and from there it was a textbook finish. With the armbar locked in, Cerrone turned Castillo over and left him no choice but to tap. In his first fight since losing his 155-pound title to Jamie Varner, “Razor” Rob McCullough won a close split decision victory over the game Kenneth Alexander. McCullough clearly didn't look like the same person that knocked out Rich Crunkilton in just 30 seconds. He was tentative on the feet throughout the fight, which was bizarre for the Muay Thai specialist. In fact, both men weren't looking to engage — Alexander would takedown McCullough and McCullough would work back to his feet and try and defend the next attempt. Alexander eventually realized that he was unable to keep McCullough down and eventually the two men were content to keep it standing. However, nothing much came about it for three rounds. It was quite a disappointing performance for McCullough but a win nonetheless. Overall it was a fantastic evening of mixed martial arts action from the WEC … as usual. The five-round war between Urijah Faber and Jens Pulver was an epic battle; however the show stealer was clearly the slugfest between Miguel Torres and Yoshiro Maeda. For all the WEC 34 results click here. |
| Dana White: ‘What happened on CBS was horrendous’ with Elite XC (ESPN video) Posted: 01 Jun 2008 09:22 PM CDT |
| WEC results for Faber vs Pulver fights on Versus Posted: 01 Jun 2008 07:10 PM CDT
WEC 34: “Faber vs. Pulver” is slated for tonight, Sunday, June 1, at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, Calif., airing on the Versus network at 9 p.m. ET. MMAmania.com will post the quick results below throughout the evening and pass along a comprehensive recap of the action once it concludes. This is a big night for the Zuffa-owned promotion — perhaps its biggest to date. WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber will look to defend his 145-pound title against a former champion, Jens Pulver, who is undefeated at the weight class. In addition, Miguel Torres will look to stay on top of the 135-pound category, putting his newly-won strap on the line against the very tough Yoshiro Maeda. “Razor” Rob McCullough, Chase Beebe, Jeff Curran and other stars will also compete tonight. It’s going to be a good one. So check out the results after the jump and feel free to join in the conversation below with all the other fans tuning in tonight. Enjoy.
Urijah Faber defeats Jens Pulver via unanimous decision |
| Frank Edgar vs Hermes Franca UFC 87 fight in the works Posted: 01 Jun 2008 06:09 PM CDT
Franca was popped for having a banned substance in his system (steroids) after his unanimous decision loss to then-lightweight champion, Sean Sherk, at UFC 73: “Stacked” in July 2007. He owned up to the mistake and was suspended and fined by the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC). It was later revealed that Franca asked to be released from his contract because he wanted to compete elsewhere. The organization granted his request; however, Franca failed to realize that if he did fight while serving a suspension that he would risk getting licensed to fight again within the United States. If the report is accurate then it appears that Franca and the UFC have once again come to terms on a new deal or simply resurrected the old contract. Prior to the loss and suspension, Franca was among the hottest 155-pound finders in the sport. The former WEC lightweight champion had an eight-fight win streak snapped. And all of those wins were finishes via submission, knockout or technical knockout. For his part, Edgar will look to rebound from the first loss of his career at the hands of Gray Maynard at UFC Fight Night 13 back in April. It was a hard-fought unanimous decision loss, during which “The Answer” had no answers for Maynard’s size advantage and successful takedowns. Edgar was among the top contenders in the division before the loss, getting the best of Spencer Fisher, Mark Bocek and Tyson Griffin inside the Octagon. This is a nice match up on a card that is shaping up nicely. It will be interesting to see how Franca handles the wrestling skills of Edgar — something he had trouble with in his bout against Sherk. For the latest UFC 87 fight card and rumors click here. |
| Posted: 01 Jun 2008 04:50 PM CDT
It is too early to tell if last night was a a huge success for the network debut of mixed martial arts on CBS because the final numbers will be released on Tuesday. Here’s what we do know: The 18-49 year old demographic showed a strong increase in viewers over the first two hours of the broadcast. The first half hour showed 1.4 million viewers, which increased to 2.4 between 10:30 and 11:00 p.m. ET. That’s a significant increase. In addition, the second hour of the show was the highest rated in the 18-49-year-old demographic of any other show on television in that timeslot. Keep in mind that these preliminary numbers are only for the first two hours of the show and probably increased even more over the last hour or so (most people often wait and tune-in for the main event). The final numbers will certainly play a big role in whether or not we see another event on CBS. There were an estimated 4.3 million viewers that tuned in overall last night, according to THR.com. But that’s just an estimate … take it with a grain of salt. Regardless, for the sake of comparison, the numbers were good enough to surpass those of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals game four that was being showed on NBC. And CBS has to like that. Elite XC signed on with CBS to air four LIVE broadcast television events this year, but the network station has the option to move those shows to its sister company, Showtime, at any time. Only time will tell if that’s what eventually happens, but if these estimates are right, we’ll be sure to see at least one more show on CBS … at least. |
| Tito Ortiz is ‘65 percent sure’ he wants to start his own MMA promotion Posted: 01 Jun 2008 04:12 PM CDT
Props: Boston Herald Quoteworthy:
Former UFC light heavyweight champion, Tito Ortiz, talks about his future in a recent interview. After an upcoming tour to promote his new book, “This is Gonna Hurt,” Ortiz — who recently satisfied the last fight on his UFC deal — says that he wants to start a new mixed martial arts promotion. That’s a costly endeavor, which would need a patient investor with deep pockets. Perhaps his good friend, Donald Trump, is interested. Stranger things have happened. |
| Carlos Condit vs Hiromitsu Miura WEC welterweight title fight August 3 Posted: 01 Jun 2008 03:26 PM CDT
It will be the third title fight of the evening, joining the lightweight showdown between 155-pound champion Jamie Varner against Marcus Hicks, as well as the 205-pound tile between WEC Light Heavyweight Champion Brian Stann and challenger Steve Cantwell. Condit is clearly among the best welterweight fighters in the world. “The Natural Born Killer” has won his last four WEC contests — all via submission — and only one of them made it past the first round. Condit most recently avenged a loss to Carlos Prater at WEC 32 in his hometown of Albuquerque, N.M., and will look to add Miura to his hitlist in August. Miura, on the other hand, is on a two-fight win streak in the WEC, defeating Blas Avena (knockout) and Fernando Gonzalez via submission (strikes) in back-to-back fights. He has just one loss since 2006 (Jason “Mayhem” Miller). Miura is very well rounded and is a stiff test for the champion. WEC 35 is shaping up to be a “Night of Champions” event with three WEC titles expected to be up for grabs on August 3. These fights — and more — should all be made official later on this evening during the WEC 34: “Faber vs Pulver” on Versus at 9 p.m. ET. Stay tuned for more details and fight card updates. |
| Best around: MMAmania.com exclusive sit down with WEC champion Miguel Torres Posted: 01 Jun 2008 12:43 PM CDT
On one night in February, Miguel Torres went from being a relatively unknown fighter from East Chicago (Ind.), to being the WEC bantamweight champion and being considered one of the top pound for pound fighters in the world. His first real introduction to most casual fans was at WEC 32, when Torres defeated then-champion Chase Beebe via submission (guillotine choke) to win the 135-pound title. However, the scrappy Mexican-American has been beating people up — sometimes grown men who outweigh him by more than 25 pounds — for years in sanctioned and unsanctioned bouts for close to a decade . His nearly perfect professional record (46-1), which includes just about every submission and finishing result in the book, is nothing compared to his unbelievable “amateur” accomplishments. That number might seem different to you because Sherdog’s Fight Finder has Torres listed as 33-1. Torres acknowledges that they were small time fights that were unsanctioned “They were fights that helped build my career,” Torres told MMAMania.com. “They were the ones that got me into the sport. They weren’t weight classed, they were open rules.” Those early fights earned him a cult-like following on the underground Midwest MMA scene, as well as the respect of his peers such as UFC veteran and The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) star, Stephan Bonnar. “When we were coming up, Miguel had the entire Chicago scene by the balls,” said Bonnar. “He could sell more tickets than anyone. He turned events into such a show, complete with Mariachi bands and everything.” Torres has had many influences on his life, which have helped get to where he is at right now. But it’s his father, Arnulfo Torres, who has had the biggest impact on the younger Torres’ life. Torres’ father is here in the United States on a work visa, after the family business he was working for in Mexico went under because of the struggling economy. Torres’ father made sure to send back a portion of his check to the rest of his family in Mexico. At times, it would be a struggle for their family in the states, because Torres’ father was the only one to really be relied upon and he had to also take care of his wife, Elisa and their three children, including Miguel. “A guy with three kids and a wife, a house and all this stuff, a thousand bucks a month is hard and he was doing it without asking any questions,” Torres said. The elder Torres made sure that his son went to college and indeed he did. The younger Torres graduated from Purdue University. “He made me go, he wanted me to go. I was the first one to graduate from my family and he was the one that wanted me to do that,” Torres said. “I wanted to do that to make him proud.” The apple doesn’t fall to far from the tree. Torres is renowned for his intense work ethic and endless amount of energy. It’s something that certainly does not go unnoticed by his peers.
“Miguel has unbelievable talent, but he also is the hardest working mixed martial artist on the planet,” said Bonnar. “No one — and I mean no one — trains like him. He’ll spar full contact for an hour straight without a rest, taking on like 15 different fresh guys during that time — and he kicks all their asses. And that’s after 15 rounds of boxing earlier in the day. No one does that.” When asked to put it into perspective for those who don’t train, Bonnar detailed his recent training at XTreme Couture. “We’ll go hard for about 15 minutes straight and take a break,” he said. “We also rotate fresh guys in, which takes a lot out of you no matter who you are. Unless, of course, you’re Miguel Torres.” In addition to his father, the other huge influence in his life was the late Carlson Gracie — the son of Carlos Gracie who helped found the popular Gracie fighting style. Carlson was widely considered the modern Godfather of mixed martial arts and was a true pioneer. Torres trained under Gracie for years, honing all the nuances and technical skills it takes to achieve brown belt status. His teacher — like his peers — was also extremely impressed with Torres. “Carlson often referred to Miguel the best,” said Bonnar. “And if Carlson Gracie calls Miguel Torres the best, well, guess what, Miguel Torres is the best. Carlson actually went on television and said Miguel was the best in the world. Then he dared anyone to come down to the gym get their ass kicked by Miguel if they didn’t believe him.” No one showed up, according to Bonnar, which didn’t surprise him the least bit. That’s because Carlson has mentored some of the best in the business, including Allan Goes, Murilo Bustamante, Mario Sperry and Ricardo Liborio, among others. That’s ridiculous company … and quite an honor to be singled out among them. Torres puts his heart and soul into being the best he can possibly be, which has earned him some nods within the hardcore MMA community as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world. And when the term “pound for pound” is thrown around, there is perhaps not a better candidate than Torres. There are numerous stories and tall tales about Torres about the early days in his career, beating 185-pound+ men (easily) for little to no cash and so on. When probed for a specific example of Torres defying the odds, Bonnar was quick to respond. “Miguel was sparring hard for about 45 minutes once and this big 315-pound hillbilly rotated in thinking he could take care of business,” said Bonnar. “Big mistake. In just a few seconds, Miguel managed to get the dude in a triangle and was choking the shit out of him. He put up a good fight, slamming Miguel all over the place to try and get him off, but it didn’t work. The guy was so embarrassed to tap that he was trying to do it in a subtle fashion so Miguel would let him out. Of course Miguel just squeezed harder and soon enough the dude was pounding on the mat like a little girl.” Stories like that — and that’s just one of many truly unbelievable accounts — have earned Torres a ton of respect in the industry. And when the call finally came to possibly win a world title, Torres was ready to go for that fight and proved himself to the MMA world on that night. “I didn’t have any nerves. I knew it was a big fight for my career and that Chase was a real tough guy,” Torres said. Torres knew that Beebe would be tough on the ground so he did what he could to keep the fight standing. “I knew if i kept my head on straight and i stuck to my game, I’d catch him eventually and it ended up working in my favor,” Torres said. Being a champion has been a goal that Torres has fought for his entire career, ever since he was young. “As soon as I stepped into a dojo, I wanted to be a champion,” Torres said. “I always wanted to be a champion and I knew it would eventually happen With his win over Beebe, Torres has become a star in the WEC, but he hasn’t let this new fame get to his head. “I’ve never been one to get cocky or take an opponent lightly or slack off. My whole thing is my work ethic,” Torres said. “That’s what’s got me where I’m at now. I just take it in strides now.” Bonnar agrees. “Miguel eats, breathes and lives mixed martial arts,” said Bonnar. “When he’s not fighting, training or traveling, he’s running his school and teaching classes. He’s also a dad. The guy is so into what he does that he takes catnaps on the mats in the gym. And when he wakes up he starts training right away. It’s really, really crazy.” As mentioned earlier, Torres is a Mexican-American, but he faced issues from both countries, which can be frustrating for anybody, but especially for Torres. He uses it as fuel to motivate him to be that much better. “I consider myself Mexican-American, and when I go over there (Mexico), I’m considered American. So, I wasn’t treated like family,” Torres said. “When I’m out here, I’m not considered American, I’m considered Mexican and I get criticized out here (U.S.)” Torres finds this frustrating to deal with. He loves the country that he was born and raised in, but at the same time, he is proud of his heritage. “It’s real frustrating, I’m an American, but I’m very proud of my heritage,” Torres said. “I think my heritage made me as tough as I am now.” Torres will continue to keep doing what he’s doing now and just focus on being himself and not try to please the entire world, all the while still being respectful. “Everybody thinks the way they think, everybody is raised different and everybody has their own views. Everybody is right, nobody is wrong,” Torres said. “So, I don’t try to please everybody, I just try to be who I am, respect everybody, go in there, and do what I got to do and don’t talk garbage.” One thing Torres is doing is he’s helping out his community, by helping the youth. Torres runs a Jiu-Jitsu program for the youth in the community. The program started out with only a handful and now according to Torres, there are more than 60 members. The class costs $65 per month with classes several times per week. Torres believes that there are a certain number of his students who could be great fighters someday. “They’re the future of my gym,” Torres said. The Midwest is one of the best regions to go to catch MMA action. There are many promotions in that section of the country, with many talented fighters. Torres, an experienced Midwest fighter, gives his reasons as to why Midwest MMA is popular. “We don’t have much to do out here, it’s cold as shit in the winter and the summers are disgusting,” Torres said. “For me, theres nothing but training to do. I think some of the best fighters in the world come out of the Midwest. We have a lot of talent out here. I think some of our shows are the best shows out here.” Torres also credits the work ethic of the Midwest as to why those fighters who come from there stand out more than others. “It’s the water we drink,” Torres said. “We don’t get to take vacations.” On Sunday night, Torres will get the opportunity to make his first title defense as bantamweight champion, when he takes on Yoshiro Maeda at WEC 34 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento. Maeda is 23-4-2, he’s fought notable fighters like Charles Bennett and Baret Yoshida. Maeda defeated Charlie Valencia in his WEC debut in February. Torres knows he needs to be ready to go, when he faces the PRIDE and Pancrase veteran. “I know he’s going to be prepared. He knows what I can do,” Torres said. “He’s had time to train. I think he’s going to come out and try to knock me out.” Torres will be prepared and looks forward to his opportunity in the cage. “Every person I fight from here on out is going to try and use me to jump start their career,” Torres said. “Now I’m on top and I have all these guys gunning for me. I love that pressure. That pressure drives me.” Not like he needs it. WEC 34 can be seen on Versus on tonight (Sunday, June 1) at 9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT. |
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