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Quinton Rampage Jackson: ‘I was about 250′ pounds on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 7 (Video) Posted: 11 Jun 2008 08:17 AM CDT Props: CBS2.com

Report: UFC major announcement set for June 19 Posted: 11 Jun 2008 08:12 AM CDT Last week, UFC President Dana White promised a major announcement that would serve as an “indicator of where this business is going over the next five years” would be forthcoming this Thursday, June 12. Rumors and speculation have gripped the online mixed martial arts community, which even spilled over on a CNBC “Power Lunch” segment yesterday afternoon. White was on the program to detail a significant licensing and merchandising deal for the promotion, but was asked about several other possibilities regarding the “major” announcement that was on the horizon. Even CNBC realizes that fans want to know what blockbuster news is going on behind the scenes. And instead of finding out tomorrow, Dave Meltzer of WrestlingObserver.com is reporting that we will have to wait a little bit longer. Here’s the snip: “The announcement today of the UFC action figures deal with Jakks is not the big announcement that has been teased all week. According to the UFC, that announcement will be made a week from today, and not on Thursday.” White debunked several of the popular possibilities, including going public, boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. coming on board, a partnership with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and a network television deal, leaving most of those interested scratching their heads about what on Earth is going to be revealed. It could all be a smokescreen or he could actually have an airtight surprise. He mentioned that he intended to make an announcement to his employees tomorrow, but there’s no telling if he still plans to do that now that the announcement date has been pushed back. Whatever it is it better be good because he has whipped everyone into such a furor that anything short of spectacular or completely out of left field just won’t deliver on the expectations. Even if he’s able to do that it still might fall short … he’s set the bar higher than normal on this one.

Wrapping up UFC 85 ‘Bedlam’ with Jesse Holland from MMAmania.com Posted: 10 Jun 2008 08:52 PM CDT Jesse Holland back again and this time I’ve been tapped by fitness and martial arts expert Larry Pepe — author and co—host of Pro Bodybuilding Weekly — for the debut of his new show Pro MMA Radio. Larry and I get into the nuts and bolts of UFC 85, including the stoppage of Brandon Vera, the implications of Matt Hughes loss at the hands of Thiago Alves and where Michael Bisping is headed in the UFC middleweight division. If that’s not enough, stick around for WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber. “The California Kid” goes into great detail about his fight against Jens Pulver, what they spoke about inside the cage, his specific training regimen and of course, who he wants to fight next. A big thanks to Larry for having us on his debut show, which was featured on the front page of bodybuilding’s FlexOnline. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

UFC 86 video promo for ‘Jackson vs Griffin’ PPV on July 5 Posted: 10 Jun 2008 08:37 PM CDT

Adrenaline MMA: Monson out, Guida in for June 14 event Posted: 10 Jun 2008 08:07 PM CDT Former UFC heavyweight Jeff “The Snowman” Monson (24-8) has been scratched from the main event of this Saturday’s Adrenaline MMA event at the Sears Tower in Hoffman Estates, Ill., because of a broken hand he suffered during his unanimous decision loss to Josh Barnett at Sengoku II last month. From Adrenaline MMA CEO Monte Cox: “I feel bad for Monson because he really wanted this fight, but his broken hand wasn’t healing quick enough and you can’t fight at this level with that kind of injury. I’m just fortunate that we had such a quality replacement right in Chicago.” That replacement is none other than Illinois native Jason Guida (17-15), older brother of UFC lightweight contender Clay “The Carpenter” Guida. The venerable Guida has 32 fights in just under five years, often fighting twice in one month. Like his younger brother, his scrappy, in-your-face approach to fighting makes him exciting to watch. More from Cox: “Say what you will about Guida, but when you need somebody to jump in on short notice and fight anybody…he’s the guy. I mean, we all know he’s crazy…but he also comes to fight and you never have to worry about him laying down for anybody. I know this will be a very good main event.” Opposing him will be Chicago police officer Mike Russow (9-1). Russow last competed in December’s Yarenokka event, where he submitted the dangerous Roman Zentsov with an impressive North/South choke. Saturday’s Adrenaline MMA event will air live on HDNet beginning at 9:30 pm ET. A total of 14 fights make up the June 14 card with eight televised bouts and six dark matches. The finalized Adrenaline MMA fight card is as follows: Main card: Daiju Takase vs. Terry Martin Jameel Massouh vs. Clay French Forrest Petz vs. Brian Gassaway Jeff Cox vs. Bart Palaszewski Tiawon Howard vs. Rory Markham Anthony Lapsley vs. Mark Miller Herc Hayes vs. Kerry Schall Dave Kleczkowski vs. Hector Urbina Aaron Rosa vs. Ron Fields Preliminary bouts: Louis Taylor vs. Adam Maciejewski Dom O'Grady vs. Mike Stumpf Joe Jordan vs. Ryan Williams Joe Pearson vs. John Hosman There seems to be an inordinate amount of injuries lately that have resulted in a lot of changes to scheduled fight cards. Thoughts? Theories? Sound off! Note: As far as we know Monson is still slated to take on former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez at the Godz of War show little more than two weeks from today on June 21 at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, N.C.

UFC Quick Quote: Nate Marquardt robbed twice in London Posted: 10 Jun 2008 07:43 PM CDT “On a side note, our room was robbed last night and my computer, iPod, passport and several other items were stolen. That means we got robbed two days in a row here in London! HA :)” – Nate Marquardt tells MMAWeekly.com about his fantastic weekend at UFC 85: “Bedlam” at the O2 Arena in London, England, this past weekend. First, he gets a point deducted that should not have been for an illegal blow to the back of Thales Leites’ head, which ends up costing him the fight. Second, his hotel rooms gets robbed. When it rains it pours. In the piece he asks for a rematch. For his sake let’s hope he finds new and more secure accommodations if and when that happens.

Miguel Torres eyes next WEC fight in possibly December Posted: 10 Jun 2008 04:13 PM CDT Props: FightHype.com Quoteworthy: “They still have a couple of guys out there. They have Tapia, Brian Bowles, but he’s still kind of new. I hope they give him a couple of fights before they put him in there with me, but he’s a pretty tough guy; the guy from Greg Jackson’s camp, I think his name is Damacio Page. They have Dominick Cruz, he’s fighting at 135 now, so there are some guys out there. They have some more Japanese guys. I have guys in front of me waiting. I think in a couple of years, I’ll move up in weight, but right now I’ll stay at 35 and try to take care of business…. I told them I would like to go as soon as December. I want to fight at least by December. I want to get at least one more this year. I like to stay active. I don’t like to stay out of the game too long. I want to be in there and take care of business.” WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres looks toward the future after his successful and sensational title defense against Yoshiro Maeda at WEC 34 earlier this month. While Torres mentions several names MMAmania.com has also learned that Will Ribeiro — who just defeated former champion Chase Beebe on the same card — is a leading consideration. And when an opponent is confirmed it could happen in Torres’ backyard — somewhere in the Chicago area. Photo: Combatlifestyle.com

Doug Marshall vs Phil Collins PFC fight on July 18 Posted: 10 Jun 2008 03:12 PM CDT Former WEC light heavyweight champion Doug Marshall (7-3) — who just lost his 205-pound belt to Brian Stann at WEC 33 via technical knockout in March — will return to action since on July 19. The only difference is that he will now compete under the Palace Fighting Championship (PFC) banner, taking on Phil Collins. No, not the musician, but a worthy fighter who sports a 6-3 record. In fact, he relinquished his opportunity for the organization’s middleweight title to take on the “Rhino.” Collins on taking the fight against Marshall: "No disrespect to Nate, as he's a great fighter. Nate's already beat me, but if he's walking around the Palace nobody knows who he is. If you see the 'Rhino', you know it's the 'Rhino'. Doug has been at the higher level and that's what I want to get to. If I can beat him, then I think I can get there, too." Marshall, on the other hand, signed a one-fight deal with the orgainization to get back on track since losing to Stann last March. It’s more than likely after this fight that Marshall will return to the WEC and look to avenge his loss to “The All American.” Marshall on fighting for PFC: "I wanted to fight back at the Palace because of the Central Valley fans. I love watching the PFC. There's a lot of young hungry fighters and I love the blackjack table. The fans can expect the same thing they can always expect from me and that's to serve up a Central Valley ass whopping." Marshall will look to get back on the winning track at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in Lemoore, Calif., on July Friday, 18. A win here and it will be the first step toward getting back in the WEC light heavyweight title picture.

UFC and JAKKS Pacific® forge action figure deal (Video update) Posted: 10 Jun 2008 12:10 PM CDT UFC President Dana White and Brock Lesnar today appeared on the CNBC program “Power Lunch” to announce a four-year toy licensing deal with JAKKS Pacific® to create and sell collectibles such as action figures. Chuck Liddell, Lesnar, Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira, Michael Bisping, Anderson Silva and other fighters are expected to be featured along with other accessories such as an Octagon when the products hit store shelves in fall 2009. Here’s a snip from Jakks Pacific President and COO in a recent press release: "The UFC is a perfect match for JAKKS, given our extensive expertise in developing and marketing collector driven sports action figures. UFC's enormous and growing popularity amongst adults, coupled with the extensive roster of physically powerful star fighters, gives JAKKS a substantial base to work with, and should be a powerhouse combination for the line. Our objective is to give collectors an authentic UFC experience." This is all likely part of a major licensing and merchandising agreement that the promotion has been working overtime to sell its fighters on — and not all of them are biting. Therefore, if you don’t see your favorite action figure under the Christmas tree or wonder why a certain fighter is excluded then it more than likely means that he did not sign on the dotted line. Of course, this was not the “major” or “mind blowing” announcement that White has promised to reveal later this week. However, White was approached about what it could possible be while on CNBC and shot down the following conspiracy theories: WWE czar Vince McMahon will purchase a minority stake in the company UFC will go public Floyd Mayweather Jr. is making the jump to MMA UFC has reached a television deal with a major network such as ABC There’s not much left from the rumor mill. White could either be holding back as to not ruin the “big surprise” or he has something fresh up his sleeve that no one truly knows anything about and he will break the news himself. Whatever it is it better be good … better than action figures (although it’s a pretty cool step forward). Check out the video of White and Lesnar on CNBC after the jump.

Dana White and Brock Lesnar on CNBC today to announce ‘exciting new UFC deal’ Posted: 10 Jun 2008 10:21 AM CDT From UFC.com: “UFC President Dana White and heavyweight sensation Brock Lesnar will appear live on CNBC’s ‘Power Lunch’ today to announce an exciting new UFC deal. The show airs at 12:40 p.m. ET.” This is more than likely not the “mind-blowing” announcement we’re expecting later in the week. It could have something to do with a major licensing and merchandising agreement that the promotion has been feverishly looking to ink all of its fighter to behind the scenes. That’s my guess. Yours?

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