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Diego Sanchez: ‘Im looking to dominate Luigi Fioravanti’ at TUF 7 Finale (Video) Posted: 16 Jun 2008 08:35 AM CDT Props: MMAWeekly.com

Adrenaline MMA results for June 14 show at Sears Centre Posted: 16 Jun 2008 08:16 AM CDT Adrenaline MMA staged its first-ever event this weekend from the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill., with a main event between local police officer, Mike Russow, taking on Jason Guida — a last minute replacement for an injured Jeff Monson. Most reports indicate that the debut event didn’t do too well, drawing less than 3,000 spectators. That’s perhaps not an ominous sign, considering that the promotion’s two biggest starts — Tim Sylvia and Ben Rothwell — did not participate. In addition, the entire show was streamed live online, which may or may not have kept a few folks at their computer screens rather than paying to go see the show firsthand … it can get costly these days even if the tickets are cheap. It also aired on HDNet. Regardless, check out the complete results after the jump. Mike Russow defeated Jason Guida via submission (guillotine choke) in round one Terry Martin defeated Daiju Takase via disqualification (repeated kicks to the groin) in round two Forrest Petz defeated Brian Gassaway via unanimous decision in round three Bart Palaszewski defeated Jeff Cox via knockout in round two Rory Markham defeated Jay Ellis via submission (triangle choke) in round one Clay French defeated Jameel Massouh via submission (rear naked choke) in round two Herc Hayes defeated Kerry Schall via unanimous decision Aaron Rosa defeated Ron Fields by technical knockout (strikes) in round two Hector Urbina defeated Dave Keiczkowski via technical knockout (strikes) in round two Tom Belt defeated Marcus Levesseur via technical knockout (strikes) in round one Mike Stumpf defeated Dom O’Grady via technical knockout (strikes) in round two Joe Jordan defeated Ryan Williams via unanimous decision in round three Louis Taylor defeated Adam Maciejewski via unanimous decision in round three Joe Pearson defeated John Hosman via submission (triangle choke) in round one Thanks to MMAmania.com reader “Marcos” for the assist. And apologies for not getting these up sooner. We were offline behind-the-scenes most of yesterday tinkering with a few things. In fact, you’ve probably already noticed we combined the two columns in the right sidebar to clean the page up a bit. We’re still noodling; therefore, bear with us.

Brock Lesnar: Athleticism > experience against Heath Herring at UFC 87? Posted: 15 Jun 2008 11:52 PM CDT Props: FOXSports.com Quoteworthy: “It’s an entirely different type of fight [against Heath Herring and not Mark Coleman]. We’re just getting ready for an all-around game now…. It’s easy to work with a guy like [Lesnar who is athletic and has desire and a willingness to learn]. He has a great work ethic and he’s a really fast learner.” Greg Nelson — the mixed martial arts trainer for Brock Lesnar — is out to prove that raw athleticism, power and hunger can trump experience when his fighter takes on veteran Heath Herring at UFC 87: “Seek and Destroy” at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn., on August 9. Lesnar was originally booked to take on Coleman — a UFC Hall of Famer — before he had to withdraw because of injury. Interesting fight.

Elite XC final quotes and blueberry muffins for ‘Return of the King’ Posted: 15 Jun 2008 11:30 PM CDT There is plenty to talk about after Elite XC: “Return of the King” last night. There were break out performances by up-and-comers with loads of talent, a dominating beat down from the hands of a former champ, the methodical dissection of Muhsin Corrbrey by Nick Diaz, and there was, of course, the return of the king. And there will certainly be a lot more in the coming months … especially with the picture above snapped by the good folks over at CombatLifestyle.com. “Don’t be scared, homey.” The bad blood between champion KJ Noons and Nick Diaz, which stemmed from their fight last November, came to a boil last night as the two — along with their entourages — got into a post-event scuffle complete with middle fingers, name calling and a lot of pushing and shoving. A rematch between the two at some point in the near future is a lock. Check out some of the fighter thoughts and quotes from all the main card winners on last night’s action and drama at the Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii: Lightweight Champion KJ Noons: “I’m not sure what happened or who started what, but I feel bad for Yves, a class act who trained really hard for this fight. Yves caught me, rocked me, but once I knocked him down I knew I had to go in and finish it…. Nick has no class, he’s a bum, a piece of (expletive) and he and his team disrespected my family and I with their gestures and trash talk and tried to upstage our fight. I hope they make the fight with Diaz right here at the Blaisdell, but wherever it is, I will be ready. I’m the champion and have the EliteXC belt. I’ll fight anybody. I didn’t see his fight but if they say Nick deserves a rematch, then we can fight and I’ll beat him again – if he can make 160 pounds.’ Nick Diaz: “I’m sorry about what happened in the cage afterward, but I didn’t start it. His guys were talking (expletive) to us. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with my fight; in fact, I am pretty disappointed. This was one of my worst fights. I felt slow. I hated coming in that heavy. I worked very hard to cut the weight, but it just wouldn’t come off. I will and can still make 160 pounds and will fight KJ any time, any place. I’ll fight anybody in the world who thinks they are better than me or who is considered better than me.” Murilo “Ninja” Rua: “I really wanted to prove a point and that was to win by knockout and not submission. This guy did a lot of talking; I know he was trying to get to me. So when I had him down, I really wanted to hurt him. I want to get back the EliteXC belt and will fight anybody to do so. I get criticized by people who don’t think I have good striking skills so I’m happy to win the way I did. This fight was dedicated to my baby boy who is due in late August or early September.” Dave “Blueberry Muffin” Herman: “I didn’t really know what to expect. Nothing he did fazed me. I’m thrilled to get the win and especially happy to get the knockout. But I think I’m going to dump my ‘Pee Wee” nickname and go with ‘Blueberry Muffin’ from now on. I love blueberry muffins and my mom, Karen, makes the best.” Rafael Feijao: “This is the kind of impressive performance that I wanted, but I still have more to show. The ref did his job. If he didn’t stop it when he did I’d still be throwing punches. He got me with a good shot at the start but I get hit like that in training all the time. I felt strong. Training with Anderson and the guys I do is the best thing to ever to happen to me. Whether it’s a knockout or not, as long as I win I’m happy. I’m ready to fight anybody at 205 pounds.” For results from last night’s Elite XC: “Return of the King” show on Showtime click here.

UFC Quick Quote: Matt Serra on elbow injury and Matt Hughes fight in fall Posted: 15 Jun 2008 11:00 PM CDT “I’m just healing up my elbow. Everything [Georges St. Pierre] did to me is fine, you know what I mean. That heals up in a few days, the black eyes. But I elbowed his head at the beginning of the fight when he took me down and I did something to my ulnar nerve. So I’m just resting that up, I can’t really roll or spar right now. But I’m staying in shape by jumping on the treadmill and whatnot, trying to not go nuts with the pasta, you know. But I should be all right. I’m getting it checked out some more but right now there’s still some numbness in my hand….. Let me tell you what’s next for Matt Serra. But since you said it… You know what? I’m gonna heal up my elbow and most likely be fighting Hughes, hopefully in the fall. That’s gonna be fun, people are going to look forward to that. And I feel like a winner already knowing I get to hit that guy.” – Former welterweight champion Matt Serra talks to TheGarv.com about an elbow injury that he sustained in his loss to Georges St. Pierre at UFC 83: “Serra vs. St. Pierre 2″ back in April, as well as his looming showdown with Matt Hughes sometime later this year. Serra and Hughes — who are about as opposite as two people can get — were opposing coaches in The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 6 and were supposed to fight at UFC 79: “Nemesis” in December 2007. However, Serra had to withdraw because of a serious back injury. The pair has been yapping about getting in the Octagon together for more than a year … expect more of the same until this thing is settled.

UFC attempts to put together July 19 event; Wanderlei Silva vs Brandon Vera? Posted: 15 Jun 2008 10:40 PM CDT Several fighters have recently been contacted about competing on a UFC card slated for July 19 for free on Spike TV — the same night that Affliction MMA is set to pull the trigger on its monster debut with “Banned” via pay-per-view (PPV). Unabashed counter programming at its finest. MMAmania.com learned over the weekend that promising heavyweight Cain Velesquez has been approached about making an appearance. In addition, Sherdog.com is reporting that Wanderlei Silva and Brandon Vera have also been contacted about getting in on the action — possibly against one another. “The Truth” is a heavyweight; however, back-to-back losses perhaps signal a weight cut to 205 pounds. Silva, on the other hand, mulled a move to middleweight prior to smashing Keith Jardine at UFC 84: “Ill Will” last month. While nothing is official — and the report is careful to point out that a light heavyweight match up between Silva and Vera is not a lock — it looks as if at least either fighter if not both will headline the special if it comes together. Great news for everyone who is not affiliated with Affliction MMA. If the UFC is able to pull this off with a solid collection of talent and fights with just five weeks notice it will certainly put a dent in the upstart promotion’s PPV buys. No location or venue is known at this time; however, the Sherdog.com report indicates that Las Vegas, Nevada, is the likely destination.

Elite XC recap for ‘Return of the King’ on Showtime Posted: 15 Jun 2008 08:39 AM CDT Elite XC: “Return of the King” is in the books. And a triumphant return it was for the champion KJ Noons, retaining his Elite XC 160-pound title by defeating Yves Edwards with a technical knockout at 4:14 of the first round. Fighting in front of his hometown crowd in Honolulu, Hawaii, Noons fed off the energy of the Blaisdell Arena, dominating the more experienced veteran Edwards with powerful hands and overall aggressiveness. Despite the huge experience advantage for Edwards, Noons looked like the more confident fighter. From the minute their names were announced to the 46-second mark of the first round — when the referee stopped the fight — it just seemed like Noons was more ready to scrap. If there were any questions about his championship credibility after winning the title from Nick Diaz on a cut, those can all certainly be thrown out the window with a win of this magnitude. KJ Noons is for real. He hits hard, he comes to fight, he’s confident, and, oh yeah, he hits hard. Speaking of Nick Diaz, he had his hands full with a scrappy Muhsin Corrbrey, but he executed his gameplan to perfection and outworked the Muay Thai specialist. Much like Diaz is known to do, he wore Corrbrey down with those annoying jabs and a lot of clinching. He used those jabs and stalked Corrbrey aggressively, wearing him down throughout the first two rounds. Diaz looked almost machine-like as he just kept coming forward … Terminator style. Diaz eats a lot of punches in his fights, but he never seems affected. He eventually got a few takedowns in the last round and used his jiu-jitsu skills to gain dominant positions and his experience to capitalize on those positions. His style is extremely entertaining to watch when its working like that. There was a lot of action from both sides, but Diaz controlled most of the fight. Diaz seemed either preoccupied or just pissed off when Bill Goldberg was trying to interview him after the fight. I thought to myself, “maybe he doesn’t like Goldberg for some reason.” It wasn’t until after the main event when Diaz showed up in the cage and confronted KJ Noons that I realized it’s not that he doesn’t like Goldberg … he just wanted to fight some more. I’m not sure if Elite XC set it up to have Diaz come back to the cage or not, but I wouldn’t put it past Diaz to just come out there on his own looking to speak his mind. Either way some people might say what transpired afterwards ruined the event and made it look more like pro wrestling than MMA. I disagree. I don’t condone the post fight scuffle, but in this case I don’t think either fighter is really to blame. It seemed like both fighters cornermen were the ones causing trouble. Perhaps coming out and raining on Noons’ parade after his first title defense wasn’t too cool by Diaz, but these guys have bad blood. They don’t like each other. It’s great hype for the rematch. Let’s hope Gary Shaw makes this thing happen soon. As far as the entire event as a whole was qualiy. The two featured fights had plenty of action and excitement, and the three other main card fights gave us a lot to look forward to heading into the future. Two very good up and coming contenders in Dave “Pee Wee” Herman and Rafael Feijao were able to show their skills to the Showtime crowd for the first time as they both dispatched of dangerous veterans in their matches. And a former champion, Ninja Rua, was able to win back some confidence after an absolutely dominating win over an undefeated jiu-jitsu stud. Elite XC and Showtime both did a great job working with what they had to put on a very entertaining event. There is definitely a difference in watching on Showtime as opposed to CBS. Perhaps it’s the commercials and long delays in the CBS telecasts. Regardless, the CBS deal is still a big one for Elite XC. And the promotion officially announced its second “Saturday Night Fights” event to be held on July 26. The main event will be a rematch between champion “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler and Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith for the Elite XC middleweight strap. Their first encounter was shaping up to be one for the ages, until it was stopped from an inadvertant eye poke. The rematch is definitely not one to miss.

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