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| UFC Quick Quote: Cain Velasquez to be the first Mexican UFC heavyweight champion? Posted: 15 Jul 2008 08:48 AM CDT
– Javier Mendez, owner and head trainer at American Kickboxing Academy (AKA), heaps praise via Yahoo!Sports.com on up-and-coming heavyweight prospect, Cain Velasquez. The former Arizona State University wrestler is undefeated in the Octagon (1-0) and will look to make it two straight when he takes on Jake O’Brien at UFC Fight Night 14 on July 19. Mendez feels that Velasquez right now can defeat former UFC champion Randy Couture and ranks him first among the most promising prospects to walk inside his gym — in front of Josh Koscheck, Frank Shamrock, Cung Le and B.J. Penn. That’s some serious company. |
| Georges St. Pierre: ‘I will be there to destroy’ Jon Fitch at UFC 87 (Video) Posted: 15 Jul 2008 08:15 AM CDT |
| Who’s Giboo? Iowa fighter/science teacher chronicles first UFC experience (Part I) Posted: 14 Jul 2008 09:57 PM CDT
Well, the week that I have been dreaming about since I was a young teenager is finally here … my UFC debut. Brad Blackburn is my opponent and we will go at it in a welterweight bout at UFC Fight Night 14: “Silva vs. Irvin” at “The Pearl” in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 19. I intend to tell you all about what it’s like to fight on the biggest mixed martial arts stage in the world for the first time right here at MMAmania.com. It is unbelievable to think that a kid from a small town — who was addicted to watching a sport that people were calling barbaric — is finally here. Unfortunately, MMA is illegal in my home state of New York. Don't get me started on how uneducated the people making the laws in New York are on the fastest growing sport in the world. That’s material for its own blog post … not this one. I guess I will start from the beginning. I am James Giboo. Most of you are probably saying, “who?” I grew up in Franklinville, N.Y. I was a very athletic kid who had an extreme competitive drive — I once played a complete football game on a broken leg to give you some perspective. When it was time to go to college, I chose to come out to Iowa to wrestle at Upper Iowa University. It was mostly my desire to be independent and get away from home that helped me make that choice. In hindsight, it was the right choice because the whole UFC thing would have never happened if I stayed in New York. I had a pretty successful career in college wrestling; however, the only problem was all the injuries that I suffered. We are talking detached ribs, multiple knee injuries, tons of back problems, hernia and a severe infection. The nail in the coffin was my senior year — I had only lost once until I suffered another knee injury in practice. After weeks of rehab and the knee not responding, I almost called it quits. I thank my coach, Heath Grimm, every time I see him for talking me out of it because once you are a quitter, you will always be a quitter. I finished the year coming up short of my dream of All-American because my cardio was never the same and I lost a bunch of one point matches. In college, I met the love of my life and now my wife, Kelly. This is going to sound stupid but I had this Michigan sweatshirt that I loved and the first time that I saw her wear it, I knew I was going to marry her. We just celebrated our ninth anniversary last Thursday. I have two kids that mean more to me than anything in the world, Desean 7 and Keiana 4. Any free time that I have in a day is spent with them. To get to the MMA part of my life, I moved to Des Moines, Iowa, after college to become a teacher at the largest school in the state. While teaching there I made some friends and learned that there was place to actually train in Des Moines. So I was finally talked into going to the place. And that is where I met Josh Neer.
He had just fought Spencer Fisher in a five-round war a couple days earlier so he was beat up bad but was still practicing. I still remember the first time I rolled with him … he tapped me out three times. I got smart real quick and stopped making stupid mistakes. Within a couple weeks I could hang with him and within a couple more weeks Josh talked me in to my first fight. I got a quick submission and my fighting career (which was just a hobby at this point) was underway. I was a fast learner and put together a few wins. That is when Josh made his move to Miletich and my career basically came to a stand still. I took a bunch of time off and then took a fight that I should have because I wasn't training. I had no stand up whatsoever — it was still a hobby to fill my competitiveness at that time. After I lost that fight I decided to start training a little more seriously because I hated to lose. I put together a few more wins. It was nothing big until I decided to hire a manager. He right away got me a fight with Kyle Jensen for a title. I was really excited at first until I realized that no one was going with me. None of my teammates wanted to go so I took a guy who I had only worked out with a couple times (Joe is now one of my main training partners). In short, I wasn't ready for that fight. My conditioning sucked, I didn't have any training partners to push me, I about died making weight, and I still had no stand up fighting a guy with more 40 fights. Needless to say the fight didn't go my way! This is when the big change in my fighting career came. I finally decided to switch gyms because I needed a place with coaches. I wasn't getting better and I didn't have people to push me. I went to Des Moines Jiu Jitsu and started working with Chris David and with stand up coaches Dub and Chubbs. Another big factor for going there was Kevin Burns, who is now like a brother to me and will also be competing on the card this weekend against Anthony Johnson. I needed a reliable partner who was going to push me in every part of my game … and that is Kevin. We train together everyday and I couldn’t ask for a better workout partner. We push each other to the limits and help each other with different parts of our games. “They” say the proof is in the pudding. Well, neither of us has lost since we started training together. I also have a lot of other great training partners besides Kevin who push me so they deserve credit, too. This is my brief history. This is how I got to the point that I am now going to be fighting in the greatest show on Earth. Next time I will talk about my training camp and how my week leading up to the fight goes. Thanks for taking the time to read this. -James Giboo James Giboo (10-2) is a professional mixed martial artist and Iowa science teacher who will make his Octagon debut against Brad Blackburn at UFC Fight Night 14 on January 19. He has competed extensively (and successfully) in the Midwest circuit, which has earned him a rare opportunity to now put his skills to the test against the top fighters in the world under the UFC banner. James will frequently detail his journey to the big time right here at MMAmania.com this week, providing our readers and his fans with a behind-the-scenes account of what it’s like to fight for the biggest mixed martial arts promotion on the planet for the first time. |
| UFC Fight Night 14 weigh-in details for ‘Silva vs Irvin’ Las Vegas Posted: 14 Jul 2008 08:31 PM CDT
This event is also FREE to attend and open to the public … what a great time to be a mixed martial arts fan. Doors will open at 4 p.m. local time and fighters are expected to begin tipping the scales one hour later around 5 p.m. local time. This event will not be beamed live online or on television; however, the promotion is usually pretty good about getting a highlight package up quickly. We’ll pass along all the particulars and that video (if possible) as soon as possible. UFC Fight Night 14 features the light heavyweight debut of UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva against James Irvin. It’s a non-title fight, but there is still a lot at stake … especially for Irvin. He has an amazing opportunity to defeat perhaps the best pound-for-pound mixed martial artist on the planet in front of a national television audience. Five other bouts — six total — are all guaranteed to be featured on the three-hour Spike TV telecast, which is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 19. To check out the complete UFC Fight Night card click here. Remember that MMAmania.com will also provide LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the main card action on fight night. Of course, the latest quick updates of the prelim bouts will begin to flow earlier than that at around 8:00 p.m. ET. It's going to be a BUSY night of fights … check us out for all the pre, during and post-fight coverage you can handle. |
| Affliction weigh-in for ‘Banned’ set for Honda Center on July 18 Posted: 14 Jul 2008 07:38 PM CDT
The “mega” event is FREE to attend and open to the public. Doors will open a 2 p.m. local time and the first fighter will drop his drawers around 3 p.m. PT. It will not air live online or on television. “Banned” will take place the following day on Saturday, July 19, in the same location, airing on FOX Sports Net for FREE at 8 p.m. ET and then transitioning to pay-per-view (PPV) around 9 p.m. ET. MMAmania.com will provide up-to-the-minute coverage of the action throughout the afternoon and evening. It’s the first-ever event for the apparel company-turned mixed martial arts promotion … and it’s a doozy. In the main event of the evening, former champions Fedor Emelianenko against Tim Sylvia will tangle for the right to claim the inaugural WAMMA heavyweight title strap. Other heavyweights in action include Josh Barnett, Pedro Rizzo, Andrei Arlovski, Ben Rothwell, Alexander Emelianenko, Paul Buentello and others. To check out the latest Affliction card click here. |
| Tim Credeur vs Cale Yarbrough UFC Fight Night 14 fight official Posted: 14 Jul 2008 07:16 PM CDT
Take two. The battle between former Team Forrest members Tim Credeur (9-2) and Cale Yarbrough (0-0) will finally happen at UFC Fight Night 14 at “The Pearl” at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 19. It’s a last minute addition to the three-hour card set to air on Spike TV at 9 p.m. ET — the pair was supposed to tangle at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 7 Finale last month. However, the Nevada State Athletic Commission wouldn’t allow Credeur to fight because of an Adderall prescription. For more on that click here. Credeur lost his initial semifinal bid to punch his ticket to the final fight against Amir Sadollah when he was defeated by Jesse Taylor in the final four. However, Taylor was kicked off the show shortly after it wrapped, creating another opportunity for Credeur to challenge for the six-figure contract. He locked horns with the other eliminated semifinalist, CB Dollaway, in an eliminator match. But things did not go Credeur's way -– he lost via unanimous decision in a very close battle. Yarbrough defeated John Clarke via technical knockout and Patrick Shultz via unanimous decision before getting pounded out by Dollaway in the quarterfinals. He must have done something right because he was among the few of the 16 fighters asked to compete in the Finale. The fight between Credeur and Yarbrough has been relegated to the under card and there’s no guarantee that it will make the broadcast. To check out the complete UFC Fight Night 14 fight card click here. |
| DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix finals video preview Posted: 14 Jul 2008 03:31 PM CDT This is a bit on the long side, but a nice refresher for those who have been following this tournament or plan to begin on July 21 when the semifinals and finals take place at the Osaka-jo Hall in Osaka, Japan: |
| UFC Quick Quote: Anthony Johnson is greedy Posted: 14 Jul 2008 12:50 PM CDT
– Anthony Johnson tells SetantaSports.com that he plans to soon capture the welterweight championship and will then move up to “185 and beat everybody up at there.” And after that he’ll set his sights on anyone wearing a belt … he’s game for anyone. To begin that ambitious journey, however, he will first have to get past Kevin Burns this weekend at UFC Fight Night 14. |
| Jess Liaudin vs. David Bielkheden UFC 89 fight in the works Posted: 14 Jul 2008 12:31 PM CDT
MMAmania.com confirmed over the weekend that the 155-pound match up is possible for the show, which is slated to air for free via tape delay on Spike TV. Liaudin – who is a veteran of the European UFC circuit as a welterweight – will try his hand in the division after suffering back-to-back defeats his last two times out at 170 pounds. Indeed, the losses to Paul Taylor (split decision) and Marcus Davis (knockout) likely prompted the move even though the French-born British fighter won his first two fights inside the Octagon. Bielkheden – a Brazilian Top Team member and jiu-jitsu black belt – was a veteran of the Japanese mixed martial arts (MMA) scene, having competed under the Pride FC and Shooto banners, among others. The "Scandinavian Lion" was on a two-fight win streak before running into a buzz saw, Diego Sanchez, in his Octagon debut back at UFC 82: "Pride of a Champion" in March. "The Nightmare" had Bielkheden tapping because of strikes late in round one. UFC 89 features the middleweight tilt between Michael Bisping and Chris Leben, as well as a potential welterweight war when Thiago Alves and Diego Sanchez meet in the center of the cage. (Thanks to MMAmania.com contributor “Mr. NC-17″ for the reminder.) |
| Posted: 14 Jul 2008 09:07 AM CDT
Quoteworthy:
Heavyweight-turned light heavyweight, Brandon Vera, reveals a personal behind the scenes take on what went down in the scramble to put together UFC Fight Night 14: “Silva vs. Irvin” on short notice to counter the Affliction “Banned” show that same evening (July 19). It appears that there were a lot of names and potential match ups swirling; however, not everyone was comfortable competing with little time to prepare. James Irvin — who takes on Anderson Silva in the main event — recently told MMAmania.com that four fighters turned down offers to take on “Spider” before he was approached. |
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