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| Denis Kang video highlights to hype UFC 93 Alan Belcher fight Posted: 10 Jan 2009 08:29 AM CST |
| UFC 98: Matt Hughes vs Matt Serra to likely happen May 23 Posted: 10 Jan 2009 12:06 AM CST
Arch enemies Matt Hughes and Matt Serra will more than likely finally face off in the Octagon to settle their bitter score at UFC 98 in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 23, according to Matt-Hughes.com. Maybe. Here’s the snip:
Both former welterweight champions have been sidelined with injuries — Serra sustained an elbow injury in his loss to Georges St. Pierre at UFC 83: "Serra vs. St. Pierre 2″ back in April and Hughes has been nursing a knee injury that he suffered in his loss to Thiago Alves at UFC 85: "Bedlam″ back in June. Complicating the situation even more — as if it needed it — is the fact the Serra and his wife are expecting their first child sometime in April, which is the reason it could not happen sooner. 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 trash-talking has not stopped ever since and will more than likely ratchet up again sooner rather than later with this latest development. The good news this time around is that we now have a firm date, location and likely event number for the 170-pound showdown — important details that were absent prior to this point. Finally … we think. |
| Thiago Silva prepared to ensure Lyoto Machida fight at UFC 94 is no track meet Posted: 09 Jan 2009 09:26 PM CST
Props: Tatame.com Quoteworthy:
Thiago Silva continues to call out Lyoto Machida regarding his fight style, which is often referred to as “elusive.” It’s more than likely some pre-fight psychological warfare to bait the fellow unbeaten light heavyweight into a slugfest at UFC 94: "St. Pierre vs. Penn 2″ at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, in January 31. Machida more than likely feels the pressure to turn in a solid performance, but it’s unlikely that such an intelligent fighter would stray too far away from his gameplan. Then again … those apparently go out the window once a fighter gets punched in the face, right? |
| Neil Grove vs Justin McCully UFC 95 fight possible Feb. 21 Posted: 09 Jan 2009 08:42 PM CST
Highly touted British heavyweight Neil Grove (7-1) will make his debut for the Zuffa-owned promotion against three-fight Octagon veteran Justin McCully (9-4-2) at UFC 95, which is slated to take place at The O2 Arena in London, England, on February 21, according to a recent report. Grove recently signed a four-fight deal to compete in the UFC. Before that he was a regular on the Cage Rage fight circuit for the last couple of years. While fighting for the British promotion he compiled a solid record (4-1) with the lone loss coming at the hands of Rob Broughton via majority decision at Cage Rage 25: “Bring It On” last March. All four of those wins were first or second round stoppages due to strikes. In fact, all seven of his career wins have been by some form of knockout. He likes to swing for the fences and is capable of ending a fight at anytime. McCully, on the other hand, uses a more methodical approach to winning fights. He wears on his opponents with a strong wrestling base and then usually tries to end fights with his solid submission game. The 32-year-old Team Punishment product has had some decent success as of late. He’s won four of his last five fights, including two of three in the Octagon since returning to action from a three-year hiatus in 2006. He defeated talented striker Antoni Hardonk at Ultimate Fight Night 9 by unanimous decision in April of 2007, then lost to Gabriel Gonzaga by first round submission at UFC 86: “Jackson vs. Griffin” over a year later. “The Insane One” most recently grinded out another unanimous decision victory over Eddie Sanchez at “Fight For The Troops” in December. Basically this fight is a match of contrasting styles. So whoever can execute their gameplan the best on February 21 will likely leave London a winner. UFC 95 is scheduled to be headlined by a lightweight main event between Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez and Joe “Daddy” Stevenson. To check out the latest fight card and rumors click here. |
| Freddie Roach video on training Andrei Arlovski for Fedor Emelianenko Affliction fight Posted: 09 Jan 2009 08:31 PM CST |
| UFC 94 results and LIVE fight coverage for ‘Penn vs St. Pierre 2′ Posted: 09 Jan 2009 08:19 PM CST
UFC 94: “St. Pierre vs. Penn 2″ is — believe it or not — just around the corner. The promotion today made the announcement that the colossal fight card is official for the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on January 31. And that means, of course, that it is time to remind our loyal readers that MMAmania.com will provide LIVE updates of all the pay-per-view (PPV) action on fight night, beginning with quick results of all the prelim action and blow-by-blow, round-by-round results of the main card bouts. The title of the event speaks for itself — headlining bout will be a rematch between two of the most talented fighters in the history of this sport. Llightweight champion B.J. Penn will step back up to the welterweight division to take a shot at 170-pound champion George St. Pierre in hopes of carrying both titles at one time. Company President Dana White recently said that it would be the biggest fight in the history of the promotion. He is more than likely right on the money … literally. Also on tap for UFC 94 is a light heavyweight match up of undefeated Brazilian contenders Lyoto Machida and Thiago Silva. The winner will likely get a crack at 205-pound title holder Rashad Evans (or Quinton “Rampage” Jackson” somewhere down the road in 2009. Something else that’s interesting about this card and speaks volumes of just how stacked it is: Former welterweight number one contender Jon Fitch has been relegated to the under card in his bout with Akihiro Gono. Here is the complete UFC 94 fight card:
Many of our readers check-in before, during and after the broadcast to share their thoughts on the action. In the meantime, feel free to leave your fight predictions and other show-related thoughts in the comments sections below. For all the latest UFC 94 information you can handle be sure to hit up our event archive right here. |
| Paul Kelly vs Troy Mandaloniz UFC 95 fight booked Posted: 09 Jan 2009 07:59 PM CST
MMAmania.com has confirmed that a welterweight bout between Englishman Paul “Tellys” Kelly (7-1) and The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 6 alum Troy “Rude Boy” Mandaloniz (3-1) is in the works for UFC 95 at The O2 Arena in London, England, on February 21. This will be Kelly’s third fight in the Octagon. He defeated fellow Brit Paul Taylor via unanimous decision in a great fight at UFC 80: “Rapid Fire.” He followed that up with a submission (guillotine) loss to Marcus “The Irish Hand Grenade” Davis nine months later at UFC 89: “Bisping vs. Leben,” marking the first blemish of his previously perfect mixed martial arts record. Kelly has made a home fighting on the UFC cards in England — each of his other two fights for the promotion have also taken place across the pond. “Rude Boy” will make his second start for the organization. After losing to Matt Arroyo in the quarter finals on the reality show, he went on to stop his former teammate Richie Hightower via first round technical knockout at the show’s finale in December 2007. That fight was the last one to date for the Hilo, Hawaii, native. When he faces Kelly on February 21 it will have been more than months since his last professional fight. Both of these guys like to bang it out with their opponents so we should be in for a classic slug fest in London. UFC 95 is scheduled to be headlined by a lightweight bout between Diego “Nightmare” Sancez and Joe “Daddy” Stevenson. Demian Maia, Nate Marquardt, Josh Koscheck, Junior Dos Santos, Wilson Gouveia and Chael Sonnen are all expected to be in action as well. For more on the UFC 95 fight card click here. |
| Eddie Alvarez withdraws from ‘War at the Shore’ on Jan. 23 Posted: 09 Jan 2009 07:23 PM CST
Despite a report we passed along right here at MMAmania.com a week or so ago, it appears that Eddie Alvarez (15-2) has withdrawn from a bout against Naoyuki Kotani (18-8-6) in Atlantic City, N.J., on January 23 because of an ankle injury he sustained after getting submitted by a nasty heel hook from Shinya Aoki at FieLDS Dynamite!! last weekend. The bout with Kotani was scheduled to be the main event on the Extreme Challenge: “War at the Shore” card. The Philadelphia native revealed that tests showed no severe damage, but he still felt enough discomfort to pull out of the fight. Regardless of the severity of the injury, it makes sense for the 24-year-old to take the cautious approach since he has a big year ahead of him in 2009. In fact, Alvarez signed on late last year to be a part of Bellator Fighting Championships tournament, which will air on ESPN Deportes once a week beginning in April. In short, it doesn’t make much sense for him to risk losing all that exposure by possibly further injuring his leg in what was basically just a fight he was taking to get a chance to fight near his hometown again. There are big things in this kid’s future and there’s no reason to risk that for this fight. The loss to Aoki was only the second of Alvarez’ bright and promising career. Before the setback, he was having a ridiculous run of success that had secured him a solid reputation as one of the sport’s brightest young stars. Alvarez was the only man to go through the 2008 DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix without a loss, defeating Andre Amade, Joachim Hansen and Tatsuya Kawajiri en route to a spot in the final against Aoki. However, he was forced out of that fight because of some swelling around his eye he suffered in the semi final bout with Kawajiri the same night. It’s disappointing anytime we miss out on a chance to see a talent like Alvarez compete, but pulling out of this fight is probably the best and safest thing he could do at this point. Extreme Challenge: “War at the Shore” will still feature a good card of mixed martial arts action. Former Elite XC featherweight title holder Wilson Reis will be in action as well as one of the top female fighters in the world, Tara Larosa. It should still be an exciting event. |
| Trump’s Affliction-M1 Entertainment Opens up the MMA Posted: 09 Jan 2009 11:30 AM CST
In July 2008, "Affliction Banned", Trump's Affliction-M1 Entertainment Company's first promoted 'card' featured the world's top 10 heavyweight MMA fighters, including Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko (considered the #1 MMA heavyweight for the past 5 years) vs. Tim "The Maine-iac" Sylvia, turning Trump's Affliction into the UFC's main competition in just one fight. The event sold out the 16,000 seat Honda Center arena, reached more than 500,000 people on pay-per- view and was attended by celebrities including N.Y. Giant Michael Strahan, L.A. Dodgers pitcher Brad Penny, heavy metal band Megadeth, TV and film actor Michael Madsen, and wrestling legends Bill Goldberg, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and "The Undertaker". Affliction-M1 Entertainment's second co-promoted fight in 2008 was broadcast as part of CBS ELITEXC SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS, garnered over 4.3 million viewers, and attracted television's most sought after demographic – male viewers ages 18-34. This month, on January 24"Day of Reckoning", promoted by Trump's Affliction Entertainment, M1 Global, and Oscar de La Hoya's Golden Boy Entertainment will feature the top two heavyweights in the sport – Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko and Andrei "The Pit Bull" Arlovski in what fans are calling the "#1 main event" in MMA. "MMA is fantastic. I am excited to be a part of this incredibly fast growing sport, and my involvement with Affliction will surely bring it to the widest audience possible," says Donald J. Trump, President and Chairman of The Trump Organization. " 'Day of Reckoning' will be the best fight card in MMA history and I am looking forward to its great success." Seeing the buzz that Trump's involvement brought to Affliction Entertainment, celebrity boxing champion Oscar de La Hoya has decided to join in promoting the organization's upcoming "Day of Reckoning" with his Golden Boy Entertainment company, a move that along with Trump, will help to further expand MMA to a wider, more mainstream audience. "In the world of MMA, 'Day of Reckoning' is comparable to watching an Ali, a Tyson, or a de La Hoya fight," says Donald Trump, Jr., Executive Vice President of The Trump Organization. "We pride ourselves on being at the cutting edge, and are thrilled to be one of the pioneers in bringing this sport to the mainstream, this time with M1 Global and Oscar de La Hoya." In addition to the main event of Fedor vs. Arlovski, 8 of MMA's other top heavyweights, including Josh Barnett, Matt Lindland, Renato Babalu Sobral, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, and Vitor Belfort, will compete in 4 matches followed by the feature match. "By bringing the top fighters in the sport together for 'Day of Reckoning,' Trump's Affliction-M1 Entertainment Company will be creating an unparalleled experience, which will attract the hardcore and casual fans - making MMA even bigger than it already is," says Michael Cohen, Executive Vice President of The Trump Organization and C.O.O. of Affliction Entertainment Company. Trump's Affliction-M1 Entertainment "Day of Reckoning" will be held on January 24, 2009 at 9:00 p.m. at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. Tickets are currently available, and the event will be initially broadcast on pay-per-view. |
| UFC 93 video: Rich Franklin training for Dan Henderson fight Posted: 09 Jan 2009 10:20 AM CST |
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