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UFC Quick Quote: Mark Coleman didn’t have enough money to train right for UFC 93 fight Posted: 19 Jan 2009 08:27 AM CST “I didn’t have any money for a training camp before this fight. Those things cost money man and I just couldn’t afford it.” – Former heavyweight champion Mark Coleman had an “explosive” reaction in the dressing room after his third round technical knockout loss to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 93: “Franklin vs. Henderson” at The O2 in Dublin, Ireland, on January 17. He was upset, according to The Telegraph, about the referee’s decision to stop the bout with just seconds on the clock, as well his lack of funds to train properly for the match. Perhaps he will not have similar complaints in the future now that UFC President Dana White curiously awarded Coleman and the Brazilian $40,000 each for putting on a “Fight of the Night”-caliber performance … in his eyes. Check out a video of Coleman’s post-fight reaction in the locker room after the jump.

Frank Trigg to headline ‘Rumble In Race Town’ in Daytona Beach Feb. 14 Posted: 19 Jan 2009 07:49 AM CST DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA — Top 10 World ranked MMA Fighter Frank Trigg is ready to make his 2009 debut with Xtreme Cagefighting Federation at the DynaPep “Rumble In Race Town” Saturday, February 14th at the Daytona Beach Ocean Center. Coming off three straight wins, Trigg is ready to keep his win streak alive by fighting in the main event. Trigg is a veteran of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Pride Fighting Championships with fourteen (14) of his eighteen (18) wins coming be KO, TKO or submission. “I am excited to be headlining at XCF’s ‘Rumble In Race Town’ and working with Bland Sports to bring MMA to a whole new audience. We had several options this year for fights, but NASCAR racing and the Daytona 500 is the biggest of the big. So fighting the night before the 500 is something I could not turn down. Come February 14th my engine will be primed and ready to roll.” says Trigg. For the first time in mixed martial arts and motor sports history, both sports will share the same city on the same weekend. “What more could the fan base of both sports ask for in one weekend?” says Doug Bland, Founder of Xtreme Cagefighting Federation. “With over 200,000 people expected in Daytona that weekend, it allows the Xtreme Cagefighting Federation the opportunity to help make history by introducing each sports fan base to something new,” says Bland who has 14 years of experience in Motorsports. “Having Frank Trigg to help make that introduction of MMA to racing fans is incredible.” says Doug. Also scheduled to fight on the card are former UFC fighter’s Terry Martin, Jesse Taylor and Jeremy May. Along with former All-Pro Tampa Bay Buccaneers Defensive End, Marcus Jones and Daytona’s very own Todd Cutler. Tickets for the Rumble In Race Town are on sale now via Ticket Master 407-839-3900 or at the Ocean Center box office. For more information, please visit www.xcfmma.com or call (704) 701-0904.

UFC light heavyweight Stephan Bonnar becomes the ‘Ultimate Champion’ Posted: 18 Jan 2009 11:28 PM CST

WEC 38 headliners Jamie Varner and Donald Cerrone featured on tonight’s Pro MMA Radio Posted: 18 Jan 2009 11:26 PM CST WEC 38 is set to take place from the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, Calif., on Sunday, January 25, airing live at 9:30 p.m. ET on the Versus network. The event is appropriately titled "Varner vs. Cerrone" as Jamie "C-4″ Varner puts his 155-pound gold on the line against undefeated Muay Thai specialist Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone. This will mark Varner's second title defense in the WEC since capturing the title from "Razor" Rob McCullough back in February. Fortunately for us, we don’t have to wait until next Sunday for the fireworks to begin. Headlining tonight’s episode of MMAmania.com’s exclusive presentation of Pro MMA Radio will be none other than Jamie Varner and Donald Cerrone, and I can guarantee you won’t be hearing any of that faux bromance that seems to be the current rage between main event stars. These guys aren’t holding anything back. Hosted by Larry Pepe, Pro MMA Radio is professional, guest-driven program that features some of mixed martial arts biggest names. If you're looking for a radio show that revolves around a couple of MMA fans ranting and raving about everything that's already been covered ad nauseam, then Pro MMA Radio probably isn't for you. However, if you want to hear from actual fighters and industry insiders answering questions that are relevant to the current MMA scene, tune in every Monday night at 9pm ET for our exclusive live feed. See you tonight at 9pm!

Affliction MMA to stream live chat with WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko tonight at 8pm ET Posted: 18 Jan 2009 11:02 PM CST Current WAMMA heavyweight champion and Affliction headliner Fedor Emelianenko will be online tonight starting at 8pm ET at the official website for Affliction MMA to participate in a live video chat with MMA fans to help promote his upcoming showdown with Andrei Arlovski at "Day of Reckoning" on January 24. Yesterday Affliction streamed a replay of ‘Banned,’ its July 9 debut featuring Emelianenko’s destruction of former UFC heavyweight champion Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia a mere 38 seconds into round one. It was a good way to try and entice fans to order the January 24 pay-per-view (PPV), which is rumored to be suffering from poor ticket sales and fan apathy - claims that Atencio says are completely false. "Day of Reckoning" was originally slated to go down on October 11, 2008, before being postponed. It was widely reported that poor ticket sales were the reason for the switch; however, Affliction officials indicated that timing was the real reason because it wanted more time to coordinate a successful show following "Banned" on July 19, 2008. That debut PPV offering tallied a solid paid attendance of 11,242 at "The Pond," which was short of the estimated 17,000 it would have taken to sellout the venue. "Day of Reckoning" will feature one of the most anticipated fights in the history of the sport between WAMMA Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko and former UFC title holder Andrei Arlovski. Matt Lindland and Vitor Belfort will collide in a middleweight showdown and another former UFC heavyweight champion, Josh Barnett, will take on bad boy Gilbert Yvel in another co-featured attraction. It’s a very important show for the future of Affliction, meaning that it needs as many fans as possible to attend, as well as purchase its PPV offering. With less than a week until fight night it will be crystal clear real soon just how well the show performs. To check out the upcoming fight card for Affliction ‘Day of Reckoning,’ click here. In the meantime, don’t forget to check out “The Last Emporer” at Affliction MMA starting at 8pm ET.

Dana White UFC 93 Video Blog (Episode 7) Posted: 18 Jan 2009 03:08 PM CST

Win over Rich Franklin at UFC 93 garners TUF 9 coaching job for Dan Henderson Posted: 18 Jan 2009 01:39 PM CST The sold-out O2 Arena in Dublin, Ireland witnessed the much-anticipated UFC 93 showdown between the last man to hold the PRIDE FC welterweight (183 lbs) and middleweight (205 lbs) belts, Dan Henderson, and former UFC middleweight (185 lbs) champion Rich Franklin. In the three-round main event, Henderson outlasted Franklin to pick up the split-decision victory and improve his record to 24-7, while “Ace” dropped to 26-4 with 1 No Contest. The split decision resulted from two judges giving Hendo the 29-28 nod, while the third scored the bout 30-27 for Franklin. When asked about the 30-27 round at the post-fight press conference, Hendo sounded just as surprised as the rest of us. Quoteworthy: “There’s no way I would have ever thought of Rich winning all three rounds. It was a little bit odd for me to hear that. At the most, I would have given him the third round. I was out there fighting, and for some reason (the judge) must have had the bad angle every time.” But the win also earned Henderson something else: The second coaching position opposite middleweight contender Michael Bisping for the upcoming ninth season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) titled “U.S. vs. U.K.” It’s a position Dangerous Dan has been looking forward to, stating in the past that he considers himself a patriot and welcomes the new format of the show, “U.S. vs. U.K.” “It’s different, and I think it needed change. I’m excited about it, I can tell you that. I don’t know about the rest of the world, but I know that a lot of the American fans and the U.K. fans are really excited about that. It is an individual sport ultimately, but it probably gives them something more to bond to as a team, to help each other out.” With all due respect to Franklin, the naming of Henderson as the TUF 9 coach for the United States fighters makes significantly more sense than Franklin for a number of reasons. First, the move down to middleweight to take on Bisping would likely establish a number one contender for the division. As the only fighter to have taken a round from middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva during his reign as UFC champion, Henderson could find himself in a rematch with Silva, should the right cards fall into place. In contrast, there’s significantly less interest in a third fight between Franklin and Silva, given how dominating the first two wins were for the champion. The smartest move for Franklin’s career is to stay at light heavyweight. Furthermore, Henderson has represented the United States twice as an Olympic wrestler. Between the two former champs, Hendo represents the U.S. more comprehensively than does Franklin. Thirdly, Henderson could use the exposure in front of an American audience more so than Franklin. “Ace” served as coach of TUF 2 and is probably better known to the casual American fan than is Hendo, who gained much of his fame fighting in Japan for PRIDE. And if that wasn’t enough, Henderson seems to have actually wanted the TUF coaching job. In the months leading up to UFC 93, Franklin stated numerous times that he was willing to do whatever the UFC wanted him to do, but that he didn’t think a move to 185 made much sense for him. It’s a win-win-win situation. Henderson gets the victory and gets another shot as a middleweight. The UFC gets the better representative to serve as coach of the U.S. fighters. And Franklin, despite the loss, gets to stay at 205, where it’s certainly not out of the realm of possibilities that he could get a title shot one day with a few wins - a title shot that would make a lot more sense than one against Silva.

Manwich: Dana White getting chummy with Alistair Overeem and Semmy Schilt at UFC 93 (Pic) Posted: 18 Jan 2009 12:03 PM CST Dana White and Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem at UFC 93: Dana White and K-1 Champion Semmy Schilt at UFC 93 (after the jump): Significance?

UFC Primetime previewing UFC 94 ‘St. Pierre vs Penn 2′ episode one (video) Posted: 18 Jan 2009 11:32 AM CST UFC Primetime episode one (part one): “I’m serious Georges, I’m gonna go to the death, I’m gonna try to kill you…” Check out UFC Primetime episode one (part two) after the jump: “I’m not the one who comes from a wealthy family…I’m the one who has struggled to be where I’m at right now.”

UFC Quick Quote: Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua before and after UFC 93 Posted: 18 Jan 2009 11:09 AM CST Coming into UFC 93 talking to Five Ounces of Pain: “[Coleman] is a great wrestler but I think I'm better at jiu-jitsu and striking. Plus, I have better cardio. I think it's a good match up for me in theory. I feel great. I'm well-trained, in good shape and have little weight to cut for the fight. I'm feeling fast, my cardio is good and I have been working a lot on my power.” Following UFC 93 at the post-fight press conference: "I stayed sidelined for one year and a half. I went through surgeries. That is not easy, and that took a lot of my conditioning. It's one thing to train and another thing to fight. When you get back to fighting, you have to get back your rhythm. I paid a price for that, but I'm sure that by my next fight, I'll be more prepared and in better shape, with better conditioning, to give my fans a great show." -Former PRIDE light heavyweight standout Mauricio Rua talks about his rematch against Mark Coleman at UFC 93 at The O2 Arena in Dublin, Ireland, on January 17. "The Hammer" defeated Rua in controversial fashion at PRIDE 31 back in 2006 when an awkward landing broke the Brazilian's arm less than a minute into the fight. Shogun’s quest for vengeance fell a bit short at Saturday’s pay-per-view despite a TKO win after a dreadful performance made it nearly impossible for any fan in attendance to believe this was at one time a consensus top 5 light heavyweight and winner of the 2005 Pride FC Grand Prix Champion.

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