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UFC Quick Quote: Nate Diaz feels like he whooped Clay Guida’s ass Posted: 03 Feb 2009 10:51 PM CST “I know I lost the decision in the minds of the judges but I really felt I was whooping his ass the whole fight and he was just holding me. Before the fight people were asking me about his pace and if I would be able to keep up with it. I felt he couldn’t keep up with my pace and that’s why he was trying to slow things down by holding on and not trying anything. I even gave him my back so he would try to do something besides hugging me. A couple of times I looked at the ref to ask him if he wanted us to fight or what? Sorry I didn’t listen to my corner and stand with him more but I never thought he would be so happy to just stall like that.” – The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 5 winner Nate Diaz releases a statement via GracieFighter.com on his split decision loss to Clay Guida at UFC 94: “St. Pierre vs. Penn 2″ this past weekend. It was his first loss inside the Octagon in six attempts since winning the show. It snapped a five-fight win streak and temporarily derailed his chances at a division title shot, which could have possibly been within reach with a few more impressive wins. The good news is that the fighter out of Stockton, Calif., is just 23 years old. In the grand scheme of things the loss to Guida seems like a minor speed bump; however, it appears to be tough to swallow nonetheless. He and Guida each earned $65,000 bonuses for putting on the “Fight of the Night.”

WEC 38 payouts and salaries for ‘Varner vs Cerrone’ Posted: 03 Feb 2009 08:57 PM CST The California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) today released fighter purses for WEC 38: "Varner vs. Cerrone," which was held at the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, Calif., on Jan. 25. Former featherweight champion Urijah Faber took home the biggest salary ($48,000) and the man who he stopped (again), Jens Pulver, was the second highest paid fighter on the card ($35,000). Jamie Varner — who outpointed Donald Cerrone after their "Fight of the Night" was cut short in round five because of an illegal (but unintentional) — took home the bronze for his successful title defense. Here is the complete list of WEC 38 payouts: Jamier Varner — $34,000 ($17,000 to show, $17,000 to win) Donald Cerrone — $9,000 Varner defeated Cerrone via split decision Urijah Faber — $48,000 ($24,000 to show, $24,000 to win) Jens Pulver — $35,000 Faber defeated Pulver via submission (guillotine choke) in round one Danillo Villefort — $8,000 ($4,000 to show, $4,000 to win) Mike Campbell — $3,000 Villefort defeated Campbell via technical knockout (strikes) in round one Jose Aldo — $10,000 ($5,000 to show, $5,000 to win) Rolando Perez — $3,000 Aldo defeated Perez via technical knockout (strikes) in round one Benson Henderson — $5,000 ($3,000 to show, $2,000 to win) Anthony Njokuani — $2,000 Henderson defeated Njokuani via submission (guillotine choke) in round two Edgar Garcia — $6,000 ($3,000 to show, $3,000 to win) Hiromitsu Miura — $6,000 Garcia defeated Miura via technical knockout (strikes) in round one Dominick Cruz — $8,000 ($4,000 to show, $4,000 to win) Ian MCCall — $3,000 Cruz defeated McCall via unanimous decision Scott Jorgensen — $8,000 ($4,000 to show, $4,000 to win) Frank Gomez — $2,000 Jorgensen defeated Gomez via submission (guillotine choke) in round one Jesse Lennox — $4,000 ($2,000 to show, $2,000 to win) Blas Avena — $7,000 Lennox defeated Avena via technical knockout (strikes) in round two Charlie Valencia — $14,000 ($7,000 to show, $7,000 to win) Seth Dikun — $2,000 Valencia defeated Dikun via unanimous decision Keep in mind the salaries listed above do not include fight bonuses, sponsorships, percentages and other unofficial payments. It also does not include deductions for expenses such as insurance, taxes, etc. For example, the WEC often hands out extra cash for "Fight of the Night," "Knockout of the Night" and "Submission of the Night." To check out these figures for WEC 38 go here. The total base fighter payroll for the event, which attracted a solid crowd of 10,201 attendees and a net gate of $486,324, was $217,000. For complete results and coverage of “Varner vs. Cerrone” go here and here.

UFC 96 poster for ‘Jackson vs Jardine’ March 7 in Ohio Posted: 03 Feb 2009 07:24 PM CST For the latest UFC 96: “Jackson vs. Jardine” fight card and rumors click here.

Olympic gold medalist Satoshi Ishii stalls UFC negotiations to consider alternate offers Posted: 03 Feb 2009 07:13 PM CST For someone who’s never fought in a single mixed martial arts bout, 2008 Olympic Judo gold medalist Satoshi Ishii is sure making a lot of noise. Ishii was expected to make his mixed martial arts debut last New Year's Eve at the FieLDS Dynamite!! supershow scheduled for December 31. He verbally agreed to sign with Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG) and even held a fan club celebration party on November 3. Then out of nowhere, Ishii retracted his commitment and announced he would pursue a career in the United States for The Ultimate Fighting Championship. From Ishii: "I made up my mind finally - the UFC is where I want to fight. I'm a white belt in MMA. I understand the possibility of starting from WEC. If I was an unknown judoka, I would definitely build up my MMA experience in Japan first. However, I have decided put my Judo gold medal to use. I believe my name value will attract the UFC." The 22-year old Ishii was apologetic for his failure to commit, and his hero status took a serious hit when he headed to the famed American Top Team (ATT) camp to begin his quest. Now it appears that pursuit is also going by the wayside, as Ishii reportedly wants to consider some stateside competition, namely the “T-shirt guys” over at Affliction according to Nightmare of Battle. Maybe Ishii hasn’t been keeping up with the times, but UFC President Dana White hasn’t been very forgiving to fighters who play footsies with Atencio and Co. It should also be noted that this hardly the first time Ishii has made waves in the world of MMA. After winning his gold medal in Beijing, Ishii issued an open challenge to heavyweight deity Fedor Emelianenko. I guess he didn't see what Fedor did to silver medalist Naoya Ogawa at PRIDE Final Conflict back in 2004. Fedor of course smiled and went about his business, as Ishii has yet to prove that he can transition from Judo to mixed martial arts - and a few questions have been raised of his ability to strike (or be struck). In addition, his Judo Federation doesn't seem too keen on the idea of him making the jump from Judo to mixed martial arts, despite Ishii's persistence. From Tokyo's Kokushikan University program leader Kazuo Yoshimura: "This guy turns everybody into an enemy. He'd better get out [of Japan] without delay." I don’t know who’s steering the boat on the open waters of Lake Ishii, but it sounds to me like the Captain is about to go down with his ship.

Matt Hughes: Georges St. Pierre felt greasy in previous fights Posted: 03 Feb 2009 05:47 PM CST I'm not the only one who has said that GSP felt greasy during a fight. I know Matt Serra has mentioned it and, even in their first fight, I think BJ said something. I'm not saying GSP did something wrong and I'm not saying that it would have changed any outcomes of any fights; but what I am saying is, for my last two fights against Georges, he felt greasy. -Former welterweight champion Matt Hughes makes a startling admission on his official blog regarding the allegations that current 170-pound champ Georges St. Pierre was covered in Vaseline during his championship superfight with BJ Penn at UFC 94 on January 31. Penn was unable to continue after four rounds of abuse, however St. Pierre’s corner was reprimanded by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for the use of the slippery substance between rounds. The ‘Rush’ camp pleads ignorance. Matt Hughes begs to differ.

WEC officially adds flyweight division in wake of the dissolution to welterweight class Posted: 03 Feb 2009 04:15 PM CST World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) announced back in September that it would no longer support light heavyweight and middleweight divisions, deciding instead to focus on lighter weight classes such as welterweight (170 pounds), lightweight (155 pounds), featherweight (145 pounds) and bantamweight (135 pounds). Now Zuffa has officially added flyweight (125 pounds) to that list of divisions. With this move, the WEC will become the first major mixed martial arts organization in the United States to promote matches and recognize a champion in the flyweight division. This is good news for the WEC in wake of the recent changes. Many fans wondered if the existing roster would be enough to support the promotion on its own. Now with the addition of flyweight, the WEC will be able to tap into an already established division. And what better time to introduce fans to the likes of Yuki Shoujou, BJ Kojima and the real Afro Samurai Mamoru Yamaguchi? It will also enable the promotion to showcase more lighter fighters more often on its cards and continue to build stars. Under the old format, several talented up-and-comers either didn't fight frequently enough or were buried on the non-televised portion of the cards. However, when one door opens another usually closes. The promotion not only introduced the new weight class today, but they also officially eliminated the existing welterweight division (what was left of it). That announcement probably didn’t come as much of a surprise to most since Carlos Condit, the reigning WEC welterweight champion, was already scheduled to face Martin Kampmann in the main event at UFC Fight Night 18. His original WEC opponent Brock Larson, will join Condit in the UFC when he reportedly battles Jesse Sanders at the same event on April 1. Not that the Octagon was experiencing a shortage of talented welterweights, but adding Condit and Larson will only further diversify the UFC roster and promote even better match-ups.

UFC 95 video preview for ‘Sanchez vs Stevenson’ on Feb. 21 Posted: 03 Feb 2009 03:00 PM CST

BJ Penn: UFC 94 fight against Georges St. Pierre was to be his last Posted: 03 Feb 2009 12:33 PM CST Props: KHON2.com (Video here) Quoteworthy: "I have no clue what is going on in my head right now. I was going to make this my last fight and finish up fighting GSP. In my head, I was with [the UFC] for nine or ten years and I kind of just wanted to be finished with this whole thing after this. So I don't know where my head is right now." UFC Lightweight Champion BJ Penn makes his first public remarks after losing to welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre at UFC 94 over the weekend, saying that he had pre-fight intentions of making it his last performance inside the Octagon. Perhaps the lopsided manner in which he lost — rather than retiring on top as a dual champion — has made him rethink that decision. It sounds as if the 30-year-old fighter will need more time to come to grips with his performance and fight future.

UFC 94 medical suspensions and injuries from NSAC Posted: 03 Feb 2009 10:18 AM CST The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) recently issued its list of medical suspensions for UFC 94: "St. Pierre vs. Penn 2," which took place on Saturday, Jan. 31 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. With eight of the 10 fights going to decisions, there was not as much post-event carnage on this card than in recent past (See UFC Fight Night 26). In fact, welterweight Chris Wilson is the only fighter who appears to have sustained a major physical injury (broken nose). Lightweight champion BJ Penn and the previously undefeated Thiago Silva are other notable competitors who popped up on the report. Both fighters appeared to endure the most damage of the night in their respective bouts. Here are the rest of the UFC 94 injuries and their medical instructions: BJ Penn — “Prodigy” is suspended until March 18 and no contact until March 3. Thiago Silva — The Brazilian is suspended until March 18 and no contact until March 3. Stephan Bonnar – The “American Psycho” is suspended until March 3 and no contact until February 22 because of a scalp laceration. Akihiro Gono – The Japanese entertainer is suspended until March 3 and no contact until February 22 Chris Wilson – The Team Quest fighter must have a broken nose cleared by a physician or he will be on the shelf until July 31. He is not allowed to have contact until March 3. Just a quick reminder: Fighters often return to action much quicker once doctors give them the green light. The lengthy suspensions are just a precaution in most cases. For complete results and coverage of "St. Pierre vs. Penn 2" go here and here.

UFC 94 photos review for ‘St. Pierre vs. Penn 2′ PPV event Posted: 03 Feb 2009 09:38 AM CST Props: Las Vegas Sun

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