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| UFC 97: Chuck Liddell wants to ‘knock off’ Shogun’s head and get back in the title hunt Posted: 03 Apr 2009 03:34 AM PDT
Props: Mirror.co.uk Quoteworthy:
Former light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell still has his sights set on reclaiming the 205-pound title even at age 39. “Iceman” has dropped three of his last four fights, but that’s not stopping him from making one last run at championship glory, which will go through Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 97: “Redemption” on April 18 in Montreal, Quebec. Not an easy task … although Liddell is certainly not short on confidence. |
| Dana White apologizes for anti-gay and other distasteful remarks (Video) Posted: 03 Apr 2009 03:05 AM PDT |
| UFC 98 poster for ‘Evans vs Machida’ on May 23 Posted: 03 Apr 2009 02:45 AM PDT
To check out the latest UFC 98 fight card and rumors click here. |
| Bellator I lightweight tournament quick preview and predictions for April 3 inaugural event Posted: 03 Apr 2009 02:05 AM PDT
The twelve part tournament series from Bellator Fighting Championships, set to air in weekly segments on ESPN Deportes, debuts tonight, April 3, from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. ESPN Deportes will air the action via tape delay on April 4. Featured on the card will be three first round match-ups from both the lightweight and featherweight tournaments. The main event will showcase lightweights Nick Agallar and Jorge Masvidal and the co-main event will pit Eddie Alvarez against Greg Loughran in a 155-pound scrap as well. Here is the full lineup for the upstart promotion’s inaugural event: Featherweight tournament (145 pounds): Lightweight Tournament (155 pounds): Main Card: We’ve taken a closer look at two of the featured fights, which are both a part of the lightweight tournament, to give you a taste of what to expect from the latest mixed martial arts offering. Check ‘em out after the jump: Nick Agallar (21-5) vs. Jorge Masvidal (16-3) Masvidal isn’t hard to figure out. He wants to trade strikes or utilize his ground and pound. He doesn’t play around with submissions, he just wants to punch his opponents in the face. He happens to be good at it, boasting a 50 percent knockout rate in his 16 career wins. Agallar is a little more well rounded. He can beat you a number of different ways and has a ton of experience to his credit, including fights in the UFC, WEC and other top promotions. The competitiveness of this fight is probably what propelled it to top billing over the Eddie Alvarez vs. Gregg Loughran fight, even though Alvarez is arguably the biggest name the promotion has on its roster. I can see this one going either way, but I’m giving the nod to Masvidal. He’s aggressive, strong and has that killer instinct that I love in a fighter. I give him the advantage on the feet, which lucky for him, is where the fight starts. If Agallar gets in trouble and tries to take the fight to the mat, Masvidal will have to show his takedown defense or he’ll risk getting submitted on his back. If the fight goes to the ground and he gets the top position however, he does have some dangerous ground and pound from there. Look for Masvidal to win this fight with some sort of stoppage from strikes or from a decisive win on the scorecards. Final Prediction: Jorge Masvidal via technical knockout in round one Eddie Alvarez (16-2) vs. Greg Loughran (18-11) Loughran is dangerous with submissions, which is the only type of fighter that has given the top-ranked Alvarez any trouble through this point in his career, even though he’s proven he can pretty much handle any style. Obviously Alvarez has the edge in striking with his superior boxing and dynamite power and he has a strong wrestling base as well that he can use to keep the fight on the feet. But as Aoki proved, he’s not unbeatable and he can be submitted if taken to the mat. Clearly Greg Loughran is no Shinya Aoki, but nevertheless, Alvarez has to respect his opponents submission game or he could find himself tapping out for the second straight time. With that said, this fight shouldn’t be much of a problem for the Philadelphia native. He’s scary good on his feet and scrambles with the best of them. He stormed through guys like Ross Ebanez, Andre Amade, Joachim Hansen and Tatsuya Kawajiri last year and it’s hard to imagine him losing to the relatively unknown Greg Loughran. Stranger things have happened, especially in this sport, but it’s probably safe to expect Alvarez to move on to the second round after this one. Final Prediction: Eddie Alvarez via technical knockout in round one Next week Bellator Fighting Championships will feature a main event between former EliteXC featherweight champion Wilson Reis and Henry Martinez in the final first round match-up from the 145-pound tournament at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The fourth and final first round fight from the lightweight tourney, as well as three first round welterweight bouts will be featured on the card as well. For all the latest on Bellator FC click here. |
| ESPN ‘MMA Live’ Episode 47 featuring WEC 40 preview and UFC Fight Night 18 recap (Video) Posted: 02 Apr 2009 08:52 PM PDT MMA Live previews WEC 40 and Bellator Fighting Championships on ESPN Deportes. Former WWE Superstar Bobby Lashley joins the program to discuss his newfound MMA career. Also, highlights of UFC Fight Night 18 from Nashville, Tennessee. |
| Eddie Alvarez, Jorge Masvidal and others weigh-in for Bellator Posted: 02 Apr 2009 06:32 PM PDT
Bellator Fighting Championships (Bellator) is set to kick-off its first show ever from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla., tomorrow night (April 3) now that the official weigh in is in the books. Fighters today tipped the scales for Bellator I, which features the opening round of its featherweight and lightweight tournaments, as well as several other bouts. All the action is expected to begin around 6 p.m. ET on fight night. It will air via tape delay on ESPN Deportes the following night (April 4). Here are the official Bellator I weigh-in results:
*Lightweight tournament bout MMAmania.com will provide LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the tournament action on fight night (Fri., April 3), which is slated to begin around 6 p.m. ET. Therefore, expect updates to begin to flow around that time. So, as always, check out MMAmania.com for all the pre, during and post-fight Bellator I coverage you can handle. See you tomorrow night Maniacs! Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com. |
| UFC 101: Forrest Griffin and Amir Sadollah to be ‘fight buddies’ in Philly (Video) Posted: 02 Apr 2009 01:05 PM PDT
Props: Spike.com |
| Renato Sobral to defend Strikeforce LHW title against Rafael Cavalcante on June 6 Posted: 02 Apr 2009 10:02 AM PDT
Strikeforce officially announced today that light heavyweight champion Renato “Babalu” Sobral (32-7) has agreed to defend his title for the first time against former Elite XC superstar Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante (7-1) on the June 6 card set to air live on Showtime from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Feijao — a training partner of UFC champion Anderson Silva and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira — made a name for himself in 2008 fighting for EliteXC. He competed three times for the promotion, defeating John Doyle (KO), Wayne Cole (TKO) and finally Travis Galbraith (TKO) to capture the title last July at EliteXC: “Unfinished Business.” All three of those wins were first round stoppages. In fact, Feijao has never been taken out of the second round in any of his six professional victories. The lone blemish on his record thus far for the 28 year old jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai stud is a disqualification stemming from an illegal kick to Marcio Cruz in a heavyweight bout at the IFL Las Vegas show in 2007. Babalu has been on a tear as of late himself. The jiu-jitsu black belt has won four straight fights since departing from the UFC in late 2007, including a decision win over Mike Whitehead at Affliction: “Banned,” a submission win over Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou at Affliction: “Day of Reckoning” and a first round technical knockout win over Bobby Southworth at Strikeforce: “Destruction” to win the promotion’s 205-pound strap. Sobral is light years ahead of Cavalcante as far as experience in the cage goes, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s more talented. Babalu certainly gets the edge on the ground with his vast jiu-jitsu knowledge, but Feijao has just as much of an advantage on his feet with the power and technique he possesses. This should be a great co-main event fight for Strikeforce. There’s going to be a lot of talent in that cage on June 6. Color me excited. Headlining the event will be another champion vs. champion match-up as former EliteXC welterweight champ Jake Shields steps up to face the last reigning EliteXC middleweight title holder in a 185-pound affair. Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more as the fight card starts to fill up. |
| Posted: 02 Apr 2009 09:52 AM PDT
Los Angeles, Calif. – April 2, 2009, – Bellator Fighting Championships officially revealed today the four broadcast personalities who will announce the 2009 tournament season's events. The English language on-air team includes popular ESPN mixed martial arts (MMA) analyst Jon Anik and mixed martial artist and television personality Jason Chambers; both men will provide the English language cageside commentary. Well-known Spanish language commentator and extreme sports participant George X will join former King of the Cage Heavyweight Champion Manny Rodriguez to cover the Spanish language broadcast duties through Bellator's exclusive alliance with ESPN Deportes. Together the four personalities bring a wealth of inside-the-cage knowledge, tremendous on-air experience and great excitement to the Bellator series and to its highly-anticipated premiere. Jon Anik, the host ESPN's widely popular web series "MMA Live," joined the ESPN team in 2006, where he has since served as both a broadcast and radio personality. Backed by an extensive MMA and boxing resume, Jon will provide the English language blow-by-blow commentary for all Bellator fights in addition to his perspective on Bellator's tournament, fighters and match-ups in the tournament competition. Partnering with Anik is MMA fighter and television personality Jason Chambers. Chambers has enjoyed a very successful professional career with an 18-5 record and just last year hosted the successful History Channel series "Human Weapon," where Jason traveled the globe to study and practice various methods of martial arts. This unique combination of in the cage and on the air MMA experience, coupled with a vast amount of shared MMA knowledge will provide great insight and entertainment to MMA fans worldwide. Anchoring the action for Bellator's Spanish language broadcast on ESPN Deportes are George X and Manny Rodriguez. George X is one of Mexico's best known Spanish language announcers, who has announced events such as the NBA finals, the Winter Olympics and Super Bowl XXXV. Extreme sports fans will know George X as the face and voice of ESPN Spanish language coverage of the X Games. He is a large scale MMA fan having attended many MMA events as both fan and journalist, and has been a writer for the leading Latino MMA publication, Extreme Fighting. Rodriguez , the former King of the Cage Heavyweight Champion has handled a wide collection of on-air broadcast duties for numerous Mexican MMA events. Rodriguez's technical expertise in MMA coupled with a tremendous ability to communicate that knowledge to both new and experienced MMA fans makes him a pure pleasure to listen to behind the cage. The nationally televised ESPN Deportes broadcast will air at 9 pm EST/6:00 pm PST beginning April 4, 2009 and every Saturday night thereafter for 12 weeks. "We could not be happier with both of our on-air broadcast teams. Jon, Jason, Manny and George bring a wealth of legitimate MMA experience and in-depth MMA reporting backgrounds to our English and Spanish language announcing booths. Each one of these guys knows the game inside and out and will bring that expertise and excitement to our viewers," said Bjorn Rebney, CEO of Bellator Fighting Championships. Bellator Fighting Championships' premiere season consists of 12 two-hour events to be broadcast weekly in primetime on Saturday nights on ESPN Deportes, and the English broadcast will be available on Bellator's website. The events will feature a combination of tournament and non-tournament special feature bouts. There will be four simultaneous tournaments taking place in season #1 over a three month period: one in each of the Featherweight (145 lb.), Lightweight (155 lb.), Welterweight (170 lb.) and Middleweight (185 lb.) divisions. For more information on Bellator Fighting Championships, visit www.Bellator.com. For the Spanish language version of the website, visit www.Espanol.Bellator.com. |
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