Thursday, April 16, 2009

UFC blog for latest news, videos, results, betting odds, fighter interviews and MMA rumors - UFCmania.com

UFC blog for latest news, videos, results, betting odds, fighter interviews and MMA rumors - UFCmania.com

Dana White goes ‘Off the Record’ on TSN (Video)

Posted: 16 Apr 2009 04:31 AM PDT

Props: TSN.com

Anderson Silva media workout for UFC 97 on April 18 (Video)

Posted: 15 Apr 2009 09:55 PM PDT

Props: Cagewriter

The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 9: Episode 3 recap and discussion

Posted: 15 Apr 2009 07:10 PM PDT

Episode three of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) Season 9 gets underway at the TUF house and in true “Colors” fashion, all it takes is some opposing graffiti to get the American tempers flaring.

Team USA and Team UK start things off rather amicably with some hand shaking and sporadic chest bumping — but anyone who’s watched a single episode throughout the nine seasons knows that’s probably the last we’ll see of any inter-team camaraderie.

Rob Browning honors the family name by actively seeking an alcoholic to keep pace with his binge drinking. Outside, the Brits display some of the worst basketball skills since C. Thomas Howell in “Soul Man.”

Browning starts egging the UK guys from the balcony and then blames it on the beer. Personally, I blame the producers. Didn’t we suffer enough of this crap last season?

Back in the house, Browning urinates in the Team USA shower. Just when you thought it wasn’t possible to be worse than Junie, I present to you Rob Browning.

The rest of the house assembles and lays down some ground rules for the next six weeks. Pranks are okay, but no messing with other peoples food and keep all bodily fluids where they belong — inside the body.

Team USA has their first training session and Coach Henderson runs them through the gameplan for opposing Team UK.

Hendo thinks the skill level in British MMA is a few years behind and their wrestling is virtually non-existent. Therefore he emphasizes wrestling, the clinch and ground and pound. DaMarques Johnson rallies the troops following the workout.

Coach Bisping arrives and already starts with the mind games, toying with some of the positive attitudes from Team USA.

It works.

DaMarques thinks the only thing the UK is good at is soccer and tells “The Count” to shove his British pride up his ass. Unfortunately he only tells him via confessional cam so it never really goes anywhere.

Team UK trains and they come out of the gate guns blazing. Bisping promises “intense” training.

Later that night, Browning tries to endear himself to the British guys by dropping an Australian catchphrase. Real smooth, jackass. James Wilks names him “15 minutes” after the fifteen minutes of fame he so desperately seeks.

Fight day is here and the Yanks start to pump themselves up for the final two elimination fights for Team USA. Lester is an ex-soldier ready to go back to war — this time inside the Octagon.

His opponent, Kiel Reid, says it’s easier to punch a head than a time clock. I immediately relate. I’ve had some jobs where it was necessary to do both.

Team USA final elimination bout #1: Frank Lester (3-2) vs. Kiel Reid (8-1)

Round 1: Gratuitous “heart-on” double entendre voiceover courtesy of a “Crank” commercial. Yawn. Reid bumrushes Lester and they hit the ground. Lester pushed to the fence and defends with a guillotine but can’t secure it. Reid muscles him to his back and works for position. Lester preventing him from posturing and stands up — right into a guillotine. He escapes and cracks Reid with a few punches. Reid shoots and pushes him to the fence. Reid picks Lester up and slams him to the ground, knocking himself out in the process. Neither Lester nor referee Steve Mazzagatti realize he’s done and Lester cranks a DEEP kimura until Mazz catches on and quickly stops it.

Frank Lester defeats Kiel Reid via KO (slam)

Reid and Lester have some words following the fight.

Reid: You can’t beat me!

Lester: I just did!

Reid: I beat myself!

Reid bashes Lester all the way out of the house while Lester celebrates like he was responsible for the actual slamming. Some of the guys aren’t sold on the win but like DaMarques points out, a “W” is a “W”.

Next up is Rob Browning vs. Jason Dent. Rob says he’s ready to prove what the Brownings are all about. I think Junie already proved that after getting stomped in Season 8 and then tapping to Cole Miller at UFC Fight Night 18.

Team USA final elimination bout #2: Rob Browning (4-0) vs. Jason Dent (18-9)

Round 1: Browning rushes and Dent backs away. Low kick misses for Browning. Dent lands an outside kick. Browning returns and lands a jab. Browning shoots and pushes Dent to the fence. Dent escapes. They trade punches and kicks in the middle of the cage. Browning shoots but Dent has none of it. Browning trapped on his stomach and Dent lands a few nice body shots. Dent warned for head shots. Browning rolls over against the cage and takes some punishment. Dent with elbows. Browning goes fetal. Mazz warns him to do something other than tumbleweed. Browning unresponsive. Mazz finally stops it. I stand up and cheer. (That guy is my hero!) Hendo, not looking forward to any baggage, is relieved to be free of the Browning curse.

Jason Dent defeats Rob Browning via TKO (strikes)

On the way out the door, Browning mumbles something to Dana about returning to 135-pounds, as if it would have made any difference.

Dana rallies the troops and gives a quick pep talk. A TUF coin toss goes in favor of Team USA who gets to choose the first fight. Bisping tries to rattle the cage and fails miserably.

Stay tuned next week as Hendo drops his first F-bomb, Bisping tries to get under the skin of Team USA and the announcer promises an epic clash inside the cage.

See you in seven!

Watch UFC Countdown 97: ‘Redemption’ online

Posted: 15 Apr 2009 05:28 PM PDT

Props: UFC.com

UFC 97 video: Mauricio ‘Shogun’ trains for Chuck Liddell

Posted: 15 Apr 2009 12:58 PM PDT

UFC Quick Quote: Steve Cantwell plans to submit Luis Cane then celebrate … calmly

Posted: 15 Apr 2009 12:40 PM PDT

“He throws big, hard punches and kicks from the left side. So I’ve just go to avoid his left and see how good his ground game is…. They’re actually a lot alike, but Brian Stann is right-handed and Luis Cane is southpaw. So as far as my strategy on the feet goes, same strategy, (but) different combinations that I’m looking for, as far as right-handed versus southpaw. … I’m definitely going to put him on his back and see how he works from there…. I’m a really nice guy. I am trying to go out there and trying to break the guy’s arm every single fight, (but) I’ll just refrain from celebrating like that. That wasn’t necessary. It actually ruined a really good fight. I’m going to go out there and be more humble and win like a champion now, try to get a fresh new start.”

– The last man to raise the World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) 205-pound title, Steve Cantwell, talks to USAToday.com about his upcoming fight against top division contender, Luis Cane, at UFC 97: “Redemption” this weekend at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. “The Robot” intends to implement his ground game to hand “Banha” his first-ever career loss that was not caused by a disqualification (James Irvin). And if he can somehow tap the talented Brazilian striking machine, then he promises to keep his emotions in check to avoid a situation similar to his last winning/arm-popping performance against Razak Al-Hassan. What a disaster that turned out to be.

Robbie Lawler doesn’t want to cut weight for Strikeforce superfight with Jake Shields on June 6 (Video)

Posted: 15 Apr 2009 11:53 AM PDT

Props: Jarry Park

UFC 100: Fitch vs Thiago, Miller vs Danzig confirmed for July 11 event at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas

Posted: 15 Apr 2009 11:46 AM PDT

UFC 100, which is slated for the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 11, is now confirmed for eleven total fights including two additional bouts locked in earlier today.

The promotion made the event official earlier this month for the historic pay-per-view (PPV) event, signaling a major milestone in its more than 15 years of existence.

Now it has confirmed that undefeated sophomore Paulo Thiago (11-0) — fresh off his KO upset over Josh Koscheck at UFC 95 — will look to make it two straight against the boys over at American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) when he tangles with Kos' friend and teammate Jon Fitch (18-3), who is back on the main card after decisioning Akihiro Gono at UFC 94 in January.

In addition, season six welterweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) Mac Danzig (18-6-1) will look to rebound from his frustrating submission loss to Josh Neer at UFC Fight Night 17 back in February when he tangles with Jim Miller (13-2), himself coming off a defeat to the streaking Gray Maynard at UFC 96 back on March 7.

In the main event of the evening, UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar will tangle with the division's interim title keeper, Frank Mir, to determine once and for all an undisputed champion. In addition, UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre will once again defend his 170-pound strap against number one contender, Thiago Alves.

Rounding out the stacked card is a a middleweight brawl between The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) TUF 9 coaches, Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping, who will collide to determine who earns the right to challenge the reigning middleweight champion later in 2009.

Tickets for UFC 100 were already sold out before they became available to the general public on April 11. That's right, UFC Fight Club members and newsletter subscribers apparently gobbled up the stubs in two exclusive pre-sales that led up to today.
Get UFC Tickets at StubHub!

It's a new ticket-selling record, according to the promotion.

Fortunately, UFC 100 tickets can still be purchased through StubHub.com (Note: StubHub often has seats available even if the event is "sold out"). It will also be available to watch on pay-per-view (PPV) at 10 p.m. ET on fight night.

To check out the latest fight card and rumors for the show click here. Be sure to stay dialed in to MMAmania.com for all the UFC 100 coverage you can shake a stick at.

Arachnophobia: Thales Leites ready for ‘any situation’ on April 18

Posted: 15 Apr 2009 11:23 AM PDT

Props: MMAWeekly

Quoteworthy:

“The fight of my life. It’s everything I was waiting for, for a long time. Since my beginning when I started training MMA, I was thinking about this day. I’ve been training all my life for jiu-jitsu, I think there’s my big chance on the ground, but anything can happen. When (Gabriel) Gonzaga fought against (Mirko) Cro Cop, nobody expected he could knock him out. I’m not talking like it could happen with me that way, but nobody knows. I will be ready to fight stand-up, I will be there to fight in any situation.”

Number one middleweight contender Thales Leites reminds fans that anything can happen in MMA as he heads into his main event match against 185-pound champion Anderson Silva at UFC 97: "Redemption" from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on April 18. The Brazilian apparently isn’t afraid to stand and trade with “The Spider” despite jiu-jitsu being his greatest strength. Crazy confident? Or just plain crazy?

Cain Velasquez video talks UFC 99 fight against Heath Herring on June 13

Posted: 15 Apr 2009 09:30 AM PDT

Props: Versus.com

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