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| Demian Maia: The path to Anderson Silva begins at UFC 102 against Nate Marquardt Posted: 30 Apr 2009 09:58 PM PDT
Props: Graciemag Quoteworthy:
– Undefeated Brazlian jiu-jitsu wizard Demian Maia feels that the winner of his bout with top ranked middleweight Nate Marquardt at UFC 102 will earn a shot at the 185-pound crown. However, they may have to get in line and wait behind the winner of Dan Henderson vs. Michal Bisping — the two coaches from The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) that are set to square off at UFC 100 on July 11. It appears that there may be a long line forming, but Maia is certainly deserving. But will the UFC shy away from Silva vs. Maia based on “The Spider’s” performance against Thales Leites? |
| Eddie Alvarez, Jorge Masvidal and others weigh in for Bellator V at Hara Arena Posted: 30 Apr 2009 06:45 PM PDT
Each of the eighteen mixed martial artists set to compete on tomorrow night’s Bellator V card at the Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio, tipped the scales today for the official fighter weigh-ins. The event is set to showcase the two remaining semifinal match ups from the promotion’s lightweight tournament. Perhaps the favorite to take the title, Eddie Alvarez, and his opponent Eric Reynolds, both came in a little heavy (157.5 lbs.) for their main event fight. While that’s a pound and a half over the 156 pound division limit, neither fighter was penalized due to an agreement from both sides prior to today’s meeting. The other sixteen competitors each hit their respective marks, including the mammoth Josh Barnes who came in just two pounds under the 265 pound division limit for his heavyweight bout against Dave Herman. “Pee Wee” will be giving up a whopping 25 pounds in tomorrow night’s featured non-tournament fight. Here are the complete weigh in results for Bellator V:
*Note: Fighters are allowed one extra pound in non-title fights. The action takes place live tomorrow night (May 1) in Dayton and will be shown via tape delay 24 hours later on ESPN Deportes. To catch up on all the latest from Bellator Fighting Championships click here. |
| Posted: 30 Apr 2009 05:53 PM PDT
Despite earlier published reports that Ed Herman had been tapped to replace an injured Yushin Okami at UFC 98, MMAmania.com can now exclusively confirm that former WEC middleweight contender Chael Sonnen will be Dan Miller’s new opponent for the “Evans vs. Machida” event on May 23. “Thunder” was forced to withdraw from the card after tearing a ligament in his knee, joining a long list of fighters who were removed from the UFC 98 lineup due to injury. Since its inception, the May 23 event has been a revolving door of UFC talent. Heavyweight stars Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar were originally set to unify the heavyweight title in the main event until Mir opted for surgery on a bothersome knee and forced UFC officials to push their rematch forward to UFC 100. The Zuffa brass hastily arranged for Quinton Jackson — fresh off his unanimous decision win over Keith Jardine at UFC 96 — to challenge light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans as a replacement main event. “Rampage” felt pressured to fight on such short notice and instead chose to take some much-needed time off to heal an injured jaw and some other nagging injuries before trying his luck against “Sugar.” Enter Lyoto Machida. With “The Dragon” in place to meet Evans, everything was back on track — until Josh Koscheck broke his toe and pulled out of his fight against Chris Wilson. Brock Larson to the rescue. Earlier today, it was learned that James Irvin blew out his knee and would not be able to throwdown with Drew McFedries in a middleweight scrap. Xavier Foupa-Pokam will assume the position, pending immigration proceedings. That brings us to Okami. The Japanese import — who holds a controversial win over Anderson Silva under the ‘Rumble on the Rock’ banner — has won seven of eight fights inside the Octagon. His lone loss during that span was to former champion Rich Franklin back at UFC 72: "Victory" in June 2007. After defeating Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist Dean Lister at UFC 92: "The Ultimate 2008″ in Dec. 2008, Okami re-established himself as a top contender in the middleweight division after missing nearly nine months of action due to a hand injury. This latest setback could further stymie his chances at getting a rematch with Silva — who may be toiling in the land of light heavyweights indefinitely. Bad news for Okami, great news for Sonnen, who will attempt to rebound from a quick first round submission loss (triangle choke) to Brazilian jiu-jitsu powerhouse, Demian Maia, at UFC 95 earlier this year. The bout marked his third UFC appearance – he lost to Jeremy Horn via submission (armbar) at UFC 60: "Hughes vs. Gracie" back in 2006 and outpointed Trevor Prangley on all three judges scorecards at Ultimate Fight Night 4 that same year. Prior to the loss to Maia, Sonnen handed a dazed and confused Paulo Filho — who was widely regarded as the second-best middleweight fighter in the world before encountering major personal issues — his first career loss at WEC 37 on November 5. How this affects his planned bout against Wilson Gouveia at UFC 102 in August remains to be seen. UFC 98 will feature (we hope) the light heavyweight title fight between Rashad Evans and undefeated challenger Lyoto Machida. Also on the May 23 card, former UFC welterweight champions Matt Hughes and Matt Serra will finally settle their eternal grudge match. For the latest UFC 98 fight card and rumors click here. |
| Bellator V middleweight tournament preview and predictions for May 1 event Posted: 30 Apr 2009 05:32 PM PDT
After a one week hiatus, Bellator Fighting Championships 12-part weekly tournament series is set to return to the ESPN Deportes airwaves for event number five this Friday, May 1, at the Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio. As always, the action will air via tape delay 24 hours later on the Spanish version of The Worldwide Leader in Sports, ESPN Deportes. The card will feature the semifinal match ups from the promotion’s lightweight tournament. On one side of the bracket, Philadelphia native Eddie Alvarez will square off against Eric Reynolds, while Jorge Masvidal and Toby Imada will look to make their way into the final round from the other side. The non-tournament portion of the event will showcase three heavyweight bouts, one of which will pit former Elite XC stand out Dave “Pee Wee” Herman against Josh Barnes, and another involving one time UFC fighter Sherman Pendergarst. We've taken a closer look at the two featured fights, which are the semifinal match ups from the lightweight tournament, to give you a taste of what to expect from the latest mixed martial arts offering. Here we go:
Eddie Alvarez (16-2) vs. Eric Reynolds (10-1): Both of these guys advanced to this final four with first round stoppage victories on the inaugural Bellator event last month. Alvarez submitted Greg Loughran with a guillotine choke, while Reynolds was able to stop Thomas Schulte with strikes. While both have solid records and have proven to be top notch finishers, it’s Alvarez whose faced the stiffer competition to this point in their respective careers. In fact, besides Schulte, the other nine opponents Reynolds has beaten own a combined record of (19-32). Meanwhile, Alvarez has been mixing it up with guys like Shinya Aoki, Joachim Hanson, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Nick Thompson and others over the past few years. There’s no question Alvarez has faced, and beaten, better mixed martial artists than Eric Reynolds. Reynolds, on the other hand, has only fought four guys with winning records, one of which he lost by first round knockout. If there were seeds assigned to each of the fighters in this tournament, this would clearly be the #1 seed (Alvarez) facing the #4 (Reynolds). Does that mean Reynolds can’t win this fight? No, but it certainly isn’t likely. Alvarez will be stronger, more athletic, he’ll hit harder, he’ll have better wrestling, and he’s proven time and time again that he can take a hit and keep on coming. Reynolds will have to be at the top of his game to have a chance in this one. Final Prediction: Eddie Alvarez via first round technical knockout Jorge Masvidal (17-3) vs. Toby Imada (21-12): The Los Angeles resident is a scrappy dude with a some good size for the lightweight division. He’s submitted 13 of his 21 career victims, including Alonzo Martinez with a rear naked choke in the first round of this tournament at Bellator I. He comes in on a seven fight win streak, having also taken 9 out of his last 10. The Dawg Pound trainee faced a lot of tough competition during the early part of his career. Dealing with the adversity of losing to guys like Mayhem Miller, Hermes Franca, Jake Shields, Joe Stevenson and others have helped to mold him into the quality fighter he is today. While he leans on his submissions to win fights, his opponent is the complete opposite stylistically. Masvidal finds himself in this semifinal after having stopped Nick Agallar with strikes just over a minute into their first round fight. “Gamebred” is a very good striker, with a ton of power. He also has a nice ground and pound game as well. He doesn’t mess around with trying to submit his opponents, he just wants to punch them in the face and put them to sleep, and he’s been successful in doing that nine times so far in his career. The American Top Team product has fought 20 professional fights, winning 17 of them, but not one of those wins have come by submission. This is an intriguing match up because of the contrast in styles. If Imada can weather Masvidal’s early storm, he’ll have a decent chance to steal this fight. Of course, that’s a whole lot easier said than done. Masvidal trains with a much better camp and he’s faced the tougher opposition recently, having beaten Ryan Schultz, Yves Edwards and Ryan Healey in the past two years. Imada, on the other hand, has been padding the win column with fights against guys like Jason Meaders, Shad Smith and Preston Scharf, who are all very tough guys, but not necessarily the cream of the crop in the mixed martial arts world. Look for this to be a very competitive fight, but Masvidal should be better prepared to move on to the final. Final Prediction: Jorge Masvidal via unanimous decision Check out the lineup for BFC V in it’s entirety below:
Next week Bellator Fighting Championships VI will head over to the Central Pavilion Arena in Robstown, Texas for the highly anticipated semifinal match-ups from the 145-pound featherweight tournament. Former Elite XC champion Wilson Reis will battle fellow undefeated fighter Joe Soto for the right to face the winner between Yahir Reyes and Estevan Payan in the tournament’s championship final. You definitely won't want to miss that. To catch up on all the latest from Bellator Fighting Championships click here. |
| ESPN ‘MMA Live’ video featuring Kyle Maynard Posted: 30 Apr 2009 02:39 PM PDT |
| UFC 98: Ed Herman replaces injured Yushin Okami against Dan Miller on May 23 (Updated) Posted: 30 Apr 2009 02:38 PM PDT
***Update: MMAmania.com has exclusively learned that Chael Sonnen, not Ed Herman will replace Yushin Okami. For more information, click here. With just a little over a month to recover from his April 18 win over David Loiseau at UFC 97, The Ultimate Fighter 3 runner-up Ed Herman will fill in for Yushin Okami at UFC 98 against Dan Miller from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 23. “Thunder” was forced to withdraw from the event after tearing a ligament in his knee, according to MMAWeekly. Okami joins a long list of fighters who were removed from the UFC 98 lineup due to injury. Since its inception, the May 23 event has been a revolving door of UFC talent. Heavyweight stars Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar were originally set to unify the heavyweight title in the main event until Mir opted for surgery on a bothersome knee and forced UFC officials to push their rematch forward to UFC 100. The Zuffa brass hastily arranged for Quinton Jackson — fresh off his unanimous decision win over Keith Jardine at UFC 96 — to challenge light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans as a replacement main event. “Rampage” felt pressured to fight on such short notice and instead chose to take some much-needed time off to heal an injured jaw and some other nagging injuries before trying his luck against “Sugar.” Enter Lyoto Machida. With “The Dragon” in place to meet Evans, everything was back on track — until Josh Koscheck broke his toe and pulled out of his fight against Chris Wilson. Brock Larson to the rescue. Earlier today, it was learned that James Irvin blew out his knee and would not be able to throwdown with Drew McFedries in a middleweight scrap. Xavier Foupa-Pokam will assume the position, pending immigration proceedings. That brings us to Okami. The Japanese import — who holds a controversial win over Anderson Silva under the ‘Rumble on the Rock’ banner — has won seven of eight fights inside the Octagon. His lone loss during that span was to former champion Rich Franklin back at UFC 72: "Victory" in June 2007. After defeating Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist Dean Lister at UFC 92: "The Ultimate 2008″ in Dec. 2008, Okami re-established himself as a top contender in the middleweight division after missing nearly nine months of action due to a hand injury. This latest setback could further stymie his chances at getting a rematch with Silva — who may be toiling in the land of light heavyweights indefinitely. Bad news for Okami, great news for Herman. After back-to-back losses in 2008, Herman was headed for the chopping block before securing a stay of execution with his win over “The Crow” at UFC 97. A huge win over a tough opponent like Miller, especially on short notice, and he could be right back in the thick of things. UFC 98 will feature (we hope) the light heavyweight title fight between Rashad Evans and undefeated challenger Lyoto Machida. Also on the May 23 card, former UFC welterweight champions Matt Hughes and Matt Serra will finally settle their eternal grudge match. For the latest UFC 98 fight card and rumors click here. |
| UFC welterweight Matt Serra stars as Wolverine in Marvel Super Heroes: ‘What The–?!’ (Video) Posted: 30 Apr 2009 01:21 PM PDT Props: Marvel.com |
| Pro MMA Radio replay now available featuring Ricardo Almeida and DREAM featherweight Joe Warren Posted: 30 Apr 2009 01:19 PM PDT
Fresh off his win over Matt Horwich at UFC Fight Night 18, newly minted welterweight Ricardo Almeida (10-3) was our featured guest on MMAmania.com's exclusive presentation of Pro MMA Radio. "Cachorrao" broke down his unanimous decision victory over “Suave,” the self-imposed three-year layoff to open the Ricardo Almeida Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Hamilton, N.J., and why he's dropping to welterweight despite coming off a win at 185-pounds. Also on the show, world champion wrestler and Team Quest standout Joe Warren gave us the lowdown on facing one of the world's best, Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto, in the next round of the Dream Featherweight Grand Prix. 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 9 p.m. ET for our exclusive live feed. For the audio replay of Monday's show click here. |
| Diego Sanchez and Ryan Bader video on the transition from wrestler to striker Posted: 30 Apr 2009 01:06 PM PDT Catch the entire interview when it airs on HDNet tomorrow evening (May 1) at 9pm ET. |
| MMA Quick Quote: Fedor Emelianenko was ready to show himself to the Japanese fans Posted: 30 Apr 2009 09:50 AM PDT
The last man to hold the Pride FC heavyweight title and current WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko (29-1) reveals to Sherdog.com that he is currently negotiating a deal with Japanese organizations to eventually return to the country that made him an MMA superstar. “The Last Emperor” was on hand at M-1 Global Challenge on Wednesday to participate in an exhibition grappling match with Shinya Aoki while a deal for his next fight continues to simmer. The only question is — will it be for Affliction? Or DREAM? |
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