UFC blog for latest news, videos, results, betting odds, fighter interviews and MMA rumors - UFCmania.com |
- Dana White video blog for WEC 41 (Episode two)
- Vitor Belfort vs Jorge Santiago in the works for Affliction ‘Trilogy’ on August 1
- UFC 98 gate and attendance figures released from NSAC
- UFC Fight Night 19 confirmed for Oklahoma City on September 16
- Strikeforce conference call recap for June 6 event featuring Robbie Lawler and Jake Shields
- MMA Quick Quote: Yo! How ’bout Baroni vs Carano if Riggs is running scared?
- WEC 41 weigh in and Q&A session with Miguel Torres and Brian Bowles FREE and open to the public on June 6
- Marcus Davis vs. Dan Hardy bad blood boils over during UFC 99 conference call
- Kimbo Slice: Ultimate Fighter an opportunity to ’step my game up’ and ‘prove myself as a mixed martial artist’
- Got Fight? Memoirs (and interview) from a Forrest Griffin book signing
| Dana White video blog for WEC 41 (Episode two) Posted: 03 Jun 2009 04:20 AM PDT |
| Vitor Belfort vs Jorge Santiago in the works for Affliction ‘Trilogy’ on August 1 Posted: 02 Jun 2009 09:02 PM PDT
It looks like Vitor Belfort (18-8) won’t have to leave the middleweight division after all for his scheduled appearance at Affliction ‘Trilogy,’ as 185-pound standout Jorge Santiago (21-7) has agreed to face him on August 1 according to MMAWeekly. This announcement comes just days after his original opponent Gegard Mousasi accepted a fight against Renato Sobral after Belfort and “The Young Vagabond” couldn’t agree on an acceptable weight class. “The Phenom” recently abandoned the 205-pound division to compete at middleweight while Mousasi surrendered his DREAM 185-pound title to focus on competing at light heavyweight and beyond. Despite a strong desire by promoters and of course fans to see them square off, both men remained steadfast in their commitment to their new weight classes, effectively ending any chance of them tangling at Affliction’s third offering. The now-defunct deal has paved the way for each man to find equally challenging opponents, as Santiago comes into this proposed match up on a nine-fight winning streak. The American Top Team product went home as the champion of the Sengoku Middleweight Grand Prix last November after barely breaking a sweat in the semifinals. He steamrolled Siyar Bahadurzada before squashing Kazuhiro Nakamura in the finals with a crushing right hand in the third round.
His last fight was at Sengoku “No Ran 2009″ where he outlasted Japanese veteran Kazuo Misaki, submitting the “Grabaka Hitman” via rear naked choke in the fifth and final frame. It’s going to be a major step up in competition when he tangles with the new-look Belfort. “The Phenom” looked great in his first fight at 185 pounds, taking out Terry Martin in the second round at Affliction: "Banned" with a nice combination that was set up by a flying knee. He looked nearly invincible at “Day of Reckoning” when he pulverized Matt Lindland with a brutal first round blitzkrieg, landing six of seven strikes en route to a scary-looking knockout. It would be criminal to see this one go to the judge’s scorecards. Affliction 3: "Trilogy" will feature a main event between WAMMA Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko and top-ranked division player, Josh Barnett. Also in action, former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia collides with former Strikeforce and UFC heavyweight striker Paul Buentello. To check out the latest fight card and rumors for Affliction 3: "Trilogy" click here. |
| UFC 98 gate and attendance figures released from NSAC Posted: 02 Jun 2009 06:34 PM PDT
UFC 98: "Evans vs. Machida," which took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 23, sold 9,550 tickets for an official live gate of $3,257,350, according to The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC). Complimentary tickets to the tune of 3,056 pushed attendance to the 12,606 mark, which is a respectable number but a bit below the 15,000+ for UFC 94 “St. Pierre vs. Penn 2,” the prior UFC event held at The MGM Grand. Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida became the latest 205-pound champion in the UFC 98 main event, sending former belt keeper Rashad Evans into another galaxy with a savage combination of strikes that had "Sugar" dissolved on the canvas in the second round. And former welterweight champion Matt Hughes survived an early scare to settle his score against Matt Serra via unanimous decision in the co featured fight of the night. UFC dished out $957,000 in fighter salaries for the pay-per-view (PPV) event and another $240,000 in additional bonus money for the four participants who delivered outstanding performances. For complete results and coverage of "Evans vs. Machida" click here and here. |
| UFC Fight Night 19 confirmed for Oklahoma City on September 16 Posted: 02 Jun 2009 05:40 PM PDT
UFC Fight Night 19, which will serve as the lead-in for the upcoming tenth season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 10, will be held at the Cox Convention Center on September 16, according to Tulsa World. The promotion last visited “The Sooner State” way back in December of 1994 with UFC 4 from the Expo Square Pavilion in Tulsa. Royce Gracie cruised to victory that night in “Revenge of the Warriors.” Mixed martial arts has come a long way in 15 years. The Cox Convention Center has a capacity of 15,000 and will join Colorado, Nebraska, Florida and Tennessee as recent additions for the “Fight Night” series. UFC President Dana White had gone on record as early as July of 2008 with his intentions of traveling to Oklahoma City. Now with a slam-bang season of TUF to follow (thanks largely in part to his acquisition of former Elite XC headliner Kimbo Slice), Fight Night 19 is sure to get some major exposure. As of now, newly signed heavyweight Mike Russow and Ronnys Torres are the only names tentatively attached to the card. Keep it locked in to MMAmania.com for more details on UFC Fight Night 19 as they develop. |
| Strikeforce conference call recap for June 6 event featuring Robbie Lawler and Jake Shields Posted: 02 Jun 2009 04:48 PM PDT
Strikeforce: ‘Lawler vs. Shields’ is set to go down this Saturday, June 6, 2009 from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri, live on Showtime starting at 10 p.m. ET. The fight card will easily be the biggest in St. Louis history. Remember: MMAmania.com will provide LIVE updates with blow-by-blow, round-by-round commentary of the main card action on fight night, which is slated to air at 10 p.m. ET. To get us rolling for the event, Strikeforce held the second half of their media conference call this afternoon. The cast of characters this time around featured Robbie "Ruthless" Lawler and Jake Shields. While the card saw its share of injuries and last-minute replacements, the main card remained intact throughout, allowing the rest of the main card fights to fill in nicely, giving us plenty of reasons to get amped for the event. As for the main event, Robbie Lawler and Jake Shields are ready to stop talking and start fighting. Here’s a quick recap of what went down earlier today:
ROBBIE LAWLER: Is there any problem with you getting down to 182 pounds?
What is your game plan for Saturday night?
How do you approach selling a fight? Has your approach changed to it over the years?
How do you feel about fighting in your hometown?
Are you looking for a first-round knockout Saturday night?
JAKE SHIELDS: What about going down to 182 pounds?
What is you game plan Saturday if he keeps you on your feet and you're not able to get him to the ground?
How do you assess Robbie's ground game?
Is this the biggest fight of your career?
Do you feel like an uncrowned champion and would you prefer to fight for a title in your next fight?
For all the latest on the upcoming Strikeforce event click here. |
| MMA Quick Quote: Yo! How ’bout Baroni vs Carano if Riggs is running scared? Posted: 02 Jun 2009 04:31 PM PDT
Former UFC and PRIDE character Phil Baroni, possibly the most amped-up man on the planet leading up to the Strikeforce: "Lawler vs. Shields" event, took opponent Joe Riggs to task for no-showing the media conference call he was expected to participate in. The “New York Bad Ass” had quite a few colorful remarks for “Diesel” and professed a strong desire to throw hands with female sensation Gina Carano. However Baroni's coup de grâce came when the call was officially brought to an end, as the last thing heard by anyone who hadn’t disconnected was Baroni repeating the phrase "Yo" over and over with each "Yo" becoming quieter than the last. Baroni + Doppler effect = Classic NYBA. |
| Posted: 02 Jun 2009 04:14 PM PDT
World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) will hold its weigh-in and Q&A event for WEC 41: "Brown vs. Faber 2" in the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento, California, on Saturday, June 6, beginning at 4 p.m. local time. Immediately following the weigh-ins will be the Q&A session for UFC Fight Club Members, featuring WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres and number one contender for the 135-pound strap, Brian Bowles. Head on down, but be sure to get there early if you want a good seat. Doors open at 3 p.m. WEC 41 will feature a monster rematch between Mike Thomas Brown and hometown hero, Urijah "The California Kid" Faber, in a featherweight championship bout with Brown's 145-pound title on the line. In the co-main event, Jose Aldo and Cub Swanson are set to collide in another dynamite featherweight showdown. Number one lightweight contender Donald Cerrone will also return to action against James Krause on the televised main card after an undisclosed injury forced Rich "Cleat" Crunkilton to withdraw from the 155-pound contest. And remember that The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 5 alum, Manny Gamburyan, will likely do his best to ensure that his promotional debut makes the Versus telecast. Here's the full lineup for WEC 41: "Brown vs. Faber 2"
The four main card bouts will air live on the Versus network, beginning at 9:30 p.m. ET on fight night. Check in early and often to MMAmania.com for all your WEC 41 coverage before, during and after the event. |
| Marcus Davis vs. Dan Hardy bad blood boils over during UFC 99 conference call Posted: 02 Jun 2009 01:32 PM PDT
The UFC conducted its UFC 99 conference call this afternoon. Featured on the call were headliners Rich Franklin and Wanderlei Silva, along with featured fighters Marcus Davis and Dan Hardy. And if the fireworks on the call are a precursor of what's to come in the cage, it should a heck of a fight between "The Irish Hand Grenade" and "The Outlaw." In fact, the long-running war-of-words between the two fighters overshadowed the main event. Things started pleasantly enough when Davis fielded a question about why he thinks several fighters — such as Chris Lytle and now Hardy — have expressed interest in fighting him. Davis said that he thinks people look at him as a gatekeeper to the Top 10. In his own words: "At least that's the feedback I get from other people. If you make it past me, you're up there in the Top 10. I'm kind of like that line you gotta cross." Things really heated up when Hardy was asked if he thinks he went too far in hyping the fight by making fun of Davis for his emotional display at UFC 93. The fight card took place on Ireland, a country Davis derives heritage from. Hardy admitted that it was a valid question, but said that he was first approached by fans who wanted to see him fight Davis. Hardy then intentionally poked fun at Davis as an effort to bait him into asking the UFC for the fight. Otherwise, he said, the fight never would have happened.
"Originally the fight was put to me by the fans — the fans were the ones who wanted to see the fight. So I thought it was my responsibility to try to get this fight on. Realistically, it's not a good fight for his career. To be fair, he's way ahead of me. He should be really looking toward a title shot — looking toward getting a couple more wins toward that. To fight a guy who's just went to the UFC and had two fights, I really didn't think he'd end up taking the fight, so I did a few things to try and make sure that that paper was signed." Hardy continued: "I don't care if he walks out in a kilt or whatever. But I knew that poking a bit of fun at him would get a reaction out of him, which is exactly what happened. And then from there it started to get kind of silly. He came on to a couple of different radio stations and TV shows in the U.K. and he was doing all the trash talking. Some of the stuff he was saying — calling me a coward and things like that. How somebody's a coward when they've already signed to fight you, I don't know how that works, but … So I don't really know where you draw the line." From there, things got a little more out of hand. And if you've witnessed any of the Photoshop controversy, you already know what we're talking about. If not, Google "Marcus Davis Photoshop," and you'll get the idea. In a nutshell: Davis accused Hardy of encouraging fans to post Photoshopped pictures of Davis, the majority of which were … how do you put it? Gay-friendly? Hardy denied the connection. Hardy: "I started with trying to get the fight on for myself and for the fans, and Marcus got really upset about it. What more can I say? The Photoshop thing was nothing to do with me, apart from the fact that I just posted the Photograph up there, and the fans did what they wanted with it. I just think any other person would have laughed it off, but Marcus seems to be a bit too sensitive." Asked if he felt Hardy crossed the line, Davis was quick to respond, "Oh, he definitely crossed the line." Davis claimed that he only called Hardy a "coward" after Hardy had instigated the Photoshop attack by encouraging U.K. fans to post pictures of Davis online. But Davis added, "I've always said that I respect Dan Hardy's fighting ability, that I've always said I'm not going to belittle his ability to fight, because he can fight. But I'm not going to respect him as a person, because he's not giving me any respect as a person." Hardy followed up by saying he too respected Davis as a fighter, but that would not matter when they fought because Davis would not beat him. Hardy also denied being the instigator, saying that the Photoshop drama was started by the fans. "Saying that I wanted to get the Photoshop pictures posted everywhere is nonsense. That was emailed to me by a fan, and they said, 'Have you seen this photograph, it's pretty funny.' And all I did was post it and put 'Photoshop, anybody?' with a question mark … " And that's when it snowballed out of control:
Hardy admitted that it was entirely possible that someone else had posted in his name, attempting to get a Photoshop contest started, but was adamant in saying that it was not him. So Hardy asked Davis a question of his own:
Phew, for a minute there I thought we were back in the high school cafeteria. Regardless of the tiff, one thing both fighters could agree on is that neither anticipates this little pre-fight skirmish will have any bearing on their mental states, come fight time. Hardy admitted that Davis is a "tough guy" who comes ready to fight. Davis agreed: "I won't take it into the ring that night and act like a wild man, and I know he won't either. So we'll just go out there and perform the best that we can perform, and that'll be it." The original war of words between these two began soon after Hardy's first round knockout victory over Rory Markham during the UFC 95 event in London, England. During a post-fight press conference for the event, Hardy called into question Davis' penchant for playing up his Irish roots. "He's had a couple of fights in the U.K., and he's kind of building himself a fan base, but he's not English; he's not Irish," said Hardy. "I was born here, and I've been bred here. I don't mind taking on that challenge and showing him this is my home and not his." Davis responded to the comments and stated that he's tired of his tribute to his Irish heritage being constantly called into question. "I'm getting sick and tired of everyone saying I'm a fake Irishman or a fake this and fake that. I never told anybody I was an Irishman. What I am is proud of my heritage, which is Irish, Welsh and Scottish." At this point, every fan should be ready for the UFC's first trip into continental Europe. UFC 99 will emanate from the Lanxess Arena June 13 and will feature former PRIDE middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva taking on former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin. MMAmania.com Features Writer Adam Wagner contributed to this report. |
| Posted: 02 Jun 2009 11:55 AM PDT
Props: YouTube.com Quoteworthy:
Rising like a phoenix from the ashes, Kimbo Slice finds himself not only on season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), but also making a special “from out of nowhere” guest appearance on the first installment of Dana White's WEC video blog. These are the first public comments from Slice on the surprise announcement late last night and perhaps the last we’ll hear from him now that he is sequestered under the veil of secrecy inside the fighter house with 15 others … in a bunk bed (Thanks for boiling that down, Luke). This is not getting any less bizarre. |
| Got Fight? Memoirs (and interview) from a Forrest Griffin book signing Posted: 02 Jun 2009 09:44 AM PDT
Situated next to Pancho Villa Mexican Restaurant, in the quaint Long Island city of Huntington, N.Y., stands the family-owned independent book store, Book Revue. The book store is notorious for hosting celebrity authors … and last night was no exception. The man of the hour was Forrest Griffin, who is launching a 12-day, five-city tour in support of the release of his new book “Got Fight? The 50 Zen Principles of Hand-to-Face Combat.” Forrest had the crowd of nearly 100 slightly starstruck fans in stitches from the opening comment on. As the crowd applauded the former light heavyweight champion quipped, “Calm down, it’s not going to be that good. Take some of those claps back.” Forrest enjoyed himself, and the microphone, too much as he answered audience questions with his normal blend of biting sarcasm, self deprecating humor and down-to-earth personality. The political science major delivered lines like:
In addition to displaying real stand up comic talent, Griffin showed why he is not only a great fighter, but a real person.
“There are two things I want to be able to know when I walk into a fight, or with anything in life. And I’m not Superman, I’m not even that great at fighting. Those two things are: I have done everything in my power to prepare for this and I will not quit, no matter what.” After that, Forrest got back to business by calling out such MMA stalwarts as Bob Costas, Bill O’ Reilly and Bill Maher along with the kid that repeatedly beat him up in high school. For the record, Forrest said he looks forward to another fight with “Rampage.” When asked what he thought about Shogun getting the next title shot, Forrest joked, “Good for him. I would rather fight him than Machida. Maybe the 2005 version of Shogun shows up, does some crazy spin kicks, and wins. We’ll see.” When asked about what Dana White said to him in regard to his upcoming fight with Anderson Silva, and Silva’s last two tepid performances, Forrest delivered. “Dana proposed the fight to me and I said, ‘I am not just going to rush in there, I saw what happened to Chris Leben when he did that. I am going to fight a smart fight. Dana said, ‘even when you fight a smart fight, its a fight. That’s what was said on the topic. Other than that, they wanted a big slow guy to follow Anderson Silva around and make him look good. They’re like Forrest is a big slow guy and he takes a beating well. Seriously though, for 100 G’s, what are you going to say, no? Of course I will fight the guy, it’s only 15 minutes. What’s the worst that could happen? I asked myself that same question when, prior to the audience Q & A, this “journalist” got to go backstage where the true debauchery happens, and talk with the man himself. I got to talk to Forrest about “the devil in the pocket protector,” Machida: the theory squasher, and what the post-MMA version of Forrest will do. Check it out. Brian Oswald (MMAmania.com): Forrest, how are you doing today? Forrest Griffin: Was that question part of the interview? Let me get back to you on that one. Brian Oswald (MMAmania.com): You excited about this book review and talking to all your fans out there? Forrest Griffin: Yeah, I am relatively excited, should be good. Most of these people haven’t read or seen the book yet so it might not be what some of them think it is. Brian Oswald (MMAmania.com): Do you think some of them might take everything you say in the book seriously? Forrest Griffin: I don’t think that is possible. You would have to be born with a gene that doesn’t allow you to recognize sarcasm if you take anything I say seriously. Original thought is hard. I prefer you stick to that. It made me very popular in high school and so I stuck with it. It even seems to be working well now, unfortunately. I am not sure what that says about our society, actually it says nothing good about our society. Brian Oswald (MMAmania.com): Did your sarcasm lead to some of the fights you got into in high school? Forrest Griffin: Not really, but sure. Yeah, that would be a good segue if it had. Brian Oswald (MMAmania.com): In the book you tell the story about “the devil with the pocket protector,” about a 120-pound nerd who yelled at you, “I am ready to die” when defending himself in a fight against your 250-pound football bullies. What that moment instrumental in solidifying your “never-say-die” mentality or did it predate that frontal lobe experience? Forrest Griffin: Coolest story I possess. The mentality is something I probably had for whatever reason, but seeing in effect in that kid was life changing. It is one of my favorite stories in the book, that was such a cool thing for me. It happened about 12 years ago, but that is what it is about man - to see such toughness from someone so small was great. Brian Oswald (MMAmania.com): Another interesting point in your book was when you talked about being a fighter vs. a mixed marital artist. You said fighters actually fight and mixed martial artists would rather talk about fighting. I was curious about your thoughts on that with Machida’s recent success. Forrest Griffin: He kind of blew my theory to shit. I will have to come up with a counter theory to my original theory. You know most of what I say is wrong, and if it is not wrong now, it will be proven wrong later. But I said it so I must have believed it. Screw Machida, he is definitely an outlier. Brian Oswald (MMAmania.com): You have mentioned that the talent in the sport is passing by fighters at a rapid rate. Do you see yourself having a career in comedy, acting or writing more books after your MMA career is done with? Forrest Griffin: I do actually enjoy the process of putting my thoughts down on paper and having people actually read them. That is flattering that people would give up twenty bucks to read what my dumb ass thinks. It is pretty cool and fun to think about stuff a little deeper. As far as future plans: I am going to get old and die. I plan on sitting in a nursing home with all the money I made. Brian Oswald (MMAmania.com): That’s all Ive got for now Forrest. Forrest Griffin: Well that’s good, that’s all I’ve got, too. Lets get out of here. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from UFC blog for UFC news, results, videos, rumors, fights, pics and tickets -- MMAmania.com To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
Inbox too full?  | |
| If you prefer to unsubscribe via postal mail, write to: UFC blog for UFC news, results, videos, rumors, fights, pics and tickets -- MMAmania.com, c/o Google, 20 W Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment