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- UFC Fight Night 19: Phillipe Nover vs Sam Stout booked for Sept. 16 with Kyle Bradley hurt
- UFC 102 videos: Keith Jardine vs Thiago Silva fight talk
- Chuck Liddell: ‘Dancing with the Stars’ introduces the UFC to a new audience
- Wanderlei Silva camp confirms medical procedure for ‘The Axe Murderer’
- ‘Great’ at middleweight: Nate Marquardt gunning for another shot at Anderson Silva
- UFC 105: James Wilks vs Matt Brown in the works for Nov. 14
- Evangelista ‘Cyborg’ Santos knee injury forces him out against Tim Kennedy at Strikeforce Challengers
- M-1 Global Breakthrough: Karl Amoussou vs John Doyle with Nick ‘The Goat’ Thompson hurt
- UFC Quick Quote: Randy ‘Father Time’ Couture hasn’t slowed down … yet
- UFC 103 video promo for ‘Franklin vs Belfort’ in Dallas Sept. 19
| UFC Fight Night 19: Phillipe Nover vs Sam Stout booked for Sept. 16 with Kyle Bradley hurt Posted: 20 Aug 2009 03:22 AM PDT
After Kyle Bradley sustained an undisclosed injury while training, Phillipe Nover (5-2-1) has agreed to step in and replace him against Sam Stout (14-5-1) at UFC Fight Night 19: "Diaz vs. Guillard" from the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., on Wednesday, Sept. 16., according to MMA Fanhouse. Nover has been anxious to prove he still belongs on the UFC roster after a questionable stoppage led to a first round technical knockout loss to Bradley at UFC 98: "Evans vs. Machida" back in May. The 155-pound bout was mired in controversy when it appeared that Nover — The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 8 lightweight finalist — was in trouble after a big slam and subsequent flurry from Bradley. However, replays showed that Nover appeared to be maneuvering for a submission when the referee in charge of the action, Yves Lavigne, stepped in to stop the action. It was the second straight loss for “The Next Anderson Silva,” who came up short against a determined Efrain Escudero in the TUF 8 Finale last December. It’s not getting any easier with an opponent like “Hands of Stone.”
Stout recently broke out of a rare 0-2 slump by outpointing Matt Wiman at UFC 97: “Redemption” back on April 18. The heavy-handed lightweight is probably best known for his two action-packed battles against Spencer “The King” Fisher. UFC Fight Night 19: "Diaz vs. Guillard" will feature a main event between hungry lightweight up-and-comers and former TUF grads Nate Diaz and Melvin "The Young Assassin" Guillard. In addition, Roger "El Matador" Huerta will throwdown for perhaps the last time inside the Octagon as he tries to leave on a high note against the stifling super-wrestler Gray "The Bully" Maynard. To check out the latest UFC Fight Night 19 fight card click here. |
| UFC 102 videos: Keith Jardine vs Thiago Silva fight talk Posted: 19 Aug 2009 07:13 PM PDT Note: You may have to click the audio button on the video player to hear the sound. Listen to Thiago Silva’s side of the story after the jump:
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| Chuck Liddell: ‘Dancing with the Stars’ introduces the UFC to a new audience Posted: 19 Aug 2009 05:08 PM PDT
Props: SportsRadioInterviews.com Quoteworthy:
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell looks forward to hot-stepping his way into America’’s living rooms on the upcoming season of “Dancing with the Stars” on ABC. The hit show will debut on September 21 and find out just how much “The Iceman’s” footwork has improved since his last stint inside the Octagon — but will you tune in to watch? To hear more from Liddell on his new endeavor check out his interview with ESPN after the jump:
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| Wanderlei Silva camp confirms medical procedure for ‘The Axe Murderer’ Posted: 19 Aug 2009 03:43 PM PDT
MMAmania.com (www.mmamania.com) has been able to confirm with sources inside the Wanderlei Silva camp that “The Axe Murderer” has recently undergone a medical procedure. Silva is expected to make an announcement on his official Web site (www.wandfightteam.com) in the next few days to further discuss the procedure and reveal a timetable for his Octagon return. Rumors began to circulate earlier this week after Michael Bisping posted an entry on his official blog stating that a potential fight against the Brazilian at UFC 105 was now off the table as a result of facial surgery. From “The Count:”
Silva has over 40 professional fights since his debut in 1996 and countless others in smaller and undocumented promotions. Wandy is notorious for his crowd-pleasing wars but over time the physical abuse had obviously taken its toll. And anyone familiar with Silva’s training style can tell you it’s just as intense and abusive as actually competing. Stay tuned for more information and a health update on the former PRIDE champion as it becomes available in the next few days. |
| ‘Great’ at middleweight: Nate Marquardt gunning for another shot at Anderson Silva Posted: 19 Aug 2009 03:09 PM PDT
It's no secret that UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva is running out of worthy opponents. His last two title defenses were widely criticized for being lackluster — due in large part to the quality of his opponents — and he's moved up in weight twice looking for competition and exciting fights. He recently found it in an absolute clowning of former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin at UFC 101. His dominating performance begs the question: Who at middleweight could possibly give this man a fight? The answer just might lie in a few of those he's already dispatched. Former PRIDE FC champion Dan Henderson, who was submitted by Silva in the second round at UFC 82, is "probably" next in line for a title shot, according to UFC president Dana White. And in less than two weeks at UFC 102, two more middleweights will go head to head in an effort to stake their own claim on the #1 contender spot: Brazilian jiu-jitsu wizard Demian Maia and 7-time King of Pancrase Nate Marquardt. Marquardt, who succumbed to a first round TKOing via Silva at UFC 73 just over two years ago, recently talked about his climb back up the 185 pound ladder as the featured guest on MMAmania.com's exclusive presentation of Pro MMA Radio . At 28-8-2, Marquardt has stitched together a 7-2 record in the UFC, earning victories over notable fighters such as Martin Kampmann, Jeremy Horn and Wilson Gouveia. Aside from the title bout loss to Silva, his only other Octagon defeat was a split decision loss to Thales Leites at UFC 85, which many — including Marquardt — don't consider an actual loss, considering he was docked two points during the fight, only one of which, arguably, was deserved.
The fact that Leites was able to parlay that victory into an eventual title shot says more about how Silva has cleared out the UFC's middleweight division than it does about Leites as a true title contender — which was prevalent in Silva's five-round snoozefest unanimous decision victory over the Brazilian at UFC 97. "When (Silva) fought (Patrick) Cote, I thought that he held back," Marquardt said of the champion, "(But) when he fought Leites, he was fighting very smart, and every time he would try to go forward and attack Leites, Leites would try to pull him into the guard. That was Leites' game. Anderson didn't want to be on the ground with him, so I didn't really blame him for the action in that fight." While Marquardt feels that Leites should have attacked the champion more, he concedes that it largely doesn't matter, as Silva silenced the critics in his next fight at UFC 101, when he more than made up for a lackluster title defense. It was during that fight against Griffin that Marquardt could see real improvements in Silva's game since they last fought — especially in his boxing. But Marquardt also faults Griffin, who he feels played right into the champion's hand with a "really poor strategy" that saw him charge the champion more than once, similar to what we saw in Silva's Octagon debut against Chris Leben. "Forrest had a horrible game plan going in," Marquardt said. "And I think a lot of it was the outside pressure to make the fight exciting or whatever. Forrest just rushed in and got caught initially, and he did it a second time and got knocked out." Despite Silva's history of making good fighters look bad, Marquardt is confident he can overcome that challenge, stating, "Anderson's a very experienced fighter, but so am I and so is Dan. Me personally, I have a lot of tools to beat the things that he does. He definitely tries to get you to fight his game, but so does everyone else. That's what you try to do when you fight, is to try to get them to fight your fight." Much of that confidence comes from Marquardt's belief that he's a new and improved fighter compared to when he last fought the champion two years ago. And you can see it in the way that he finishes his opponents. Before the Silva fight, Marquardt earned four wins inside the Octagon — three by decision. Since the Silva fight, all three of his victories have come by way of stoppage (two via TKO, one via submission). "The way I fought him," Marquardt says of his UFC 73 loss to the champ, "I didn't go out and fight to win. I just went out and fought to not lose, basically. Now I'm going for knockouts and the submission, and I think that's definitely what you're going to see in my next fight against Maia and in every fight from here on out." He's also confident he'll get his chance to prove it, because he doubts highly that Dan Henderson will steal Silva's belt. "Dan's standup game is pretty one dimensional," said Marquardt, "I mean he's a great fighter and he has a lot of power in his punches, but Anderson is going to be able to deal with that, and he has a lot more tools on the feet. I don't think Henderson has enough tools to finish on the ground." But first, Marquardt needs to get past Demian Maia, who many consider also to be a one-dimensional fighter — only that one dimension is quite possibly the sickest jiu-jitsu we've seen inside the Octagon. His five fights with the UFC have all ended with a choked out opponent. Does this mean Marquardt plans to avoid going to the ground with the Brazilian? Far from it. "I respect everyone that I fight, and I look at their strengths and weaknesses," Marquardt said about how he has prepared for his UFC 102 showdown. "There's no area that I won't engage Demian or any other fighter. I train with the best, and I've fought the best, and I know I can hang with anyone on the feet, in the takedowns, on the ground, in whatever position we're at." Some of "the best" that Marquardt has trained with at Jackson's Submission Fighting to prepare him for this fight include former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans, fellow middleweight Joey Villasenor, UFC heavyweight contender Shane Carwin, and light heavyweights Keith Jardine and Elliot Marshall. And let's not forget the reigning UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, who Marquardt credits with having the best wrestling in the UFC, which rubs off on every one of his teammates and makes them into better fighters. It's those teammates that Marquardt seems to value above all else, having gone so far in the past as to refer to MMA as a team sport. He learned the importance of teammates during his days fighting in Japan between late 1999 through mid-2005. While other foreign fighters would train in Japan off and on leading up to their fights, Marquardt would stay and live in Japan for months at a time. There he learned how to eat right and how to rest appropriately, which influenced the fighter that he is today. In fact, his coach, Greg Jackson, credits those experiences with helping Marquardt earn his reputation as being unflappable leading up to a fight. Another thing Marquardt picked up while overseas: Training partners who fight one another don't train very well together for fear of giving away their secrets. In Japan, Marquardt experienced both worlds, training at gyms where fighters training together would refuse to fight one another — such as at the GRABAKA gym in Nakano, Japan, where he received his best training — as well as at the Pancrase dojo, where training partners did in fact fight one another. "It just wasn't as good of training," Marquardt said of the Pancrase dojo. "The technique level was a lot lower. And that was because they were not helping each other, because they were fighting each other." "You know my stance, I don't fight my teammates," Marquardt said. "I understand (the UFC's) viewpoint, but they can't make guys fight teammates. They can't force us to do that." But immediately, Marquardt concedes, money could always be a deal breaker: "If it's a situation where two guys are going to make enough money … that both of them can retire, who knows in that situation? But I don't see it happening for a while, so I'm not too concerned about it." For more on “The Great” check out the complete interview here. |
| UFC 105: James Wilks vs Matt Brown in the works for Nov. 14 Posted: 19 Aug 2009 03:08 PM PDT
The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 9 170-pound champion James Wilks (6-2) is in talks to fight red-hot welterweight Matt Brown (10-7) at UFC 105 from the Manchester Evening News (MEN) Arena in Manchester, England, on November 14. Wilks disposed of DaMarques Johnson to win the June 20 TUF Finale on a night that was also supposed to see Matt Brown fight Anthony Johnson before "Rumble" injured his knee in training and was forced to withdraw. "Lighting" ran through Che Mills and a double shot of Frank Lester as a member of Team UK but really got people talking with his complete domination of Johnson to win the show. His road to the upper echelon of 170-pound fighters continues with the surging Matt Brown. "The Immortal" competed on TUF 7 before being eliminated from the show by eventual tournament winner Amir Sadollah via triangle choke in the semifinals. He bounced back to defeat Matt Arroyo via technical knockout at the TUF 7 Finale in June. After a close split decision loss to Korean import Dong Hyun "Stun Gun" Kim at UFC 88 in September 2008, Brown rattled off two impressive stoppages, submitting Ryan Thomas via armbar at UFC 91 and pounding Pete Sell into dust at UFC 96. Don't expect much downtime in this one. Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more information on this developing fight card that is expected to feature hometown favorite Michael "The Count" Bisping against an opponent to be named. |
| Posted: 19 Aug 2009 11:52 AM PDT
Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos recently sustained a knee injury in training that will force him out of his main event bout against Tim Kennedy, which was scheduled for the next Strikeforce Challengers event at the SpiritBank Event Center in Tulsa, Okla., on Sept. 25. Strikeforce Director of Communications, Mike Afromowitz, today confirmed the bad news, indicating that the search was on to find a suitable opponent to face the Army veteran in Santos' place. In his most recent appearance, Kennedy delivered a dominant performance, stopping Nick "The Goat” Thompson via second round technical knockout back in June. It was his second consecutive win since losing to Jason Miller via unanimous decision at HDNet Fights: "Reckless Abandon" in Dec. 2007. Again, it's unclear at this time who may step up; however, Kennedy feels that there are options … several of them. Here's a snip:
Strikeforce Challengers is a proving ground for up-and-coming MMA fighters. The series is designed to provide today's top prospects with the opportunity to step-up their level of competition and demonstrate their ability in a nationally televised event. This event is slated to begin on Showtime at 11 p.m. ET (tape delayed on the west coast) on fight night. Stay dialed-in to MMAmania.com for more on Strikeforce Challengers and this developing story. |
| M-1 Global Breakthrough: Karl Amoussou vs John Doyle with Nick ‘The Goat’ Thompson hurt Posted: 19 Aug 2009 10:27 AM PDT Amsterdam, Holland — Another significant change has been made to next Friday’s “HDNET FIGHTS PRESENTS M-1 GLOBAL BREAKTHROUGH” telecast (live at 10 p.m. ET), with “The Iron Bull” John Doyle stepping in to fight Karl Amoussou on Aug. 28 in Kansas City at the historic Memorial Hall following an injury to Nick Thompson. “Nick was sparring very hard on Monday and sustained a cut,” said M-1 Global (www.M-1Global.com) Vice President of Live Events Joe Kelly. “Nick alerted us immediately, and like a true fighter he had the cut glued instead of immediately getting stitches. He did everything in his power not to pull out of this fight and kept us informed all day. However, in the end, his doctor wouldn’t clear him to fight. It’s unfortunate but fighter safety always comes first.” With Thompson out, Doyle will be allowed to continue his resurgence. Once a top light heavyweight prospect who began his career with a 6-1 record and a Combat in the Cage 205 lbs. title, Doyle had been heavily recruited by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. However, Doyle began to believe his own hype and cut back on his training while accepting short-notice fights against top competitors such Rafael Feijao, Sean Salmon, Ricardo Romero. “People will point to John’s recent record, but the reality is that not many people were willing to fight Karl on two months notice,” said Kelly. “Finding a guy on two weeks notice? Well, we know John Doyle is a true warrior and has never backed down from a challenge. True to form, John has stepped up yet again. He earned his nickname for a reason and what a lot of people don’t realize, John is a much better fighter than he was when he fought Feijao.”
After a brief retirement, Doyle is back and is 2-1 in his last three fights. His only loss came in his M-1 debut this past June in Kansas City. Facing Extreme Challenge middleweight champion Ryan Sturdy, Doyle lost a two-round split decision that some considered to be controversial. “John took the fight on 24 hours notice,” Kelly began. “He flew out from Philadelphia on Friday morning, weighed in during the afternoon, and then fought that same night. Despite all of that, John still won ‘Fight of the Night’ honors. And while the fight is listed as a loss, I don’t know many people who felt Doyle lost that fight. At the very least it should have went to a third overtime round.” Doyle’s last fight took place this past Sunday in Holland against Team Benelux’s Richard Plug. Representing USA East in the M-1 Challenge, Doyle helped the team qualify for the playoffs with a dominant two round victory over Plug. With momentum on his side again, there are questions whether Doyle’s decision to take on a fighter in Amoussou that was voted the number one European MMA prospect by Sherdog.com is a prudent one. “In the past, I’ve made some bad decisions,” Doyle acknowledged. “I accepted offers without asking questions because I simply enjoy fighting. I took fights on short notice without having trained but this is a different situation. This time I had my management and trainers talk about this fight and whether it was the right decision. In the end, we all decided that I have nothing to lose and everything to gain.” Doyle received national attention in 2008 following a first round knockout loss to Anderson Silva protege Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante. Offered a chance to compete for EliteXC during its Internet telecast, he took the fight on 10 days notice without having had a proper training camp. Could history be repeating itself? “This isn’t the same situation as Feijao,” Doyle responded. “That fight was at light heavyweight and now I am at middleweight — the weight I should have been fighting at from the start. I also took that fight on 10-days notice and barely trained. But I am in great shape and at the end of the day, while Karl is very good and has a bright future ahead of him, he’s not Feijao.” Doyle is well aware of Amoussou’s reputation as a feared striker but feels his career is back on track and that the chance to compete in a nationally televised bout on HDNet was too good to pass up. “Hey, I know M-1 probably sees me as nothing more than an opponent for Karl,” said Doyle. “I know they want him to be their franchise player. But it’s all good because if I pull of this upset, M-1 and I can still sit down on Saturday morning and we can talk about my future.” Amoussou has been well-promoted in Europe and is an opponent that very few fighters have been willing to take on during the last 12 months. Having earned the nickname “Psycho” for his intimidating presence that often includes wearing masks to the ring, Amoussou has been known to psyche out some of his opponents before the fight even starts. “I think Karl is an entertaining fighter and a dangerous striker,” said Doyle. “I know he’s a threat. But I’m a threat to him as well. As far as his attempts at psychological warfare, I think it looks great to the fans but it will have no effect on me. I know he’s going to mean mug me at the weigh-ins and try and stare me down before the bell rings. But what he needs to understand is that I spent a lot of time growing up in Philly and Newark — two of the most dangerous towns in America. The only way I am going to be intimidated by his mask is if he brings a gun with him to the ring as well. But unless the Kansas Boxing Commission has made drastic changes to their rules since the last time I fought there, I don’t think I am going to have to worry about that.” While some fans will be disappointed to hear the news that the night’s co-main event between Amoussou and Thompson is off, Doyle seemed unconcerned about any negative feedback that might be directed his way. “I don’t care about the haters,” he remarked, “I spent a lot of time in Philly and Rocky Balboa has a lot of sentimental meaning to me. Apollo Creed gave Rocky an opportunity of a lifetime. After I beat Richard Plug, I did a post-fight interview and said I wanted to be the best middleweight in M-1 and fight whomever they felt was their best 185′er. Well, M-1 has now given me an opportunity of a lifetime. If someone has a problem with me accepting an opportunity, they can tune into HDNet on Friday, August 28, and I’ll show them what’s up.” In addition to the live U.S. television debut of Amoussou, “Breakthrough” will also feature the U.S. debut of former NCAA champion “King” Mo Lawal vs. MMA pioneer Mark Kerr as well as a special exhibition sparring match between former PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko and newly-crowned Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi. For additional information on the card, visit M-1Global.com and HDNetFights.com. |
| UFC Quick Quote: Randy ‘Father Time’ Couture hasn’t slowed down … yet Posted: 19 Aug 2009 09:49 AM PDT
– Former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Randy Couture, 46, tells the Canadian Press that he’s not even thinking about retirement at this point because his body is still able to do the things he wants it to do. “The Natural” is set to headline UFC 102 near his hometown in Portland, Ore., against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira on Aug. 28. Couture is coming off a technical knockout loss to the much stronger, younger and larger Brock Lesnar, but was performing well before getting stopped. Can Couture still hang with the best in the sport such as Nogueria — and even Lyoto Machida (a fight he says is interesting) — or is it time for the Hall of Famer to hang up the gloves again once and for all? The results from next Saturday night will likely help answer that question, but for now let’s hear what y’all have to say about Couture’s future. |
| UFC 103 video promo for ‘Franklin vs Belfort’ in Dallas Sept. 19 Posted: 19 Aug 2009 09:29 AM PDT |
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