Saturday, August 22, 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


UFC 105: Michael Bisping vs Denis Kang in the works for Nov. 14

Posted: 21 Aug 2009 12:51 PM PDT

Michael Bisping (17-2) will return to the Octagon for the first time since his devastating knockout loss to fellow Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 9 coach Dan Henderson as he looks to take out his frustrations on Denis Kang (32-11-1) at UFC 105 from the Manchester Evening News (MEN) Arena in Manchester, England, on Nov. 14, according to Fighter’s Only.

“The Count” had been flirting with a fight against the one and only Wanderlei Silva in hopes of re-establishing himself as a top contender in the UFC’s crowded middleweight division; however, “The Axe Murderer” abruptly eliminated any chance of that bout materializing after going under the knife for a “medical procedure” earlier this month.

Bisping was riding high since winning it all at the TUF 3 Finale in June 2006. Despite a close split-decision loss to Rashad Evans at UFC 78, the former Cage Rage light heavyweight champion racked up an impressive 7-1 record under the Zuffa umbrella.

A title shot with current 185-pound deity Anderson Silva seemed inevitable, pending a victory over MMA veteran Dan Henderson at UFC 100 back on July 11. “Hendo” sent the Brit to the back of the line with a bone crunching knockout.

The Wolfslair product quickly demanded to face a "top fighter" in the wake of his defeat and while Silva is currently in the shop for repairs, a more-than-willing Denis Kang has stepped up to answer the call.

Kang — who enjoyed success primarily in Japan and Korea fighting in the Pride FC and Spirit MC organizations — stumbled in his Octagon debut back at UFC 93 earlier this year.

Despite taking Alan Belcher to school in their middleweight showdown, Kang got sloppy and found himself tapping out to a textbook guillotine choke toward the end of the second frame.

He managed to rebound by outpointing promotional newcomer Xavier-Foupas Pokam at UFC 97 back on April 18. It was a less than scintillating affair but a result that hardly matters with Bisping looming on the horizon.

Considering the exposure for each fighter, a win could quickly re-insert them into contender status whereas a loss may spell the end of any title aspirations for the foreseeable future.

UFC 105 will be the first show held at the MEN Arena since UFC 70: "Nations Collide," which featured one of the sport's biggest upsets when Gabriel Gonzaga defeated Mirko Filipovic via crushing head kick.

Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more information on this developing fight card as it becomes available.

‘Truth’ or consequences: An MMAmania.com UFC 102 interview exclusive with Brandon Vera

Posted: 21 Aug 2009 12:13 PM PDT

On Saturday, Aug. 29, Brandon “The Truth” Vera (10-3) — a once promising undefeated heavyweight Muay Thai specialist — will make his fourth professional start as a 205-pound light heavyweight when he squares off against Krzysztof Soszynski (18-8-1), a semifinalist on season eight of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF).

“The Polish Experiment” replaced an injured Matt Hamill, Vera’s original opponent, however “The Truth” has no plans to overlook the dangerous Team Quest product. It all goes down at UFC 102: “Couture vs. Nogueira” airing live on pay-per-view (PPV) from the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon.

After contract issues kept him on the sidelines from November 2006 to October 2007, Vera’s long-awaited return to the heavyweight division did not go as planned. He injured his hand in a loss to Tim Sylvia and came up on the short end of a questionable referee stoppage against Fabricio Werdum.

Shortly thereafter, Vera made the decision to try his luck in the stacked 205-pound division. A tough weight cut left Vera drained and led to an unimpressive showing in his win over Reese Andy at Ultimate Fight Night 14: “Silva vs. Irvin.”

Things didn’t get any better with a razor-thin split decision loss to one of the division’s top contenders in Keith Jardine just three months later at UFC 89: “Bisping vs. Leben” — a loss he credits for making him the fighter he is today and one he thinks is far superior to any Brandon Vera UFC fans have seen.

A dominating undercard victory over Mike Patt back in March at UFC 96: “Jackson vs. Jardine” — which he won by absolutely destroying Patt’s legs with low kicks — now has fans buzzing about the potential of a focused Brandon Vera in the light heavyweight division.

We recently got the opportunity to catch up “The Truth” to talk about his upcoming fight, potential showdowns in both the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions, his recent string of bad luck and much, much more.

Check it out:

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Let’s start off talking a little bit about the move to light heavyweight. Tell us about some of the differences in training - weight cutting, stamina, etc. - now compared to last year when you first made the move to 205 pounds.

Brandon Vera: Oh man, all of it’s changed, I guess would be the easiest answer for all of that. My training is a lot more serious. My eating habits are a lot more serious. I treat this as a business now. It isn’t a hobby anymore. I don’t play around in the gym anymore. I don’t try to laugh and giggle and have a good time until after we’re done training.

So a lot has changed since I dropped down to 205 after my first fight. I’m not even going to say after my first fight. After my Jardine fight everything started changing.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): So do you feel like you belong in the light heavyweight division?

Brandon Vera: I don’t belong in any weight class. I figure I want to fight everybody. If I can move back up to heavyweight, I will. If I have to stay at 205, I will. Man, I want to fight the guys with the biggest mouths in the end that think they’re the best. I’m game for whatever.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Well, you had a lot of success as a heavyweight as well. You dominated Frank Mir, who went on to claim the interim title. You looked fantastic against Tim Sylvia - another former champion - before getting hurt in that fight.

But some of these guys that are sort of taking over the heavyweight division now, like the Brock Lesnars and the Shane Carwins, are kind of winning with their size. Those would have to be difficult matchups for a smaller heavyweight like yourself to deal with. Is that part of the reason you made the move down a weight class, or is there still a chance you would like to move back up and maybe fight some guys like that?

Brandon Vera: Hell yes! Hell no and hell yes! (Laughs) Let’s put it like this, I beat Frank Mir in 69 seconds and Brock couldn’t beat Frank until the second round.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Tell us how your training is coming along for your UFC 102 fight with Krzysztof Soszynski. Where did you train? How long was your camp? Sparring partners, etc.?

Brandon Vera: I trained here at Alliance Training Center in Chula Vista. It’s my gym. It’s a 15,000 square foot facility. Man, the training partners, the list is ridiculous, man. There’s Travis Brown, Mark Munoz, Phil Davis, Shane Del Rosario, Aaron Beach, Dominick Cruz, Junior Dos Santos, Rodrigo Nogueira. There were some other national champ wrestlers that came in and beat my ass. The list goes on and on.

It’s a ridiculous list. Then Lloyd (Irvin) flew in from the east coast to here. Then he flew in about six or seven guys, and they got to whooping my ass too. The camp is about 10 weeks long. About eight to 10 weeks long.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Training that long and hard for a fight, how does it affect your physical and mental preparation getting your opponent switched up on you halfway through?

Brandon Vera: It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter at all. I don’t give a damn who it was. Everyone was like, “Oh Matt (Hamill) is out.” I was like, “Okay, fuck him, he’s out. Just let me know who the replacement is.” They’re like, “You don’t care?” I’m like, “I don’t give a shit. Whoever they put in front of me, my job is to whoop his ass regardless. I don’t give a damn who he is.”

So I was like, “Just let me know when you have a name.” I think it was like … four or five days later that it was confirmed Krzysztof (is who) we were fighting.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Being a guy who prefers to keep fights standing. How do you incorporate all those sparring partners you mentioned earlier into helping you prepare for a guy like Hamill or Krzysztof who might want to take you down and sort of pin you on your back for 15 minutes?

Brandon Vera: I had some great standup partners, and then I had some ridiculous-ass wrestlers, and then I had Rodrigo Nogueira on top of me. It can’t get no better than that.

I got wrestlers taking me down, trying to take me down, and then I had Rodrigo on top of me, and then the wrestlers trying to control me on top and on bottom. So we prepared for it just like any other MMA fight.

It’s going to be an MMA fight. We can end up on the feet, we can end up on the ground. If you’re not ready for whatever situation, you’re going to get your ass whooped, so we tried to mimic the fight as much as we could.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Is there a difference in comfort level fighting guys like that as a light heavyweight as opposed to a heavyweight? Meaning, is there a difference in speed or strength for you in this division as opposed to the heavyweight division?

Brandon Vera: I never thought about that. I never really thought about that. I just always wanted to be as strong as the guy that I was fighting and faster than everybody I was fighting. Those are two goals that I always tried to keep in line with.

You mentioned Shane Carwin and Brock Lesnar. Would I be as strong as those guys? Hell no. But would I be faster? Hell yes. So I never really thought about that. I never thought about that at all. I’m still faster. I’m still faster than, I’ll say, maybe 95% of the 205 pound division. Stronger? I’m probably stronger than 80% of the guys, and the other guys I’m just as strong as.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Which category does Krzysztof Soszynski fall into in that 80/20 split for strength differences?

Brandon Vera: I don’t know. He’s a big bastard. We’ll see when we lock up.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Tell us some of the differences you see in him as opposed to Hamill.

Brandon Vera: Nothing except for the fact that he’s a southpaw. Standup? He has standup. Is it good? No, I’m sorry. Is it technically good? No. Will that bastard swing? Yes. Will he swing with all his might? Yes. Is his wrestling good? It’s better than average.

He’s just like Matt Hamill. The only difference between those two guys is that he’s a southpaw. Almost the same fight, just opposite stance.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Which do you feel you match up better with?

Brandon Vera: I don’t know, I think I’m better than everybody.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Ok, well let me ask you this. As far as the advancement of your career, which fight do you think is a better match up for you?

Brandon Vera: I think Hamill would have been the better match up. I think he’s known more, you know what I mean? But you can’t sleep on Krzysztof Soszynski. If you sleep on him, you’re going to end up getting put to sleep. So I have to take him just as serious as any other fight.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Let’s talk about a couple of these tough losses you’ve taken over the last couple of years. There was the questionable stoppage with Werdum and then there was the close decision with Jardine. Can you tell us how you felt about the outcome of those two fights? Did you think the Werdum stoppage was early? And was the Jardine decision fair?

Brandon Vera: The Jardine decision, I thought I did more damage that fight, but he was busier. So I can’t really argue. It was my fault. It went to a judges’ decision, you know? If you let it go to the judges it’s your fault, regardless.

Werdum, hell yeah, I still think it was an early stoppage. But it was cool man. I talked to (referee Dan) Miragliotta later on down the road. It was cool.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): What did Miragliotta have to say for himself?

Brandon Vera: That’s between me and Miragliotta, but it was cool.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Talk about how those two losses may have helped to motivate you or mold you into a better fighter.

Brandon Vera: The Werdum fight didn’t help for shit. But the Jardine loss made me start realizing that I needed to get to work and start doing more.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Is that a fight you’d like to have again?

Brandon Vera: Jardine? Yeah, that’d be a fun ass fight. That motherfucker is tough. Rampage, even Rampage kept punching that motherfucker, and he kept getting back up (laughs).

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Can you give us some details on this home invasion that happened with you recently?

Brandon Vera: It is what it is. It happened. They kicked through. They didn’t get nothing. And they almost got caught, and that’s it. They didn’t get nothing, and we almost caught their ass, so it turned out for the best. Nobody got hurt. Everybody went home. Everybody was safe. That’s all you can ask for.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): How’s your wife (Kerry Vera) coming along as a fighter? I know she had her debut for Bellator a couple months ago. Do you get excited or nervous? What’s it like?

Brandon Vera: All of the above, just like you said. She trains a lot. She’s a student, she trains and takes classes. She’s all about the sport. All she wants to do is just get better. So it’s impressive watching her train and watching her grow as a fighter. It’s cool.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Let’s talk about the champion in your division, Lyoto Machida. A lot of guys have had trouble figuring out his style. Do you see any holes in his game that maybe you could capitalize on?

Brandon Vera: I see holes, but I don’t know if I could exploit them because I haven’t sparred with anybody that fights Lyoto’s style. Lyoto’s fast and accurate, and he punches hard and he’s awkward all at the same time. I haven’t trained for his style yet, but I think I would match up well with him.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Do you think you could be the one to beat him and how do you think that fight would play out?

Brandon Vera: Of course! Somebody would be going to sleep, him or me. It wouldn’t be a ground fight.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): So if you think somebody would be going to sleep, that means you feel like you could knock him out?

Brandon Vera: If I can touch him, yeah. If I can touch him. That’s the big unknown about Lyoto: can he take a punch, because you can’t hit that son of a bitch.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): What are your thoughts on his style?

Brandon Vera: At first I didn’t like his style, until he knocked out his last two guys (laughs). Now I love it. I think he’s awesome as shit. He used to just run around and point everybody to death, but his last two fights he’s put people to sleep. You got to love it now.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): I’m not positive, but I think I remember hearing that you were offered a fight with him in your 205 pound debut. What are some of the reasons why you didn’t feel like that was the right matchup for you at the time?

Brandon Vera: Yeah, I confirmed it somewhere else before. Yeah, that was true. I turned it down. They wanted me to fight Lyoto Machida with two weeks notice. I was like, you guys are fucking tripping. I got to cut weight and think about this fast bastard? No thanks, I’ll pass on this one.

Would I turn the fight down now? Hell no. That was my first fight at 205 and I still bullshitted. I still didn’t know how it was to train like a professional fighter and be an MMA guy.

Now I’ve moved forward and I’ve progressed into my career, and I understand that this is what I do. This is my job. This is how I put food on the table. So, I treat this now as such. It doesn’t matter what day or what week or what month of the year, I’m down to fight. I’ll be in shape no matter what.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): So your last few opponents, Mike Patt, Keith Jardine and now Hamill and Soszynski, those were the first ones offered up to you by the UFC?

Brandon Vera: Yep. Yes sir.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Let’s say everything goes perfectly for you in Portland and you walk away with a first round knockout victory. How far off are you from a title shot in a crowded 205 pound division?

Brandon Vera: I don’t know. I haven’t had an answer for that question. Everybody keeps asking me that question. Honestly I can’t give you an answer without it being bullshit because there’s so many good guys in the 205 pound division.

I know it’s the … it’s the … how do you say this politically correct? It’s the worst answer that any fighter can give, “Oh I’m in the UFC, I’ll just do whatever they want.”

Honestly right now, the 205 pound division is so stacked … any fight could potentially be a championship fight. So, I don’t know. I honestly don’t know.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): What if they offered you a fight with a guy like Anderson Silva, who has said he’s not really interested in fighting for the light heavyweight title?

Brandon Vera: (Laughs) Oh man, that’s the go-to question for everybody. If they offered me a fight with Anderson Silva I would for sure accept. But not out of disrespect. Anderson Silva is one of my fucking favorite fighters.

Would I deserve, would I think I deserve to fight Anderson Silva right now? No. Especially from a fan and statistics point of view, I don’t deserve a fight with Anderson Silva.

But man, if you give me a chance to fight Anderson Silva, come on, man, are you kidding me? He’s one of the best guys in the world. If you want to find out what you are as a fighter, yeah you got to fight that mother, see what happens.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): I also wanted to ask you about the “fighting friends” topic, which is kind of a big story in your division right now with Silva and Machida saying they would never fight each other, and then you got the UFC brass kind of taking their own stance, sort of saying, “You’re going to fight who we tell you to fight.” What’s your stance on that issue?

Brandon Vera: Let’s put it like this: If they pay enough, I won’t refuse to fight anybody. I’ll train with the person I’m going to go fight up until the week of the fight. Then we’ll fight and put on a good ass show.

If they’re offering you enough money, I think you should be able to go ahead and fight that guy. You’re doing him an injustice too. What if they offer you two million dollars each? You going to say no? Shit, I don’t know where you’re from (laughs), but two million dollars buys a lot of stuff where I’m from. I’m in.

I mean, friends is friends. We’ll go hang out right after, you know what I mean? Shit, I’ll even stitch you up. If you knock me out, hey, you better stitch me up. I don’t have any qualms about fighting friends. As long as we’re compensated well for it. So, if the money’s right, I’ll stand with the brass (laughs). Let’s make sure we add that in (laughs).

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): I know you had some issues contractually with the UFC in the past. What’s your relationship with the promotion now? Are you happy how you’re being treated personally and professionally?

Brandon Vera: I like the UFC, you know? They’re the fucking boss. If you don’t perform, you know, it’s just like any boss. That’s the boss and I’m the employee. I’m going to do my job and I’m going to do my job well or there’s consequences. They’ve treated me well. I really can’t complain.

The contractual problems that we had weren’t between the UFC and I. It was between my ex-manager and the UFC. A lot of static there, but other than that, I’ve never had a problem with the UFC or Dana (White) or Joe (Silva) or anybody.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): What’s your current contract status? How many fights do you have remaining, that sort of thing?

Brandon Vera: You know what, I was thinking about that the other day and I honestly don’t know. I’m going to have to call my management group and find out. I don’t know. I don’t know how many fights I have left. I don’t know (laughs). I don’t know if I have two left or three left on this contract, I’m not sure.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): And you’re obviously looking to re-sign when your contract is up, correct?

Brandon Vera: Yeah, hell yeah. There’s too many good guys, man. There’s too many good guys to fight.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Your last fight was on the undercard of UFC 96. It was actually one of the first couple of fights to go off. Tell us a little bit about the emotional roller coaster of going from co-headlining major event (at UFC 89: “Bisping vs. Leben”) to sort of taking a backseat on the undercard, to now returning to the main card for this fight.

Brandon Vera: Am I on the main card on this one?

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): As far as I know (laughs).

Brandon Vera: Oh, I don’t know. People ask me that question too. I don’t know. I don’t think about that stuff. The only person I’m thinking about is that motherfucker across from me. I don’t care if I’m the first fight of the night or the last.

Everybody’s like, “Oh, but you’re not on TV.” I’m like, “Don’t worry, if I knock this motherfucker out, they’ll put me on TV. If I punish this guy, they’re going to put me on TV.” I really don’t worry about that kind of stuff. I never ever worried about that.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): So you don’t feel like there’s more pressure on you to put on a better show when you’re on TV or on the undercard trying to make the broadcast?

Brandon Vera: No. That’s on me. I’m not worried about anybody else. I’m worried about me. When I walk out of the Octagon, I want to make sure that I did a good job.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Do you want to make a prediction for this fight?

Brandon Vera: No way (laughs). Hell no. The people that make the predictions are the ones that get knocked out, son (laughs). Oh man, go back to all the records. “Oh, I’m going to knock him out in the first round, or oh, I’m going to knock him out in the second round.” Okay, whatever round they called it, that’s the round they went to sleep in (laughs).

It’s going to be a good ass fight. Krzysztof is going to have a hard time walking the next day. Let’s just leave it at that and call it a day.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Cool man. Well I think that’s about all I have for you, Brandon. Do you want to say anything to your fans or thank any sponsors before you get out of here?

Brandon Vera: Man, I want to thank Randy Hetrick from TRX and all of my training partners. I want to thank Doug from Fitness Quest 10. I want to thank all my coaches, Billy, Eric and Lloyd. And I want to thank my wife for keeping me together during camp.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Brandon, thank you so much and good luck to you in Portland.

Brandon Vera: For sure, James. I appreciate it man, have a good day, bud.

UFC 103: Jim Miller vs Steve Lopez in the works for Sept. 19 with Thiago Tavares hurt

Posted: 21 Aug 2009 12:12 PM PDT

Jim Miller (14-2) will lock horns with Octagon newcomer Steve Lopez (12-1) in a lightweight showdown at UFC 103: “Franklin vs. Belfort” from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on Sept. 19.

MMAmania.com confirmed the change earlier today — Miller’s original opponent, Thiago Tavares, injured his knee in training and was forced to withdraw from the event.

Miller is fresh off a unanimous decision win over Mac Danzig at UFC 100 on July 11, during which he leveraged his strong wrestling skills and ground and pound to beat the California native to a bloody pulp.

It was the fourth fight for the New Jersey product inside the Octagon and his third win. A unanimous decision loss to the streaking Gray Maynard at UFC 96 back on March 7 is the only blip during that span. His other wins include Matt Wiman and David Baron.

Lopez has been tearing it up on the local circuit, winning an impressive twelve out of thirteen fights, including a stunning submission win over “The Gooch” in the Michiana Fight League back in April 2007.

His lone defeat came via split decision at the hands of Billy Stamp at Madtown Throwdown 16 in July 2008.

UFC 103 will feature a new-look main event between Rich "Ace" Franklin and Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort at a 195-pound catchweight. Also slated for the main card is a heavyweight tilt between former PRIDE superstar Mirko Cro Cop and surging heavyweight prospect Junior Dos Santos.

In addition, Martin Kampmann and Mike Swick will collide to determine the number one contender for Georges St. Pierre's 170-pound title.

For the latest UFC 103 fight card click here.

DREAM 12 video preview: ‘Nothing like the UFC has ever done’

Posted: 21 Aug 2009 11:29 AM PDT

Looks like DREAM has a few surprises in store for their Oct. 25 event. Stay tuned.

Dana White: Shane Carwin hates Brock Lesnar

Posted: 21 Aug 2009 08:03 AM PDT

“Brock is ready to go now and wants to fight. Carwin makes the most sense. He's 11-0, and he's been kicking the [expletive] out of everybody. [Gabriel] Gonzaga destroyed [Mirko] Cro Cop and he [Carwin] totally destroyed Gonzaga. Plus, he hates Brock Lesnar. It's going to be two huge guys going at it. He's got the power to knock anybody out and he's got great wrestling too. He's one of the guys that has the size to match up with Brock, too. This is one of those fights that could be wild. Someone's going to get their head knocked off.”

UFC President Dana White chimes in on the pending showdown between Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin, scheduled for UFC 106 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Nov. 21. Carwin publicly lambasted Lesnar’s post-fight antics after he soundly defeated Frank Mir at UFC 100 back on July 11. Now he gets a chance to put his money where his mouth is for November’s battle of the behemoths. Is Carwin going to show Brock how a champion should act? Or will Lesnar make “The Engineer” eat his words?

UFC 104: Stefan Struve vs Chase Gormley booked for Oct. 24

Posted: 21 Aug 2009 08:03 AM PDT

Dutch import Stefan Struve has agreed to step up and replace Ben Rothwell against Chase Gormley at UFC 104 from the Staples Center is Los Angeles, Calif., on Oct. 24, according to Fighter’s Only.

“Big” Ben was yanked from the scheduled contest to throw hands with Cain Velasquez, who saw his original opponent, Shane Carwin, get promoted to a UFC 106 title fight opposite division kingpin Brock Lesnar.

The 20-year-old Struve recently signed a four-fight contract with the organization, earning his opportunity to compete on the biggest stage in mixed martial arts with an impressive five-fight win streak in 2008 — all of which came via submission.

Unfortunately, he received a rude welcome from the surging Junior dos Santos, who clobbered "The Skyscraper" into a first round TKO loss at UFC 95. The talented Hollander quickly rebounded at UFC 99 and refused to let a grisly facial cut stop him from submitting the venerable Denis Stojnic via rear naked choke.

Opposing him is the undefeated Gormley, who burst onto the scene in 2007 with a decision win over Elite XC veteran Jon Murphy. The NAIA All-American Wrestler hasn't seen action since a decision win over Eric Pele at Maximum Fighting Championships 16 in May 2008.

UFC 104 will feature a main event between UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida and challenger Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. Ben Rothwell and Cain Velasquez have also been paired up to determine a possible UFC number one heavyweight contender.

For all the latest news on UFC 104 check out our complete archive right here.

Frank Mir plans on striking with Cheick Kongo at UFC 107

Posted: 21 Aug 2009 06:55 AM PDT

Props: The DAM Show

Quoteworthy:

“I think the advantage of being well rounded is not having to force anything. As long as we’re boxing with each other, I feel very comfortable against Cheick Kongo. Obviously I don’t want to eat one of his knees, so I probably will try to strike with him a lot because if I just try to dive at him there’s always a chance of taking one of those.”

Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir dishes on his planned fight against the hard-hitting Cheick Kongo at UFC 107 from the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee on December 12. Did his TKO win over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 92 over-inflate his confidence in the stand-up game? Or does the Las Vegas native have the arsenal to stand and bang with the Parisian — who is known for his poor wrestling defense? Predictions please.

UFC Quick Pic: Anna Trebunskaya will dance opposite Chuck Liddell on ‘Dancing with the Stars’

Posted: 21 Aug 2009 06:29 AM PDT

From her Wiki page:

Anna Trebunskaya (born December 28, 1980) is a professional ballroom and Latin dancer, known for her appearances on Dancing with the Stars. In Season 2, she partnered football star Jerry Rice, and together they came in 2nd to pop star Drew Lachey and Cheryl Burke. Trebunskaya and her husband Jonathan Roberts have also performed together on results shows in its first three seasons. Trebunskaya returned to Dancing with the Stars for its fifth season and her celebrity partner was model, Albert Reed. They were the second couple eliminated from the competition. Trebunskaya competed on Season 6 of Dancing with the Stars and her celebrity partner was actor Steve Guttenberg. She and Guttenberg were the third couple to be eliminated. She is returning for Season 9, with partner Chuck Liddell.

Thanks to Watch Kalib Run for the assist.

UFC 105: Paul Kelly vs Dennis Siver in the works for Nov. 14

Posted: 21 Aug 2009 05:35 AM PDT

Former welterweight and current Wolfslair product Paul Kelly (9-1) is looking for his second straight win at 155-pounds when he tangles with Germany’s Dennis Siver (14-6) at the upcoming UFC 105 event expected for the Manchester Evening News (MEN) Arena in Manchester, England, on November 14 according to Fighter’s Only.

“Telly’s” made the drop in weight following his thrilling three round war against Troy Mandaloniz back at UFC 93 in February of this year. He skipped his country breakfast and debuted at lightweight opposite Roli Delgado at UFC 99 on June 13.

Kelly was talking all sorts of stuff heading into the early summer bout however, “The Crazy Cuban” proved difficult to finish and took the Brit to the judge’s scorecards.

No question Kelly will be looking to make a statement in his fight against Siver.

The heavy-handed kickboxer isn’t going to make it easy. After a rocky 1-3 start inside the Octagon, Siver scored a much-needed win at Tempel: “Mix Fight Gala VII” in his native Germany. He came back to the UFC and racked up back-to-back wins, including an electrifying knockout over Nate Mohr at UFC 93.

Both fighters are coming in hungry and ready to keep their momentum going.

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.

No comments:

Recent Articles on Sherdog.com

UFC rss

Recent Interviews on Sherdog.com