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• Kimbo Slice, Aoki-Hansen and more on ESPNs ‘MMA Live’ (Video)
• Rumble at the Rhino: Wes Sims wants trilogy match with Frank Mir … anywhere
• Kimbo Slice vs Roy Nelson Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 10 ratings are ’staggering’
• Chuck Liddell Dancing with the Stars video behind the scenes
• Jesse Taylor vs Luke Rockhold in the works for Strikeforce: ‘Challengers’ 4 on Nov. 6
• Roy Nelson: Referee Herb Dean was afraid to stop the Kimbo fight and lose his job
• Tito Ortiz came from the streets dawg…
• UFC Quick Quote: Dan Henderson wants a new contract and a title shot to go with it
• UFC 107: DaMarques Johnson vs Edgar Garcia on tap for Dec. 12
• Kimbo Slice: I’ll beat Roy Nelson next time around

Kimbo Slice, Aoki-Hansen and more on ESPNs ‘MMA Live’ (Video) Posted: 01 Oct 2009 06:21 PM PDT

Rumble at the Rhino: Wes Sims wants trilogy match with Frank Mir … anywhere Posted: 01 Oct 2009 06:05 PM PDT Props: NWI.com Quoteworthy: “If we had a time capsule, everyone knows that first fight [against Frank Mir], I won. Even if I hadn’t stomped him I would’ve pounded him straight through the cage. When I dropped him on his head, he was unconscious. End result, he was laying unconscious and I had my hands raised. Second fight, I’ve said it so many times I believe it myself, I won. Everyone can see Big John made the wrong call. Sure I got rocked. But when I hit the ground, I was pulling guard, John stopped it too early, and it cost him his job…. I definitely want one more fight with Frank before I’m done. In the UFC, in the Spearmint Rhino, wherever it’s going to have to happen, I want a third fight. I want to believe that there isn’t a single night he goes to bed that he doesn’t think about fighting me to redeem his honor. But he’s probably mentally blocked me out of his head so he can live day to day. That’s just my thoughts, though.” Where do we begin. Octagon veteran and current contestant on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 10, Wes Sims, talks about wanting a third and final fight against former interim heavyweight champion, Frank Mir, sometime in the future. Sims bragged (incorrectly) on the first episode of the show that he defeated Mir twice. The reality is he lost both matches via disqualification (kicking a downed opponent) and technical knockout (he argues premature stoppage). Regardless, Sims has convinced himself otherwise. And now that he’s back in the spotlight wants another crack at the Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist to demonstrate that he does indeed have his number — even if it means getting in a barroom brawl at his old high-end strip club haunt, Spearmint Rhino, where Mir served as a bouncer. That’s perhaps the only chance he might get … at least in the near term. Mir is currently booked to take on Cheick Kongo at UFC 107 on Dec. 12. Meanwhile, Sims still has to prove he belongs back in the UFC with a solid run through the 16-man tournament-style show, which culminates with one final match at TUF 10 Finale on Dec. 5. Will it ever happen? Perhaps more important, do you want to see it happen? The pre-fight promos and smack talk alone could be epic.

Kimbo Slice vs Roy Nelson Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 10 ratings are ’staggering’ Posted: 01 Oct 2009 06:01 PM PDT UFC President Dana White made a revised prediction that episode three of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 10, which featured a heavyweight showdown between Roy Nelson and Kimbo Slice, would attract a staggering 6 million viewers on Spike TV. He was wrong. The ratings are in, indicating that 6.1 million viewers actually tuned in at peak time to watch the former International Fight League (IFL) champion score a smothering second round technical knockout over the Miami-based bareknuckle brawler. It was the fourth most-watched mixed martial arts bout ever on television in North America. In fact, Slice now occupies three of the top five slots, including the top position with his win over James Thompson on CBS under the Elite XC banner back in May 2008 (7.281 million viewers). Of course, last night’s telecast now “ranks as the most-watched episode of an original series in the six-year history” of Spike TV. Remarkable. Overall, episode three of TUF 10 scored a 6.9 in men aged 18 to 34 (2 million), a 5.4 in men aged 18 to 49 (3.1 million), a household rating of 3.7 and 5.3 million total viewers. To check out our detailed recap of TUF 10 episode three click here.

Chuck Liddell Dancing with the Stars video behind the scenes Posted: 01 Oct 2009 01:39 PM PDT

Jesse Taylor vs Luke Rockhold in the works for Strikeforce: ‘Challengers’ 4 on Nov. 6 Posted: 01 Oct 2009 01:18 PM PDT The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 7 finalist turned castoff, Jesse Taylor (13-4), and fast rising Strikeforce prospect, Luke Rockhold (5-1), are scheduled to meet at Strikeforce’s fourth “Challengers” event, which is slated for the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif., on Nov. 6. “JT Money” recently had a seven-fight win streak snapped by current Strikeforce welterweight number one contender, Jay Hieron, by unanimous decision on the “Carano vs. Cyborg” card back in August. His list of victims during that span, which he accumulated since leaving the UFC, included notables such as Drew Fickett, Dong Sik Yoon and others. The victory over Fickett is the important one to look at heading into this bout with Rockhold because much like Fickett, Rockhold is a fantastic submission fighter. In fact, the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) product has finished each of his four opponents under the Strikeforce banner by way of tapout inside the first round, including his most recent destruction of the very talented Cory Devela in just 30 seconds at Strikeforce Challengers 2 back in June. This should be a very competitive battle between a strong wrestler and a technical submission fighter that will most like serve as the co-main event on fight night. Strikeforce Challengers 4 is set to be headlined by a lightweight battle between seven fight UFC veteran Jorge Gurgel and undefeated Fresno resident Billy Evangelista. Former Strikeforce light heavyweight number one contender Anthony “A-Train” Ruiz is also expected to be in action on the card.

Roy Nelson: Referee Herb Dean was afraid to stop the Kimbo fight and lose his job Posted: 01 Oct 2009 11:47 AM PDT Props: USA Today Quoteworthy: “I could have stayed in mount and finished him there with elbows and punches, but my game plan was to get to the crucifix, and once I got to the crucifix, finish the fight there. First round was 44 punches to the face, and then (referee) Herb Dean doesn’t know how to ref, but we’ve seen that before. And then the next round was 22 punches. You could even see me yelling at Herb Dean, ‘Come on, ref.’ But the thing is, there’s a lot of people; there’s a lot of money. Kimbo’s the only one that I know that had an entourage there; he actually had his family there, his management, while the rest of us kind of had to suffer. The UFC made, we’ll say, different concessions for Kimbo. I think he had a media room. Kimbo’s definitely, I guess we’ll say, special. I don’t see the specialness fighting-wise, but more for TV-wise. He puts butts in the seats. So I think it was more that Herb Dean was afraid to lose his job, because there’s a lot of people with a lot of money that can have a lot of influence with his career.” The Ultimate Fighter 10 contestant Roy Nelson sounds off on the first round of his fight against special attraction Kimbo Slice during episode three of the Spike TV reality show. “Big Country” had the former YouTube brawler trapped in a crucifix and while the damage inflicted was comparable to that of a pillow fight, Slice was still unable to defend himself, intelligently or otherwise. Was referee Herb Dean letting the fight continue out of fear of losing his job? Or is Nelson just sour over his marshmallow fists? Sound off, Maniacs.

Tito Ortiz came from the streets dawg… Posted: 01 Oct 2009 10:42 AM PDT …so don’t beg “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” for no fitty cent.

UFC Quick Quote: Dan Henderson wants a new contract and a title shot to go with it Posted: 01 Oct 2009 10:36 AM PDT “I like Vitor (Belfort). He's a good guy and he's been around for a long time, but I just don't understand why he gets to jump to the front of the line, especially when I beat him. I think it's something that might have slipped their minds, that [it] happened. I'm not exactly sure. You'll have to ask them on that, but to me, that's what it seemed like. I feel like I have stepped up for them a number of times and have done things for them. I never turned Marquardt down. I basically made a statement saying that Marquardt and Anderson Silva are my next two fights regardless and I've got to beat them both to either become or stay the champ. I'm O.K. with fighting (Marquardt); we just have to come up with a deal. Basically anywhere's a possibility, but I'd like to make things work with the UFC. I don't know what they’re thinking. They haven't gotten back to me at all since I flew out last week. I'm not trying to pin them over a barrel or anything. I feel like I was just undervalued before, especially toward the end of my contract.” – Former number one middleweight contender, Dan Henderson, tells Sherdog.com that he hopes to re-sign a new contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) soon and rematch reigning division champion, Anderson Silva. Company president Dana White indicated that “Hollywood’s” sensational knockout of Michael Bisping at UFC 100 was enough to earn him another crack at "The Spider;" however, the Brazilian's manager, Ed Soares, made the case that Henderson should take on Nate Marquardt first to determine a clear-cut contender. That idea didn't sit too well with Henderson, who now gets pushed aside in favor of Vitor Belfort — who lost to Hendo at PRIDE 32 back in October 2006. Does he need to beat Marquardt to face the winner of Silva vs. Belfort? Or did “Dangerous” Dan already do enough to be next in line? Opinions please.

UFC 107: DaMarques Johnson vs Edgar Garcia on tap for Dec. 12 Posted: 01 Oct 2009 07:50 AM PDT Up-and-coming welterweights DaMarques Johnson (9-7) and Edgar Garcia (7-1) have verbally agreed to fight at UFC 107 from the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tenn., on Dec. 12, according to Five Ounces of Pain. After defeating Ray Elbe by technical knockout to make the final cut for Team U.S. on Season 9 of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), Johnson submitted Dean Amasinger via triangle choke to reach the semifinals. Following a hard-fought unanimous decision win over Nick Osipczak, Johnson was one fight away from UFC stardom. Then he ran into Team U.K. finalist James Wilks, who completely tooled the former soldier from the opening bell, eventually securing a rear naked choke for the submission win at last June’s TUF Finale. No question the Jeremy Horn protege and jiu-jitsu instructor has used that loss to tighten up his game and will undoubtedly be reinvigorated for his bout against Garcia. Like Johnson, the state champion wrestler out of Arizona came up short on June 20 in his debut against Brad Blackburn, but the thrilling, back-and-forth war between him and “Bad” was worthy of “Fight of the Night” honors. It was Garcia’s first professional defeat, and he also holds a knockout win over Hiromitsu Miura in the WEC. Expect the native of San Luis Rio Colorado to showcase more of that power this December. UFC 107 will feature a main event between lightweight division champion BJ Penn defending his title against number one division contender Diego Sanchez, as well as a heavyweight showdown between former champion Frank Mir and Cheick Kongo. In addition, a lightweight attraction between stars Kenny Florian and Clay Guida was recently shifted to the card to compensate for the loss of the light heavyweight showdown between Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Rashad Evans. For more on the developing UFC 107 fight card and rumors click here.

Kimbo Slice: I’ll beat Roy Nelson next time around Posted: 01 Oct 2009 07:11 AM PDT Props: Inside The Ultimate Fighter Quoteworthy: “I fought Roy with caution. I did go for the kill one time, but I knew to be careful because Roy will bait you, that’s how good he is. He can look rocked, but the minute you go in for the kill, shwoop! You know what I’m sayin? He’s a smart fighter. When I felt like I rocked him I went in for the kill and that’s when I made my mistake. That’s when I realized, ah, this motherfucker was slick. But in the midst of the fight I had to figure that out. By the second round he figured out how to get in, how to play possum and get me down to the ground. That weight was hard to move. The crucifix is not my favorite position. I been in that position with James Thompson and was stuck. Roy had me also in that same position. That’s a position I would really like to know how to get out of. I know some shit on the ground. It’s not like I get down there and I don’t know nothing. I have some skills. I’ll beat Roy next time around. You’re only gonna beat me once. If I fight anybody and they beat me that one time, that’s it. You gave me your best. You didn’t beat me at my best. Now I know how you’re comin’. You ain’t beatin’ me twice. Damn right I’d rematch Roy.” On the heels of his Episode 3 elimination from The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) Season 10, special attraction Kimbo Slice reflects on the mistakes he made in his losing effort against Roy Nelson and how a second encounter would yield very different results. Can Slice, who was dropped by trainer Bas Rutten for regressing to his old habits, ever become more than a hard-hitting brawler with a puncher’s chance? With a new home at American Top Team and a rumored fight at the TUF 10 Finale this December, we may get our answer soon enough.

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