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- Lyoto Machida ‘Mens Fitness’ cover shoot video for November 2009 edition
- Cain Velasquez is not on Andrei Arlovski’s level
- UFC 104 Cain Velasquez video blog for Ben Rothwell fight (Episode three)
- Ultimate Glory: ‘A Decade of Fights’ quick results for Oct. 17 event
- Upset special: An MMAmania.com WEC interview exclusive with Mackens Semerzier
- Spider camp: Anderson Silva will be able to fight at UFC 108
- Genki Sudo evolves from MMA world beater to J-Pop superstar
- Bernard Hopkins video: MMA/UFC is gay porn
| Lyoto Machida ‘Mens Fitness’ cover shoot video for November 2009 edition Posted: 17 Oct 2009 08:14 PM PDT To check out excerpts from the print version of the interview click here. |
| Cain Velasquez is not on Andrei Arlovski’s level Posted: 17 Oct 2009 08:00 PM PDT
That’s what Ben Rothwell told CagePotato.com, anyway:
Agree or disagree? Rothwell, of course, lost to “The Pitbull” via third round knockout in July 2008. He’s fought just once (a submission win over Chris Guillen later that same year) since that time. |
| UFC 104 Cain Velasquez video blog for Ben Rothwell fight (Episode three) Posted: 17 Oct 2009 04:59 PM PDT |
| Ultimate Glory: ‘A Decade of Fights’ quick results for Oct. 17 event Posted: 17 Oct 2009 03:58 PM PDT
For those who cannot wait until the double-whammy MMA action of UFC 104 and DREAM 12 next weekend or want to see Alistair Overeem in another non-Strikeforce event, the Ultimate Glory event, “A Decade of Fights,” is live on pay-per-view (PPV) this evening to fulfill your MMA craving. Hosted in Amsterdam in celebration of the 10th anniversary of Golden Glory gym, the MMA/K-1 hybrid event features Alistair Overeem and Semmy Schilt, as well as other prominent Golden Glory members such as Shooto 183-pound champion, Siyar Bahadurzada, and K-1 MAX quarterfinalist, Nieky “The Natural” Holtzken. K-1 veterans, Stefan Leko and Errol Zimmerman are on the card as well. The 14-fight event is available for purchase at UltimateGlory.com. For those who are unwilling to shell out the $10 under the tough economic climate, the BloodyElbow.com has you covered with live play-by-play. Quick results are available after the jump:
K-1: Semmy Schilt def. Alexey Ignashov via unanimous decision |
| Upset special: An MMAmania.com WEC interview exclusive with Mackens Semerzier Posted: 17 Oct 2009 08:44 AM PDT
If you didn’t get a chance to watch WEC 43 last weekend for whatever reason, and you had to check the updates on MMAmania.com instead, there’s a good chance you probably looked at the outcome of the Mackens Semerzier and Wagnney Fabiano fight and thought you were staring at a typo. There’s no way some kid from Miguel Torres’ gym with only four professional fights under his belt submitted a jiu-jitsu ace like Fabiano in the first round on short notice … right? Think again. On about a week’s notice, that’s exactly what Mackens Semerzier did on Oct. 10. The upset was so shocking that WEC officials had no choice but to squeeze the fight onto the Versus telecast. The thing I learned right off the bat about the guy is that he just has a great personality, which is something that can certainly help a fighter trying to get to that next level in this sport. He’s focused, motivated, and hungry to prove himself to the MMA world. And he’s off to a great start. I sat down with the Miguel Torres protege earlier today to talk about his stunning upset win over Fabiano, training with Torres, what the future holds and much more. Check it out:
James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): First tell us how this fight with Fabiano came about. What were your feelings when you found out you had a fight in the WEC? Mackens Semerzier: What happened was I got a text from Miguel Torres, a friend of mine and a training partner. I got a text from him saying that Eric Koch, Wagnney Fabiano’s opponent for October 10, fell out. He was like, “What do you think?” I took “What do you think” as “Do you want to fight?” So I texted him back, and I was like, “Yeah, I’m down man, set it up and I’m down.” He was going back and forth with Sean Shelby (WEC matchmaker), setting it up, and everything came about pretty quickly. Then on Monday I got a call from Sean Shelby, giving me congratulations and this and that, and that was it. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): I was talking to Miguel a couple of days before your fight and he was saying that you were coming in ready to go because you had another fight scheduled for right around the same time that had fallen through. Who was that fight against and how did it fall through? Mackens Semerzier: I was supposed to fight October 3, the weekend before, but my opponent had fell out about two or three weeks before. I was still training hard, anticipating that they would find someone for that date. They still didn’t have anybody as of a week prior to the fight so I was still waiting, still waiting, and I never got a call. The promoter was still trying to get guys in. He was like, “What do you think about this guy? I can get the guy.” Then the guy was like, “Okay yeah I’ll fight.” Then I guess he told the guy who he was going to be fighting and he said his foot was hurt and he couldn’t fight anymore. A bunch of guys started dropping out of the fight, but I kept my focus and kept training hard because I knew, because it happens to me all the time. It had happened on three or four different occasions before that that guys start dropping out of fights and then I get guys on short notice or whatever the case may be. So I was still getting prepared for that, but nothing came about. So when the WEC called, it was like a blessing. I was like, “Man, I don’t even have a guy. I don’t have a contract signed with this other promotion. I don’t have a bout agreement.” It was go time. It must have happened for a reason. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Is the cut down to 145 pounds a difficult one for you? I know there was a small issue at the weigh ins last weekend on your first attempt. Mackens Semerzier: I always fight at 145. I started at 145 when I started fighting two years ago, and I still fight there now. I’ve gotten bigger, but I still can make the weight pretty easily. The thing with the scales is, I’ve always, since I was in high school, weighed in naked. I’ve always weighed in naked. But when we were at the hotel and I was getting on the scale, I’m like, “Man I don’t want to drop my drawers in front of all these people.” So I get on the scale and I’m a half a pound over. I was going to drop right then. They were like, “Well, let him drop his drawers right now.” And the guy, whoever was coordinator, was like, “No let him go and then we’ll just bring him back.” So we did the face-off. I walked upstairs, walked to the bathroom and took a piss, came back downstairs literally five minutes later and got on the scale and made weight. So I didn’t cut any weight. I just didn’t weigh naked like I was supposed to. But I will be weighing naked from now on. I guarantee you that. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Miguel was also saying that in training you’re one of the one guys that he can’t catch in a submission. Obviously you showed some skills against Fabiano, who’s a stud in jiu-jitsu. Is your jiu-jitsu the strongest part of your game? Mackens Semerzier: I wouldn’t say it’s the strongest part of my game because I know that my clinching and my striking is just as good as my jiu-jitsu. I’m very confident in my jiu-jitsu because I work very hard on it. I didn’t think that was a place where I wanted to push the fight, being on the ground, especially on the bottom. I was maybe hoping to be on top punching down. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): So the way the fight played out wasn’t necessarily how you planned on it playing out? Meaning, you weren’t really looking to test Fabiano’s jiu-jitsu? Mackens Semerzier: Absolutely not! That was not where I wanted to be. That’s not where I wanted to go. If anything I wanted to be on top punching him and if things got too crazy and he started going for half guard sweeps or whatever the case may be, going for submissions to get out of there. But I didn’t say, “I’m good on the ground, he’s good on the ground, I’m going to take him to the ground and see what he has.” I think that would be kind of silly. I’m not going to try to stand up with Anderson Silva. It’s like, what’s the point? James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): So how surprised were you that he sort of just fell right into that triangle? Mackens Semerzier: Well, I’ve played that part with open guard before. I play a lot of open guard with the Gi on. Sometimes I don’t like to play as much without the Gi because you don’t have as much control, especially with a guy punching down on you. So, I’m not a big fan of it there, but it was just one of those situations where I’ve been there before in training. I just had to take advantage of it. It’s not like I thought the triangle out. I just felt where my legs were and my body instinctively just shot up for the triangle, and as soon as I shoot it up, if I get a head and an arm I’m going right to trying to lock my legs up right away and worry about everything else afterward. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Tell us a little bit more about yourself and your fighting style. What can WEC fans expect to see when you’re in a fight that maybe lasts a little bit longer? Mackens Semerzier: Hopefully short fights, but the fights that do go long, a lot of action. Just a lot of me pressing forward. I really like to come forward. I really think I psyched myself out with all the talk before the fight. Fabiano is such a big threat on the ground that I didn’t really come forward. I was kind of tapping him with the jab and trying to buy some time and kind of try to make him come forward so I could strike him when he comes in, kind of counter punch. So I really didn’t get to show much of my game as far as standing up goes, but I like to get in there and mix it up for sure man. I like to get in the trenches and get a little bit dirty and put on a fun fight for the fans. I’m always looking for the finish. I always like to finish the fight. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): What was your confidence level like taking a big step up in competition like that on short notice? Mackens Semerzier: Preparation wise I felt ready to go. I felt ready to go. I was aware of what my opponent could do, what Wagnney brought to the table. I wasn’t over confident, thinking I could beat him in any certain way, but I knew I could win the fight. I was confident that I could win the fight. When I did win, you know, when I put the triangle on, especially when I had it locked in, I was like he’s going to tap here. It’s not even an option. Either you’re going to tap or you’re going to sleep because I had it on pretty tight. But I didn’t think about it too much. I didn’t want to psyche myself out. Maybe like the first three days, you know, a lot of people were like more excited than me. My trainers and all the guys got a little bit more excited than me, and they’re like, “Hey man, Wagnney does this, hey man Wagnney does that.” That was for three days, and I was like, “Man I don’t want to hear another word. I don’t want to hear nothing else about what Wagnney does. I’ve seen him fight before. I’ve been watching him forever. I know what he does. I don’t want to hear it no more. Let’s focus on what we’re going to do, not how we’re going to stop Wagnney from beating us. Let’s focus on how we’re going to beat Wagnney Fabiano.” Some guys psyche themselves out like that sometimes. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Your fight ended up making the Versus telecast, which I’m sure was a big deal for you. Do you feel like you kind of got your first time big stage jitters out of the way with this fight to where you’ll be more comfortable fighting in front of large television audiences on Versus in the future? Mackens Semerzier: Honestly man I didn’t have too much of the jitters. I don’t think I had any of the jitters to be honest with you. I had been there before when I cornered Miguel. I think the only thing I had to get used to were the lights. When you come out they pan this camera on you and there’s this bright ass light that’s in your eyeballs and you have to follow the camera. He’s backing up, but you have to follow him because you can’t see behind him. So you don’t really know where to go. I kind of saw that before when Miguel walked out when he fought Brian Bowles when I was standing right behind him. And just the texture of the mat. The mat is a little bit slippery and different texture than I’m used to. Besides that I wasn’t really too worried about it. Once I get in the cage that’s all I’m worried about, just hearing the voices of my coaches and the guy. I wasn’t too worried about anything else, the TV and all the other stuff. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): You mentioned the mat being slippery. It seemed like everybody was having a hard time with that. What was up with that mat? Was it the logos or what? Mackens Semerzier: Actually the logos were the part that were the stickiest. That’s where you had the best grip. It was off on the blue part. The blue part was super slick. I don’t know if that was a brand new mat, but it was super slick. It felt like a velvety, really soft satin man. When I went into the cage before the show started and we started moving around, it was like, “Man this thing is kind of slippery.” Then when I got in there it was still slippery. I figured they’d break it in with the couple of fights before, but it was very very slick. Very slick, hard to drive off for punches and kicks and stuff. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Talk about how the day to day training and advice you get from Miguel Torres has helped your confidence and ability as a fighter. Mackens Semerzier: It gives me great confidence. Pound for pound I’m training with one of the best fighters out there and I’m holding my own. Until you reach those guys and until you see how those guys train for yourself and you see how you match up with those guys, you really don’t know where you sit. You could be accomplished, but you really don’t know where you sit or if you’re doing things the right way. Once I hung out with Miguel and I saw how champions train and how champions conduct themselves, I felt like I could do the same. It gave me a lot of confidence, a lot of confidence when I came back and started training again with my training partners and going into my fight. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): What kind of changes have you seen in him since the loss to Bowles? Mackens Semerzier: I think it just made him hungry again. He was the champion and ranked as high as, I think number 3 pound for pound, 3 or 4 or something like that. It’s really hard because everyone wants to talk to you. Everyone wants a piece of you. You have a lot of people to cater to, so that effects your training. He didn’t have, because he was winning, he didn’t have coaches. You know, he had training partners, but he didn’t have a coach to say, “Hey Miguel you need to do this. Miguel you need to do that. Miguel you need to do this.” All those wins, those forty something wins he had was all off of self motivation. There was no one ever really telling him he needed to do this or he needed to do that. It was all on him. He just had training partners to help him along. I think now because of that loss he’s seeing that the game is advancing and he needs to get good training partners and coaches behind him. And he’s going to do that. He’s going to get the belt. When he lost that night, I felt like I lost. I was pissed. I was mad, almost worse off than he was. I wanted to go for a run or something. I just wanted to start training right away. But he took it very well. He’s ready to go. He’s going to be ready to go. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): I’m assuming you signed a contract with the WEC. What were the terms of that deal? How many fights can we expect to see from you in the WEC? Mackens Semerzier: I did sign. I signed a five-fight contract with the WEC, a five-fight promotional contract. That was one of the five and that was signed before the fight, which is really funny because people were like, “You got five fights, you know, if you don’t do so good in this one then you got another one coming up and this and that.” But I didn’t take it as that. I took it as a one shot deal. I took it as, if you do good here you’re going to continue, if not then you’re going to go home and you’re never going to come back. I think that helped me actually win the fight. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Well you certainly took a big step last Saturday night. What are some of your goals in the WEC or in MMA in general? Where do you see yourself in five years? Mackens Semerzier: In the next five years I see myself either as champion or having been the champion, I just lost my title and I’m coming back up trying to win my title again. I’m going to touch that belt, and when I do that, I’m going to try to hang on to it as long as possible. That’s my dream. That’s my goal. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Well to be a champion you have to beat a champion. How do you think your style matches up with a monster like Mike Brown? Mackens Semerzier: He’s a beast man. He’s just one of those people where you have to bring it. You have to do whatever you can do or whatever he can do you have to do a little bit better, just out gun him. Mike Brown is an animal. His fight, my favorite fight of all time, his fight with Urijah Faber, the second time, you know, you saw it all hang out. The blood, the guts, everything. The guy did everything. The guy is awesome. He’s awesome. Jose Aldo is super exciting to watch. Leonard Garcia is a beast. Rafael Assuncao, Urijah Faber, you know, all these guys that are ahead of me, they’re great great fighters man. I don’t know if right now my skill set matches up with them. I think my skill set does, but obviously I’m going to need more experience. I can’t just ride off having five professional fights and think I’m going to be champion tomorrow or think I deserve to fight any of those guys or skip any of those guys to get to the belt. I’m going to work that James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): You mentioned Aldo. How do you see the fight between him and Brown playing out next month? Mackens Semerzier: I think Mike Brown is going to win. I don’t know how, but Mike Brown is a tough, very down to earth guy. Jose Aldo is super super explosive man. He’s so explosive. I really see it being a real scrap. We’ll see man. We see Mike Brown everywhere, but we haven’t seen Jose Aldo everywhere. His only loss was by rear naked choke. I saw the fight and it was one of those things where they were in the ropes and the guy had a rear naked choke and they reset them in the rear naked choke and then told them to go. So I don’t know how much you can tell from his ground game, but he’s always been explosive in the fights I’ve seen, before in Brazil and all that. I think you have to go with Brown though, because you’ve seen Brown’s stand up, you’ve seen his wrestling and you’ve seen his ground game. For Jose Aldo, all you’ve seen is his stand up for right now, which is super explosive. So if his ground game is like his stand up man it’s going to be a very, very good fight. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): How soon do you want to fight again and have you heard anything from the WEC on that as far as potential opponents or dates or that kind of thing? Mackens Semerzier: No, I have not heard anything from the WEC yet, besides talking to guys and them telling me good job. We haven’t talked anything about fights yet. I’m just taking a down week kind of. I’ve been training, I think about twice this week. I’m just kind of hanging out right now. I’ll get back to training hard on Monday. I’ll be ready in December, but I hope to fight in January. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Well I want to thank you for taking the time to talk with us Mackens. Congratulations on the big win and we’re all looking forward to seeing you fight again. Is there anything you’d like to say to your fans or anyone you’d like to thank before getting out of here? Mackens Semerzier: I’d really like to thank all my training partners, all the guys at Linxx Academy, Seven City Boxing, ACC Torres Martial Arts. I’d like to give a special thanks to my sponsors, guys that make it possible for me to fight, and hopefully one day very soon fight on a full time basis. I’d like to thank MMA Warehouse, Hayabusa, Dethrone, Muscle Farm and TRX. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Thanks again Mackens. Mackens Semerzier: Thank you. |
| Spider camp: Anderson Silva will be able to fight at UFC 108 Posted: 17 Oct 2009 08:40 AM PDT
Props: Terra Magazine Quoteworthy:
Anderson Silva's coach, Josuel Distak, is confident that his star pupil will be healthy enough to throw hands with Vitor Belfort at UFC 108, which is scheduled for Jan. 2, 2010. “The Spider” underwent a minor surgical procedure to remove bone fragments that had been giving his elbow trouble after many years of fighting. Like team mate Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, the recovery time is very quick and “The Phenom” should have his chance to do what no man in the UFC has done before him: Defeat Anderson Silva. |
| Genki Sudo evolves from MMA world beater to J-Pop superstar Posted: 17 Oct 2009 08:39 AM PDT
Genki Sudo has never receded from the spotlight in Japan after his untimely retirement from fighting at the ripe age of 28. A veteran of Pancrase, UFC and K-1 Hero’s and world-class eccentric, Sudo has become renowned for his grappling prowess, unorthodox fighting style, and extravagant choreographed ring entrance during his 21-fight career. On the heel of his victory over current WEC bantamweight, Damacio Page, at K-1 Premium 2006 Dynamite! — he announced his retirement from fighting, citing his bout with a nagging neck injury. Since then, he has achieved a remarkable metamorphosis from a fighter to author, actor, TV personality and MMA commentator. Having published eight books and appeared in several movies and dozens of Japanese TV shows, Sudo apparently has not had enough of stretching his schedule and capacity to max. He has found yet another means to channel his creative energy, seen here after the jump.
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| Bernard Hopkins video: MMA/UFC is gay porn Posted: 17 Oct 2009 06:15 AM PDT |
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