Thursday, February 25, 2010

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

Shane Carwin: 'Frank Mir is either a terrible human being or unfit to fight'

Posted: 24 Feb 2010 05:00 PM PST

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Props: CageWriter.com

Quoteworthy:

"I can tell you that ANY athlete wishing death upon a competitor is either a terrible human being or mentally unfit to fight. That type of talk and if it ever happened will take this sport backwards. Frank has been a part of the stone ages of MMA and it makes no sense why he would want or make comments that might damage a lot of the good HE has participated in adding to this sport over the years.... Brock is a heel in the ring but at home he is a human, husband, father and friend to many. Wishing death or harm upon him doesn't serve any purpose. I will do my best to make Frank's dream of fighting Brock come true, unfortunately for them it will be a three round fight as I plan on winning both of those belts."

Heavyweight hopeful Shane Carwin -- who appears to be lost amidst all the recent talk about Frank Mir wanting to kill Brock Lesnar inside the Octagon -- adds his two cents about the situation. Carwin is booked to battle Mir at UFC 111: "St. Pierre vs. Hardy" from the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on March 27. However, the recent brouhaha over Mir's latest mortal comments about Lesnar, as well as the swift public apology from Mir and the promotion, has overshadowed the interim title fight with just a few weeks until showtime. Mir is a master at promoting his fights ... don't ever forget that. He baited a big hook and now Carwin is on the line. Can Mir reel in the monster catch or will Carwin make him regret ever setting sail?

UFC 111 video trailer for 'St. Pierre vs Hardy' in HD

Posted: 24 Feb 2010 04:28 PM PST

Ricardo Mayorga: I will shock MMA fans and destroy Din Thomas

Posted: 24 Feb 2010 03:35 PM PST

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Props: BoxingScene.com

Quoteworthy:

"I conquered the world in the boxing ring all the while I was puffing cigarettes and drinking beer. I won three world title belts and I stood toe-to-toe with so many legends, beating some of them. Vernon Forrest, God rest his soul, was a great boxer yet I beat him back twice. I cannot be denied as I am a force of nature. Now I will shock the MMA fans and I know so many of my fans from boxing will follow me as I expand my repertoire. They can't deny me in MMA and I will destroy Din Thomas. I am going to smash him the way I smashed all the big superstars of boxing. To me, a fight is a fight in a ring, in a cage or on the street. Fighting is my middle name."

Nicaraguan nightmare Ricardo Mayorga prepares for his mixed martial arts debut against well-traveled veteran Din Thomas at "Worlds Collide" under the Shine Fights banner on May 15 from the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, NC, live on pay-per-view. "The Madman from Managua" is one of the better pugilists to consider a career in MMA, but will his ignorance of the ground game against the likes of "Dinyero" bring a painful end to his new endeavor?

Brett Cooper and Ryan Thomas finalize Bellator FC welterweight tournament roster

Posted: 24 Feb 2010 03:30 PM PST

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CHICAGO, Ill. (February 24, 2010) - Bellator Fighting Championships put the final pieces in place for its much-anticipated Season 2 welterweight tournament today with the signings of knockout artist Brett Cooper (12-5) and UFC veteran Ryan "The Tank Engine" Thomas (10-3).

Cooper and Thomas are the seventh and eighth confirmed participants in Bellator's eight-man 170 lbs. tournament, joining Ben Askren, Dan Hornbuckle, "Judo" Jim Wallhead, Jacob McClintock, Steve Carl and Sean Pierson. Overall, the group boasts a combined winning percentage of .816 (89 wins, 20 losses).

First-round matchups will be announced next week.

Thomas could be the comeback story of Bellator Season 2. As a top prospect out of Central Illinois, he received a contract from the UFC in 2008, but was released after back-to-back losses to top-ranked opponents Ben Saunders and Matt Brown. After a nine-month hiatus from the cage, Thomas returned to MMA in dramatic fashion this past August with a triangle choke submission of Ryan Stout just 1:39 into Round 1. He is looking to regain his status as one of the world's top 170 lbs. prospects during Bellator Season 2.

Cooper, meanwhile, is looking to build on his fast-growing reputation as a knock-out specialist and giant killer. The Long Beach, Calif., native enters Bellator's welterweight tournament with seven victories over the course of his last eight fights. Six of those seven wins have come by KO or TKO with the other coming via anaconda choke. He is perhaps best known, however, for his December 2007 win over the heavily favored Rory Markham (a top UFC stalwart) during the IFL Grand Prix Finals - a feat made all the more impressive by the fact that Cooper took the fight as a last-minute replacement on just two weeks' notice.

"Cooper and Thomas are two great additions to our world-class welterweight tournament," said Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney. "Cooper's power presents big problems for anyone he fights and Thomas has the potential to upset anyone in our 170 division."

Thomas said he welcomes the challenge, adding that he's learned a lot from his experiences in the UFC and has "been training like a mad man to get ready and show all of the Bellator fans what I've got."

"There's no easy fight in this tournament," he said. "Everyone's a stud and whoever wins is going to be really proud of what they accomplish. As I look at it now, though, I see myself standing there at the end of the road."

Cooper has similar expectations, saying that Bellator's tournament format "really suits a guy like me who has some good experience and a well-rounded skill set but is still looking to make a name for himself."

He's also excited to fight on national TV thanks to Bellator's landmark broadcast alliance with FOX Sports Net, NBC and Telemundo.

"It's super exciting," he said. "To fight in front of millions of MMA fans and all of my friends and family-words can't really explain it."

For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA or on Facebook at Facebook.com/Bellator.

Topps UFC 'Main Event' trading cards for 2010 released today

Posted: 24 Feb 2010 01:40 PM PST

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UFC action figures aren’t the only collectibles hitting store shelves this year -- trading cards are back for another edition after a successful debut in 2009.

The mixed martial arts promotion last year announced that it had struck a three-year deal with Topps -- the leading creator and marketer of sports and related trading cards and entertainment products -- to produce trading cards and stickers that feature "current, future and former UFC athletes."

Today (Feb. 24) the UFC "Main Event" cards for 2010 became available in stores with a special promotion that will send one lucky fan (and a guest) on an all expenses paid trip to Las Vegas to be UFC President Dana White's special guest at the UFC Training Center -- in addition to sitting cage side with Dana during one of the Ultimate Fighter (TUF) preliminary matches.

All you need to do is be the first collector to find one of the 10 randomly inserted triple autograph cards featuring Dana White, Chuck Liddell, and Tito Ortiz and email Topps at UFCprize@topps.com. Nine second place collectors will receive a pair of UFC gloves signed by White, Liddell, and Ortiz.

Brock Lesnar, BJ Penn, Anderson Silva, Kimbo Slice and many other fighters are currently featured in the sophomore series.

For more details on the UFC "Main Event" 2010 trading cards click here.

Frankie Edgar's UFC 112 prediction? Plenty of sweat...

Posted: 24 Feb 2010 01:26 PM PST

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"His flexibility, balance, all that stuff, he's going to be a tough nut to crack. I'm going to have my hands full for sure. I definitely watch video. I don't get too caught up in it though because I feel like that's almost psyching yourself out. I'd rather have my team, my coaches look at it, tell me what they think and I will sit down and watch it with them, but I'm not a big video guy. I don't sit with the remote and hit rewind every 10 seconds through the video. It's going to be in the desert, it's going to be hot, so we'll probably be sweating a lot. I predict a lot of sweat. How about that?"

UFC lightweight number one contender Frankie Edgar talks to Sherdog.com about his impossible mission at UFC 112 when the promotion makes its debut outdoors in Abu Dhabi. The New Jersey native hopes to have "The Answer" to Penn's riddle, specifically how to keep the fight even remotely competitive. "The Prodigy" has had five fights at 155-pounds since returning to the division in 2007 and has finished all five of those victims in dominating fashion. Will Edgar pull of a major upset? Or will Penn finish cleaning out the division on April 10?

WEC 47: A day in the life of Karen Darabedyan

Posted: 24 Feb 2010 01:25 PM PST

Trevor Prangley: I love the UFC - but lose a fight and you might lose your spot

Posted: 24 Feb 2010 10:28 AM PST

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Props: Bleacher Report

Quoteworthy:

"My goal has always been to hold a legitimate world championship before I retire. I have a bunch of titles with some smaller organizations but I want to hold a title in one of the bigger organizations. I'd be happy if that was in the UFC or Strikeforce, it doesn't matter to me. I love the UFC, but there is too much pressure, if you lose one fight, you have to be worried about your spot. It's difficult for fighters, especially the younger ones to compete under those conditions. At this point in my career it wouldn't bother me, but I just want to go out there and fight."

UFC and Strikeforce veteran Trevor Prangley shares his thoughts on the pressures of being a high level competitor in the sport of mixed martial arts. Prangley (22-5), who is set to face dynamic frenchman Karl Ammoussou (11-2) this Friday night at ShoMMA 6, seems to think that there is too much pressure put on fighters in the bigger organizations like the UFC. Is he right? Is the UFC too quick to pull the plug on young fighter's careers with the promotion due to a couple bad losses, or is having this type of mindset as an athlete just asking for failure? The best athletes in every other sport are known for thriving under pressure. Shouldn't the same be said for fighters?

James McSweeney one of four unlockable characters for UFC Undisputed 2010

Posted: 24 Feb 2010 09:41 AM PST

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Video game retailer GameStop has announced that TUF 10 veteran James McSweeney will be one of the four bonus characters that fans will have access to for the sophmore edition of UFC Undisputed, set to be released on May 25.

The remaining three fighters that are to be available for video game and UFC junkies alike should they pre-order UFC Undisputed 2010 at GameStop, will be announced one per day on March 2, March 9, and March 16.

GameStop featured the same type of promotion with UFC Undisputed 2009 as Ryan Bader and Efrain Escudero were made as downloadable characters free of charge in the first three months following the game's release.

Keep it locked to MMAmania.com for the announcements of the three remaining bonus fighters, in the meantime, get up to speed on the major improvements for Undisputed 2010 by clicking here.

BJ TV: Welcome to 99 channels of 'The Penn Global Broadcasting Network'

Posted: 24 Feb 2010 09:13 AM PST

Alabama: Sweet home for MMA

Posted: 24 Feb 2010 09:00 AM PST

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Forty-six down, four to go.

The state of Alabama has finally legalized mixed martial arts action leaving only Connecticut, West Virginia, Vermont, and of course, New York as the only states who don't want to make any money, err, I mean who refuse to sanction MMA.

Dana White tweeted the good news yesterday.

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It's a good thing Alabama has now decided to regulate the sport of MMA because the state was quickly turning into the preferred home for freak show fights across the country.

If you recall correctly, "The Heart of Dixie" played host to Tim Sylvia's now infamous fight with Ray Mercer last year because the state of New Jersey, for good reason, refused to sanction it.

Alabama was also scheduled to host the "Alabama Pride"  event featuring contests between Butterbean and Tank Abbott and the debut of rising MMA superstar DMX. Luckily for all of us, the show was canceled due to poor ticket sales. 

Another not so appealing fight featuring congenital amputee Kyle Maynard made it's home in Auburn, Alabama after the state of Georgia said no thanks.

The legalization of MMA in the four remaining states is now just an inevitability. With the kind of financial impact one visit from the UFC can have on a city in need of an economy boost, as New York Governor David Paterson is well aware, it's just a matter of when, not if, New York, Connecticut, West Virginia, and Vermont join the party.

Report: Dan Henderson vs Jake Shields 'a done deal' for April Strikeforce event

Posted: 24 Feb 2010 07:10 AM PST

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Former dual Pride FC middleweight and welterweight champion, Dan Henderson, will likely make his Strikeforce debut a meaningful one, taking on current 185-pound champion Jake Shields at the promotion's upcoming April event.

No word from Strikeforce officials as of yet; however, Shields confirmed to MMAWeekly Radio on Tuesday that "It's a done deal" following months of speculation regarding the proposed match up.

"It's a go now. We finally worked it out a few days ago. It's a done deal, it's been agreed upon by both parties as far as I know, and I think it's set to go. I have a date (and) venue, but they told me to hold that back. Hopefully CBS. I think it's CBS. There's a slight possibility of Showtime because they're still (working it out). I don't know the rest of the card or any of that yet. But me and Dan's on, and I'm hoping it's on CBS."

This more than likely does not come as a big surprise -- Shields was number one on Henderson's hit list when he recently signed a four-fight, 16-month contract. And after his most recent (and emphatic) performance, knocking out Michael Bisping on the main card of UFC 100 back in July 2009, The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 9 coach will likely be itching to achieve similar results in front of a major television audience on CBS.

Shields, on the other hand, will be out to prove that his current 13-fight win streak is no fluke. Prior to a decision win over Jason "Mayhem" Miller back in November, Shields stopped eight straight opponents with a mix of submissions and technical knockouts.

He essentially cleaned out the entire 170-pound division not competing inside the Octagon, forcing the former Elite XC welterweight champion to move up a weight class in search of stiffer competition.

It's safe to say that he's now found it in "Hollywood."

Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more on this match up, as well as the still-developing next Strikeforce event on CBS (date, city and venue all still TBD), as it becomes available.

UFC Undisputed 2010 video game demo sneak peek

Posted: 24 Feb 2010 07:09 AM PST

Stephan Bonnar: I will appeal the UFC 110 loss to Krzysztof Soszynski

Posted: 24 Feb 2010 07:09 AM PST

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Props: NWI Times

Quoteworthy:

"It's only fair to get this overturned to a no contest or draw. In the rules, if after two rounds a fighter suffers a cut from an illegal blow, they go to the scorecard. The judges had it one round a piece, which would have made it a draw. Right after (it) happened, I pointed to my head and told him, 'Head butt.' Why he didn't look up at the replay, which they showed about 30 times, I have no idea. I have never been wronged so bad in a situation that was so obvious. Yes, I will appeal this decision. I just want what is fair. How do 20,000, people including my opponent and the commentators, see that a clash of heads occurred and the referee not see it? I feel like I'm in a pro wrestling match, where one of the wrestlers hits his opponent over the head with a chair when the referee's back's turned. Everyone in the arena sees what happened but the ref, then the ref gets down and gives the three-count and gives the guy the win. It really feels like that."

Light heavyweight Stephan Bonnar slams UFC 110 referee John Sharp for missing an inadvertent headbutt that busted him open in the third round of his 205-pound war with Krzysztof Soszynski at the "Nogueira vs. Velasquez" event on Feb. 21 from Sydney. "The American Psycho" was not permitted to continue after spilling blood all over himself, Soszynski and the better part of the Octagon floor but will appeal the decision and try to get it overturned because of the nature of the cut. Sour grapes? Or legitimate complaint?

Zuffa rewards Anthony Perosh with UFC contract following Croatian beatdown

Posted: 24 Feb 2010 06:32 AM PST

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Australian grappler Anthony Perosh probably thought his UFC career had come and gone following his consecutive losses inside the Octagon back in 2006.

"The Hippo" first appeared at UFC 61: "Bitter Rivals," where he was pounded out by Jeff Monson midway through the first round. He got a second chance later that year against Christian Wellisch, but came up short on the judge's cards at UFC 66: "Liddell vs. Ortiz 2."

It's not surprising when a fighter gets released after an 0-2 debut, but 0-3? That can get you a four-fight contract extension according to InfiniteMMA.com.

Of course all you need to do is step up when the promotion calls and take your lumps like a man. And that's exactly what Perosh did when he filled in for the ailing Ben Rothwell on two days notice against Mirko Filipovic at UFC 110 last Saturday night in Sydney.

"Cro Cop" stayed out of the Aussie's comfort zone, repeatedly staving off takedowns and striking at will. After busting Perosh open in the second round with a vicious elbow, the bout was stopped and the Croat was afforded the win.

While it may have been a loss on his record, it was certainly a win for Perosh's future. Even if he doesn't fulfill all of the fights on his new contract, he at least has the opportunity to make another run at UFC success.

UFC 112: Renzo Gracie expects a battle against Matt Hughes in Abu Dhabi (Video)

Posted: 24 Feb 2010 06:03 AM PST
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