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- Heavy Artillery: MMAmania.com Strikeforce interview exclusive with Alistair Overeem
- The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 11: Episode 3 recap and discussion
- Strikeforce open media workout pics from Ed Clay's Nashville MMA gym
- Dana White: Chael Sonnen to get next shot at Anderson Silva -- who will be cut if he ...
- UFC Quick Quote: Demian Maia calls Anderson Silva's antics at UFC 112 unnecessary and disrespectful
- BJ Penn: I'm not on the pound-for-pound list anymore -- that's gotta be Fedor
- Bellator XIII: Roger Huerta vs Chad Hinton quarterfinal fight (Video)
- Jason High released from the UFC
- Greg Jackson: Anderson Silva's UFC 112 performance was very entertaining
- UFC Quick Quote: 'The Blue Collar Bad Ass' is a real fighter -- not an athlete who fights
- Daily Show with Jon Stewart pokes fun of BJ Penn's chin blast on Brian Kilmeade (Video)
- Gilbert Melendez: It's jiu-jitsu vs. ground and pound on April 17
- Bellator 14 weigh ins moved to Chicago Theatre for April 14 at 6pm CT
| Heavy Artillery: MMAmania.com Strikeforce interview exclusive with Alistair Overeem Posted: 14 Apr 2010 08:06 PM PDT
Strikeforce will officially welcome back its heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem to the United States at "Heavy Artillery" on Saturday, May 15. It has been a long time coming, to say the least. The last time we witnessed Overeem stateside was in November 2007 when he earned his Strikeforce title by defeating mixed martial arts veteran Paul Buentello. In the roughly two and a half years since, he's stayed extremely active, fighting in seven MMA and six K-1 bouts. The Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri will play host to Overeem's first title defense as he takes on contender Brett Rogers in the main event of the evening. The "Demolition Man" took some time out of his training schedule to discuss why Fedor and M-1 are ducking him, Rogers' recent smack talk and crushing his knee on Brock Lesnar's head. Check it out: Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Over the past six months you have fought a total of six times - three under MMA rules and three under K-1 rules. Many fighters go 3 - 4 months in between fights or even longer. Why have you chosen to be more active than most? Alistair Overeem: I feel I am at my peak. I have no injuries and my decision with my management to also participate in K-1 turned out really well. I had no injuries and scored many KO victories in round one. The training is harder then the fight itself. Also, my management Golden Glory did an excellent job in me signing a contract where I could fight in different organizations. Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): How is your body handling it physically? How are you feeling right now? Are you 100% healthy and ready to fight Brett Rogers on May 15? Alistair Overeem: Yes, I am 100% fit. I have been fit for all my fights lately. I do not have to cut weight anymore and I am 100% focused on fighting. In the past, when I was fighting for PRIDE I was doing a lot of other stuff in between my fights. I bought an MMA magazine so I was running around with a camera to take pictures for my magazine. Then, personally at home, things did not go really good. The worst was originally my weight was like 103 kg and every time I came down to 93 kg sometimes I was pissing blood as I think my body was eating muscle tissue. That's one of the reasons I could feel the power run out of me after a few minutes. All of that has changed now since I became a heavyweight fighter. Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Rogers has been pretty vocal already leading up to the fight and calling you anything from a "coward" to an "egomaniac" and so forth. Has anything he has said bothered you up to this point? Alistair Overeem: Yeah, I read "chipmunk" lately somewhere. I do my talking in the ring. I've got nothing much to say. I do not even read the forums that much anymore. I'm too busy with training. I was laughing about a Dutch forum called "Mix Fight." They posted Brett doing pads. People thought it was staged, the footage, that's how bad it was! But I go by my own game plan. I got my trainer Martijn de Jong and Cor Hemmers, and I got great management in Golden Glory, as well as tons of big named and skilled sparring partners. I will be very ready for this fight! Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Why do you feel Rogers has gone out of his way to trash talk leading up to the fight? Alistair Overeem: I don't know. Something I said in an elevator? I don't know what he is talking about. He says he does not like me because of several reasons. I just see him as a next opponent and will do my talking in the ring with my knees, fists, or subs. If Rogers wants to profile himself the way he does that's his business. Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Rogers is coming off a loss to Fedor Emelianenko in November 2009. Have you seen tape of the fight? If so, what did you think of his performance against Fedor? Alistair Overeem: I think Fedor is not the Fedor he was in PRIDE like so many of that generation of fighters. Fedor is the best and has beaten the best, but he is not unbeatable. Vadim (Finkelstein) recently made comments about me being a "steroid bully," and that's why they do not want to fight me? But then fighters who got caught three times with steroids in the past they want to fight. Or when Vadim does a co-promotion on New Years Eve, the unranked Hong Man Choi can be picked as an opponent for Fedor, who is 20 cm taller than me and 40 kg heavier. Rogers showed some strength, but gassed in my eyes and gave Fedor room to come back because Fedor could smell that! Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Do you feel Brett Rogers has done enough to deserve a shot at your Strikeforce heavyweight title? Alistair Overeem: I am not really busy with that. I wanted to fight Fedor but my management knows the management of Fedor very well. There is too much risk business-wise to make that fight happen for M-1. If they lose they cannot play their co-promotion card anymore and M-1 will be over. Scott (Coker) will terminate all bindings with M-1 and continue with me and Golden Glory as he knows we are reasonable and we have been around for 10+ years. I think he got gray hairs from them already (laughs). Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Is there any aspect of MMA that Brett Rogers is superior to you in? Alistair Overeem: He looks strong. I will not get into the trainings video which appeared on YouTube. Many approached me and were laughing their heads off about Rogers' training performances. I take every opponent seriously, especially for the belt. Brett Rogers is just the next one on my list decided by promoter Scott Coker and my management. Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): What is your official prediction for the fight? Alistair Overeem: This will happen - if Brett keeps his promise and comes to fight and comes to me as he is saying in all of his interviews within two minutes he will get KO'd. He'll eat one of my devastating knees or I will sub him on the ground. Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Fedor Emelianenko is fighting Fabricio Werdum in June. His camp has also expressed interest in possibly fighting Josh Barnett in the future. Are you starting to feel like Fedor and his management are ducking you? Alistair Overeem: I explained this in the press before. Of course they are ducking me. I am a risk to their whole organization. Vadim is embarrassing all the Russians. First not fighting Couture and now ducking me. At the same time he calls me a steroid bully in the Russian press. My manager will reply to that soon. But he still wants to fight fighters who have been caught three times using steroids! I will even wonder if Fedor is fighting in June. It always is a surprise party dealing with M-1. I got a nice scenario - Werdum gets injured and I have to fight Fedor in June. Just wishful thinking! Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): If you could pass along a message to Fedor directly, what would you say to him regarding this situation? Alistair Overeem: Fedor, you are a great fighter and like many other great Russian fighters in history you do your talking in a ring or cage. Leave this M-1 circus and start fighting the best. It's okay to lose sometimes but hiding makes you look like a coward, which Fedor is not, Vadim is! Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Moving forward, should we expect your next fight to be under the K-1, Strikeforce, or DREAM banner? Alistair Overeem: I am a fighter and fight as much as possible against anybody if the UFC would have a policy that fighting outside their organization was okay. I wanted to fight Brock Lesnar, Frank Mir, or anybody in their top flight right now. So my answer is I do not care about which banner. I care about beating my opponents under whatever banner. Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): In that case, is fighting in the UFC even a possibility in the future? What are the chances that Dana White can get you to fight for him? Alistair Overeem: My management is okay with Dana White. I met him one year ago when I went with my manager and Semmy Schilt to UFC in Ireland. We made pictures and talked about the UFC. If they want me to fight there, no problem, but right now I have a contract with Strikeforce and I will honor that agreement. Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): How do you feel you would matchup against the UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar? Alistair Overeem: I would love to fight Lesnar. It would not be too difficult to crush my knee on his head! Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Is your next major goal to become the K-1 Heavyweight Champion? Alistair Overeem: Yes, it was not my initial planning, but I must say the last tournament of K-1 was electrifying for me. I got such a good vibe; the atmosphere, the tournament. And I know I can beat teammate Semmy Schilt, who is also from Golden Glory. Semmy recently defended his K-1 heavyweight title against another Golden Glory fighter Errol Zimmerman. Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Thank you for the time Alistair. Is there any message you would like to pass along to your fans out there or any sponsors you would like to thank before we go? Alistair Overeem: I would like to thank Fight Game clothing and Full Tilt Poker and all other sponsors who helped me in the past and the near future. I want to thank my fans. Anybody who is interested in sponsoring me for my title fight with Rogers please contact my management www.goldenglory.com. Alistair will do some serious damage in 2010. Be prepared! Derek Bolender is a frequent contributor to MMAmania.com. He is also a freelance writer who has contributed to outlets such as CBSSports.com, FoxSports.com, and SI.com in the past. Follow him on Twitter at @DerekMMAWriter. |
| The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 11: Episode 3 recap and discussion Posted: 14 Apr 2010 05:51 PM PDT
Episode three of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 11, featuring coaches Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell and Tito "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" Ortiz, gets underway and right off the bat there is a group meeting to announce that Chris Camozzi is getting kicked off the show. Unfortunately he fractured his jaw in his elimination bout and UFC President Dana White will not permit him to continue. Now Team Ortiz is in the position of having to fill a pretty big hole in his line up and has four names of eliminated fighters to choose from as possible replacements. In their first training session since winning the opening fight, Team Liddell is in good spirits as they sweat their way through another workout. So far the team has been receptive to his coaching style and personality. Trainer John Hackleman makes note of how cohesive their group is. Back at the house, Charles Blanchard is giving a back massage but gets way too throaty in his play-by-play. Apparently some of the other contestants aren't digging the man-to-man contact either and start voicing their displeasure. The next day Seth Baczynski gets called back to replace Camozzi because he "showed a lot of heart" in his elimination loss. Coach Liddell steps up and makes his next pick: Brad Tavares vs. James Hammertree. Following the fight announcement things get a little rough in the cage between Nick Ring and Jamie Yager. It seems Yager was running his mouth and Ring took exception to it. Ortiz tries his rah-rah team spirit speech but it doesn't look like it's getting through. Both Hammertree and Tavares make weight without exception and both teams are predicting a knockout. Hammertree's style is described as "Fighting like someone is holding his family hostage." We get a pre-fight look at Brad Tavares and both Hackleman and striking coach Howard Davis like his stand-up (sans inactive jab) and career potential. Hammertree's preview reveals a five-second knockout on his resume and wants to put Tavares out on his feet -- but has no problem paying homage to his coach with a takedown and ground-and-pound. Wow, fight is starting very early. Only scheduled for two rounds I have to assume this things goes to sudden victory. Elimination bout #2: Brad Tavares (4-0) vs. James Hammertree (5-1) Round 1: Inside kick and high kick graze for Tavares. Hammertree eats a stiff jab who then shoots and drives Tavares to the cage. Hammertree struggles for the takedown, gets reversed and ends up kissing the canvas. Tavares on top looking for the choke but Hammertree powers out and gets top position. Tavares works back to his feet and Hammertree wrestles him down but once again loses position. Tavares riding him like a pony and gets turned around. Hammertree on top but doesn't do a whole lot as they wiggle their way in and out of dominant positions. Round 2: Hammertree bumrushes him to the cage, tries for the takedown and ends up in guard. Some wacky wrestling on display here. He powers up after escaping an armlock and eats a knee but Tavares falls down and Hammertree takes his back. Tavares gets to his feet and eats a knee. Hammertree drags him back down. Tito very vocal with his instructions. Chuck barely audible. Hammertree warned for spine strikes. Tavares working a Kimura but has no leverage and gives it up for guard. Action slowing down as Hammertree lays in guard with intermittent punches. Round 3: Hammertree swings for the fences and throws an airball. Tavares with a nice jab. Hammertree has seen enough on the feet and takes him down. Tavares is gassed. Hammertree to mount but voila, Tavares reverses. Hammertree has enough juice to stay out of danger even though Tavares has a good hold on his arm. Unfortunately they don't do much for the last minute or so and just struggle for position until time expires. Brad Tavares defeats James Hammertree via unanimous decision. Following the very close decision, Ortiz tries to find an explanation for his second straight loss. Chuck is fired up. Stay tuned next week as Coach Ortiz looks to rebound while trying to keep his team from imploding, an in-cage controversy sends both coaches into a rage and two fights on one show! Whoo-hoo! See you next week! |
| Strikeforce open media workout pics from Ed Clay's Nashville MMA gym Posted: 14 Apr 2010 05:14 PM PDT
More photos from Esther Lin of Jason "Mayhem" Miller, Gilbert Melendez, Josh Shockman and Ovince Saint Preux after the jump.
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| Dana White: Chael Sonnen to get next shot at Anderson Silva -- who will be cut if he ... Posted: 14 Apr 2010 03:01 PM PDT ... fights against Sonnen like he did against Demian Maia at UFC 112. That's what he told ESPNs Jim Rome today, anyway:
More on this news when it becomes available. |
| UFC Quick Quote: Demian Maia calls Anderson Silva's antics at UFC 112 unnecessary and disrespectful Posted: 14 Apr 2010 02:05 PM PDT
Coming off a bizarre defeat at the hands of Anderson Silva at UFC 112, Demian Maia spoke to Graciemag about what really went down inside the Octagon last weekend in Abu Dhabi. Various reports have surfaced regarding what Silva had to say during the fight, none of which were exactly flattering. What do we make of this? Does hearing what Anderson really was saying that night infuriate you even more, or could you not care any less? Is there any room in the sport for this kind of behavior? Preach on, Maniacs. |
| BJ Penn: I'm not on the pound-for-pound list anymore -- that's gotta be Fedor Posted: 14 Apr 2010 01:02 PM PDT
Props: 106.7 The Fan (via Sports Radio Interviews) Quoteworthy:
Former UFC Lightweight Champion BJ Penn is already planning on his rematch with newly crowned division kingpin Frankie Edgar after "The Prodigy" came up short on the judges scorecards last Saturday night (April 10) at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi. The Hawaiian has been considerably humble following his shocking defeat and even bestows the pound-for-pound title on famed Russian heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko. Is "The Last Emperor" a surprising choice considering he's a non-UFC fighter? |
| Bellator XIII: Roger Huerta vs Chad Hinton quarterfinal fight (Video) Posted: 14 Apr 2010 01:01 PM PDT
Rounds two and three after the jump. More great action from Bellator XIII here. |
| Jason High released from the UFC Posted: 14 Apr 2010 12:16 PM PDT
Jason High tweets his release from the UFC after just one fight. "The Kansas City Bandit" dropped a unanimous decision to Charlie Brenneman at UFC Fight Night 21: Florian vs. Gomi. |
| Greg Jackson: Anderson Silva's UFC 112 performance was very entertaining Posted: 14 Apr 2010 11:14 AM PDT
Props: The Fight Show with Mauro Ranallo Quoteworthy:
Apparently not everyone was disappointed with Anderson Silva's dance act, err, I mean middleweight title defense at UFC 112 this past weekend. In speaking with Mauro Ranallo, famed mixed martial arts trainer Greg Jackson actually stated that he was quite impressed with his performance. Jackson points to the fact that while Silva didn't always engage with Maia, he played it smart while switching up styles and avoiding damage. Many fans, if not most, who tuned into the spectacle that took place in Abu Dhabi left the fight feeling like the "Spider" put on a shameful performance and disrespected the sport. Greg however, says nothing Anderson did in the fight was a disgrace. So, are we buying what he's trying to sell here, or is the guy just playing it nice considering the fact that a Georges St. Pierre vs. Anderson Silva match up may soon be on the horizon? What say you, Maniacs? HT: MMA Fighting |
| UFC Quick Quote: 'The Blue Collar Bad Ass' is a real fighter -- not an athlete who fights Posted: 14 Apr 2010 09:10 AM PDT
Longtime UFC and mixed martial arts veteran Phil Baroni checks in with Bleacher Report from his training grounds in Phuket, Thailand. The artist formerly known as "The Best Eva" is facing an uphill battle against today's newer generation of well rounded fighters. Baroni is trying to keep up with the times and complete his arsenal -- but is it too little, too late? Can the NYBA make one last run before hanging up the gloves? |
| Daily Show with Jon Stewart pokes fun of BJ Penn's chin blast on Brian Kilmeade (Video) Posted: 14 Apr 2010 07:42 AM PDT The dreaded North/South position... |
| Gilbert Melendez: It's jiu-jitsu vs. ground and pound on April 17 Posted: 14 Apr 2010 06:15 AM PDT
Props: Sherdog.com Quoteworthy:
Undisputed Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez sets his sights on Japanese grappling phenom Shinya Aoki at this Saturday's "Nashville" event on CBS. Aoki is not the first DREAM competitor to try his luck stateside but is certainly hoping to make a better impression than the last two (Manhoef, Zaromskis). What happens when you pit the fury of "El Nino" against the submissions of "The Tobikan Judan?" We'll find out soon enough -- early predictions? |
| Bellator 14 weigh ins moved to Chicago Theatre for April 14 at 6pm CT Posted: 14 Apr 2010 06:14 AM PDT
CHICAGO, Ill. (April 12, 2010) - Bellator Fighting Championships will host a pre-event press conference in conjunction with the official weigh-in for Bellator 14 on Wednesday, April 14th in advance of the promotion's Thursday evening event at the Chicago Theatre. The press-conference/weigh-in will begin promptly at 6 p.m. CT at the Chicago Theatre in the Downstairs Theatre,175 North State Street in downtown Chicago. To attend enter the front entrance and go downstairs. The event will feature photo and media opportunities with all 16 of the event's competitors including former NCAA wrestling champion and U.S. Olympian Ben Askren, former UFC welterweight star Ryan "The Tank Engine" Thomas, MMA legend and top Chicago MMA trainer Jeff Curran and up-and-coming female fighter Felice Herrig. For more information, visit Bellator.com. |
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