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• UFC 117: Anderson Silva vs Chael Sonnen video fight talk
• UFC Quick Quote: Roy Nelson gets Junior dos Santos -- because nobody else wanted to fight him
• Michael Kirkham Memorial Fund established to assist children of fallen fighter
• 'Steel' camp: Cung Le owes us a third fight
• Bellator 27 tickets for Majestic Theater on Sept. 2 in San Antonio on sale soon
• Tom Huggins: It wasn't the cost of plane tickets -- Bob Sapp never signed his Impact FC contract
• Lebron James 'The Decision' video parody from the 2010 ESPYs
• Randy Couture graces the August/September cover of UFC magazine. The feature looks at "Captain...
• Strikeforce books Caros Fodor vs Thomas Diagne for 'Challengers' on July 23 in Everett
• Fabricio Werdum elbow surgery could delay Strikeforce return until 2011

UFC 117: Anderson Silva vs Chael Sonnen video fight talk Posted: 15 Jul 2010 01:33 PM PDT Number one contender Chael Sonnen after the jump.

UFC Quick Quote: Roy Nelson gets Junior dos Santos -- because nobody else wanted to fight him Posted: 15 Jul 2010 11:51 AM PDT "Anybody that actually follows the sport who actually knows my style and knows what I can do doesn’t underestimate me. I may not be a Greek god, or what people think a fighter looks like, but I’m definitely a fighter. Dos Santos is the pinnacle of guys in the UFC. He’s the number one contender for sure in the heavyweight division. Nobody wants to fight him in the UFC, hence why I’m here fighting him. I pretty much got an email from Joe Silva asking if I wanted to…actually, not even asking me if I wanted to, but telling me that I was fighting Dos Santos next, and here I am." Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 10 Champion Roy Nelson tells UFC.com that he drew the shortest straw in the Junior dos Santos lottery. "Cigano" smashed his way to a 5-0 start in the promotion's heavyweight division with a string of impressive performances against the likes Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, Gilbert Yvel and most recently Gabriel Gonzaga. "Big Country" faces the Brazilian for the right to challenge the winner of "Lesnar vs. Velasquez" at UFC 121 in Anaheim. Who ya' got?

Michael Kirkham Memorial Fund established to assist children of fallen fighter Posted: 15 Jul 2010 11:37 AM PDT Aspiring mixed martial artist Michael Kirkham passed away back on June 28 after succumbing to a brain hemorrhage that resulted from head trauma suffered in his debut loss at "Confrontation at the Convocation" from the USC Aiken Convocation Center on June 26 in Aiken, South Carolina. Kirkham is survived by his five children, who are the recipients of any donations received through the Michael Kirkham Memorial Fund established by his brother here. MMA Fighting has a detailed look at the final days of the fallen fighter. Specifically, his passing and the possible correlation between his June 26 fight and a TKO loss suffered in an amateur bout prior to that on April 24. The condition is known as "second-impact syndrome." From Dr. Joe Estwanik, former medical advisor to the North Carolina Boxing Authority and author of "Sports Medicine for the Combat Artists:" "This could have been second-impact syndrome. From a few days to three-to-four weeks after somebody suffers a significant blow to the head, a second blow can trigger an overwhelming response by the body that we still don't really understand. Even a minor blow could result in massive swelling of the brain and there's up to a 50 percent chance of dying." A brain scan as part of a pre-fight medical exam may have detected such a scenario; however, outside of New Jersey (famous for the Thiago Alves intervention prior to UFC 111), few commissions require the procedure. And few fighters can afford it. Regardless of circumstance, Michael Kirkham is gone. It's a sobering reminder of the risk aspiring fighters take when they embark on a career in combat sports. To donate to the Michael Kirkham Memorial Fund click here.

'Steel' camp: Cung Le owes us a third fight Posted: 15 Jul 2010 09:39 AM PDT Props: MMA Weekly Quoteworthy: "I just sent a text message to Scott Coker today cause I keep hearing about this tournament. I sent him a text message today and I said we want in that tournament. There will be a third Cung Le fight. Cung owes it to us. We didn’t have to take this last fight. There was nothing for Scott to gain, nothing. It was only a (losing situation). The fans will want to see it again because for one thing, neither fight was boring." Mike Roberts, manager for Strikeforce middleweight Scott Smith, expects "Hands of Steel" to appear in both the rumored 185-pound tournament in October as well as a third fight with rival Cung Le. While one loss apiece normally warrants a third dance, Smith was getting handled in their first encounter before pulling off his patented miracle comeback. Do two lopsided fights with one hail mary warrant a deciding bout? Or did Le do enough in the second fight to negate a third?

Bellator 27 tickets for Majestic Theater on Sept. 2 in San Antonio on sale soon Posted: 15 Jul 2010 09:18 AM PDT SAN ANTONIO, Texas (July 15, 2010) - For the second time in three months, Bellator Fighting Championships will bring its action-packed, nationally televised brand of mixed martial arts to the historic Majestic Theater in downtown San Antonio on Thursday, Sept. 2nd. Tickets for the event go on sale at 10 a.m. CDT Friday at all Ticketmaster outlets and at ticketmaster.com. Bellator 27 will be headlined by three opening-round fights in Bellator's Season 3 Heavyweight and Bantamweight tournaments as well as five other fights featuring top local fighters from throughout South Texas. Fighters will be announced in the coming weeks. Bellator last visited the Majestic Theatre on May 27th for Bellator 20, which saw dramatic wins by Alexander "Storm" Shelemenko, Bryan "The Beast" Baker and Eddie Sanchez. " San Antonio is a great fight town and we were embraced very enthusiastically by the city's MMA fans during our first visit to the Majestic Theater back in May," said Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney. "We can't wait to return on Sept. 2nd with a full card of eight more exciting fights." The Sept. 2 event will once again be broadcast LIVE nationwide on FOX Sports Net and during special weekend highlight shows on NBC, Telemundo and the cable network mun2. For more information, visit Bellator.com or follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Bellator.

Tom Huggins: It wasn't the cost of plane tickets -- Bob Sapp never signed his Impact FC contract Posted: 15 Jul 2010 07:07 AM PDT Props: Sherdog.com Quoteworthy: "For three weeks, we tried to get Bob to commit to flight dates and sign a contract. He never actually signed the contract we sent him weeks ago. We needed to have this stuff taken care of weeks ago. You get on the phone with Bob, and two hours later, nothing gets accomplished. Bob is a business guy, too. He knows that sometimes things happen that make deals untenable. You can't just get three plane tickets out Sofia, especially for Bob Sapp. He's 350 pounds; he can't fly coach. Getting all the right connecting flights out of Bulgaria can't just be done last minute. The tickets were getting more expensive, but it was never a price issue. Bob was actually very reasonable about money. It was the logistics and time. None of this would've been an issue if he wasn't in Bulgaria. That made the logistics really hard: there were major visa issues for these guys coming to Australia, they had to be consulate-issued. We just weren't getting the help we needed from Bob to get it done properly." Impact FC promoter Tom Huggins was ready to fly Bob Sapp to Australia for his "Uprising 2" fight against Soa Palelei on July 18 in Sydney -- except "The Beast" reportedly failed to sign his contract while wrapping up his role in the "Conan the Barbarian" movie remake in Bulgaria. Brad Morris will step in to replace Sapp on a card that also features Ken Shamrock vs. Pedro Rizzo. Will Sapp's absence hurt the promotion's drawing power? Or is this a blessing in disguise?

Lebron James 'The Decision' video parody from the 2010 ESPYs Posted: 15 Jul 2010 06:30 AM PDT Tito Ortiz is apparently among the many who already knew that Steve Carell would take his appetite to Outback Steakhouse:

Randy Couture graces the August/September cover of UFC magazine. The feature looks at "Captain... Posted: 15 Jul 2010 06:29 AM PDT Randy Couture graces the August/September cover of UFC magazine. The feature looks at "Captain America's" quest to end the boxing vs. MMA debate. Will he?

Strikeforce books Caros Fodor vs Thomas Diagne for 'Challengers' on July 23 in Everett Posted: 15 Jul 2010 06:27 AM PDT EVERETT, Wash. (July 14, 2010) -The students of two icons will collide when submission specialist and Matt Hume protégé Caros "The Future" Fodor (5-2) takes on Cung Le student Thomas Diagne (1-1) in a lightweight (155 pounds) contest on the STRIKEFORCE Challengers Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight card at Comcast Arena at Everett, on SHOWTIME, on Friday, July 23. The 26-year-old Fodor, an ambitious go-getter, fulfilled a lifelong dream by enlisting in the U.S. Army just six days after his high school graduation while he was still a minor at age 17, eventually making him the youngest Marine in his platoon. At the age of 12, the Shoreline, Wash. Native had joined an auxiliary military group to get a taste of what life like might be as a serviceman. After invading Iraq and, later Kuwait in 2003 to support the U.S. war on terror, Fodor experienced a change of heart and eventually decided to re-focus his aggressive energy towards combat in the cage. During a visit to AMC Kickboxing and Pankration in Kirkland, Wash., Fodor met former submission wrestling champion and MMA expert Hume as well as Hume's top coach, Trevor Jackson, an introduction that quickly inspired Fodor to commit his life to the sport. One of four children adopted by a single mother, Fodor has persevered through a number of hardships during his life, including a hostile rivalry with adopted brother and, now, fellow professional fighter Ben Fodor. It was their common bond in MMA that eventually helped Caros and Ben settle their differences. Suddenly, the two young men who had not been able to peacefully co-exist in a room together were supporting each other during their respective bouts. Fodor is looking to return to the win column after suffering a second round defeat via submission (armbar) at the hands of Nate Hannah on Feb. 10, 2010. Prior to the loss, Fodor had been victorious in five consecutive fights, all in the first round by way of submission. Diagne, a 26 year old native of Paris, France, is a longtime practitioner of San Shou, the Chinese form of kickboxing that embraces throwing techniques in addition to striking. Since 1996, the once obscure martial art has been brought to the forefront of the fight world by Le, its pioneer who amassed a perfect 16-0 career record in the sport before bringing his San Shou skills to the cage where he eventually was crowned STRIKEFORCE World Middleweight (185 pounds) Champion after defeating MMA legend Frank Shamrock at San Jose, Calif.'s HP Pavilion on March 29, 2008. In 2008, Diagne parted ways with his homeland in order to train with Le at the superstar's Universal Strength Headquarters (USH) gym in Milpitas, Calif. Following in the footsteps of his mentor, Diagne added Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training under Paul Schreiner to his game in order to prepare for a career in MMA. A six-time San Shou titlist, the 6-foot-1 Diagne made history as well as his MMA debut on May 15, 2009 when he competed in the first STRIKEFORCE Challengers event in history, earning a unanimous decision over Kaleo Kwan at Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif. Tickets for the STRIKEFORCE Challengers event are on sale and can be purchased at the Comcast Arena box office (866-332-8499) as well as online at ComcastArenaEverett.com and STRIKEFORCE's official website (www.strikeforce.com). In the main event, undefeated heavyweight prospect Shane Del Rosario (9-0) will attempt to extend his unblemished streak when he faces fellow heavy hitter Lolohea Mahe (4-1-1). Unbeaten STRIKEFORCE Women's World Welterweight (135 pounds) Champion and former ballet dancer Sarah Kaufman (11-0) will put her perfect record as well as her crown on the line against international star Roxanne Modafferi (15-5). In other featured action, Abongo Humphrey (7-1) will take on MMA bad boy Mike "Mak" Kyle (16-7-1) at light heavyweight (205 pounds). Twenty-five year old Cory "The One" Devela (9-4) of Bonney Lake, Wash. will attempt to re-ignite his career in his first bout in 12 months when he faces hard-hitting Bobby Voelker (21-8) at welterweight (170 pounds). The first STRIKEFORCE Challengers preliminary card bout will begin at 5:30 p.m. and the first main card bout will begin at 8 p.m. The live SHOWTIME telecast will begin at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast). STRIKEFORCE Challengers, where tomorrow's champions are born, is a proving ground for up-and-coming MMA fighters. The series is designed to provide today's top prospects with the opportunity to step-up their level of competition and demonstrate their ability in a nationally televised event.

Fabricio Werdum elbow surgery could delay Strikeforce return until 2011 Posted: 15 Jul 2010 05:30 AM PDT Props: Super Lutas Quoteworthy: "Everything has changed for better for me. That was very important. I’ve gotten over 30 phone calls a day in my gym after the win, more students have come, the seminar value went up. It’s like at any other profession, a singer, soccer player, as you develop and get the spotlight the value changes. After the seminars I will undergo a surgery on my elbow that I have put off for some time. We’re in July and I only want to come back 100-percent recovered. I think it’s hard to make it back this year due the physical therapy, conditioning and all else. Then I might just get back next year." Strikeforce heavyweight grappler Fabricio Werdum may opt to have surgery on his elbow following his June 26 upset win over former PRIDE champion Fedor Emelianenko. "Vai Cavalo" has enjoyed a newfound popularity following his surprising submission over "The Last Emperor" in San Jose and has no objections to giving the Russian enigma an immediate rematch. But will Emelianenko wait until 2011? Or cash in his remaining Strikeforce fight to face division champion Alistair Overeem?

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