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Pic of UFC legend Randy Couture throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before the Oakland A's 6-2...
Junior dos Santos ready to be next champion after big win over tough Roy Nelson at UFC 117 (Video)
Is Thiago Alves' next fight at middleweight (185 pounds)?
'Devastated' Chael Sonnen 'heartbroken' after coming in second (again) at UFC 117
FightMetric UFC 117 stats: Chael Sonnen outstrikes Anderson Silva 320-64
Clay Guida: I told people I was going to shut down Rafael dos Anjos and that's what I did (Video)
UFC Quick Quote: Matt Hughes wants more fights in 2011, doesn't want 'Gracie Killer' nickname
Pic of Stefan Struve's busted, bloody and swollen lip after his war with Christian Morecraft at UFC...
UFC 117: Dana White on Anderson Silva's 'performance of a lifetime,' and much more (Video)

Pic of UFC legend Randy Couture throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before the Oakland A's 6-2...

Posted: 08 Aug 2010 03:40 PM PDT

Pic of UFC legend Randy Couture throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before the Oakland A's 6-2 victory over the Texas Rangers on Aug. 7, 2010.

Junior dos Santos ready to be next champion after big win over tough Roy Nelson at UFC 117 (Video)

Posted: 08 Aug 2010 08:47 AM PDT

Is this, ladies and gentlemen, the future heavyweight champion of the world?

Is Thiago Alves' next fight at middleweight (185 pounds)?

Posted: 08 Aug 2010 08:46 AM PDT

It will be if Dana White makes good on his comments from the UFC 117 post-fight press conference:

"We were just texting a few minutes ago and he said, ‘Hey, I’m sorry about that. I’ll come back stronger.’ I said, ‘Yeah, at one 185 you will.’ He said, ‘No, I want to stay at 170.’ It’s not like this guy has been off for a year, he looked lethargic tonight. He looked slow. He doesn’t belong at 170. He belongs at 185 pounds. It’s (expletive) to have guys make weight and have guys not make weight, especially at this level. When you’re in the UFC, your job is to make weight. Everyone else made weight that day, so it wasn’t the scale. He didn’t come in on weight, period. Believe me, I didn’t think Thiago didn’t want to make weight. He can’t. Could he have cut that half a pound? Maybe he couldn’t have. Maybe he cut so much weight that mentally, it would have broke him to go cut that last half a pound and that’s (expletive). I guarantee he can make 185 and he’ll never have a problem at it."

The company president has apparently reached his breaking point with Thiago Alves' weight cutting issues, as the "Pitbull" came in slightly over the limit for his welterweight number one contender bout with Jon Fitch at the UFC 117 event on Aug. 7 in Oakland, California. Alves insists he belongs at 170 pounds, but has had a difficult time proving it. How about it Maniacs, is it finally time to see what kind of impact the Brazilian can make as a middleweight? Or is White overreacting? Opinions please.

'Devastated' Chael Sonnen 'heartbroken' after coming in second (again) at UFC 117

Posted: 08 Aug 2010 08:14 AM PDT

Props: UFC 117 post-fight press conference

Quoteworthy:

"I'm devastated. I came in second [place]. I worked hard, did what I could do and all that other nice stuff. But at the end of the day, you either get your hand raised or you don't. And I didn't. That's it. I have to live with it. I'm devastated.... Fighting Anderson Silva is like eating Chinese food -- in 20 minutes I'm going to want to do it again.... I'm not going to apologize for anything, I'm not backing off my stance. And if I ever did, I would send myself a pink slip and move on in life. I have one goal: Become a world champion. And I am not backing off that goal because of tonight's decision.... I'm not Dog the Bounty Hunter -- I don't issue apologies. You're not going to be the first one to get one out of me.... I can't sugar coat it -- my heart is broken. I wrestled for a world championship, I came in second. I fought in the WEC for a world championship, I came in second. Now I'm in the UFC, and again, I'm a runner up. It hurts really bad. I just can't put it any other way.... He hit me hard. Right off the bat, he kicked me in the stomach. I've never been kicked like that. But I don't allow myself to be hurt -- I'll walk through anything he gives, and at the end of the night, go get stitched up.... Look, he's a good fighter and he found a way to win. That's what champions do.... I'm never going to change. I'm always going to go after number one, whoever it is. If it's Anderson, or I've got to go up to the guys at 205, or I have to go on a diet and go after guys like Jose Aldo, it doesn't matter, I'll do it. If you've got the belt, I'm coming after you.... Here's the truth: If the commissioner would sanction it, and Dana [White] would move, I would fight him again right now.... He won tonight, he is the better guy. That's it."

Chael Sonnen makes no excuses for his stunning submission loss to middleweight champion Anderson Silva at UFC 117 last night (Aug. 7), admitting that "The Spider" is indeed the better fighter after pulling off a dramatic come-from-behind fifth round victory. Sonnen battered the Brazilian for nearly 25 minutes, but with less than two minutes to go in a fight that he was clearly winning, he got caught in a tight triangle choke. He did all he could to escape, but he just couldn't wiggle himself free. So close, yet so far away. That appears to be a recurring theme throughout his competitive career, coming in second place when it matters most. Is Sonnen destined to be runner up again if and when he gets another opportunity, or did he demonstrate last night that it's only a matter of time before he can call himself a world champion? Sound off, Maniacs.

FightMetric UFC 117 stats: Chael Sonnen outstrikes Anderson Silva 320-64

Posted: 08 Aug 2010 08:14 AM PDT

On August 6 that headline reads like a bad joke. On August 8 it's fact, not fiction.

Thanks to FightMetric.com for the stats. For complete UFC 117: "Silva vs. Sonnen" results and blow-by-blow coverage of the main card action click here and here.

Clay Guida: I told people I was going to shut down Rafael dos Anjos and that's what I did (Video)

Posted: 08 Aug 2010 07:59 AM PDT

UFC Quick Quote: Matt Hughes wants more fights in 2011, doesn't want 'Gracie Killer' nickname

Posted: 08 Aug 2010 07:56 AM PDT

"I could hear my corner yelling 'Throw the hook!' so the hook was there, I threw [it], he was dazed and went down. I got him in the front headlock position and that's an old wrestling move I used to use in college and it's probably something Ricardo's never seen. He's a great grappler but that's something he was probably unprepared for and he wasn't thinking right from the knockdown. [I won't be back] this year. I'm gonna hunt the fall out and come next year I'll talk to the UFC and figure something out. I'm not done fighting in the UFC yet. I don't want to be labeled as a guy looking for the Gracies. I've never asked to fight a Gracie, the UFC has always come to me with fighting the Gracies, Ricardo came to me. I don't want that. I've got too much respect for them to be labeled the 'Gracie Killer.'"

-- Former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes talks to AOL Fanhouse about his third straight victory over a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu disciple with last night's (Aug. 7) submission win over Ricardo Almeida at UFC 117 in Oakland. "Big Dog" joins Matt Serra, Renzo Gracie and of course Royce Gracie on the farmboy's Sakuraba-like fight resume but Hughes cautions that being up four-to-zip doesn't make him a "Gracie Killer." With his pending return in 2011, is there still a spot in the current title hunt for the man who put the 170-pound division on the map? Or will he compete sporadically in "fights that interest him" like fellow elder statesman Randy Couture?

Pic of Stefan Struve's busted, bloody and swollen lip after his war with Christian Morecraft at UFC...

Posted: 08 Aug 2010 07:08 AM PDT

Pic of Stefan Struve's busted, bloody and swollen lip after his war with Christian Morecraft at UFC 117. "Skyscraper" would have the last laugh, scoring a 'Goodfellas'-esque "Knockout of the Night" in round two.

UFC 117: Dana White on Anderson Silva's 'performance of a lifetime,' and much more (Video)

Posted: 08 Aug 2010 06:55 AM PDT