UFC blog for latest news, videos, results, betting odds, fighter interviews and MMA rumors - UFCmania.com

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• TUF 11: Coach Tito Ortiz plans to mold future legends on Spike TV (Video)
• Meet Dana White, the king of mixed martial arts (Video)
• Sengoku Raiden Championship press conference Pt. 2
• UFC 108 drug test results come back clean from NSAC for 'Evans vs. Silva'
• UFC 111: Matt Brown vs. Ricardo Almeida set for March 27 in N.J.
• UFC Fight Night 20/WEC 46 video preview and UFC 108 review on ESPNs 'MMA Live'
• How's Brock? Dana White takes the vow of silence on Lesnar's health update
• Gary Goodridge denied license for Jan. 9 'New Dawn' after recent TKO loss to Gegard Mousasi
• Is Rashad Evans too fast for 'Rampage' Jackson?
• Ecko MMA and Bobby Razak present 'Legalize MMA in New York' (Video)
• UFC Fight Night 21: Anthony Johnson vs John Howard on tap for March 21
• Shawn Tompkins trains Mark Coleman to fight former boss, Randy Couture
• Michael Bisping builds character in his Jan. 5 video blog
• Evan Dunham plans on breaking down and submitting Efrain Escudero at UFC Fight Night 20
• Undefeated Canadian Featherweight William Romero signs exclusive agreement with Bellator Fighting Championships
• Sengoku Raiden Championship press conference Pt. 1: Statement regarding Shinya Aoki's 'humiliating behavior'

TUF 11: Coach Tito Ortiz plans to mold future legends on Spike TV (Video) Posted: 08 Jan 2010 04:37 AM PST Business-minded superstars, actually:

Meet Dana White, the king of mixed martial arts (Video) Posted: 07 Jan 2010 05:13 PM PST The UFC president talks about his awesome power, which he can summon at any moment with 150 characters or less: "Lemme tell you when I started goofing around with Twitter. Lemme fuckin' lay this out for you. I'm in New York City. It's 10:30 on a Monday night in midtown Manhattan. It's raining. And it's a Jewish holiday, okay? As you know, I'm a Pinkberry freak. I like to have my Pinkberry. I have this one store in midtown Manhattan that will stay open for me late. I just have to call and let them know, and after I have dinner, I always go there and eat Pinkberry, right? So this one time I'm like, 'Let's just fuck around here and try something.' I Twitter my people. I say, 'Meet me at Pinkberry in midtown Manhattan. I got tickets to the fight if you guys want to go.' So you've been to New York enough, right? People don't give a fuck about anything in New York. I've never seen a city where people just don't fucking care — Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie can be walking down the street holding hands and people could care less, you know? They take shit in stride. I'm twenty minutes late showing up to Pinkberry. The fucking place is packed. There's people everywhere. I get out of the car and everybody starts cheering and going crazy. I look at the police and I'm like, 'Are you guys mad?' And they're like, 'We didn't believe you were coming.' I get out, I sign autographs, take pictures. We hand out like a zillion tickets. We're there for two hours. "And this is the craziest fucking thing about this whole story: Not only is it Monday night, raining, in midtown Manhattan on a Jewish holiday, I'm giving away tickets to a fight in fucking Los Angeles. I can't believe it either.... I get chills just talking about this." Check out a video of White and the good ole' boys after the jump.

Sengoku Raiden Championship press conference Pt. 2 Posted: 07 Jan 2010 04:32 PM PST Following part 1, this is the second part of the report on January 7 press conference during which World Victory Road (WVR) discussed the aftermath of the Dynamite!! 2009 fight card and new year's plan for the Sengoku Raiden Championship. Hidehiko Yoshida, who bested Satoshi Ishii in the battle of judo Olympic gold medalists at Dynamite!! 2009, hinted at impending retirement during the post-fight interviews. At this point, however, the future of his career and contract with SRC seems uncertain; at the presser, WVR director, Sumio Inamoto revealed that, while Yoshida is rumored to have one more fight left before retirement, it is uncertain whether he will end his career in SRC. Furthermore, Inamoto gave credence to the rumor that the contract between WVR and J-Rock, which manages the fighters from Yoshida dojo, has expired. Note that J-Rock is helmed by the recently dismissed WVR director, Takahiro Kokuho. At this point, Yoshida, as well as other SRC fighters from his dojo -- Michihiro Omigawa, Kazuhiro Nakamura and Makoto Takimoto -- have no intention of fighting for SRC in near future and, as Inamoto claimed, WVR has no plan of renegotiating the contract with J-Rock. On a related note, Shigeki Osawa, a former amateur wrestling standout who has been training out of Yoshida dojo for his current stint in the Sengoku Fighter Development program, will likely switch his affiliation and continue fighting for SRC. Inamoto announced that the timetable for the return of Satoshi Ishii, who made his MMA debut at Dynamite!! against Yoshida, is currently under negotiation. WVR has been planning a big match for him at a large arena in either July or November, so his return at either date is likely. Reflecting upon the results of the "DREAM vs. SRC" bouts, he stated that, aside from the reprehensible behavior from Shinya Aoki, the interpromotional bouts and merged fight cards between DREAM and SRC hold great appeal in reinvigorating Japanese MMA. While WVR has not engaged DREAM in discussions about future collaboration, Inamoto hinted at the strong desire -- at least on WVR's part -- for such possibility. Following are noteworthy bits from the discussion over the interpromotional bout series at Dynamite!! 2009: Kazuo Misaki stated that he would like to contest the referee stoppage in his TKO loss to Melvin Manhoef in the post-fight interview. Misaki was visibly upset over the stoppage, but he has since regained his cool and been talking with WVR over whether or not he should submit an official appeal over the stoppage. There was much concern over the health of Kazuyuki Fujita upon his near-death experience at the knee of Alistair Overeem. Fujita managed to regain consciousness at around 11AM the day after the fight, and checked out of the hospital after one day. Mizuto Hirota has successfully undergone surgery to treat the broken arm he sustained in the controversial fight against Shinya Aoki. He will remain in the hospital until the 17th of this month and then undergo rehabilitation for two/three weeks. He is expected to be able to do light exercises such as jogging in February and light sparring come May. His return to competition will likely come after summer. Hirota, along with Michihiro Omigawa and Kid Yamamoto, was absent from the Dynamite!! pre-fight press conference on December 30. Initial speculation held that he struggled with weight cut. Apparently, he suffered from severe physical ailments such as vomiting and diarrhea on that day: While the cause remains unknown, it likely was not due to rapid weight cut. Akihiro Gono and Masanori Kanehara were awarded one million yen (10,678 USD according to current exchange rate) each for the "Fights of the Night" by WVR. Finally, the first SRC event of 2010 is scheduled for March 7 at Ryogoku Kokugikan. Subsequent events are planned for May, July, September, and November: A total of six to seven events, including a possible NYE show, are under consideration for 2010. The SRC's theme for 2010 seems to be tournaments: Tournaments for a variety of weight classes, from lighter ones up to middleweight and light heavyweight, are currently in the planning stage. SRC will likely introduce bantamweights to the tournament series to feature promising fighters from Japan and overseas. Stay tuned to MMAmania for more news regarding Sengoku Raiden Championship as they become available.

UFC 108 drug test results come back clean from NSAC for 'Evans vs. Silva' Posted: 07 Jan 2010 02:59 PM PST Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) today confirmed that nine of the 20 competitors who were tested for illegal/banned substances after competing at UFC 108: "Evans vs. Silva" on Jan. 2 have all passed with flying colors. Main event participant, former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans, as well as Junior dos Santos, Paul Daley, Sam Stout, Jim Miller, Martin Kampmann, Mark Munoz, Jake Ellenberger and Rafaello Oliveira were all screened for performance enhancers such as steroids and drugs of abuse like cocaine and marijuana, among others. Results from these battery of tests all returned negative. The fighters mentioned above were randomly selected. However, athletic commissions typically test the main event participants and fight night winners, as well as those who have failed drug tests in the past. In addition to their post-fight urinalyses, Evans and Silva were also tested "out of competition" during their training camps in Dec. 2009. Those test results, too, came back clean. UFC 108: "Evans vs. Silva" featured a workman-like performance from 205-pound stalwart Rashad Evans as he inched closer to one day challenging to get his world title back with a unanimous decision over the ultra tough Thiago Silva. UFC sophomore Paul Daley. "Semtex" made his second Octagon appearance a memorable one in the co main event, spot-welding his fist to the jaw of Dustin Hazelett to grab "Knockout of the Night" after putting "McLovin'" on his butt in the first round. For complete UFC 108 results and blow-by-blow coverage of the main card action click here and here.

UFC 111: Matt Brown vs. Ricardo Almeida set for March 27 in N.J. Posted: 07 Jan 2010 01:49 PM PST UFC 111 is off to a great start in terms of match ups, with two championship bouts to headline the evening. Now the organization is looking to add a nice supporting cast to the March 17 event. The casting call has already begun, as Matt Brown and Ricardo Almeida have been added to the bill, according to ESPN's "MMA Live." The bout is a welterweight showdown between two welterweights at the middle of the divisional pack. Brown is coming off a technical knockout victory over The Ultimate Fighter winner James Wilks at UFC 105: "Couture vs. Vera." He has an unimpressive professional record (11-7), but has better results (4-1) where it counts most inside the Octagon.  This fight will be Almeida's return to the eight-walled cage after being forced out of his UFC 106 bout with Jon Fitch. "Cachorrao's" last appearance culminated with a unanimous decision victory over Kendall Grove at UFC 101: "Declaration." He holds a professional record of 11-3. UFC 111 features a welterweight championship bout between title holder Georges St. Pierre and Dan Hardy, along with an interim title championship between heavyweights Shane Carwin and Frank Mir.  Stay tuned to MMAMania.com for breaking news and updates surrounding this potential super-card.

UFC Fight Night 20/WEC 46 video preview and UFC 108 review on ESPNs 'MMA Live' Posted: 07 Jan 2010 01:48 PM PST

How's Brock? Dana White takes the vow of silence on Lesnar's health update Posted: 07 Jan 2010 12:23 PM PST "Brock asked me not to talk about it. I have to respect that. No comment. First time in nine years I have ever said that." A less-than-encouraging outlook on the Lesnar health situation courtesy of UFC President Dana White (via MMA Fighting.com), who is currently under a gag order from the Heavyweight Champion. Lesnar's doctor's were expected to decide this week if the former WWE star was going to need more surgery to repair damage inflicted by intestinal diverticulitis. White recently announced that division number one contender Shane Carwin will battle former champion Frank Mir at UFC 111 for the interim title but based on this grim response it may not be "Interim" for very long. Is there any room for optimism here? No news is good news? Or have we seen the last of Lesnar? Let's hope not.

Gary Goodridge denied license for Jan. 9 'New Dawn' after recent TKO loss to Gegard Mousasi Posted: 07 Jan 2010 12:22 PM PST One fight, two losses. Former PRIDE FC and K-1 star Gary Goodridge was not cleared to fight by the Indiana State Athletic Commission and will no longer face Ron Sparks at the upcoming MMA Big show event "New Dawn" set for the Belterra Casino in Florence, Indiana, on Saturday, January 9. The decision to not license Goodridge was made after "Big Daddy" was obliterated by rising star Gegard Mousasi in the first round of their bout at the 2009 FieLDS Dynamite!! event on New Year's Eve in Japan. It marked the fifth straight defeat for the aging veteran. In fact, MMA Big Show owner/promoter Jason Appleton has decided to pull the remainder of the professional bouts after the loss of his main event but will continue with the amateur-only card. From Appleton: "Gary Goodridge secretly took a last-minute fight in Japan of which he lost by TKO. Even though the event was overseas and not under any U.S. regulatory body, the Indiana Commission still felt obligated to cancel his fight." "Big Daddy" is perhaps best known to casual MMA fans for his unintentional snuff film against Paul Herrera at UFC 8: "David vs. Goliath." Goodridge secured his helpless foe in a crucifix and proceeded to rain down elbows until the referee intervened -- even after Herrera lost consciousness. He recovered shortly thereafter, but highlights of the drubbing are frequently used in the anti-MMA crusade. Between MMA and kickboxing, Goodridge has amassed a staggering 80 fights to his name since 1996. Unfortunately his career has been in a serious decline, as the Canadian hasn't banked a win since March 2007. In light of the change, MMA Big Show will offer discounts for all "New Dawn" ticket-holders for their upcoming Feb. 20 show.

Is Rashad Evans too fast for 'Rampage' Jackson? Posted: 07 Jan 2010 11:32 AM PST Coach Greg Jackson seems to think so... "...Quinton has some very good assets including punching power, his wrestling is good. But where Rashad's (strength) really lies is speed. And Rashad is so amazingly quick, and it's one of those things where he looks quick but when he really gets going he's really fast. It's hard to keep track of where he is. Speed, among other things, is going to play a large factor in this fight coming up." The trainer extraordinaire talks up his star pupil and former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans, who could face his opposing Ultimate Fighter 10 coach Quinton Jackson as soon as May 1 in Montreal. Will the speed of "Suga" be too sweet for a rusty "Rampage?" Or will the head of "Team Cocky" be humbled on fight night?

Ecko MMA and Bobby Razak present 'Legalize MMA in New York' (Video) Posted: 07 Jan 2010 11:16 AM PST Part two after the jump.

UFC Fight Night 21: Anthony Johnson vs John Howard on tap for March 21 Posted: 07 Jan 2010 10:07 AM PST Time to put up or shut up. UFC welterweight prospects Anthony Johnson (8-3) and John Howard (13-4) have agreed to settle their longstanding feud at the upcoming UFC Fight Night 21 event scheduled for March 21 in Denver, Colorado. MMAmania.com confirmed with Johnson's camp earlier today that both parties have verbally agreed to the contest. They were originally set to do battle at last June's Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale; however, Howard withdrew from the bout under his manager's direction, prompting a slew of unflattering remarks from Johnson. Here's how it all went down, according to "Doomsday:" "I don’t appreciate him calling me a coward or anything like that. He has to understand that the decisions that are made for me are smart decisions. My job is to fight. I don’t make decisions about who to fight or when I’m going to fight, and I don’t pull out of fights ... Anthony Johnson has been in the UFC a little longer than me, and it’s not because I’m a coward (that the fight was nixed); it just wasn’t time…. I want to fight him, and the first chance I get the OK to fight him, I will. And he’s going to eat his words, definitely. It’s personal. He’s going to regret ever questioning me." Howard was instead paired up with Tamdan McCrory at UFC 101 in Philadelphia back on August 8, squeaking past "The Barn Cat" via split decision. The win was good enough to earn him a crack at Dennis Hallman at UFC 106 on Nov. 21. Dooms came from behind to stop "Superman" with just seconds remaining in their clash. Now it appears that Howard is ready to test himself against Johnson -- who may be looking to punish someone after his last Octagon appearance. "Rumble" was choked out by Josh Koscheck -- also at UFC 106 -- to snap a three fight winning streak. Unfortunately the contest was not without controversy. The fight was littered with bizarre stoppages and frequent mishaps including eye pokes from both sides and a controversial knee while "Kos" was grounded. Johnson contends his errant knee never made head contact and that his loss can be attributed to the aforementioned eye mashing. Whatever the case, he is on a mission to get back into the 170-pound title hunt and John Howard stands in his way. UFC Fight Night 21 is expected to be headlined by light heavyweights Brandon Vera and Jon Jones -- though no official announcement regarding the card has been made from the UFC. Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more updates on the March 21 event as they develop.

Shawn Tompkins trains Mark Coleman to fight former boss, Randy Couture Posted: 07 Jan 2010 08:21 AM PST Props: MMAFighting.com Quoteworthy: "It's just business. Anyone who's ever spoken to Randy, as far as competition, that's how he feels, too. For Randy, it's about the fight, not the drama, he's real cool about it. We talked about it. I let his camp know first. I started working with Mark for the Stephan Bonnar fight [at UFC 100]. I have my own team now, and this is how I make my living and how my family survives, so if Mark Coleman comes to me and asks me to coach him in a matchup against another UFC Hall of Famer, I'm going to say yes. It's nothing personal. It should happen for the sport and the fans, and when it's all said and done, Randy and I will still be friends, and I'll still respect him for everything he's done for me." Famed mixed martial arts trainer Shawn Tompkins left Xtreme Couture in October 2009 to run his own fight team and there wasn't any (reported) bad blood with Randy Couture, which made his departure easier.. But now, he has been working with Mark Coleman and the irony of the destiny came into his path and put him against his former boss in the upcoming main event of UFC 109: "Relentless" on Feb. 6. Do you think Tompkins will give "The Hammer" all the tips and tricks to stop "The Natural?"

Michael Bisping builds character in his Jan. 5 video blog Posted: 07 Jan 2010 08:16 AM PST

Evan Dunham plans on breaking down and submitting Efrain Escudero at UFC Fight Night 20 Posted: 07 Jan 2010 07:26 AM PST Props: USA Today Quoteworthy: "I think he's going to come out and try to test my chin, that's for sure — because I'm sure he got a little bit of confidence from that last fight — instead of just coming out and going for the takedown ... I could see him trying take me down and grind me out, but honestly, I don't think he can hold me down even if he gets me down. I watched his fight with Miller and I watched his fight Felipe, and a couple of his older fights. I've got a good idea of his wrestling abilities and his hands. It's nothing I haven't seen before. I think I have a little bit better movement than he does. I don't feel I'm as stiff as he is, you know? I just feel that I'm able to move and flow a little bit better than he is on the ground and on the feet. My whole philosophy is to go in there and break him down mentally and physically. Make him make a mistake, and capitalize on that mistake. Whether it is leaving his neck out or his arm out or putting his hands a little too low, I plan on capitalizing. So yeah, I definitely think I can submit him." Undefeated rising star Evan Dunham breaks down his upcoming 155-pound scrap against TUF 8 champion and fellow undefeated lightweight Efrain Escudero. Dunham wasted little time making a name for himself inside the Octagon by demolishing Per Ecklund in his Zuffa debut at UFC 95: "Sanchez vs. Stevenson" in early 2009 and then outlasting Marcus Aurelio at UFC 102: "Couture vs. Nogueira" to score a split decision victory last August. A win over Escudero would undoubtedly leapfrog him into bigger opportunities — and some very stiff competition. Does he have the skills to do it?

Undefeated Canadian Featherweight William Romero signs exclusive agreement with Bellator Fighting Championships Posted: 07 Jan 2010 07:26 AM PST CHICAGO, Ill. (January 7, 2010) – Bellator Fighting Championships announced yet another major offseason addition on Thursday with the signing of undefeated featherweight William Romero. Romero, 27, one of Canada's most talked-about young mixed martial artists, boasts an unblemished pro MMA record of 5-0. He was recently touted by MMAcanada.net — one of that country’s top MMA news sources — as "the real deal." His most recent fight ended by KO after just 17 seconds. "MMA fans north of the border know the name William Romero and now fans in the U.S. are going to have the chance to know it too," said Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney. "We are excited to welcome him to our organization." Romero will compete in Bellator’s eight-man Season 2 featherweight tournament along with 12-1-1 Russian-born fighter Georgi "Insane" Karakhanyan and six yet-to-be announced 145s. Additional Bellator featherweight agreements will be announced next week. Bellator will also conduct tournaments at 155, 170 and 185 lbs. with the winners of this year’s tournaments being declared No. 1 contenders to Bellator’s current roster of champions. Season 2 begins April 8th on Fox Sports Network. Romero was born in Canada but spent a large chunk of his childhood living in Ecuador, where his family traces its ancestry. At 17, he enlisted as an infantry soldier in the Canadian Armed Forces, became a paratrooper and served overseas in Bosnia. At around the same time, he was introduced to MMA by famed Canadian trainer Randy Grant (the brother of UFC fighter T.J. Grant). Once Romero left the military at the age of 25, he started fighting full time. "I quickly found out that MMA is my calling," said Romero, who now lives just outside Toronto and fights from nearby Stoney Creek, Ontario. "It’s what I was born to do." Romero said he’s relishing the opportunity to compete on an international stage for the first time by way of Bellator’s landscape-altering TV distribution alliance. Under the terms of that deal, each of Bellator’s 24 fights during Seasons 2 and 3 will be distributed live in primetime on Thursday nights on FOX Sports Net and its regional sports network affiliates. The top moments from each week’s live events will then be condensed into an action-packed 30-minute highlight show, broadcast every Saturday night, late night, on NBC. A one-hour highlight show will air in Spanish on Telemundo every Saturday night from midnight to 1 a.m. "I watched Season 1 of Bellator and I was very, very impressed," Romero said. "The level of competition is just awesome. Now I’m hoping to make my mark and to show the world what people in Canada already know." For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bellator or on Twitter @BellatorMMA. In addition, Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney can also be found on Twitter @BjornRebney.

Sengoku Raiden Championship press conference Pt. 1: Statement regarding Shinya Aoki's 'humiliating behavior' Posted: 07 Jan 2010 06:12 AM PST World Victory Road (WVR) held a press conference on January 7 to discuss the aftermath of the Dynamite!! 2009 fight card on New Year's Eve and the new year's plan for the newly minted Sengoku Raiden Championship. Not surprisingly, the reflection upon the "DREAM vs. SRC" bouts at Dynamite!! took a contentious turn over Shinya Aoki's bone-breaking submission victory over SRC lightweight champion, Mizuto Hirota, and the "humiliating behavior" that ensued. WVR director, Sumio Inamura condemned Aoki's flipping of the bird at the severely injured Hirota as an "erratic, unforgivable conduct" and fumed that there is not an ounce of sincerity or contrition in his apology. Inamura also demanded accountability from "those who are suspected to have incited Aoki to behave the way he did." The official statement from WVR notes that WVR acknowledges Aoki as the top Japanese lightweight and has no contention regarding how the fight unfolded from beginning to end. Nonetheless, it claims that Aoki's post-fight behavior ruined the plum opportunity to elevate the status of mixed martial arts with broadcast on network TV during the prime TV slot of the year. Invoking SRC's membership in the newly founded Japanese Martial Arts Foundation, the statement claimed that, if a fighter signed to a promotion under the umbrella organization engaged in a similar behavior, he would have his fighter license revoked or receive equally harsh punishment. It also reiterated that, while Aoki has issued a standard apology during the post-fight interviews, his words hardly convey any remorse. In fact, some of his comments, such as the one about "following through with (DREAM event producer) Sasahara's order to kill him" contradict his claim about feeling sorry. WVR also demanded that DREAM and any other culpable party to go beyond "stern warning" and other perfunctory measures to atone for Aoki's conduct. The statement concluded with a remark about the expectation for MMA fighters to be polite, genteel human beings, rather than a bunch of ruffians - an absolutely vital step in Japanese Martial Arts Foundation's ongoing effort to establish MMA as a true sport and someday elevate it to the status of Olympic sport. Stay tuned to MMAmania for part two of the WVR press conference coverage.

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