Archive for April, 2010

Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi told MMABay Radio that he is in the process of signing a new four-fight contract with the organization, and he expects the deal to be done in the next few days. Mousasi (28-2-1) is scheduled to defend his title against “King Mo” Lawal (6-0) this Saturday in Nashville, Tennessee and the expects to sign the contract when he makes it to the states. His advisors are currently looking over the terms of the deal. Many fans were hoping that Mousasi — who is one of the sports most exciting and promising young fighters — [...]

Fight Night Bonuses were handed out for “UFC 112: Invincible” following Saturday’s event. Each fighter who won an award earned an extra $75,000 on the night. Kendall Grove and Mark Munoz opened the pay-per view card with an exciting back and forth fight that saw Munoz in serious trouble early. “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” was able to overcome the early adversity and score an impressive come from behind TKO victory over Grove. Both Grove and Munoz were rewarded for their efforts with the Fight of the Night honors. Submission of the Night went to Rafael dos Anjos who secured an [...]

Looking to follow in Frankie Edgar’s footsteps, Demian Maia entered the main event hoping to pull off a monumental upset and take pound-for-pound king Anderson Silva’s middleweight gold. Silva had expressed interest in dabbling in the heavyweight, light-heavyweight, and welterweight divisions following the event, so the question was there as to if the champion was fully focused on the task ahead. Silva entered the night with an eleven fight win streak and the striking machine was putting his streak and title on the line against Maia, who is the sport’s best jiu jitsu artist, in a classic striker vs. grappler [...]

The co-main event for “UFC 112: Invincible” featured a battle for the lightweight title between number one contender Frankie Edgar and one of the best 155-pound fighters in mixed martial arts history, B.J. Penn, and it can be summed up in two words: complete shock. Penn came into Abu Dhabi looking to continue his dominance in a division which he has not lost a bout in since January of 2002, and what in many people’s minds looking to clean out the division. Frankie Edgar had a different plan for the night as the number one contender scored one of the [...]

Two mixed martial arts legends stepped into the cage Saturday afternoon at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi as Matt Hughes welcomed Renzo Gracie — who was looking to avenge the loss of his cousin Royce — to the octagon for his promotional debut. Action started off slowly as the two fighters got a feel for each other in the first minute of the bout. Hughes threw out a few leg kicks to gauge the distance. An interesting note is Hughes was in the orthodox position instead of standing southpaw, where he has his best shots. Gracie seemed to get comfortable [...]

Terry Etim and Rafael dos Anjos were going into their UFC 112 bout in Abu Dhabi looking to establish themselves as a serious force in the 155-pound division. The bout opened up with dos Anjos being stuck in a deep guillotine choke. The black belt used his patience and knowledge to eventually work his way out of the submission attempt and then found himself in a dominant position. While reigning down knees and elbows, dos Anjos was warned about “elbows to the spine.” Dos Anjos continued his ground-and-pound until ref Marc Goddard stood the two fighters out again sighting “elbows [...]

To start of the “UFC 112: Invincible” pay-per view card, Mark Munoz showed some amazing heart on his way to a come-from-behind TKO victory over Kendall Grove. Munoz made no secret of his strategy as he attempted to get the fight to the ground from the opening bell. On one takedown attempt, Grove hit Munoz with a perfectly timed uppercut and dropped the former NCAA champion wrestler to the mat. Munoz latched on to one of Grove’s legs and would not let go. Grove was throwing up multiple submission attempts, but was unable to finish Munoz as the fight went [...]

“UFC 112: Invincible” take place outdoors at the Concert Arena (at the Ferrari World theme park on Yas Island) live on pay-per view (1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT). It will be the organizations first trip to the Middle East. The event is headlined by a middleweight title match between champion Anderson Silva and top contender Demian Maia. Serving as the co-main event will be a scrap between two of the best boxers at 155-pounds, BJ Penn and Frankie Edgar, for the lightweight title. Also on the card is a welterweight bout between Matt Hughes and Renzo Gracie — who is [...]

Caol Uno had a tough return to the UFC going 0-2-1 in his second stint with the organization, Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com is reporting. Helwani has confirmed the news with sources close to the situation. Uno (25-13-5) has not won a fight since May of 2008, and has gone 1-4-1 in his last six fights. The former lightweight title contender most recently suffered a first-round TKO loss at UFC Fight Night 21 thanks to Gleison Tibau.

Here are some photos from the “UFC 112: Invincible” weigh-ins in Abu Dhabi courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com. You can view the entire album here.