Archive for August, 2010

Frankie Edgar fought a great fight last night, and he deserves our respect for it.  I had Edgar winning all five rounds.  Against a monster like BJ Penn, that is impressive.  Congratulations are also due Gray Maynard, who did what he always does: win the fight via decision.  Maynard took a normally outstanding Kenny Florian completely out of his game.  That, too, is quite an accomplishment. Still, I can’t help but feel the lightweight division is a little worse for wear after Saturday night’s quasi-upsets.  Maynard vs. Edgar is going to be tough to sell.  It can’t headline a card, and [...]

The Ultimate Fighting Championship invades Boston, Massachusetts for the first time when they enter the cage at the TD Garden for “UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn II.” In the main event, Frankie Edgar will look to silence the critics and prove that his win at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi, where he captured BJ Penn’s title, was no joke. Penn will also be looking to make a point of his own as he goes out to get his title back. The night’s co-main event is one of the most anticipated matches of the year as UFC Hall of Famer and [...]

Mike Pierce (171 lbs) vs. Amilcar Alves (171 lbs) Nick Osipczak (171 lbs) vs. Greg Soto (170 lbs) Dan Miller (185 lbs) vs. John Salter (185 lbs) Andre Winner (154 lbs) vs. Nik Lentz (155 lbs) Joe Lauzon (156 lbs) vs. Gabe Ruediger (155 lbs) Demian Maia (184 lbs) vs. Mario Miranda (185 lbs) Nate Diaz (171 lbs) vs. Marcus Davis (170 lbs) Ken Florian (156 lbs) vs. Gray Maynard (156 lbs) Randy Couture (220 lbs) vs. James Toney (237 lbs) Frank Edgar (154 lbs) vs. BJ Penn (154 lbs)

If you’ve been listening to the hype leading up to UFC 118, you’ve by now heard the phrase “boxing vs MMA” hundreds of times.  I understand why everyone involved wants to sell it that way, and I don’t really mind.  Anything that puts asses in the seats is fine by me.  Sure, one of these guys looks like Grimace and the other is damn near 50, but this is clearly a fight some people want to see.  I am one of those people.  I’ve been waiting for this day for months; this day of reckoning. Many MMA traditionalists are ashamed [...]

Yesterday, Fedor Emelianenko and his management stated that they would like a match with Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem in November or December of this year, but after Overeem spoke to MMAFighting.com it was clear he had other intentions. Overeem’s next fight will be for K-1 and he has no intentions of fighting anyone but Fabricio Werdum under the Strikeforce banner. Here is a transcript of Overeem’s interview with Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting: Ariel Helwani: Have you decided when and where your next fight will be? Alistair Overeem: Yes, I’m going to fight in the K-1 tournament, so my [...]

Jason “Mayhem” Miller has been calling out Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz for quite some time. Since the post-fight brawl when Mayhem challenged Nick’s teammate, Jake Shields, Mayhem has been calling for a shot at the champion. However, it is expected that Miller would want Diaz to jump up to middleweight to fight and that is not likely according to Diaz’s manager. Cesar Gracie told MMA Junkie, “Trust me, that’s not the fight they have for him. It’s someone else, and it’s almost a done deal.” That “someone” Gracie was referring to is KJ Noons. Noons and Diaz are set [...]

Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz will be putting his 170-pound title on the line for the first time since earning it in spectacular fashion over Marius Zaromskis earlier this year. Diaz will face off against K.J. Noons on October 9th at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. The bout will mark a highly anticipated rematch as Diaz will look to avenge his most recent loss. When the two faced back in 2007, the bout ended in a controversy as Noons was awarded the TKO victory due to cuts. Noons is riding a six-fight win streak and most recently earned [...]

UFC 121 will be headlined by a heavyweight championship bout between Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez. The event — which will take place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California — has recently added another heavyweight contest to the card. The Las Vegas Sun is reporting that TUF alum and Hit Squad member Jon Madsen (6-0) will be stepping into the cage against the heavy-handed MMA veteran Gilbert Yvel (36-15-1). Since returning to the octagon, Yvel has dropped back-to-back fights to top contender Junior Dos Santos and IFL veteran Ben Rothwell. Yvel will be looking to rebound and hand Madsen [...]

In an interview on LowKick.com, Fedor Emelianenko’s manger Vadim Finkelstein dropped some interesting bits of information. Many would like to see a rematch between Fedor and Fabricio Werdum — who submitted the No. 1 ranked heavyweight in their last fight. However, Werdum will be out for a while and recovering from an injury. Finkelstein has some plans: We plan to organize an interim fight for Fedor. We are considering two options: Japan and Russia. We have a lucrative offer from the Japanese partners, who are interested in Fedor fighting on the New Year’s Eve. This is the most interesting option [...]

At UFC 117, middleweight challenger Chael Sonnen nearly shocked the mixed artial arts universe as he was well on his way to capturing the 185-pound title over top pound-for-pound fighter Anderson Silva before the champion threw up a last second triangle to retain his belt. Immediately following the match, fans were calling for a Sonnen-Silva rematch and UFC president Dana White confirmed this morning on Sportscenter that the fans will get what they want. Lance Pugmire of the LA Times is reporting that the rematch could be held on the New Year’s Eve card or the UFC’s Super Bowl weekend [...]