Archive for February, 2011

Fedor Emelianenko is not my favorite fighter.  He’s not in my top 10 and he never has been.  The shame of my life is that I wasn’t a fan of Pride in its heyday.  Thus, the only Fedor fights I watched live were post-Pride.  Affliction, Strikeforce, Hong-Man Choi.  Not exactly his finest work.  I clearly missed the boat on Fedor.  Whats worse, I got there just in time to see it leave the dock.  I saw some wins, and lord knows I’ve seen most of the Pride fights by now.  But its like studying history.  I didn’t live it.  I [...]

Rashad Evans was forced to withdraw from his UFC 128 title shot against Shogun Rua after spraining his knee in training. The timetable for his return is 4-8 weeks, and Evans was hoping to be back in action as soon as May. His wish was the UFC’s command. With the latest news that Thiago Silva is forced out of his UFC 130 bout against Rampage Jackson, Evans now has his fight. Sources have told MMAWeekly.com that Evans has stepped up and will face his arch rival at the event. Evans won the meeting the first time around. The two will [...]

Well, we’ve all seen the front kick about a hundred times.  We all know how awesome it was.  I’m not gonna sling any hyperbole or weigh in on what the kick does to Anderson Silva’s legacy, because you’ve heard all that.  I will say this: I think that front kick was every bit as impressive as Anthony Pettis’ showtime kick.  Maybe more so.  Blasphemy?  Consider: Pettis’ kick was definitely flashier, and arguably more unexpected.  It wins the “oh shit!’ contest by a landslide.  But it didn’t end the fight.  Silva’s kick knocked Vitor Belfort the f*ck out.  The lights may have [...]

Light-heavyweight phenom Jon Jones ran through yet another opponent in Ryan Bader at tonight’s UFC 126. Jones looked as impressive as always and got some great news after the fight. Jones will be facing off against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua on March 19th in New Jersey for the light-heavyweight championship. Jones replaces an injured Rashad Evans. According to UFC president Dana White, Evans will be out 6-8 weeks with a sprained ligament in his knee. Evans injured the ligament yesterday. This may be too early for Jones in his career to be fighting for the title, but no one has shown [...]

The highly anticipated UFC 126 takes place tonight live from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada with fights airing live on pay-per view, Spike TV, and Facebook. As if the stacked card wasn’t drawing enough attention from the fans and media, last night’s weigh-ins took the excitement to a whole new level with the epic staredown between Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort. On top of the middleweight championship bout, which headlines the night’s card, the event is stacked from top to bottom featuring bouts between Forrest Griffin and Rich Franklin, Jon Jones and Ryan Bader, and Miguel [...]

At tonight’s weigh-ins, all hell almost broke loose when the participants for the UFC middleweight championship came toe to toe. The usually calm Anderson Silva responded to a comment from Vitor Belfort earlier in the week which referred to Silva entering the cage wearing a mask and not being his real self. Silva seemed to have taken offense to the comment. Silva literally made Belfort’s comments true as he put on a mask and then pressed his face against the challengers at the staredown. When Silva lifted his mask, he exchanged some words with Belfort and the intensity picked up [...]

Weigh-ins for tomorrow night’s “UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort” take place at 7 pm ET tonight at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. UFC 126 is one of the most stacked events in recent memory and is sure to provide fireworks. Starting at the top, the night is headlined by a middleweight championship bout between Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort. The event also features a match between fan favorites Forrest Griffin and Rich Franklin as well as two of the top up-and-coming light-heavyweights in the sport, Ryan Bader and Jon Jones. To prove the depth of the [...]

Bellator Fighting Championships is set to kick off season four on MTV 2 starting Saturday, March 5th. At some point during their latest season, the organization is going to see the debut of the always exciting Ben “Killa B” Saunders who signed with Bellator today. “Ben Saunders is an exciting, powerful welterweight with explosive knockout power.  Ben’s dangerous and always shows up to fight.  I’m excited to see his first fight under the Bellator banner on MTV2 in April.” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney. While Saunders is not set to participate in the upcoming welterweight tournament, his addition [...]

Success.  High Expectations.  Defeat.  Doubt.  Personal Turmoil.  Injury.  Family Tragedy.  These have all be a regular part of the life of Vitor Belfort over the past 10 or so years.  Most people know Vitor as a streak-ridden MMA powerhouse who, when he is on, has the fastest hands in fighting.  Some know him as a man who has buckled under pressure a few times in his career.  Most feel as if they don’t really know who Vitor is… and are hoping that they learn more this Saturday night. He was originally known as Victor Gracie, quasi adopted son of Carlson [...]

This just went down between UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and challenger Vitor Belfort at the UFC 126 press conference in Vegas. Hard to say if Belfort was indeed shook (as many fans are suggesting), but one thing is certain: the champ is trying to get into the challenger’s head. The “Weigh In” on Friday promises to be even more intense. Only 72 hours away from our Super Bowl, fight fans. (hat tip: Bloody Elbow)