Archive for the ‘Zuffa’ Category

Jun30th

UFC bans vuvuzelas from UFC 116

AUTHOR: Josh Sanchez | IN: Brock Lesnar, Dana White, MMA, Shane Carwin, UFC | COMMENTS: None Yet

Unless you have been living under a rock or had the luxury of a mute button over the past month, you have heard the angry swarm of bees during every broadcast at the World Cup in South Africa. That sound — a vuvuzela — has become more popular and fans have been bringing the horns with them to various sporting events.
However, don’t expect to hear the sound anytime soon near an octagon. The Ultimate Fighting Championship has banned the horn for their upcoming event, “UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin.”
“This decision was pretty simple for me,” president Dana White said on [...]

Jun3rd

Zuffa confirms release of Jens Pulver

AUTHOR: Josh Sanchez | IN: MMA, UFC, WEC, Zuffa | COMMENTS: None Yet

MMAFighting.com has reported and confirmed that long-time mixed martial arts veteran and fan-favorite Jens Pulver has been released by Zuffa. Pulver was the UFC’s first lightweight champion and one of only two people to defeat former lightweight champ BJ Penn at 155-pounds.
Rumors have surfaced that Pulver could resurface in the WEC as a commentator, but MMAFighting.com has debunked those rumors.
Pulver’s agent, Monte Cox, told Versus.com that he hoped his client would remain with the company in a broadcasting capacity.
But White, Zuffa’s president, said following the UFC 114 press conference on Saturday that will not be the case.
“He has been released,” [...]

May19th

WEC & cage announcer Joe Martinez part ways

AUTHOR: Josh Sanchez | IN: Jose Aldo, MMA, Urijah Faber, WEC, Zuffa | COMMENTS: None Yet

World Extreme Cagefighting has decided to part ways with their longtime cage announcer Joe Martinez. Martinez is also the announcer for Golden Boy’s weekly Spanish production “Solo Boxeo Tecate.” His other commitments played a part in the depature from the WEC.
“I was more than willing to work around the possible conflicts,” said Martinez. “But another main factor was my work within other areas of combat sports. While I do not feel my association with a Spanish-language boxing production has any crossover, it appears to have been a big issue.”
Martinez was absent from the WEC’s most recent event, “WEC 48: Aldo [...]

Apr29th

‘WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber’ medical suspensions

AUTHOR: Josh Sanchez | IN: Dana White, Jose Aldo, Leonard Garcia, MMA, UFC, Urijah Faber, WEC, Zuffa | COMMENTS: None Yet

Suspensions have been released from this past weekend’s WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber event. Eight fighters have been suspended a length six months for a variety of broken bones and knee injuries. Brandon Fisher and former champion Mike Thomas Brown received 45 days. Here is the complete list:
Brandon Visher: suspended 45 days as a precautionary measure
Mike Brown: suspended 45 days as a precautionary measure
Urijah Faber: suspended six months or until he is cleared by a physician for his left thigh
and knee injury
Leonard Garcia: suspended six months or until medically cleared for a possible right hand fracture
Chan [...]

Apr27th

‘Aldo vs Faber’ brings in a successful estimated 150-200k PPV buys

AUTHOR: Josh Sanchez | IN: Dana White, Jose Aldo, MMA, UFC, Urijah Faber, WEC, Zuffa | COMMENTS: None Yet

World Extreme Cagefighting brought out all the stops this past weekend for their pay-per view debut with ‘Aldo vs. Faber.’ The WEC used familiar voices and personalities from the UFC like Dana White, Joe Rogan, Mike Goldberg and Bruce Buffer in hopes of bringing in some more fans.
People were unsure of how the event would fair on pay-per view, but early indications from Heavy.com show that the event was successful.
According to sources in the cable industry, early estimates indicate that the show did between 150,000 and 200,000 buys on pay per view, a number that has to be considered a [...]

Apr25th

‘Aldo vs. Faber’ bonuses: Gamburyan, Henderson, Garcia and Jung earn $65K awards

AUTHOR: Josh Sanchez | IN: Dana White, Leonard Garcia, MMA, UFC, WEC, Zuffa | COMMENTS: None Yet

Fight night bonuses have been awarded for the WEC’s debut on pay-per view. Manny Gamburyan, Benson Henderson, Leonard Garcia and Chan Sung Jung each earned $65,000 which is the largest bonus in the organization’s history. Winners of the bonuses were announced at the event’s post-fight press conference.
Gamburyan received the “Knockout of the Night” award, Henderson brought in up the “Submission of the Night” bonus, and Garcia and Jung earned “Fight of the Night” honors.

Apr24th

‘Aldo vs. Faber’ Main Card Predictions

AUTHOR: Josh Sanchez | IN: Dana White, Leonard Garcia, MMA, UFC, Urijah Faber, WEC, Zuffa | COMMENTS: None Yet

World Extreme Cagefighting is making their pay-per view debut tonight when the organization invades the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California with a championship double-header.
The night’s fight card is headlined by a featherweight title bout between the future of mixed martial arts, Jose Aldo (16-1), and former WEC champion Urijah Faber (22-3). “The California Kid” is returning to his hometown in hopes of securing the 145-pound gold.
‘Aldo vs. Faber’ is co-headlined in a fight that puts the lightweight title on the line. Champion Ben Henderson (11-1) looks to extend his winning streak to eleven when he puts the strap up for [...]

Apr24th

All fighters make weight for ‘Aldo vs. Faber’

AUTHOR: Josh Sanchez | IN: Leonard Garcia, MMA, UFC, Urijah Faber, WEC, Zuffa | COMMENTS: None Yet

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view)
* Champ Jose Aldo (145) vs. Urijah Faber (144.5)
* Champ Benson Henderson (155) vs. Donald Cerrone (154.5)
* Mike Brown (146) vs. Manny Gamburyan (146)
* Anthony Njokuani (156) vs. Shane Roller (155.5)
* Antonio Banuelos (136) vs. Scott Jorgensen (136)
PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike TV)
* Leonard Garcia (145) vs. Chan Sung Jung (145.5)
* Alex Karalexis (156) vs. Anthony Pettis (155.5)
PRELIMINARY CARD (un-aired)
* Demetrious Johnson (135) vs. Brad Pickett (135.5)
* Chad Mendes (145.5) vs. Anthony Morrison (145)
* Takeya Mizugaki (134.5) vs. Rani Yahya (136)
* Tyler Toner (145.5) vs. Brandon Visher (144.5)
Source: MMAjunkie.com

Mar28th

Dana White wants Jon Fitch to face Josh Koscheck to determine welterweight contender

AUTHOR: Josh Sanchez | IN: American Kickboxing Academy, Dana White, Georges St. Pierre, Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, MMA, Paul Daley, Team Rough House, UFC, Zuffa | COMMENTS: None Yet

At the post-fight press conference, Dana White said he would like to see Jon Fitch take on his American Kickboxing Academy teammate Josh Koscheck to determine the number one contender for Georges St-Pierre’s next title defense.
Fitch was having none of that idea and said that the fight would never happen and if it did it would be in the gym behind closed doors. Dana White was not amused and had a few sarcastic responses for Fitch.
“I’m not kidding when I say I want to see Koscheck fight Fitch, I’m sick of that s*** … It’s over man, this whole we [...]

Mar24th

Rampage Jackson renews UFC contract for six-fights

AUTHOR: Josh Sanchez | IN: Dana White, MMA, Rampage Jackson, Rashad Evans, UFC | COMMENTS: 1 Comment

UFC president Dana White is going on a media tour leading up to this weekends UFC 111: St-Pierre vs Hardy event in Neward, New Jersey. Yesterday, White made a stop in Toronto, Canada for a Q&A session with the fans.
One of the topics discussed was his previous feud with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
White says the beef is over and he and Rampage have come to an agreement. In fact, Rampage has just signed a new contract with the organization.
“Rampage and I are friends again now. I was mad at him because of what he’s done, and he was mad at me [...]