Zuffa

MAIN CARD Chris Lytle def. Dan Hardy via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 3, 4:16 Ben Henderson def. Jim Miller via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-26) Donald Cerrone def. Charles Oliveira via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:01 Duane “Bang” Ludwig def. Amir Sadollah via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) PRELIMINARY CARD Jared Hamman def. C.B. Dollaway via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:38 Joseph Benavidez def. Eddie Wineland via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Ed Herman def. Kyle Noke via submission (heel-hook) – Round 1, 4:15 Ronny Markes def. Karlos Vemola via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Jim Hettes [...]

UFC welterweight Chris Lytle ended his MMA career on a high note with a third round submission victory over Dan Hardy at tonight’s UFC Live event. Lytle announced before the bout that it would be his last fight. While Lytle notched the victory, Hardy dropped his fourth straight fight. Usually, the UFC give fighters the axe after dropping three in a row so it seemed that Hardy needed a win to keep his job. That was not the case. Hardy always comes to fight and isn’t afraid to throw caution to the wind to entertain the fans. That mindset has [...]

As many fans of mixed martial arts are now aware, Zuffa and Team Golden Glory will no longer be doing business. The two sides have had many differences regarding business practices and the issues have led to Strikeforce releasing top fighters Alistair Overeem and Marloes Coenen, while the other Golden Glory fighters — outside of Heavyweight Grand Prix participant Sergei Kharitonov — have also been issued their walking papers. Zuffa has given their side of the story and members of Golden Glory have begun to speak out, but today Bas Boon released a statement to the press about the issue. [...]

Zuffa decided to release the Golden Glory fighters who were currently on their roster outside of Heavyweight Grand Prix participant Sergei Kharitonov. Fans have reached out with their support to the GG crew and they have heard their supporters. Today, Golden Glory coach Martijn de Jong took to Twitter and posted a picture of Alistair Overeem and Marloes Coenen thanking the fans for their support. According to UFC president Dana White, Zuffa is done dealing with Golden Glory fighters because of the way the team does business.

Not too long after releasing heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem for Strikeforce, Zuffa continues to cut ties with teammates of Overeem’s from Golden Glory Gym. Most recently, Zuffa cut former women’s champ Marloes Coenen who lost her belt to Miesha Tate at this past weekend’s Strikeforce event. The company also released Overeem’s brother, Valentijn, and John Olav Einemo. The news was announced by Golden Glory head coach Martijn de Jong. It seems a bit odd that Zuffa is releasing all of these very talented fighters, so we will have to keep an eye out an anymore fishy activity.

Team Quest’s Tarec Saffiedine will take on the heavy-hitting Scott Smith at tonight’s “Strikeforce: Fedor vs Henderson” event. With only a few hours until showtime, Saffiedine is on route to the stadium with the support of his team. Be sure to tune in to “Strikeforce: Fedor vs Henderson” live on Showtime at 10pm ET.

MAIN CARD Champ Dan Henderson (207) vs. Fedor Emelianenko (223) Champ Marloes Coenen (135) vs. Miesha Tate (135) Tim Kennedy (185) vs. Robbie Lawler (185) Paul Daley (171) vs. Tyron Woodley (170) Tarec Saffiedine (170) vs. Scott Smith (171) PRELIMINARY CARD Gesias Cavalcante (155) vs. Bobby Green (155) Eduardo Pamplona (170) vs. Tyler Stinson (171) Alexis Davis (136) vs. Julie Kedzie (135) Derek Brunson (186) vs. Lumumba Sayers (184) Bryan Humes (266) vs. Gabriel Salinas-Jones (260)

The Strikeforce Heavyweight World Grand Prix will continue the next round of the tournament on September 10th, but it will be without a familiar face. The organization’s heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem has been pulled from the tournament. Overeem was unhappy with the September 10th date and felt disrespected by Zuffa when they threatened to release him from the tournament if he did not agree with their timeline. It appears Overeem did not get his wish, but instead got the axe from the grand prix. There is no word on whether or not Overeem has been completely released from the organization. [...]

As MMA continues the transition to being accepted as a mainstream sport, the athletes have began to become more recognizable by the day. Most recently, UFC champions Jon Jones and Georges St-Pierre along with Strikeforce heavyweight Fabricio Werdum have been nominated for awards at the 2011 ESPY Awards. Jones and GSP are up for “Best Fighter,” while Fabricio Werdum is up for “Best Upset.” Clipped from: mmajunkie.com (share this clip)

MAIN CARD Caros Fodor vs. James Terry via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) Matt Ricehouse def. Ryan Couture via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) Lorenz Larkin def. Gian Villante via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) Jason High def. Quinn Mulhern via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Julia Budd def. Germaine de Randamie via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) PRELIMINARY CARD Derek Brunson def. Jeremy Hamilton via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Eduardo Pamplona def. Jerron Peoples via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:40 Trevor Smith def. Keith Berry via technical submission (north-south choke) – Round 2, 3:02