ouch

Just a quick one, had a really good session the other night, I was totally out on my feet by the end which is usually a sign Ive been working hard. The bad thing was that I didnt notice Id been scratched across my chest until I got into the showers, ooooooooouuucchhh! Its quite deep as it still kinda stings to touch now but slapping some shower gel onto it when it was still open and standing under the shower isnt a good idea. Especially when there a bunch of other dudes in the showers too and youre the only one squealing like a girl, the shame!My shoulder blade muscle thingy seems to be more or less healed up though, no problems with it during training this week so i guess i have no excuse to skip weights anymore :/ martial art mma fight mma training anderson silva

Macklin-Barker middleweight battle stirs memories of Benn-Eubank 20 years on

Matthew Macklin?s middleweight meeting with Darren Barker, the most eagerly-awaited domestic dust-up this year, has stirred memories of the battles between Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank and Michael Watson.
Macklin, trained by Freddie Roach and based for long stretches in America this year, was a whisker away from earning a world title shot, but the complex machinations [...]mma fight mma training anderson silva chuck liddell

UFC welcomes fans to next week's UFC 117 open workouts in Concord, Calif.

In keeping with a recently introduced trend in the Ultimate Fighting
Championship, fans will be granted access to the open workouts of six
high-profile fighters competing at August's UFC 117 event.

UFC officials recently announced the event's open workout sessions are open to both media and fans.

The free event, which are scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 4, from 1-3 p.m.
PT (local time), take place at the UFC Gym at 1975 Diamond Blvd. in
Concord, Calif.



martial art mma fight mma training anderson silva

Torres says Shields is afraid of Silva and may struggle at 170

Jake Shields finally jumped on board with the UFC last week and has been the recipient of some criticism from several directions. Some called his fighting style boring. Others wonder why the middleweight champ from Strikeforce is fighting for his new boss at welterweight. Miguel Torres, a former champ down at 135, suggested that Shields was afraid to fight Anderson Silva."I think he's getting out of 185 because he's a little bit afraid of Anderson (Silva)," Torres said during last week's stint as a guest host on ESPN2's "MMA Live" (starts at 26:30 left mark). "Anderson's a tough guy to fight at that weight class and he's thinking St. Pierre's an easier fight."ESPN was nice enough to include me in the discussion. I disagree with Torres. Shields' biggest strength is his grappling. Takedown defense might be Silva's only weakness. So in theory St. Pierre, with his excellent MMA wrestling, is actually a more difficult challenge for Shields. Shields explained to MMAWeekly Radio that it was simply a case of looking at the quickest path to a title shot (video below). "Obviously if I'm close to getting a title shot it's a huge factor," Shields
commented about his weight class choice. "I'm not really sure if this is going
to be a number one contender's fight or not, it hasn’t been mentioned to me, but
there's a good chance if I go out there and look really good doing it, it's
definitely a possibility." He might be right. If GSP beats Koscheck, the UFC may be looking for a fresh face to step up. That could be the winner of Shields and his opponent at UFC 121 in October, Martin Kampmann.Torres also didn't the like the choice because he believes Shields is now a natural middleweight."I think it might be too much of a weight cut," Torres said on MMA Live. Sometimes trying to cut that it's a little bit too much for you and I think Shields is going to find out right off the bat. He'a a great wrestler but at that weight class, cutting that weight is going to be rough," said Torres.
By the numbers, Shields is far from a natural middleweight. Sure, he looked physically big enough when he faced guys like Robbie Lawler and Dan Henderson, but he told MMA Weekly he's at 195 right now. Most of UFC middleweights are much bigger walking around 205-220 pounds. mma fight mma training anderson silva chuck liddell

MMAjunkie.com Radio: Marc Laimon, Joey Oddessa, Percy Crawford, Jorge Lopez

MMAjunkie.com Radio today welcomes a plethora of expert analysts to the
show to break down this weekend's combat sports action, as well as Wand
Fight Team prospect Jorge Lopez.

Top trainer Marc Laimon comes in-studio to breakdown UFC on Versus 2,
while MMA oddsmaker Joey Oddessa calls in to offer his expert opinion as
well. Percy Crawford of FightHype.com also joins us via phone to share
his wisdom on the latest in boxing, while Lopez previews his fight at
Saturday's MMA Xplosion show in Las Vegas.

MMAjunkie.com Radio airs from 12-2 p.m. ET (9-11 a.m. PT) live from the
Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino's Race & Sports Book. Listen to and
watch a video stream of the two-hour show at www.mmajunkie.com/radio.



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Baroni Out of UFC 118

Phil "The Best 'Eva!" Baroni has been forced to pull out of his UFC 118 prelim bout due to an injury to his collar bone. Baroni was due to meet John Salter in the bout, Salter coming off his TKO win over Jason MacDonald when the latter suffered a broken leg.
Baroni had strung together three straight wins since he dropped to welterweight but then dropped a fight to former UFC contender Joe Riggs in a Strikeforce. Despite that loss he was surprisingly invited to rejoin the UFC where he lost his first fight back to TUF winner Amir Sadollah.
Another opponent for Salter is being sought, whilst Baroni's UFC future could well be in the balance.mma fight mma training anderson silva chuck liddell

Revealing recent Fedor Emelianenko interview - last entrance song, his injury, life

courtesy of sherdog.com

Came across another recent Fedor Emelianko's interview from from his official site posted on 08/08/2008. Cool date!  He talks about finding religion, his entrance song and a few other interesting things. Read on for details.

Correspondent: Fedor, first fight according to your contract this year took place. It became one of the fastest out of Your stellar record. Did You expect such a desicive victory over Tim Sylvia?


Fedor Emelianenko: I never exect when a fight is going to end and can never tell ahead of time what is going to happen. Of course, I do want it to end as soon as possible, though I always mentally prepare myself for a long and gruelling fight.


Correspondent: Traditionally fighter's entrance is accompanied by music. This time it was a complete surprise a complete surprise when you came out to a kazak song "Stepan Razin's Dream" (Son Stepana Razina) , better known as a fold song "Oi, to ne veter" (Oi, that's not wind). What made you choose it, and who was it performed by? MMANinja's Note: as Fedor said he had father Andrei record it for him. From little searching that I did I found a version sung by a folk band. Download it here.


Fedor Emelianenko: It was my choice, I really like the song. With God's help I met a wonderful man - a priest from Nizhnii Novgorod father Andrei. When I heard him chant prayers and sing this song, I asked him to record it for me and he agreed.


Correspondent: After the fight cameras zoomed in on a moment when Your coach Vladimir Voronov placed a cross on you. You haven't had it that long. Are you a person of faith?


Fedor Emelianenko: Yes, I'm a person of faith and recently my life has changed, I will try to live my life according to God's teachings...


Correspondent: First step back to church many people make after something happened: serious illness, loss of a loved one, other tragic events... What was the reason for you to make that decision?


Fedor Emelianenko: When I met father Andrei, all my doubts left me...After being around this man, I realized that its the only right way. Through father Andrei God brought me to people who helped me realize how I used to live and how I should live going forward.


Correspondent: A disappointing incident from your last fight became an injury: a broken thumb, the same one that You already had a surgery on, put a metal plate on and so on, it happened again...According to international standards, after a fracture you can not even talk about fighting until after half a year. Does that mean that in 2008 You will not be able to fight?


Fedor Emelianenko: In reality, I don't feel a lot of pain, hand is healing and I'll hope that everything will work out. My next performance is planned in November: Combat Sambo world championships will take place in St. Petersburg.


Correspondent: Do you have plans to participate in "Affliction-2" in October?


Fedor Emelianenko: I would like to take part in "Affliction-2", but I'm not sure yet if it will happen.


Correspondent: Your younger brother Alexander was going to participate in the last "Affliction" event. What was the reason for him not being allowed to fight? Many fear if the same situation will happen at the next event?


Fedor Emelianenko: I can't comment on the situation. Alexander was in fact barred from performing from some blood tests. That's why I can't really say anything.


Correspondent: Last few years you have not trained with your brother. He moved to St. Petersburg and your training, mostly, takes place in Starii Oskol. Any plans to resume training together?


Fedor Emelianenko: It's more convinient and better for me to train in Starii Oskol. That doesn't work for Alex. From what I understand from his recent interviews, he likes it in St. Petersburg and he isn't planning to go anywhere for training.


Correspondent: A considerable group of fans went with you to America. How important is that for you?


Fedor Emelianenko: For me, of course, it's important to have people close to me, who always support me, worry about me and pray for me. I wish all of them could come with me, but none the less it was great to see guys who cheered for me at the event.


Correspondent: Are you planning to fly to Beijing to support russian athletes?


Fedor Emelianenko: Unfortunately, they way things are working out I will not be to go to Beijing. But I wish I could.


Correspondent: One of the organizers of the "Affliction" event was world famous make of stylish clothing, gothic style. You came out in an "Affliction" t-shirt as well. Do you prefer such "brave" style?


Fedor Emelianenko: I prefer a more simple style in clothing. Though I do really like "Affliction" clothes, it's comfortable. And on my t-shirt there was nothing that was against Russian orthodox, so I came out to the ring in it.


Correspondent: In one of your recent interviews we spoke about a project "Fighting Fedor". Are the participant already picked? When will it start?


Fedor Emelianenko: That's a question for Vadim Finkelstein - he leads that project. I don't know the exact time frames.


Correspondent: What are your plans for the near future?


Fedor Emelianenko: I am leaving for America to participate in a press conference. I will also be negotiating with "Affliction" company.


Check out and learn Fedor's MMA style from his new book:  Fedor: The Fighting System of the World's Undisputed King of MMA


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Paul McVeigh is pleased with his win over dangerous Artemij - CAGE CONTENDER 5

martial art mma fight mma training anderson silva

Chael Sonnen sounds off on Anderson Silva

martial art mma fight mma training anderson silva

McKee's 'Loser Leaves Town' match forced by racism?

Never heard the name Antonio McKee? Most casual fans of mixed martial arts haven't. The 40-year-old with a 24-3-2 record has never reached the bigs or gotten the exposure he feels he deserves. Part of the problem may be that the takedown artist, who hasn't lost since 2003, has turned in decision victories in 12-of-14 fights. So McKee is pulling out all the stops to get eyes on his next fight saying if he doesn't finish Luciano Azevedo on Sept. 10, he'll retire. McKee told Fanhouse's Ben Fowlkes:    "This is what I said. I said, if this fight goes to a decision and it's a boring decision, I retire. If this fight is not the fight of the night, I retire. Basically, if I don't go out there and put on a show, just destroy and annihilate this guy, then I'm done. If it's one of those matches where I take him down, ground and pound, holding him there, I retire. I'm done. [...]"I don't have to stand up and get hit in the face. No one can stop me from taking them down and no one can hit me when we're standing. What the fans want to see are the knockouts, the blood, the gory stuff. They want to see that, and I'm not about that."Without a loss for seven years, why hasn't he been signed by the UFC? Pointing to the popularity of ground and pound fighters like Matt Hughes, Georges St. Pierre and Sean Sherk, McKee says those guys have one thing going for them. McKee, again from Fanhouse: "I think a lot of it is racist. And I'm not saying racist against all black people necessarily, but racist towards me. You have these white guys who do the same exact thing, why doesn't anyone say this stuff about them?"McKee says no one gives the UFC welterweight champ guff for his deliberate style. "Georges St. Pierre, he doesn't even get hit anymore. And afterwards, he says, 'I'm not a brawler; I'm a mixed martial artist.' And then you have people talking about how great he is. I do exactly what you saw him do, but better!" He said just look at fellow African-American Yves Edwards. "The guy that had stood with them the longest there was Yves Edwards. He lost one fight, got triangled, then had a stoppage due to a cut against Joe Stevenson and they cut him. What? You got white guys who have been knocked out three or four times and keep coming back. Chuck [Liddell] has been knocked out so many times they need to make a stone with his name on it."Maybe this stunt will work. Who knows? Is McKee right? Did he play it smart? By taking no chances over the years, he got wins but he got no one's attention. Congrats on a good career.  martial art mma fight mma training anderson silva

UFC welcomes fans to next week's UFC 117 open workouts in Concord, Calif.

In keeping with a recently introduced trend in the Ultimate Fighting
Championship, fans will be granted access to the open workouts of six
high-profile fighters competing at August's UFC 117 event.

UFC officials recently announced the event's open workout sessions are open to both media and fans.

The free event, which are scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 4, from 1-3 p.m.
PT (local time), take place at the UFC Gym at 1975 Diamond Blvd. in
Concord, Calif.



martial art mma fight mma training anderson silva

Chat Live With James Toney

Filed under: UFCJames Toney, the soon-to-be 42-year-old pro boxer who was a two-time Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year, is preparing to take up a new sport when he steps inside the Octagon for a mixed martial arts fight with Randy Couture on Aug. 28 at UFC 118. But he'll take some time out of his preparation on Wednesday to participate in a live chat with MMA and boxing fans here at MMAFighting.com.

If you want to know why Toney decided to give MMA a try, where he stands on the "boxing vs. MMA" debate, and how he views Couture as an opponent, this is your chance to ask him. The live chat begins Wednesday at 1:25PM ET.chuck liddell martial art mma fight mma training

I want a rematch! Are you looking forward to these bouts?

If there is a theme in the next few months of MMA, it's that the rematch is king. In August and September, there are five rematches on the books for the UFC and WEC, and one possible Strikeforce rematch that would happen in Japan in DREAM.Rematches aren't always a good thing. When the fighter who won has continued to progress in his career, it doesn't make much sense for him to step backwards to face someone he has already beaten. However, when an injury, illness, or questionable officiating or judging are involved in the first match, a rematch is absolutely necessary. Thiago Alves vs. Jon Fitch (UFC 117): Fitch took their first bout with a TKO at Ultimate Fight Night 5 in 2006. Since that loss, Alves has been on a tear, beating Josh Koscheck, Matt Hughes, Karo Parisyan and Chris Lytle, among others. Fitch has been on a similar tear. Both fighters have lost title shots to GSP. This rematch is needed to see who will get a welterweight title shot after Josh Koscheck.  Dominick Cruz vs. Joseph Benavidez (WEC 50): Unlike Fitch/Alves, this rematch is taking place just over a year since the pair last fought. Cruz won the unanimous decision the first time, earning a title shot. He then won the title. Benavidez rebounded with wins over Rani Yahya and former champ Miguel Torres. Because of that, he earned another shot at Cruz; this time, the bantamweight title is on the line.Shinya Aoki vs. Gilbert Melendez (DREAM): This rematch may only be scheduled in Aoki's head. He announced it after defending his DREAM lightweight belt at DREAM.15, but the fight hasn't been confirmed by Melendez's camp or Strikeforce. Should it happen, this rematch would benefit no one but Aoki, considering that Melendez drubbed him in their bout in April. Aoki should have to win a bout under Strikeforce rules before getting another shot at Melendez. Frankie Edgar vs. B.J. Penn (UFC 118): Edgar shocked the world by defeating Penn in a narrow unanimous decision, but he did win. Penn, as the longtime UFC lightweight champion, was given an immediate rematch, but a title shot could have easily been given to Gray Maynard, who beat Edgar earlier in their careers. Mac Danzig vs. Matt Wiman (UFN 22): At UFC 115, Mac Danzig lost in a technical submission when he wasn't choked out. To give these two an immediate rematch was a no-brainer.  Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (UFC 119): In a bout that decided the UFC heavyweight contender, Mir TKOed Nog in the second round. After the fight, Nog let out the secret that he had a staph infection before the fight. Both fighters have suffered ups and downs since they last fought. A rematch now will determine which of these fighters still belongs in the elite of the UFC heavyweight division. martial art mma fight mma training anderson silva

Nick Diaz Responds To Jason Mayhem Miller NSFW

martial art mma fight mma training anderson silva

Barnett, Parisyan, Soko pick up wins down under at Impact

UFC veterans Josh Barnett, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and Karo Parisyan all walked away with much-needed wins from Impact FC fights in Brisbane, Australia today. Barnett, who had promised to "anally rape" Geronimo Dos Santos, thankfully didn't follow through on that plan. Instead, he overcame the much larger Dos Santos with takedowns and ground and pound, winning by TKO in the first round.Sokoudjou's last bout was a win due to disqualification over Dave Herman, but before that, he was TKOed by both Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa in DREAM and Gegard Mousasi in Strikeforce. At Impact, Soko was the one on the winning side, quickly pounding out Joakim Ferreira. Sokoudjou's 80-second win doesn't quell any fears about his lack of conditioning, but a win will help get him back on track.Speaking of fighters who needed to get back on track, Karo Parisyan won with a rear naked choke over Ben Mortimer in the second round. He returned to his judo roots, throwing Mortimer to the ground several times before finishing with the RNC.This was Parisyan's first bout since fighting Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 94. Parisyan tested positive for painkillers after that bout. Then, when Parisyan was scheduled to fight Dustin Hazelett at UFC 106 in November of 2009, he pulled out the day before weigh-ins. That move put Parisyan on Dana White and the UFC's bad side.  Parisyan, who has battled anxiety problems for much of his career, needed a win to move on from his rough 2009 and show he still wanted to fight. According to Sherdog reporter Jordan Breen, who was on-site for the fights, Parisyan looked relieved when the fight was over. Thanks to MMA Junkie and Sherdog. martial art mma fight mma training anderson silva

Bellator 25 gets Cole Konrad vs. Rogent Lloret heavyweight tourney fight

An opening-round heavyweight tournament bout between two-time NCAA Division I national wrestling champion Cole Konrad and submission specialist Rogent Lloret is set for Bellator 25.


Bellator officials today announced the fight.


Bellator 25, which features other season-three tourney fights, takes place Aug. 19 at the Chicago Theatre in Illinois.



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Manny Pacquiao transcending boxing like Muhammad Ali says Bob Arum

Promoter Bob Arum believes that since Manny Pacquiao was elected as Congressman to Sarangani Province on May 10, the world champion boxer ?can transform the Filipino nation, rid the country of corruption and be seen as a true leader.?
?We all know this century is going to be Asia?s century, with China, India and Malaysia [...]martial art mma fight mma training anderson silva

Best dressed award and other notes from the Strikeforce:Houston press conference

Strikeforce middleweight challenger Tim Kennedy showed the rest of the field how it's done at a press conference in Houston on Tuesday. From left, Bobby Lashley, Kennedy, "King Mo" Lawal and K.J. Noons were in town to hype up their fights in August.  Lashley still doesn't have an opponent for his fight on Aug. 21. Because of injuries, he hasn't fought since January, but he's happy with how he's grown as a fighter during that layoff."I think I've progressed well. The Bobby Lashley who fought my first fight is completely different from Bobby Lashley now," Lashley said. "I'm anxious to get back out there. I had a little setback and when I finally got cleared. I called (Strikeforce CEO Scott) Coker and begged him to be on this card."Light heavyweight champion Lawal will defend his title for the first time against Rafael "Feljao" Cavalcante but said that just because he's the champ, it doesn't mean he's changing his mindset or preparation going into the fight."The approach doesn't change. Going into every fight, I feel like both a champion and a challenger because I challenge myself in training, but I'm always champion in my mind.   So nothing is going to change for this fight," Lawal said.Mr. Dapper, Tim Kennedy, is challenging Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza for the vacated middleweight belt. Though he has 14 fights under his belt, this is only the second bout that he'll have the benefit of full-time training. Previously, he had been splitting time between training and serving the Army. "As your career progresses, every next fight is the most important one.  After I beat Jacare and have the title, they're going to say 'Is this the most important fight of your career?' I take every single fight with extreme seriousness and I take Jacare very seriously. I don't know if he's my toughest opponent, but it's nice to be able to train full time, so this is going to be a tough fight for him." These fights are going down on Aug. 21 at the Toyota Center in Houston.  mma fight mma training anderson silva chuck liddell

UFC Fight Night Anderson Silva vs James Irvin thoughts

I'm sure it's been talked about to death by other MMA outlets, but I'm going to chime in on this anyways. Dana White says he isn't "threatened by a T-Shirt company" (Affliction Clothing's first PPV event evah), YET he goes out and puts on a free Fight Night on Spike TV with a STUPID main event with only a few decent match ups.  Ya, I get why UFC did it but as most I'm sure predicted it turned out for the worse. Anyways... I still watched it.


Anderson Silva vs James The Scrub Irvin - well, they circled for a while, sure enough Irvin throws a low kick, Silva catches it, counters and Irvin folds for a paycheck. WTF was the point?


Brandon Vera vs Reese Andy - I used to make excuses for Vera and his crappy performances after his contract disputes, which didn't do him any good, but after his tonight's performance I say stick a fork in him for a while and let him go see Tony Robbins, who did wonders for Chuck Liddell. I don't buy Vera's lack of any type of triggerering mechanism against a guy who can't take you down or strike with you on weight cutting. After the first round even a strategerist like Tito Ortiz would have realize that his opponent had nearly non-existent offence and that all Vera had to do is jab Andy's chest and follow up with some crosses or jumping knees or high kicks or wtfever. Seriously, I like Lloyd Irving's Grappling Plan and all, but he isn't doing anything for Vera's obvious flaws with his mental aspect of the fight game.


Hermes Franca vs Franky Edgar - at first I thought - cool, former title challenger vs rising star but then the fight took place. Franky Edgar kept a fast pace and Franca didn't care at all about getting taken down.  So Edgar took him down and worked him over with repeated elbows. Joe Rogan tried to defend Franca's relaxation routine under elbow assault saying he's just waiting to explode. Good timing for Rogan cause Franca did almost pull off a nice armbar, but Edgar just as nicely escaped and proceded to gift Franca with face swelling elbows. It was all Edgar most of the fight for a relatively unanimous decision.  This fight left me wondering though why would Franca just give the fight away? He's just one of those guys that tries to do everything last minute, unfortuntely for him the hard workers of the world will cosistenly come out on topof the slackers.


Cain Velasquez vs Jake O'Brien - Heavyweight division is kinda hurting so it was good to have this fight to expose Velasquez a bit. He was on a mission and he completed it with non stop punching of trapped O'Brien's head. Kudos to Yamasaki for letting it go for a while so that there weren't any doubts.


Anthony Johnson Vs. Kevin Burns - Burns did impress everyone by beating a really tough Roan Carneiro with a submission in his last fight. However Anthony Johnson made him look very average. The fight was ok until Johnson started feeling more comfortable in the second round and began to pick Burns apart, however lazy. Burns poked Johnson in the eyes about three times in second and in the third round he did it again and really deep. Johnson falls downs, he can't continue, replays show a finger jab going straight into his eye and they award victory to Burns? WTF?


Jesse Taylor Vs. CB Dollaway - I'm glad Jesse was brought back, but at the same time why make such a big deal on the TV show, take him off the Finale show and bring him back not a month later. When did he have time to go to the Alchoholics Anonymous, EH? Anyways, the fight was good, Jesse was controlling CB pretty well, till CB pulled a nice Marcello Garcia move to get behind Jesse and set up his now famous peruvian neck tie choke.


On it's own and without the stupid main event, this Fight Night was ok for me. But considering why it was put on, it was bust. Especially knowing how the competing event went. Dana should be ashamed of his ego, not willing to set up Randy vs Fedor and trying to be a bastard when others do it without him.


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Strikeforce Challengers 10: Ryan Couture vs Lucas Stark booked for Aug. 13 in Phoenix

mma training anderson silva chuck liddell martial art

Despite twin daughters and weight issues, Matt Riddle ready for UFC on Versus 2

Matt Riddle has two little reasons to fight harder this Sunday at UFC on Versus 2: twin girls who came into his life this past month.

The thing is, he's not sure if they'll give him an extra boost inside the octagon when he faces DaMarques Johnson at Sunday's event at the San Diego Sports Arena. It would be nice, but he's not counting on it.

Instead, he's counting on a nice payday so he can take his little ones on vacation. Where's the family headed? Pennsylvania, where his parents live.



mma training anderson silva chuck liddell martial art

Silva puts on a UFC 112-like performance during UFC 117 media session

Boorish, disrespectful, clownish, obnoxious, rude and even insubordinate. Those are just some of the derogatory terms used to describe Anderson Silva's behavior during the main event at UFC 112. Between the gyrating, dancing and his failure to engage during much of the fight, Silva sent Dana White over the edge, disrespected the UAE royal family (his new bosses) and turned off many fans. Silva showed a little contrition in the immediate aftermath but during a UFC 117 teleconference, to preview next weekend's main event, it was good to find out the old Silva is still alive and well.Showing once again he doesn't get it, the UFC middleweight champ made gave plenty of one-word answers and mocked most of the questions. It's the fight game. Part of your job is to sell the fight and in doing so raise your own profile. It's fine Silva's a jerk, we get that. But at least embrace it. Floyd Mayweather is a genius. He gets it. As long as you pick a side, Floyd is happy. That's why he's making $25 million a fight. Silva is on the opposite end of the spectrum. His approach during an incredible 11-fight win streak is still why almost no one outside of MMA has any idea who he is. Chael Sonnen, who is the antithesis of Silva with the media and fans, gets it and wrapped things up nicely.  "He comes on here and says something stupid as if he's saying some sort of Nobel Prize winning statement. He truly believes the answer he gave few minutes ago, that people are tuning in to see a fight, and not see anything else. He really means that,"  Sonnen said (5:15 mark). "He feels like he's taking the moral high ground." Just as he's been doing for the last few months, Sonnen talked lots of trash during the call. Silva chose to basically mock every question he was asked and then hid behind the excuse that he refused to get into a war of words with his opponent. One problem: the majority of the questions were legitimate questions about the fight and had nothing to do with Sonnen flapping his gums."He couldn't be anymore wrong," Sonnen said. "Does he know anything about business? That's not what people are tuning in to see. People don't just tune in to see people fight. They want to know why they're fighting? He couldn't have this industry anymore backward."  Silva came out firing blanks and it never got better. AOL Fanhouse's Mike Chiapetta then pushed more (2:50 mark) by invoking his best Joe Pesci from "Goodfellas" (VIDEO - 2:50 mark). Silva's manager/translator Ed Soares said he had trouble understanding the question.  The one time Silva showed passion was when he said he didn't care about White's opinion.After UFC 112, White said Silva could face termination. You get the feeling this is all going to end badly. Maybe we're headed toward another cold war with Silva on the outside looking in, like Tito v. Dana.   mma training anderson silva chuck liddell martial art

Strikeforce Challengers 9 ratings peak with 254,000 viewers for Kaufman-Modafferi

Ratings for this past weekend's Showtime-televised Strikeforce Challengers 9 event proved solid as the show averaged an audience of 197,000 viewers, an industry source today confirmed with MMAjunkie.com.

The peak audience actually came for the night's co-main event, a title
fight between women's welterweight champ Sarah Kaufman and challenger
Roxanne Modafferi that spiked with 254,000 viewers.

The fight actually topped the Shane Del Rosario vs. Lolohea Mahe headliner, which drew 226,000 viewers.



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UFC 120 Bisping to fly in judo specialists in make-or-break Akiyama middleweight battle

Michael Bisping is having specialist Japanese judo fighters flown in to the Wolfslair Training Camp in Widnes ahead of his make-or-break career contest with Japanese judo master Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 120 in London on October 6.
Bisping, who goes into training camp in mid-August after having spent a part of the summer filming episodes of [...]chuck liddell martial art mma fight mma training

Mark Miller meets Josh Shockley at Bellator 25 in Chicago

Bellator Fighting Championships has added a fourth fight to the preliminary card of the already star-studded Bellator 25 event, which takes place on its home turf of Chicago.

Lightweights Mark Miller and Josh Shockley are set to meet at the event, a source close to the event confirmed with MMAjunkie.com.


Bellator 25 takes place Aug. 19 at the historic Chicago Theatre in Illinois. As is typical with Bellator, the preliminary-card matchup includes area talent that's meant to draw local fans.



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UFC 87 Georges St. Pierre vs Jon Fitch, Brock Lesnar vs Heath Herring quick picks

I didn't get a chance to do quick picks for last few UFC events, but the picks are back. Here they are this UFC 87: Seek and Destroy. Obviously St. Pierre vs Fitch, Lesnar and Roger Huerta vs Kenny Florian are interesting fight, but the rest of the card on paper is so so for me.


Cheick Kongo Vs. Dan Evensen - Kongo was kinda ripped off in favor of no talent hack Heath Herring in his last fight but showed some improvement in his ground game and I think came away with a few lessons from the fight. That's all that matters in a close loss like that and Kongo will be better off. Evenson fought in Bodog several times but hasn't beaten anyone of note. UFC's heavyweight division is lacking right now so they're bringing him in to feed to Kongo. Picking Kongo by KO


Luke Cummo Vs. Tamdan McCrory - should be a fun fight as both of the guys have decent standup and like to push the action in their fights. Picking Tamdan McCrory based on his better record of winning against better fighters and his reach.


Jason MacDonald Vs. Demian Maia - another fight that has the potential to be pretty exciting from the ground game perspective. Both MacDonald and Maia's previous victories were exciting finishes. Picking Maia by submission.


Manny Gamburyan Vs. Rob Emerson - Rob Emerson has actually faced several good guys like Pulver, Vasquez, Mishima in his MMA career prior to his appearance on the Ultimate Fighter TV show. Gamburyan has gotten on a few win streak, both by submissions, since list injury loss to Nate Diaz. Seems like Emerson has had issues with good ground guys in the past, so I'm picking Manny Gamburyan by a few very hard rights, takedown, some pounding and submission.


Kenny Florian Vs. Roger Huerta - after watching UFC 87 Countdown and watching the Roger Huerta segment all I can say is wow. What a story! It's amazing what he has achieved coming off his childhood experiences. He was lucky to have had the people that helped him get on his feet, but his hard work and determination kept him on course. This completely throws out his image of happy go lucky mexican college kid who's fed easy fights. Come on, Clay Guida is an easy fight?


Onto Kenny Florian. He is very intelligent and established himself as a lifelong learner of MMA. His dedication and motivation to be the best has been showing in his recent fights. With that said, I think Huerta's has more power and faster pace, so I'm picking Roger Huera by an exciting decision.


Brock Lesnar Vs. Heath Herring - picking Brock Lesnar to give Heath Herring a retirement beating. Straight right, takedown, vicious ground and pount till TKO.  Herring still sucks on the ground after 11 years of being in MMA. This will be much like Jake O'Brian's domination of Herring, only Brock Lesnar will do killer damage.


Georges St-Pierre Vs. Jon Fitch - the event will start in a few minutes, so I'm out of time. Picking Georges St. Pierre by a clean win over the blood and guts of Jon Fitch in a long exciting and gruelling fight!


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Yahoo MMA's Meltzer: Brock Lesnar's UFC 87 fight his last chance? Not a chance!

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Out of all the Yahoo! Sports MMA section newly minted MMA "experts" I always considered Dave Meltzer to be the best out of the bunch as he's been around MMA for a while longer than the rest. Most of the time, if I have time, I usually just quickly scan over their MMA coverage as they're often pretty bland and biased and plain bad...cough...Kevin Iole anyone?...cough...cough.

So when Dave Meltzer's Lesnar faces must-win against Herring article showed up on Yahoo.com's front page today I had to check it out. After quickly looking at it I felt compelled to comment on some of the points and errors in his article.


 "Lesnar can’t afford a second straight loss on a major pay-per-view event and still be considered a long-term main eventer."


First of all, Brock Lesnar hasn't been a main eventer in UFC yet. His UFC debut fight with Frank Mir felt like one though because of how much popularity he brought to the UFC from his WWE days and stellar NCAA background to go with that. He can very much afford a second straight loss on a major PPV event also because he, in my opinion, lived up to the hype of being incredibly athletic and fast for his size and most importantly that he put in some hard training and looked very very good for being so inexperienced in MMA. He handily beat on Frank Mir but got caught by a much experienced fighter in a possibly debilitating, however not quite there, submission and didn't want to risk a long term injury. He only made more MMA fans with his loss and created more hype and anticipation as to what he can really do in MMA. He is also a natural competitor and it will be very hard for anyone to turn a fight with him into a boring affair. So he can afford 3-4 more exciting losses with no problem for his UFC popularity at all. But that's not going to happen, he is not losing at UFC 87 - not to the sloppy Heath Herring.


Meltzer then proceeds to comment on the fact that because Brock Lesnar came in at a higher salary of guaranteed $250,000 a fight another loss could really ruin his UFC career.


"The others have been given lower or mid-level opponents to start out with to build their reputation. UFC decided that with what they were paying Lesnar, there was going to be no such slow grooming process."


Honestly? With how many PPV buys Brock Lesnar brought in with his first fight, $250,000 a fight is nothing to UFC at this point for a celebrity of sorts.  They'd need not even 6000 extra PPV buys to recoup that salary. He brought in quite a bit more than that. Come on, they just got done paying Brandon Vera nearly the same for one of the worst fights this year against a mostly unknown wrestler.


"Texan Herring has 41 pro fights over the past 11 years, in nearly every major organization. He became a star in Japan at the age of 22, and has been in the ring with a Who’s Who list of the greatest heavyweights of all-time."


"Herring, a big star during PRIDE’s heyday in Japan when he was known as “The Texas Crazy Horse” for his unique multi-colored hair, noted he’s beaten men bigger than the 6-2 ½, 277-pound Lesnar, as well as higher credentialed wrestlers. He’s best known for a 2000 win over Tom Erikson"


"Herring (28-13), is known for being difficult to finish; he went the distance twice with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in their three meetings, after being submitted the first time. But he was beaten by his most famous opponents in Japan, by Cro Cop from strikes on the ground, and by Fedor Emelianenko due to blood."


Brock Lesnar isn't in much danger facing THIS Heath Herring. Yep. The same Heath Herring who showed his true skills against Jake O'Brian, who couldn't finish Brad Imes (where is he now anyways? Still doing gogo-platas at some tiny shows?), who questionably beat Cheick Kongo. 41 pro fights in the past 11 years and he never amounted to anything in nearly every major organization, besides amuzing Japanese fans with his stupid hair cuts.  His supposed wildness or crazyness only amounts to the fact that in 11 years of fighting and training here and there, he still looks as sloppy and amateurish as he did during his "wild days" of wearing leather cloaks for his fight entrances. Lesnar will retire Herring from UFC by beating him in the first round. 


Why is Meltzer talking a loss for Lesnar when he's fighting Herring? Herring hasn't submitted anyone in 5 years, let alone anybody good ever. Sorry comparing his wins over wrestlers 7 years ago doesn't make much sense. He hasn't KO'd anybody in 2 years. What he has done is get dominated on the ground by a ground game newbie Cheik Kongo and got completely tooled by a much smaller Jake O'Brian. Given all that and an enormous amount of sloppyness, Brock Lesnar's chances to lose are minimal.


Also, Nogueira submitted Herring in his second fight not first and what does "by Fedor Emelianenko due to blood" mean? I share Fightlinker's sentiments in how sad it is that Yahoo's Sports MMA has some of the biggest audience out there, especially when they often get to the front page, but their MMA coverage is being done either by very inept people with not much clue about MMA and the fact that they're very biased and often inaccurate.


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The NFL's best MMA prospect is ...

NFL insider/MMA trainer Jay Glazer was the fill-in host on the nationally syndicated Dan Patrick Show on Friday morning. Give him credit, he mixed in several segments of MMA discussion during the three-hour show. The day's poll question was "Which NFL player would make the best MMA fighter?"The candidates were Jared Allen, Ray Lewis, Shawne Merriman and Stephen Neal. If hardcore fans were voting, the results may have had Neal winning with 99 percent while the other three split the remaining 1 percent. After all, Neal was the NCAA heavyweight wrestling champ back in 1999. He won the title by downing current UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar.Neal actually finished last in the poll with just 6 percent of the vote. Ray Lewis smashed the field with 45 percent. Glazer said several times that Lewis has an amateur boxing and wrestling background. Are you buying that he'd have a chance against someone with Neal's pedigree? mma training anderson silva chuck liddell martial art

Thiago Silva injured again, replacement search underway for UFC 117 slot

Thiago Silva re-injured his back and is unable to fight Tim Boetsch at UFC 117.

Multiple sources close to the event today confirmed with MMAjunkie.com that Silva is benched and that a search for a replacement opponent is underway.

UFC 117 takes place Aug. 7 at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., and features a headliner between middleweight champion Anderson Silva and challenger Chael Sonnen.



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Noons opens up men vs. women debate in MMA

Look out Dana White. Here comes a doozy. This one has to get a response. Strikeforce lightweight K.J. Noons says Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos could compete in the WEC's featherweight division. From Sherdog.com: "I believe (male vs. female fights) wouldn’t be that competitive, but every now and then there is a special athletic woman that can compete with men in fighting," said Noons. "I believe Cris is one of them. Can she be competitive if she fought in the WEC? Yes, she could. Would she be champ? If I knew the answer to that, I’d be a billionaire and I wouldn’t be fighting."Outlandish? Who knows. If Noons is telling the truth this could open up a whole new can of worms. Is there anywhere in the world that would actually entertain the thought of a male versus female fight? Would you want to see it? "When I see her fight other guys, she’s usually beating them up or manhandling them," [Noons] said. "When I spar with her, we’re just working; I’m giving her work. When she goes full speed on me, she definitely has the power of a man. She throws like a 145-pound man."Power is one thing. The bigger factor in fighting is speed and agility. Could Cyborg defend herself against a 145-pound or would it be target practice? Trainer Eric Del Fierro has been working with Cyborg a few times a week in the San Diego area. He rains on the parade a bit. "She’s agile, but she’s still a female. There’s still a big difference. They don’t have that natural testosterone production that men have. Men are built more for strength and there’s just a big gap between the two," [said Del Fierro. ...] "She could go in there and do well against some of those guys, but there’s still a big difference between men and women and the dynamics of their own strength levels and agility. She doesn’t have the foundation of wrestling that some of the guys have in that division. There’s no way you could throw her against Urijah Faber Jose Aldo and expect her to do great."There really is no sport, period, where women compete anywhere near their top-level male counterparts. So why would it be different in fighting? The best thing women's fighting can do is to show a little patience as the sport catches up to Cyborg. It would also be nice for the promotion to stop recycling the same fighters and take part in actually cultivating some new prospects and future stars.anderson silva chuck liddell martial art mma fight

Barnett, Parisyan, Soko pick up wins down under at Impact

UFC veterans Josh Barnett, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and Karo Parisyan all walked away with much-needed wins from Impact FC fights in Brisbane, Australia today. Barnett, who had promised to "anally rape" Geronimo Dos Santos, thankfully didn't follow through on that plan. Instead, he overcame the much larger Dos Santos with takedowns and ground and pound, winning by TKO in the first round.Sokoudjou's last bout was a win due to disqualification over Dave Herman, but before that, he was TKOed by both Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa in DREAM and Gegard Mousasi in Strikeforce. At Impact, Soko was the one on the winning side, quickly pounding out Joakim Ferreira. Sokoudjou's 80-second win doesn't quell any fears about his lack of conditioning, but a win will help get him back on track.Speaking of fighters who needed to get back on track, Karo Parisyan won with a rear naked choke over Ben Mortimer in the second round. He returned to his judo roots, throwing Mortimer to the ground several times before finishing with the RNC.This was Parisyan's first bout since fighting Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 94. Parisyan tested positive for painkillers after that bout. Then, when Parisyan was scheduled to fight Dustin Hazelett at UFC 106 in November of 2009, he pulled out the day before weigh-ins. That move put Parisyan on Dana White and the UFC's bad side.  Parisyan, who has battled anxiety problems for much of his career, needed a win to move on from his rough 2009 and show he still wanted to fight. According to Sherdog reporter Jordan Breen, who was on-site for the fights, Parisyan looked relieved when the fight was over. Thanks to MMA Junkie and Sherdog. anderson silva chuck liddell martial art mma fight

Bob Reilly using dead fighter as a crutch in his anti-MMA debate

It's not enough for Bob Reilly to spread this silly anti-MMA argument around his budget-crunched state of New York. Now Reilly is being leaned on as some sort of voice of reason worldwide. The New York Assemblyman joined The Telegraph's Gareth A. Davies in a spirited debate on BBC radio. Not surprisingly, Reilly is now shamelessly throwing the recent death of MMA rookie Michael Kirkham into his argument. "Violence begets violence. To us, we can't imagine putting people in a cage, sometimes literally fighting to the death," said Reilly. "Because a fighter was tragically killed a week ago in South Carolina. To put two men in a cage or two women in a cage and let them fight until one is dead, is not something for a civilized society."Davies promptly fired back pointing out that it's just the second death in the history of MMA and added that Kirkham's parents spoke recently, and the last thing they want is their son used as a pawn in Reilly's publicity stunt. "'He was following his dream. We hope that this doesn't become an argument for trying to ban a sport that Michael loved,'" said Davies, relaying the Kirkham's message. "'He would not have wanted his name used for that purpose."Reilly pins an uptick in violence amongst youth on the rise of MMA. "What is omitted, by almost everyone, is that this is a brutal sport," said Reilly. "In the U.S., we are trying to combat brutality in our schools. We have a huge problem of domestic violence. We have a huge problem with inner city kids with guns and violence."Pretty outrageous stuff. But Reilly has the ear of way too many folks in the state of New York and maybe many worldwide. It would seem to me that MMA, a sport fighting with rules and requiring strict discipline and dedication, is the least of the problems to address for folks who are trying to battle rising crime rates.     anderson silva chuck liddell martial art mma fight

MMAjunkie.com Radio: ESPN "MMA Live" host Molly Qerim, prospect Travis Bartlett

A new week of MMAjunkie.com Radio kicks off with "MMA Live" host and ESPN regular Molly Qerim, who joins us to discuss the weekly MMA-news show.

Fast-rising light-heavyweight prospect Travis Bartlett, who takes an 8-1
record into Saturday's MMA Xplosion fight with Robert Scott, also joins
the show.

MMAjunkie.com Radio airs from 12-2 p.m. ET (9-11 a.m. PT) live from the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino's Race & Sports Book. Listen to and watch a video stream of the two-hour show at www.mmajunkie.com/radio.



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Joey Villasenor vs. Drew McFedries added to stacked Shark Fights 13 card

In his first post-UFC fight, Drew McFedries meets Strikeforce veteran and fellow middleweight Joey Villasenor as part of Shark Fights 13's impressive lineup.

The bout, which was revealed on Friday's new episode of "Inside MMA" on HDNet, joins co-headliners Keith Jardine vs. Trevor Prangley and Houston Alexander vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou.

Shark Fights 13 takes place Sept. 11 at the Amarillo Civic Center in Amarillo, Texas.



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WEC Hometown race heats up; Phoenix, Milwaukee in the lead

In spring, the WEC announced a contest with Amp Energy to bring the fights to your hometown, and the deadline is soon approaching with Phoenix leading and Milwaukee in second place. WEC champs Ben Henderson and Dominick Cruz are both originally from Arizona and have been campaigning for Phoenix, while Duke Roufus' camp -- with WEC fighter Anthony Pettis -- has been pushing hard for Milwaukee. The WEC has been happy with the way the contest has turned out. “As the deadline approaches, it will be interesting to see which city gets a WEC event in December,” WEC GM Reed Harris said. “This is truly unique in that fans have all of the control. The fans in Phoenix have surged out of the gate and taken the lead. But with only a few days left, cities such as Milwaukee, Chicago, Atlanta, Nashville, Philadelphia, Sacramento and others aren’t going down without a fight.” Who would you rather see get it? The hot, unforgiving desert of Phoenix or Milwaukee, the land of beer and cheese? You can vote here. martial art mma fight mma training anderson silva

Joey Villasenor vs. Drew McFedries Added to Shark Fights 13

Filed under: Fighting, NewsMiddleweights Joey Villasenor and Drew McFedries will look to get their careers back on track when they meet at Shark Fights 13 on Sept. 11, the organization recently announced. The fight will take place at the Civic Center Coliseum in Amarillo, TX.

Shark Fights 13 will be headlined by Trevor Prangley vs. Keith Jardine. The co-main event features a light heavyweight bout between Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and Houston Alexander.chuck liddell martial art mma fight mma training

MMA Marketplace: Win Rich Franklin's pretty pink cast

In his win over Chuck Liddell, Rich Franklin broke his arm. Now, he is using the pink cast that helped his arm heal to fight breast cancer. Franklin is raffling off his cast, which was signed by Chuck Liddell, to benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Mouth guards, T-shirts and signed pictures will also be raffled off.There are plenty of ways to win the cast and other Franklin prizes. From Franklin's website:Purchase a raffle ticket(s) online, order $100 or more of eligible merchandise online and receive a raffle entry, mail in check or money order for raffle tickets to American Fighter, 9795 Laurel Glen Dr, Loveland, OH 45140. There are no limits to how many tickets you can purchase.If you choose the $100 worth of merchandise option, go for the property of Team American Fighter tee, the women's shirt proclaiming, "Damn, right, I hit like a girl," or the onesie, for the baby who prefers the cage over the crib. To buy a raffle ticket for $5 to support this worthy cause, click here.   anderson silva chuck liddell martial art mma fight

Koppenhaver goes out fighting before hitting the big house

No one can say they're surprised. Jon Koppenhaver has been battling demons for a while. After several bar brawls, the law finally caught up with the man who changed his name to "War Machine" and he's headed to jail for a year on July 16.The former UFC fighter took a fight last week on just five days notice against former Xtreme Couture gym mate John Alessio. Before hitting the pen, War Machine made some money at Tachi Palace Fighting 5 but was put to sleep for his efforts.The final straw with a dust up in March at a San Diego bar named Thrusters. There was no "he said, he said" this time. The melee was caught on video and was a key during the trial.The UFC must love this news report describing War Machine as a "UFC fighter." The AP did the same thing in its lede. He last fought for the promotion in 2008. Machine escaped serious trouble in three other bar and party brawls.In 2008, while still under contract with the UFC, he was arrested in San Diego
for choking a man unconscious and punching him in the face as he lay
on the ground. Then, in 2009, he was arrested following a fight outside a nightclub in Las Vegas.
Later that same year, while he was working as a porn actor, he was allegedly
involved in a brawl with several people at a birthday party for an adult film
actress.After his appearance on Season 6 of "The Ultimate Fighter," Machine carved out his niche on the web. His maniacal rantings on MySpace were classic. He crossed the line several times when he suggested someone should "smoke" the president, got fired when he ripped Bellator fighting and trashed the UFC for the way it handled the death of Evan Tanner.This time, instead of a slap on the wrist, Machine is being put away.  It's a pretty scary proposition yet he was on Twitter on Saturday and Sunday waxing poetic about life. After the lousy pizza, he took in a movie and wanted to brawl with someone eating popcorn. Then someone told him to get help. On Sunday, it was time to watch some soccer. The kid is funny but he needs some serious help. Hopefully he gets the rehabilitative effects of jail and doesn't come out even more troubled and angry.  martial art mma fight mma training anderson silva

Fedor Emelianenko vs Andrei Arlovski: Affliction Day of Reconing picks

 




I just HAD to find time to writing at least something about this card/fight. I can not wait till tonight and am really hating the anticipation. It really doesn't matter how the fights turn out because of the fact that Fedor is fighting again just few months after fighting Sylvia and is fighting a legit threat in Arlovski.

HD Net put tugether a pretty good, not great, "get to know Fedor" show "FEDOR: The Baddest Man on the Planet". It was good to have a few fighters that have fought Fedor and give him credit that he never takes himself. I was disappointed with the fact that there really wasn't that much "new" footage. A lot of the Fedor footage was taken right out of Pride FC's "Champions" series they did on Fedor, Nogueira, Sakuraba and Silva. BUT... this is one of the few Fedor specials that actually had him LAUGH. That's right, Fedor actually laughs and it was great to see some type of emotion out of him. If you missed the show on HD Net, go visit Afflictions website and watch their promo videos, they're pretty much the gist of the whole Fedor show and you get to see some Arlovski training as well. AND if you watch the press conference, you'll get to see the surprize "superstar" that Affliction unfortunately decided to deal with, Tito Ortiz, make a total fool and tool of himself and Affliction too. The dumbass can't even read a fight card and as usual reiterated to everyone that he can't present himself in any other manner other than pound his chest before fights and then get embarrased by his inability to fight any good. Thank you Lyoto Machida! You gave me one of the most satisfying experiences when you exposed Tito Ortiz for what he is - a one dimensional never-improving hack. I just hope Affliction didn't spend a lot of money on him or sign a multi deal contract. Who's next? Ken Shamrock, just for Tito?


Oh and I just found out that Fedor apparently has an instructional book too, Fedor: The Fighting System of the World's Undisputed King of MMA, though I haven't seen it yet. Onto the fights though, besides Fedor vs Arlovski there are a few good fights that are kind of compelling to see.


Jay Hieron vs Jason High - Jay Hieron has been on a tear in IFL and looked great. Training at Xtreme Couture's has been great for him, as it is for any other fighter. Picking Hieron. (really though I just haven't seen Jason High fight. If he beats Hieron, he'll definitely be on everyone's radar)


Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs Vladimir Matyushenko - hmm, kind of a tough one for me. Matyushenko rediscovered his MMA career in IFL and looked great recently. Noguiera on the other hand had a decent run in Pride but hasn't really shined. His brother's disappointing catatonic performance against Frank Mir (who's delusional by the way, Brock will TKO him and then break his leg off and then eat it) is kind of weighing on my judgement here, they're twins you know. I think the style that Nogueira's developed and used recently isn't cutting it any more and Matyushenko will hit harder standing and will most certainly get on top and then ground and pound him for decision. Picking Matyushenko.


Paul Buentello vs Kiril Sidelnikov - one of the things that kind of surprised me is that, at least according to the HD Net Fedor special i mentioned earlier, Kiril Sidelnikov is Fedor's main training partner.  It's great for Sidelnikov on one hand because training with someone better than you always make you improve more, especially Fedor. On the other hand though, many times training with someone much better than you all the time may give you a false confidence. It has happened countless times before, a fighter comes from a huge famous fight camp and is fighting another fighter from a barely known camp. Then the fighter who's sparring partners are guys that don't even fight beats a fighter that can kinda hang with a group of pro fighters. I really hope that it will not be the case for Sidelikov. He's striking looks a lot like Fedors and ground will definitely be better than Buentello's, given his success in Combat Sambo tournaments. Buentello won't be a push over, his striking is dangerous and his KO's are a pretty good testament to that. Picking Sidelnikov by being smart and taking it to the ground.


Renato "Babalu" Sobral vs Thierry Sokoudjou - Sokoudjou made a huge splash in Pride FC's 205 division by KO'ing two top guys at the time, Rogerio Nogueira and Ricardo Arona. His UFC's showings however quickly took the air out of the hype he quickly build for himself in Pride. Powerful and athletic he appears to be lacking stamina and heart. Picking Sobral to weather a few hard kicks and punches from Sokoudjou early on and take over by whatever he wants, striking or submissions.


Vitor Belfort vs Matt Linland -  No matter how ugly sometimes Linlands fights turn out, I've always respected his tenacity, will to win and willingness to cross train. His striking may never be beautiful, but his jiu-jitsu is coming along very nicely. Too bad he lost a few years of fighting because of the self absorbed Dana White and is getting up there in age. Belfort's been hot and cold for years now and while still young will probably never get up to the hype level he initially garnered. Picking Linland by outworking Belfort and breaking his will and body. Hopefully beating Belfort will get Linland a couple more good and high profile fights.


Josh Barnett vs Gilbert Yvel -  Barnett finally avenged his loss to Pedro Rizzo in a so so fight. Barnett did pretty damn good in Pride FC's last heavyweight Grand Prix getting to the finals, especially after a long stint in japanese pro-wrestling. So another win is a win. Affliction must have spend a bunch of cash on Barnett liking his quirky personality and are giving him a gift fight to set him up with the winner of Fedor vs Arlovski.  Yvel has near zero chance to beat Barnett, if Barnett just takes him down and doesn't goof off standing up. Picking Barnett with one hand behind his back.


Fedor Emelianenko vs Andrei Arlovski - historic fight this may be not, but a huge mega fight it sure is! Everyone is waiting for Fedor to finally to succumb to the reality of MMA - everyone loses and it's ok. There are just too many variables and ways to win that at some point you get caught. This will be a tough fight. Arlovski looked great against Rothwell, but I really think Rothwell made Arlovski look good. Sometimes certain bodytypes/styles make the same fighter look better than others. After his second loss to Sylvia, Arlovski didn't look all that great against Jake O'Brian, PeDepano or that other boring brazilian dude that trains with CroCop that made Gonzaga give up before their fight even started. So one fight where Arlovski kinda let go and looked like the former aggressive self made him into the guy that can beat Fedor? Almost everyone that fought Fedor could have beaten him, not that Heath Herring hack though. Even Tim Sylvia, while not landing a single shot on Fedor, still had a good chance of beating him. It just hasn't happened yet. Arlovski does look awesome in training, very fast, he's got a new famous boxing coach. Fedor? Fedor still trained in Starii Oskol with a handful of trainers and Kiril Sidelnikov who he just beats on. He's just special like that. I'm picking Fedor to beat Arlovski after Arlovski will put up a pretty good fight, though I think it will go to the ground where Arlovski isn't that good and Fedor really shines.


I also have to say that it's VERY PETTY of UFC to run Brock Lesnar vs Randy Couture's UFC for free tonight on Spike. D$ck move. I'm sure fans are getting tired of all the UFC cards one after another and are itching for some even a little different. I think Affliction will pull through this and continue on their decent card and if they manage to have Fedor on each one, they'll be even better. I'd always pick Fedor's PPV vs Rich Franklin or Henderson, no offense to Rich.


 


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UFC 92 picks Forrest Griffin vs Rashad Evans Wanderlei Silva vs Quinton Jackson Nogueira vs Mir

As usual, I say these will be super quick fight picks for UFC 92, but then I'll probably end up writing for an hour. Besides the fact that this is a really star studded event, like the old Pride year end event used to be, here are my picks.


Forrest Griffin Vs. Rashad Evans - what a tough pick this is for me, Rashad has been winning steady and last fight was a huge statement, especially for this confidence in his skills. Even though Forrest beat on Rampage a bit in their last fight, Rampage wasn't nearly at his best, but he has that advantage of going through that tough 25 minute championship fight and after being knocked down in the very first. So I like both guys, but I'm leaning towards Rashad and his power. Picking Rashad Evans.


Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Vs. Frank Mir - I'm honestly not sure what Mir can do to Nogueira. His striking is still isn't good enough for Noguiera and his latest submissions were against guys that are inexperienced at them. I give Nogueira striking advantage, stamina and submissions for that matter. He'll wear Mir out in the very first round, peper him with all kinds of striking. In the second he'll proceed to doing the same and finish Mir in the third. Picking Nogueira by just being better at everything and experience.


Wanderlei Silva Vs. Quinton Jackson - In both of their previous fights Rampage started off better than Silva and as soon as he got into any type of rhythm or a good position he was interrupted. In the first it was the ref for an odd reason, when Rampage was on top and pretty active and could have very well worn Silva out to finish him later. In the second he did great in the first round and spend good energy to get Silva on the ground and be on top before the bell rung. Silva showed why he was still great after exlusively beating up on 10+ japanese fighters and cought Rampage with some amazing forever-highlight reel shots. Again I really like both guys and both faltered lately. I hope Rampage learned from Silva-vs-Liddell, and Silva vs CroCop for that matter, that straight shots are Silva's cryptonite, Achilles's heel, whatever. Silva hopefully got some more good training in at Randy Couture's. So I want Rampage to win and hope he got whatever messed him up for the Griffin fight taken care of and is in better shape physically and metally.


CB Dollaway Vs. Mike Massenzio - picking CB Dollaway and his peruvian necktie, cause I get a feeling Massenzio is there to make CB look good again and promote him further.


Cheick Kongo Vs. Mostapha Al Turk - picking Kongo because he should be pretty hungry for a win after he basically gave away a fight he was winning a no talent hack Heath Herring.


Yushin Okami Vs. Dean Lister - So...like...wtf is Dean Lister still doing in UFC? Honestly! I know Dana hates Yushin Okami, but it is a damn sport that's already so popular that if there are a few guys that are not exiting but beat other good fighters with skill, IT IS OK. I mean, look at how boring Lyoto Machida can be, but he is damn good and in my opinion has redeemed himself when he gave Tito Ortiz the biggest humiliation of his life. Yep, and that's after Randy spaked Tito in front of millions. Anyways, hope Okami beats up Lister and moves on to the contender list for 185 right after.


Ryo Chonan Vs. Brad Blackburn- picking Ryo Chonan.


Other fights - who cares.


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Gazzy Parman Seminar at The Griphouse - 10th of August

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UFC on Versus 2 odds and betting lines for 'Jones vs Matyushenko' on Aug. 1

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Sarah Kaufman's slam-KO makes ESPN "SportsCenter" Plays of the Week

Strikeforce women's welterweight champion Sarah Kaufman's slam-knockout
of title challenger Roxanne Modafferi continues generating interest.

In fact, the Showtime-televised Strikeforce Challengers 9 co-headliner earned a spot on ESPN "SportsCenter's" Plays of the Week.

The vicious knockout earned the No. 4 spot on the internationally broadcast top-10 list.



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This weekend's Aussie fights: Daley is back, Sapp is ready to sue

The fun and crazy world of fighting has yet another promoter trying to dip his toe into the "stream" of revenue. Impact FC is grabbing every MMA fight veteran it can find in putting together three fight cards down under. Last week, Karo Parisyan, Jeff Monson, and Thierry Sokodjou were all successful at Impact FC 1. This weekend may not be such a smooth ride. The big names include Paul Daley, Ken Shamrock and Paulo Filho along with Bob Sapp. Scratch that. Sapp has become the first casuality. In what must be an omen for the rest of the fighters, the fighting behemoth was dumped from the card yesterday. The reason? Sapp, who's in Bulgaria training and making a movie, was told the cost of the plane ticket was too expensive and the promotion refused to pay his way to Sydney. "I'm not going to allow anybody to screw me over. What I never liked is that
I go to these other countries and they just treat fighters and people
like
crap. It's just rude," said Sapp.He made the mistake of not having his purse money put in escrow which gave the promoter, Tom Huyggins, the ability to walk away without losing a dime up front. 
"That's why they used the loophole, and that's why they
jumped," Sapp said. Meanwhile, Daley is back and ready to fight. He's the guy who was steaming up the UFC welterweight rankings, then lost to Josh Koscheck at uFC 113 and followed the frustrating defeat with a sucker punch just seconds after the fight. UFC president Dana White exploded and fired Daley. "For me, the whole incident has become a bit insignificant," Daley told Sherdog.
"Before I got to the UFC, I was doing just fine. My name was out there; I was
fighting top guys. Everyone's goal is to be with the UFC, and I feel like I did
myself justice. I made a mistake, but there's still paychecks out there."
Daley said if he keeps winning he may be invited back to the UFC. Check out Jordan Breen's story for a recap on the odd behavior from both Shamrock and Filho. I'm glad we missed this presser. All you need to see if this bugged-eye interview with Shamrock last week to get a feel for his mental state. And we already know Filho is fighting demons and the demons are winning. Frankly, they should be fighting each other and the loser gets fitted with a straight jacket. Impact FC 2 airs on pay-per-view on Saturday night in U.S.  Ken Shamrock v. Pedro RizzoPaul Daley v. Daniel AcacioPaulo Filho v. Denis KangMurilo “Ninja” Rua v. Jeremy
MayMurilo Bustamante v. Jesse TaylorPeter Graham v. Jim YorkeGlover
Teixeira v. Marko PeseljRichie Vaculik v. Glenn Taylor-SmithShane
Nix v. Manuel RodriguezTBD v. Soa
Palelei.anderson silva chuck liddell martial art mma fight

The Mid-Fight Conversation Between Pat Barry and 'Cro Cop' You Didn't Hear

Filed under: UFCPat Barry could tell right away that he had a problem. He'd just floored his idol, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, for the second time in the first round of their UFC 115 bout with a beautiful right hand that landed flush on the Croatian's skull, and he knew immediately that he'd broken his hand in the process.

"The world couldn't see it because the camera wasn't close enough to my face, but as soon as I broke my hand - that was the second punch I landed that knocked him down - as soon as it happened, my lip was starting to tremble, and for two reasons. One, it hurt terribly. And two, I honestly thought that was going to be the end of my career. I never would have guessed that it was only one broken bone. I felt like all the bones in my hand were, like, entirely disintegrated."

The injured hand was a problem, Barry knew, but it wasn't the end of the world. He'd come into the fight with a game plan that hinged on two main weapons: his right hand and his right foot. At least he still had one. At least he could still kick his way to a victory even if his hand was shattered.

You know how this story goes. It's like that scene in a comedy movie where a beleaguered character remarks to himself that hey, at least it's not raining. Cue the thunder and lightning, the sudden angry downpour. Or, in Barry's case, the fractured foot.mma training anderson silva chuck liddell martial art

MMA battling negative stereotypes from all directions

There are some days when UFC, Strikeforce and other mixed martial arts promotions should thank their lucky stars that the sport is still on the periphery when it comes to mainstream media coverage. If the big newspapers and television networks heavily scrutinized MMA, the sport would've had a rough go of it the last few months. While there are thousands of men and women who train in MMA, are good citizens and now have structure in their lives, there are a few nut jobs who can't be saved. For the unenlightened, Ed Graney from the Las Vegas Review-Journal points out the guys hitting general sites like TMZ and The Huffington Post that put a stain on everyone in MMA. Stigmas can be impossible to break. It's a truth those involved with mixed martial arts know well, having spent years trying to overcome the barbaric tag often assigned the sport. Graney mentions two sociopaths who made recent headlines.  It is worlds away from tales such as the ones recently reported about Jason Sindelar and Jarrod Wyatt. Heard of either?Sindelar was released from a Las Vegas jail last week after being arrested in connection with the beating death of a former UNLV football player in a Strip hotel room. Prosecutors didn't file a criminal complaint. Sindelar has walked for now. [...] He supposedly has continued training in Las Vegas, but for now, calling him an MMA fighter is like calling your mailman the Postmaster General. Yet that is the level to which he has been described by many.Wyatt makes Sindelar look tame. The same goes for Wyatt, an extremely disturbed man whose murder charge was upheld by a California judge late last month. It has been reported Wyatt was under the influence of psychedelic drugs when he allegedly cut the heart out of his victim's chest, cut off the tongue and removed a majority of the face. That victim was his sparring partner.Wyatt's professional record is listed at 1-0. Translation: It appears Wyatt has more Hannibal Lecter in him than any traits of an MMA champion.MMA trainer Shawn Tompkins is irked by the insulting connections made to MMA."It's ridiculous, though, when the sport is shown in a negative way because of the actions of a few guys not known by anyone," said Tompkins, a trainer at TapouT Training Center in Las Vegas who has worked with all levels of fighters. "Just because you're wearing MMA gloves and hitting a bag doesn't make you a fighter."Good for Graney. He's one of the only sports columnists in the country who gives MMA a fair shake. He went ga-ga the next day after covering UFC 116. The Brock Lesnar-Shane Carwin main event and the guts shown by both Chris Leben and Stephan Bonnar had him stoked. Now if he and Yahoo! Sports' Dan Wetzel could only get through to the rest of the 50-plus crowd that controls the columns around the country, the sport could take that final step into the mainstream.  mma training anderson silva chuck liddell martial art

Yahoo MMA's Meltzer: Brock Lesnar's UFC 87 fight his last chance? Not a chance!

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Out of all the Yahoo! Sports MMA section newly minted MMA "experts" I always considered Dave Meltzer to be the best out of the bunch as he's been around MMA for a while longer than the rest. Most of the time, if I have time, I usually just quickly scan over their MMA coverage as they're often pretty bland and biased and plain bad...cough...Kevin Iole anyone?...cough...cough.

So when Dave Meltzer's Lesnar faces must-win against Herring article showed up on Yahoo.com's front page today I had to check it out. After quickly looking at it I felt compelled to comment on some of the points and errors in his article.


 "Lesnar can’t afford a second straight loss on a major pay-per-view event and still be considered a long-term main eventer."


First of all, Brock Lesnar hasn't been a main eventer in UFC yet. His UFC debut fight with Frank Mir felt like one though because of how much popularity he brought to the UFC from his WWE days and stellar NCAA background to go with that. He can very much afford a second straight loss on a major PPV event also because he, in my opinion, lived up to the hype of being incredibly athletic and fast for his size and most importantly that he put in some hard training and looked very very good for being so inexperienced in MMA. He handily beat on Frank Mir but got caught by a much experienced fighter in a possibly debilitating, however not quite there, submission and didn't want to risk a long term injury. He only made more MMA fans with his loss and created more hype and anticipation as to what he can really do in MMA. He is also a natural competitor and it will be very hard for anyone to turn a fight with him into a boring affair. So he can afford 3-4 more exciting losses with no problem for his UFC popularity at all. But that's not going to happen, he is not losing at UFC 87 - not to the sloppy Heath Herring.


Meltzer then proceeds to comment on the fact that because Brock Lesnar came in at a higher salary of guaranteed $250,000 a fight another loss could really ruin his UFC career.


"The others have been given lower or mid-level opponents to start out with to build their reputation. UFC decided that with what they were paying Lesnar, there was going to be no such slow grooming process."


Honestly? With how many PPV buys Brock Lesnar brought in with his first fight, $250,000 a fight is nothing to UFC at this point for a celebrity of sorts.  They'd need not even 6000 extra PPV buys to recoup that salary. He brought in quite a bit more than that. Come on, they just got done paying Brandon Vera nearly the same for one of the worst fights this year against a mostly unknown wrestler.


"Texan Herring has 41 pro fights over the past 11 years, in nearly every major organization. He became a star in Japan at the age of 22, and has been in the ring with a Who’s Who list of the greatest heavyweights of all-time."


"Herring, a big star during PRIDE’s heyday in Japan when he was known as “The Texas Crazy Horse” for his unique multi-colored hair, noted he’s beaten men bigger than the 6-2 ½, 277-pound Lesnar, as well as higher credentialed wrestlers. He’s best known for a 2000 win over Tom Erikson"


"Herring (28-13), is known for being difficult to finish; he went the distance twice with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in their three meetings, after being submitted the first time. But he was beaten by his most famous opponents in Japan, by Cro Cop from strikes on the ground, and by Fedor Emelianenko due to blood."


Brock Lesnar isn't in much danger facing THIS Heath Herring. Yep. The same Heath Herring who showed his true skills against Jake O'Brian, who couldn't finish Brad Imes (where is he now anyways? Still doing gogo-platas at some tiny shows?), who questionably beat Cheick Kongo. 41 pro fights in the past 11 years and he never amounted to anything in nearly every major organization, besides amuzing Japanese fans with his stupid hair cuts.  His supposed wildness or crazyness only amounts to the fact that in 11 years of fighting and training here and there, he still looks as sloppy and amateurish as he did during his "wild days" of wearing leather cloaks for his fight entrances. Lesnar will retire Herring from UFC by beating him in the first round. 


Why is Meltzer talking a loss for Lesnar when he's fighting Herring? Herring hasn't submitted anyone in 5 years, let alone anybody good ever. Sorry comparing his wins over wrestlers 7 years ago doesn't make much sense. He hasn't KO'd anybody in 2 years. What he has done is get dominated on the ground by a ground game newbie Cheik Kongo and got completely tooled by a much smaller Jake O'Brian. Given all that and an enormous amount of sloppyness, Brock Lesnar's chances to lose are minimal.


Also, Nogueira submitted Herring in his second fight not first and what does "by Fedor Emelianenko due to blood" mean? I share Fightlinker's sentiments in how sad it is that Yahoo's Sports MMA has some of the biggest audience out there, especially when they often get to the front page, but their MMA coverage is being done either by very inept people with not much clue about MMA and the fact that they're very biased and often inaccurate.


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UFC 111 Fighter Bonus and Salaries/Payouts

UFC 111 Fighter Bonuses
Knockout of the Night – Shane Carwin – $65,000
Submission of the Night – Kurt Pellegrino – $65,000
Fight of the Night – Hamman and Wallace – $65,000 each
UFC 111 Fighter Salaries/Payouts
From the Nick Lembo at the NJ State Athletic Commission:
We do not release fighter purse info. for any event.
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"The Sunday Junkie" deadline reminder, win a free Fighters Only subscription!

As a reminder, submissions for the upcoming edition of "The Sunday Junkie" are due Sunday at 10 a.m. ET.


All topics - including tonight's Strikeforce Challengers 9 event, the rash of recent UFC bookings, and the newly announced UFC 119 and UFC 120 events - are open for
discussion. The person who sends in the submission we deem the best -
based on timeliness of subject, clarity and overall persuasiveness -
will be invited onto MMAjunkie.com Radio to discuss the topic.


Each winner will also receive a free year's subscription to Fighters Only, the world's leading MMA and lifestyle magazine!



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Josh Barnett plans to violate Geronimo dos Santos in Australia

Josh Barnett is fighting Brazilian heavyweight Geronimo dos Santos at the newly minted Impact Fighting Championships in Australia this weekend. Skip to the 1:20 mark of this interview to hear Barnett say that he is going to "anally rape" dos Santos if possible. Josh Barnett is a smart guy. Though he has made some stupid mistakes, he generally carries himself as an intelligent man. He definitely seems way too intelligent to resort to making comments about sexual violence to make people want to see him fight. But with language like that used to describe a legal prizefight, is it any wonder that 67 percent of New Yorkers don't want our sport in their state?mma fight mma training anderson silva chuck liddell

Coker looking at best matchup for the fans, Fedor v. Overeem

Scott Coker and Showtime can't win for trying. The Strikeforce CEO seems to have everything backfire on him. First it was Jake Shields downing prize free-agent Dan Henderson and grabbing the Strikeforce middleweight title. Now Shields is off to the UFC as a free agent. Next up was Fabricio Werdum pulling the upset on Fedor Emelianenko. Instead of the fight drawing a huge audience in primetime on CBS, the broadcast was on Showtime. Worst yet, it's ruined the drive for the fight everyone wants to see, Fedor against Alistair Overeem. Or has it? Coker is starting to show a "screw it" attitude when it comes to Fedor's final fight with the promotion. It sounds like he's ready for a fight against Fedor's management team with M-1. They immediately asked for a rematch against Werdum. Meanwhile Coker told Sherdog Radio, not so fast my friends, and sounds like he's ready for a fight.Coker told the Sherdog's "Beatdown" show:"We just saw Fedor fight Werdum. I’m not saying we couldn’t do the rematch first. I’m just saying there are a couple of options on the table and the other option would be to fight Alistair … but until we sit down with M-1, these are all just the options … For me, the times have changed and it’s going to be an interesting negotiation now." Coker reiterated his interest in pushing Fedor in a different direction.  "My feeling is maybe Fedor should fight Alistair Overeem and whoever wins that fight gets to fight Fabricio Werdum. Alistair vs. Fedor? I’d love to see that fight happen."It's a brilliant idea. Make the fight the fans want to see and maximize your audience before Fedor leaves the promotion. Other bloggers aren't so keen on Werdum being left out in the cold. A nameless post on Cage Potato flipped out on Coker.Look genius, everybody would like to see Fedor vs. Overeem happen, but unless you want your titles to lose all significance and your matchmaking to devolve into utter chaos, you probably shouldn't have Fedor challenge for Overeem's belt after getting subbed in 69 seconds. The Strikeforce titles will lose their significance? With the majority of fight fans, do they have any now? Casual fans, the ones you need to pull in a gigantic audience in Fedor's final fight with the promotion, care about these belts? You know the answer. Nothing against the fine folks with Strikeforce, but their belts are viewed no differently than the WBC, IBF, WBA, etc. in boxing. Quick! Name what belt Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao will fight for if their fight goes down on Nov. 13? Exactly. No one cares. We just want to see the best fight the best. Congrats to Werdum for pulling off the upset of the century. It's the fight business, money drives the whole thing. Coker, put together Fedor vs. Overeem and we'll all be there. The folks upset that it's "not right" can boycott. I'll put my feet up on your empty cageside seat. Thanks.mma training anderson silva chuck liddell martial art