Jims Clockwork Blog

Coker interview: Strikeforce boss uncertain about Daley, Fedor and Barnett in the UFC

2011-03-26T02:00:00.001-07:00

Scott Coker, the other guy in the UFC's purchase of Strikeforce, sat down for a lengthy interview with HDNet's Bas Rutten. Coker was grilled on many of the hot button issues that last Monday's� conference call never hit on.

Rutten asked the Strikeforce CEO if he thinks fans will ever see Josh Barnett, Paul Daley or Fedor Emelianenko in the UFC. Coker said he didn't know (11:35 mark), but added that he hoped all three continued to fight with Strikeforce.

Other interesting points included:

Coker confirmed that the deal between Zuffa and SVSE came together quickly. He only informed Showtime of the sale one day before the news leaked on Mar. 12.

He denied the rumors that Josh Barnett will be removed from the Strikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix and replaced by Shane Carwin.

The Strikeforce boss joked about his first meetings with the UFC brass talking about Zuffa's 25-person marketing and P.R. staff. He brought along his two employees in those positions (4:40 mark).

Coker is excited about the new resources behind Strikeforce and growth possibilities which include a goal of pay-per-view by the end of 2011.

Surprisingly, even with a roster of 150-plus fighters, Coker says "business as usual" also includes signing new fighters in the future (9:00 mark).

Read into it anyway you'd like - Coker was asked if the purchase by UFC was a good or bad day, he answered by it's a reality (9:30 mark).

Showtime got the call the day before the news leaked 11 days ago, but Coker still hasn't had a chance to speak with M-1 promotions, Fedor's management team (13:25 mark).

Hopefully, Coker is involved in the MMA business at the highest level for years to come. He's definitely an asset, who puts the fans first. He did an amazing job turning a regional promotion, which held its first big fight in Apr. of 2009, into something worth buying for an estimated $40 million less than two years later.

Tip via MMAConvert

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Coker: UFC commercials helped "Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley" ticket sales surge

2011-03-26T00:00:00.001-07:00

The UFC's marketing muscle has already given a boost to Strikeforce, according to CEO Scott Coker.

On Wednesday Coker told MMAjunkie.com that the first Strikeforce commercial to air on a UFC broadcast prompted a surge in ticket sales for "Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley."

The executive believes the promotional push will drive ticket sales even higher when the final tallies are in.

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Titan Fighting Championship 17 results and LIVE updates for 'Lashley vs Ott' on HDNet

2011-03-25T22:00:00.001-07:00

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Leonard Garcia Looks to Remake Himself in 'Korean Zombie' Rematch

2011-03-25T19:00:00.001-07:00

Filed under: UFC

Leonard Garcia has a problem. To put it more precisely, he has a difficult decision to make. He has to choose between being the fighter fans have come to expect and being the fighter his coaches and teammates see glimpses of in the gym. He has to choose between wild brawls and technical displays.

Maybe, when it comes down to it, he even has to choose between entertaining and winning. The thing is that, lately, he's begun to wonder whether it's even his choice to make in the end.

"I get a lot of talk about how I'm willing to go out there and brawl," Garcia said. "The fans like it, the UFC likes it, but then everybody in the gym says, hey, when you're technical and you do things correctly, it's hard to stop you. But when we go out for the rules meeting and Dana White is talking about the Fight of the Night bonus, he stares right at me. I mean, right at me. And all the guys in the room, you can see them, they're like, man, Leonard's on the card. He's going to go get that bonus. So it is a double-edged sword."

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UFC Fight Night 24 fight card: Dan Hardy vs Anthony Johnson preview

2011-03-25T16:00:00.001-07:00

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UFC Fight Night 24 fight card: Dan Hardy vs Anthony Johnson preview

2011-03-25T14:00:00.001-07:00

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MMAjunkie.com Radio: UFC's Rich Franklin, UFC Fight Night 24 preview

2011-03-25T12:00:00.001-07:00

With anticipation growing for his next fight, UFC light heavyweight Rich Franklin today joins MMAjunkie.com Radio to discuss his preparations.

We also talk to the former champ and fan favorite about Jon Jones' quick rise, the pressures of being a new champion, his thoughts on UFC Fight Night 24's Phil Davis vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira headliner, and more.

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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Phenom Jones blows away Rua to take light heavyweight title at UFC 128

2011-03-25T10:00:00.001-07:00

The pace at which MMA is evolving is amazing and Jon Jones is full proof of that. Bigger, more athletic and harder working athletes are getting into the sport everyday. Jones, a good college wrestler from a family of football players, just completed a short three-year journey to take out one of the greats of MMA with relative ease.

Jones pummeled Mauricio "Shogun" Rua on the feet and ground for two and half rounds. The Brazilian couldn't take anymore and slumped to the canvas at the 2:37 mark of third round giving the UFC light heavyweight title to the 23-year-old Jones at UFC 128 in Newark, N.J.

"It feels go good. It's a testament that dreams do come true guys. They really can, believe in yourself," Jones told UFC analyst Joe Rogan following the victory. "It means a lot to me, but I know it also means I have a huge target on my back. And when you guys come to strike at me, I'm going to strike right back."

The 6-foot-4 Jones is really unlike any athlete the UFC has ever seen aside from former heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar. He walks around at roughly 225 pounds, but his frame looks like it could easily carry 250 pounds. His football playing brothers are massive. Chandler, a defensive lineman at Syracuse, is 6-6, 251 and his older brother Arthur, is a 6-3, 313-pound tackle in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens.

The dwarfed Rua (19-5, 3-3 UFC) was in trouble from the opening seconds of the fight. A very well-rounded fighter, Rua looked like amateur in the clinch, on the ground and even standing up. Just 20 seconds in, the fighters clinched and Jones did what he's done to every previous opponent, he tossed Rua on his head like he was fighting a lightweight.

Anytime the fight was on the feet, Jones kept Rua at long distance and delivered a bevy of front, leg and body kicks. He was also devastating with his knees. Jones, who appears closer to 6-5 or 6-6, used his height to grab Rua's head on multiple occasions to deliver nasty knees to the body from a thai clinch.

By the end of the first round, Rua looked out of gassed and stunned. The onslaught continued in the second. Jones did damage with a nasty front kick and an inside leg kick with three minutes in the round. Amazingly, Rua, who's known for his kicks, hadn't thrown one the entire fight. Jones scored another takedown with 2:33 left in the round and showed great patience. He wore down Rua with forearm across his chin and grinding elbows across his face.

In the third, Jones got top control again when Rua made a desperate attempt at a leg lock. The Brazilian stayed out of trouble for a few seconds before Jones landed some nasty elbows. After getting abused on the ground for nearly a minute, Rua scrambled and as he tried to get to his feet, he got crushed by a knee to the body. He was hurt badly and immediately stumbled across the Octagon to put his back on the fence. Jones, possessing incredible killer instinct, threw a vicious body shot to Rua's right side. He went down in a heap. That was it. He had no more fight left in him.

UFC analyst Joe Rogan captured the scene by saying, "That ladies and gentlemen is the future and the present!" Rogan went on to say that Jones might be the greatest natural talent the sport has ever seen.

Rua, 29, was once the future of the sport. He shocked the world by winning the PRIDE 205-pound Grand Prix back in 2005. Shogun, just 23 at the time, wrecked a field filled with legendary fighters like Vitor Belfort, Alistair Overeem, Quinton Jackson, Dan Henderson, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Ricardo Arona and Wanderlei Silva.

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After starting his career with a $500 payday, Faber on the verge of superstardom

2011-03-25T08:00:00.001-07:00

As frustrated as New York MMA fans must be this weekend remember it was less than five years ago, when the Empire State was the norm.

Urijah Faber started his career in the dark days when outside of Indian reservations, states like New Jersey and Nevada and those without commissions, the rest of the U.S. was off limits. As he readies for his UFC debut, Faber recalled his first fight in 2003 when he battled for $200 to show and $200 to win. He also got $100 for his cut of the gate.

"I loved it," Faber told Neil Davidson of the Canadian Press. "My rent was $225 a month. I had a tiny little room in an apartment with a couple of my buddies. And it only took me a minute and a half for the fight and I was like 'man, this is awesome.'"

Faber won in 82 seconds and hauled in that "major" payday of $500.

How things have changed for Faber. Through hard work and success in the cage, the California became one of the most popular fighters in the sport while with the WEC. Faber faces Eddie Wineland this weekend at UFC 128 in Newark, N.J.

The jump to the UFC means a ton for Faber, who'll get a lot more exposure and a massive boost to his business endeavors outside of the Octagon. Faber owns Form Athletics which was purchased by K-Swiss in 2010. He's also got a popular website and is working on a self-help book.

To make the next step at the top of the sport, he needs to take out Wineland. That should set up a bantamweight title fight against the new UFC champ Dominick Cruz.� Faber was the longtime champ at 145 pounds and wants the hardware at 135, where he's facing guys closer to his natural size.

"I feel a little bit faster at 135 (bantamweight) and a little bit more powerful at 145 (featherweight), but very little difference really," Faber said. "I was only 2-3 pounds off my competition weight and I think that puts me at par with most of the guys at 135 and an advantage with some of them."

"I never really had that at the 145-pound weight class. I was always giving up weight and was able to do well because I'm an accomplished fighter but as far as having every advantage to win, I think now I have that advantage."

You can watch UFC 128 right here on Yahoo! Sports.

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Paul Daley Signs Contract to Fight Nick Diaz in April

2011-03-25T04:00:00.001-07:00

Filed under: Strikeforce, FanHouse Exclusive, News

Nick Diaz vs. Paul Daley, the most anticipated welterweight title fight in Strikeforce history, is officially happening on April 9.

Diaz's manager and trainer, Cesar Gracie, confirmed with MMA Fighting that the British slugger signed the bout agreement on Tuesday, thus ending speculation that "Semtex" would pull out of the fight.

Diaz vs. Daley had already been announced by the promotion, but after Zuffa purchased Strikeforce two weeks ago, Daley hinted online that he may back out of the title fight given his previous relationship with UFC president Dana White.

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Leonard Garcia Looks to Remake Himself in 'Korean Zombie' Rematch

2011-03-25T02:00:00.001-07:00

Filed under: UFC

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Twitter’s evil downside: Tito and Jenna fighting again online

2011-03-24T22:00:00.001-07:00

Tito Ortiz, still one of the most high profile fighters in mixed martial arts, is a prolific tweeter, but the last day or so is one of those times you wish he and his former pornstar wife Jenna Jameson would power down.

Two nights ago, Ortiz got MMA fans and followers all worked up when he sent out a tweet saying, "I'm out."

The rumor mill cranked up thinking the fighter was talking about his career in the cage. After all, Ortiz has had a ton of injuries and delays in recent years. He was supposed to fight this weekend at Ultimate Fight Night 24 against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira before pulling out. It was confirmed early this week that he'll return against Ryan Bader at UFC 132.

Right now, there's no need to worry about his work in the Octagon. Instead, it looks like Tito was talking about the latest run-in with his wife. Ortiz wasn't very forthcoming, but Jameson was tweeting on the topic of her marriage with every Tom, Dick and Harry.

In his efforts to stay relevant, continue to earn a living and complete his contract with the UFC, Ortiz is already battling father time. God only knows how the seemingly constant drama on the homefront has to be affecting his career.

Thanks to Cage Potato for this tip and Twitter screengrabs. CP also did a great job of summing up the latest chapter in the Tito-Jenna story:

Seriously. Is Twitter and Facebook just a major waste of time for anyone who isn't a creep or an attention whore? Hopefully they follow through with this latest threat of a split so we don't have to report on their train wreck of a relationship again.

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MMA overtime: Yay or Nay?

2011-03-24T20:00:00.001-07:00

With Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard and Jon Fitch vs. B.J. Penn both going to a draw, a debate has broken out in the MMA world over ties and overtime. Should fights that are scored as draws be given an overtime, sudden-death round?

Edgar is on board.

"I think another five-minute round would be perfect," Edgar said. "You go into a fight, you prepare, and you want a decisive outcome. To have to wait another three months and possibly another fight is kind of annoying. I would say another round would be great. You get to figure out who's the winner right then and there.

Edgar had to face a rematch with B.J. Penn after winning the belt in a narrow decision, and now has another one scheduled because of the draw with Maynard.

The positives that Edgar mentioned are obvious. It would give both the fighters and fans a decision that night on who should win. It would also favor fighters who have stronger cardio.

But it's not a completely perfect idea. For a sport as punishing as MMA, adding a round adds the opportunity for injury. Also, if commissions overseeing MMA in the U.S. were to adopt an overtime rule, would it be just for championship fights in major promotions, like with Edgar and Maynard, or would it extend to all fights? That could be problematic for fighters on smaller shows who don't train full-time.

I'm in favor of using overtime to decide championship bouts that end in a draw, which would mean no rematch for Edgar/Maynard, and that the lightweight belt would get to be tested by a new fighter. However, as Penn/Fitch was not for a belt, it would remain a draw.

It's not all about me, though. What do you think, readers?

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After starting his career with a $500 payday, Faber on the verge of superstardom

2011-03-24T18:00:00.001-07:00

As frustrated as New York MMA fans must be this weekend remember it was less than five years ago, when the Empire State was the norm.

"I loved it," Faber told Neil Davidson of the Canadian Press. "My rent was $225 a month. I had a tiny little room in an apartment with a couple of my buddies. And it only took me a minute and a half for the fight and I was like 'man, this is awesome.'"

Faber won in 82 seconds and hauled in that "major" payday of $500.

"I feel a little bit faster at 135 (bantamweight) and a little bit more powerful at 145 (featherweight), but very little difference really," Faber said. "I was only 2-3 pounds off my competition weight and I think that puts me at par with most of the guys at 135 and an advantage with some of them."

You can watch UFC 128 right here on Yahoo! Sports.

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Tito Ortiz In The Hospital

2011-03-24T16:00:00.001-07:00

First there were rumors of a Chuck Liddell vs. Rich Franklin fight.�� Then Dana White came out and said the fight was really Rich Franklin vs. Randy Couture (story here).
Today Tito Ortiz posted on his Twitter account that he is in the hospital.
Sorry flu. This sucks!! 31 minutes ago
This is the worst ful I have [...]

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MMAjunkie.com and Full Tilt Poker host star-studded poker tourney this Sunday

2011-03-24T12:00:00.001-07:00

UFC cage announcer Bruce Buffer, UFC veteran Mike Swick and a myriad of poker's highest-profile players will be participating in the inaugural "MMAjunkie.com KO Invitational" this Sunday, March 27, at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT) on Full Tilt Poker.

This is a no-limit poker tournament with bounties galore.

A $25 bounty will paid for each pro you knock out of the tournament, and a $1 bounty will be awarded for everyone else you KO. The buy-in for the tournament is only $5.50, with $5 going to the prize pool.

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Watch Rua/Machida II and UFC 128 right here on Yahoo! Sports

2011-03-24T09:00:00.001-07:00

As always, you can watch Saturday's UFC 128 pay-per-view right here on Yahoo! Sports. To remind you how Mauricio "Shogun" Rua won the championship belt, here is his second bout with Lyoto Machida. Fight action starts around the 10-minute mark, but it's worth watching the whole video to see Machida's entrance.

Now that you're sufficiently pumped for Saturday's main event,� click here to order it.

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Watch Junior dos Santos throw the ‘Showtime’ kick

2011-03-24T07:00:00.001-07:00

Remember that kick Anthony Pettis threw against Ben Henderson that made us all go crazy? Now everyone is trying it, including UFC heavyweight contender Junior dos Santos.

It was impressive enough when Pettis did it, but this time, it was a heavyweight who weighed in at 240 lbs. in his last bout. Yet, he was nimble enough to run off a wall and kick Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who was holding the Muay Thai pad.

Think we'll see him pull it off against Brock Lesnar in June?

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Miguel Torres Has a Sense of Humor

2011-03-24T05:00:00.001-07:00

Not too often do we see a fighter who can crack jokes at a recent loss. �Miguel Torres has no problems doing it though. �On his recent doctor visit to get his “axe wound” taken care of he shows off this sense of humor.
Chief Complaint: �My insurance went up 30% Obama Stinks
Location: Forehead
Severity: Yes
Timing: Bad
Signs/Symptoms: [...]

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UFC 128′s Three Stars: Jon Jones, Jim Miller and Erik Koch

2011-03-24T03:00:00.001-07:00

After a stop in Newark, the UFC has a new light heavyweight champ, a few more WEC stars shining in the big Octagon, and a lightweight with a strong claim on a title shot.

No. 1 star -- Jon Jones: He's young, he's still learning, and he's the UFC light heavyweight champ. Jones put on a clinic against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, throwing flying knees, spinning elbows, head kicks, jabs and the kitchen sink to win the belt. Next, he'll have to face his friend and teammate Rashad Evans to hold onto the championship. Maybe by then, I'll finally learn not to pick against Jones.

No. 2 star -- Jim Miller: Fighting at home in the Garden State, Miller ruined Kamal Shalorus' UFC debut with a dominating performance. His third-round TKO was Miller's seventh win in a row, and it's hard to dispute that Miller has earned a shot at the lightweight belt.

No. 3 star -- Erik Koch: Coming from the same camp as Anthony Pettis and Pat Barry, Koch showed off his own striking skills in a first-round KO of Raphael Assuncao, serving notice to the UFC's featherweight division. But he did leave one question unanswered: how does someone training in Wisconsin in winter get a tan like that? Perhaps GTL is part of the training routine at Duke Roufus' gym.

Who are your Three Stars? Tell us on Facebook or in the comments below.

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Paul Daley Signs Contract to Fight Nick Diaz in April

2011-03-24T01:00:00.001-07:00

Filed under: Strikeforce, FanHouse Exclusive, News

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Evans and Jones beef getting serious

2011-03-23T23:00:00.001-07:00

Rashad Evans waited a long time to get his shot at the UFC light heavyweight belt against Mauricio Rua. Then he suffered an injury that would keep him out 6-8 weeks. Evans was hoping the fight would be delayed, but the UFC's troubles were averted when Jon Jones stepped in on short notice. One problem, Jones is a teammate of Evans and now the former UFC 205-pound champ is peeved at "Bones."

"When he joined the team, he joined the team on the premise that he wouldn't fight none of us because that's…with Greg Jackson, that's one of his policies. Greg brought him on the team and he said he was like, you know what? Jon's on this team, he'll be a good addition to the team. He's got a good style and he's an up and coming kid and he'll never fight you or never challenge you or nothing like that," Evans told Larry Pepe. "There's nothing you need to worry about. He brought him onto the team with that intro."

Jones didn't get the memo and jumped at the opportunity to take on Rua at UFC 128. He's clearly aware that Evans isn't happy and snapped off during last week's prefight teleconference.

"I absolutely hate when people mention Rashad Evans, especially throughout this training camp….for people to even be mentioning Rashad Evans right now…I think it's ludicrous. Rashad is not in my mind, he's not in my being, he has absolutely zero to do with my heart and who I am right now," Jones said. "This guy has nothing to do with Shogun and from here on out, I don't think I'll answer a question about Rashad.�I have a lot of people outside of Rashad who I can draw energy and power from and they'll all be with me."

Evans got the message and said Jones is speaking out of inexperience.

"That does sound a little bit cold-blooded. Jon's a young guy and when you're a young guy sometimes you talk a little too fast for your brain to keep up. I don't think it's acceptable at all. I don't think it's something I'd say.�It sounds like he wants to fight, huh? Those sound like fighting words," Jones told Pepe. ".[...] Sometimes when you open your mouth you show what you're afraid of more than anything. I don't know why he has such an adverse response like that to me. I've never challenged him or made him feel like he should do that sort of thing. It sounds to me ? if I was out of the situation ? that he was feeling insecure about me. You can't just expect to not talk about a situation where you stepped in for a friend and training partner in a title fight who was injured. You can't take it personal… That sounds like a baby."

If Jones wins the title, Evans has to consider taking the fight and more significantly leaving the only training he's known in Albuquerque under Greg Jackson.

"It's something I gotta talk to Greg [Jackson] about it and I gotta talk to Jon [Jones] about. That's how I believe things should be done. We entered into an agreement together and if things are gonna go another way, I don't think he should have to find out from TV. He should find out from my mouth before I tell anybody. That's just how I do it as a man.I just have to sit down and decide on whats its going to be, because whatever it is going to be, there is no going back. There is no making it better. There is no going back to the team after it is done.�If we agree to fight, if we say we are going to fight, it's over," Evans said. "[...] I would need to divorce myself from the situation and just start over, and come with something new. I would divorce myself from the crew from Jackson's.�Trevor [Whittman] would be separate because he is at Grudge. Jon trains in Albuquerque, so I just would divorce myself from Albuquerque and from training with Greg."

Dana White is pretty clear on his thoughts about friendship being a roadblock anywhere in the fight game. He's happy that Evans is finally seeing the light.

"It makes sense [that they fight each other if Jones wins the title]. There's been a lot of stuff [said by] Rashad. Rashad thinks that I'm hatin' him or whatever the deal is. I don't. The reality is ? I said it on your show the last time I talked to you ? he hasn't known Jon Jones that long. To call him a brother and this and that…I really believe that…and Rashad didn't tell me this. Jon Jones didn't tell me this. This is just something that I came up with in my head. This has to be coming from the camp," White told MMAFighting.com. "[...] The reality is, this isn't a team sport, man. You look throughout the history of boxing, guys used to have to spar with each other all the time and the guys who came in as sparring partners eventually became world champions some day. You have to train with other people. You have to train with the best. It's a fact. You just don't become such "close friends" that you don't want to fight each other. It's [expletive]."

Evans should straight out call for the winner regardless of training camps and "friendships."

"If I was Rashad, I would say whoever wins this fight I wanna fight," White said. "The guy got injured; he was next in line for the fight. I'd wanna fight him too. But now he's gotta sit around, he's gotta wait and see what happens with these two, he's gotta wait to see who wins ? do they come out 100 percent or are they injured and have to wait a little while or do they want to fight again? He's put himself into a bad position and that's what I was saying about him: He's boxed himself into this corner."

You can watch UFC 128 right here on Yahoo!

Quotes via Cage Potato

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Affliction 2 Review: Fedor Emelianenko stays undefeated, Arlovski blows it, Babalu and Belfort win

2011-03-23T21:00:00.001-07:00

Photo via Orange County Register

Affliction 2 Day of Reconing turned out to be a good sophomore effort in my opinion. None of the main card fights went to a decision and most fights turned out great with definite outcomes. If you read my Affliction: Fedor Emelianenko vs Andrei Arlovski picks you know I missed the mark on some of the picks, but I have real good explanations though, I swear!

So, I'm going to get the negatives of the show right out of the way because it was mostly good and this can be just nitpicking, though a lot of casual fans agreed with me on these:

Tito Ortiz is a dumbass. He embarrased Affliction at the pre fight press conferences and continued on with crappy commentating and post fight interviews. You can put lipstick on a pig, it'll still be a pig though. I don't know if he completely blocked out his embarassing exit from the UFC but he was very pretentious in his comments through out the show. I wonder if Donald Trump got him the gig. He is a joke and I hope he get a shot at Babalu so Babalu could embarras him yet again and send him off to whereever Sokoudjou will go. WEC?
The "Rabid" commentator that went behind the scenes to show Babalu relaxing before the fight and kept calling Babalu "intense" and "rabid". Too bad Babalu was yawning throughout. Where the hell did he come from? Get rid of that joker!
Extensive public display of poor Matt Linland's waking up after a brutal KO. On thing UFC does good if someone get badly KO'd is not show their wake up process until the fighter is ok and can stand on his own. There was no reason to show all that, especially when it was clear that Linland wasn't waking up well at all.

On to the good of the show.

Production was just fine. There were plenty of replays and the show moved along at a good pace.
John McCarthy - I was very happy to see him and that he is still an active MMA referee. I guess his retirement was only from UFC. Good for him, I'm sure he is being treated better and doesn't have to deal with Dana White. That along be huge in my book!
The "Fight Quest" alumni was a decent commentator and should definitely be a mainstay for Affliction.

On to the fights.

Paul Buentello vs Kiril Sidelnikov - well I was right about one thing, just cause you can hang with Fedor in training doesn't mean you can beat everyone else. Sidelnikov also did not take it to the ground where he most certainly would have done better than Buentello. Why? He only tried for one takedown and it was when it was already too late for him in mid round 2. With a big debut like that, his coaches let him down or may be he just didn't listen to them. I am also questioning his training. Was he just helping Fedor with Fedor's fight and getting beat on by Fedor mostly, or was anyone actually helping him train for his fight? I'm leaning towards the first. Hopefully next time when the Russian promoters pretend they're in it to promote other younger fighters, they actually bring a huge camp of fighters to Starii Oskol, if that where Fedor must train, and concentrate on their improvement and preparation and not just Fedor.

Buentello did ok but seemed to be very apprehensive about throwing more than just a jab. He won so that's all that counts for him. Superstar he is not though. Beating an overweight Fedor's very young training partner is not exactly impressive, especially on the heels of three round decision over Gary Goodridge. Who decisions Gary Goodridge? Not a lot of fighters, they usually beat him very quickly.

Renato "Babalu" Sobral vs Thierry Sokoudjou - this one I was exactly right about. If there was any doubt that Sokoudjou had a few great wins early but folds everytime the going gets tough, he folding to Babalu should have cemented his lack of heart and ability to keep any stamina past round one. Yet again another example of how he gives incredibly hard time to Team Quest luminaries like Dan Henderson, but that doesn't mean he can beat other guys. Not sure where he goes from here, he may get another chance in Affliction, may be. If it's anyone decent, he may very well choke again. Then what? Japan? WEC if he is lucky?

Babalu leveraged his experience and weathered everything Sokoudjou had for him and easily took over in round two. It was pretty painful to watch him going through "show and tell" D'arce choke drill in the middle of the fight cause his opponent just sat there already given up. Great win for Babalu and his confidence. I guess stupid Tito was challenging him during the post fight interview. I think it'll be a good fight for Babalu, what can Tito do to him? Babalu's punching is better, wrestling is probably better and definite edge in submissions.

Vitor Belfort vs Matt Linland -Matt Lindland didn't get a chance to out work Vitor Belfort like I thought he would. Belfort took advantage of the very first exchange and Linland's striking weakness. A precise left straight from Belfort put Linland on the floor and Belfort did great capitalizing on the downed Linland. Four punches later fight was stopped with Linland laying almost lifelessly on the floor except for the uncontrollably shaking left leg. He got cought and should have been way more careful than rushing in with his weak sloppy striking against some one like Belfort.

Though the fight didn't show much, Belfort did what he had to do and didn't waste a single opportunity to exploit Linland's weakness. He looked fast, precise and showed good reflexes to get in there and finish the fight. It was interesting to see K-1's showman Ray Sefo in his corner. Nice to see him keep sharp.

Josh Barnett vs Gilbert Yvel - wow, what a huge disappointment! Barnett looked aweful! Three rounds to finish a huge underachiver and non-crosstraining lazy striker in Gilbert Yvel!? Barnett's corner should have left him in the ring to celebrate his disappointing win by himself. He disrespected their time and efforts by just sitting on top of Yvel for almost 2 full round and not finishing him. What was that? How dared he do his "throat cutting" win gesture after that? Anyways, if he thinks he has a chance against either Fedor or Arlovski with that type of fighting....he probably doesn't though. I just hope he can snap out of his depression in time to get good training in before those fights. Oh, and how stupid was his excuse/give away about his poor nose bleeding and making him choke? I think very. Watch his nose being busted first thing in any of his future fights.

Gilbert Yvel was the winner in my book. Not like a winner in a sense that he'll amount to anything after this display of toughness. But he kind of redeemed himself for all those cowardly times he tapped out at the first sign of trouble. If only he was this tenatious when he was younger and more popolar. May be he earned another fight with that? Gilbert Yvel vs Paul Buentello? That could actually be a good fight, given how Buentello has self admittedly never initiated a take down in his whole career.

Fedor Emelianenko vs Andrei Arlovski - News flash!!!!! Fedor again looked very beatable and human! This isn't really news by now, is it? Definitely not.

Fujita had Fedor sliding on ice when he rocked him
Nogueira reversed him and got on top
Coleman had his back and was on top
Randleman damn near killed him when he slammed him on his head
Mirko CroCop bloodied him up and landed a bunch on him
Mark Hunt out of all people was on top
Hong Man Choi stuffed his takedowns

He almost always looks beatable. Well in this fight against Andrei Arlovski he looked very beatable again. Arlovski was bigger, a little faster and was actually landing some glancing shots. Why was it such a big deal though? Because Sylvia didn't land any? CroCop did, Fujita did, Mark Hunt did. It's a fight, you're going to get hit! But as long as you don't get rocked or KO's or get hit too many times it's ok. That front kick that Arlovski landed towards the end that pushed Fedor back looked ok, but it wasn't like it doubled Fedor over. I'm sure that if the fight went on longer Fedor would have adjusted to Arlovski's timing and would have found his rhythm.

Arlovski's jump for the flying knee was aweful! Looked like he was going to do an olympic board diving jump. WTF was that? Per his own words he truly did dump his chance down the toilet. Fedor stood calm and capitalized on the first opportunity Arlovski gave him and finished the fight. Is that his magic? May be.

All I know is that I can't wait to see it again. Affliction together with it's great allies in Trump and Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Productions should strike again while the iron is still hot and promote yet another Fedor headliner event. Hopefully in another six months. I wish they wouldn't give Barnett a chance at Fedor because while it will be entertaining I think it won't have that "this is the fight Fedor may finally lose" type hype. Arlovski vs Fedor 2 would garner more attention and may be Arlovski won't go to boxing just yet. Arlovski is just so much more marketable than Barnett - he is Russian, very hairy, thick beard and those vampire/werewolf teeth gimmick will just sell tickets and PPV buys. We'll see what happens. Until then Fedor is KING!

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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Video analysis: Hendo wins another title, what's next?

2011-03-23T19:00:00.001-07:00

Many were ready to toss Dan Henderson on the scrap heap following his upset loss at the hands of Jake Shields. Back at light heavyweight, Hendo has responded nicely with huge knockout wins over Renato "Babalu" Sobral and Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante.

How big were those wins? Where does that put Henderson in the pecking order in the middleweight and light heavyweight rankings? Yahoo!'s lead MMA writer Kevin Iole joined us to talk about Henderson's future in Strikeforce and also addressed some fans talking about a possible fight against Fedor Emelianenko.

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The completely confusing UFC lightweight title picture

2011-03-23T17:00:00.001-07:00

Joe Silva is the UFC matchmaker, the man who is in charge of deciding fights, title shots and the like. He is also a man whose job I don't want, as it's his job to sort out the ridiculously confusing lightweight title picture.

Ready for the confusion? OK. Start with the fact that the title will already be tested on May 30. Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard have a rematch scheduled that should finally decide who is the better fighter among the two.

It's a title shot that was promised to WEC champ Anthony Pettis. Before Maynard and Edgar fought to a draw in January, Pettis was told that if he won the WEC belt in his last fight for the promotion, he would get a chance to unify the championships. A wrench was thrown into that plan because of the Edgar/Maynard draw, and now Pettis will fight Clay Guida in June for his first UFC bout.

And what of Jim Miller? He won his seventh straight bout on Saturday with a TKO of Kamal Shalorus. Four of those seven wins have been by stoppage. That resume reads like that of a title contender, but Miller has flown under the radar.

To make things even more confusing, consider what will happen if in the future, the UFC absorbs Strikeforce's roster of lightweights. Would Gilbert Melendez -- or whoever holds the belt at that point -- get an immediate title shot?

It's enough to make you dizzy. But if you had Joe Silva's job, how would you map out the UFC lightweight title? Does Pettis, Miller or someone else get a title shot next? Tell us in the comments or on Facebook.

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Bamma Fail to Pay Tom "Kong" Watson, Relinquishes Title in Protest

2011-03-23T13:00:00.001-07:00

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TUF 13 Finale tickets for 'The Pearl' on June 4 in Las Vegas, Nevada, on sale soon

2011-03-22T00:00:00.001-07:00

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Dana White: Following UFC 128 loss, Mirko "Cro Cop" headed to retirement

2011-03-21T22:00:00.001-07:00

NEWARK, N.J. - Following back-to-back losses and his steady descent in the world heavyweight rankings, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic apparently is headed into retirement.

And following Filipovic's loss to Brendan Schaub at Saturday's UFC 128 event, UFC president Dana White told MMAjunkie.com he doesn't expect much push back from the fighter.

"I don't think I'd have an argument from 'Cro Cop,'" he said.

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

2011-03-21T19:00:00.001-07:00

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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UFC 128 weigh-in: Rua has a message for ‘disrespectful’ Jones

2011-03-21T17:00:00.001-07:00

Jon Jones was hyped up today at the UFC 128. Frankly, he's been hyped up all week long to the point of signing autographs, "Jon Jones, UFC champion 2011."

Is that cocky or confident? The UFC light heavyweight Mauricio "Shogun" Rua is irked.

"I really feel it's disrespectful," Rua told UFC analyst Joe Rogan during today's weigh-in. "That's okay, tomorrow we'll see who's the better man."

Both fighters made the weight limit of 205 pounds. The other 22 fighters on the card also made weight without incident.

There wasn't any pushing or heat evident during the Rua-Jones staredown. In what is becoming the norm for Jones, the 23-year-old refused to make eye contact with his opponent.

Kurt Pellegrino did the same to Gleison Tibau, as the Brazilian stood with his hands on his hips. The happiest guy at the weigh-in appeared to be Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic. He was all smiles on stage and stepped on the scale in some stylish black socks.

You can watch UFC 128 right here on Yahoo!

UFC 128 weigh-in MAIN CARD (courtesy MMAjunkie)

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (205) vs. Jon Jones (205)
Urijah Faber (135.5) vs. Eddie Wineland (135.5)
Jim Miller (155.5) vs. Kamal Shalorus (155)
Nate Marquardt (186) vs. Dan Miller (185)
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (229) vs. Brendan Schaub (245)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike TV)

Luiz Cane (205.5) vs. Eliot Marshall (205)
Edson Barboza (155.5) vs. Anthony Njokuani (155)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook)

Ricardo Almeida (170) vs. Mike Pyle (171)
Kurt Pellegrino (156) vs. Gleison Tibau (155)

PRELIMINARY CARD

Joseph Benavidez (136) vs. Ian Loveland (135)
Nick Catone (194) vs. Costantinos Philippou (195)
Erik Koch (145) vs. Raphael Assuncao (145)

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UFC 128 play by play and live results

2011-03-21T15:00:00.001-07:00

NEWARK, N.J. - MMAjunkie.com is on scene and reporting live from tonight's "UFC 128: Shogun vs. Jones" event.

The show takes place at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., and features a light-heavyweight title fight between champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and challenger Jon Jones.

Follow along with our round-by-round updates and official results beginning at approximately 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT) for the preliminary card and 10 p.m. ET for the main card.

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The mental side of UFC 128: Jones is over the mystique of Rua

2011-03-21T13:00:00.001-07:00

Jon Jones may be a physical freak, but he's just like most fighters who have to wrestle with the mental side of the game before and during the fight.

The 6-foot-4, 220 pounder has a huge task in front of him in facing MMA legend Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. The former PRIDE middleweight and current UFC light heavyweight champ has been in there with some of the top fighters of all time. Jones' top opponents include former Ultimate Fighter contestants Matt Hamill and Ryan Bader.

A quick look at the credentials of both fighters could be pretty intimidating. That's where's Jones' trainer Greg Jackson comes in.

"I was actually getting a little anxiety about being in the title fight," Jones told The Daily. "He said 'Jon listen it's just another fight. "No fight is a big fight. Forget what his name is.'That's the mindset I have now. He really humanized Shogun big time, because I've been a fan of him myself."

You can watch UFC 128 right here on Yahoo!

Jackson said the most important thing is Jones willingness to listen.

"Jon is a student of the game," Jackson said. "Inspiration is a fighter's most precious commodity. For Jon, knowledge and enlightenment seems to be what inspires him, so I'm always quoting strategy books or Eastern philosophy as how it relates to combat."

Jackson is known around the sport as a guru of the MMA mind game. When Jones arrived at his camp in Albuqueque he was a hot shot prospect who wowed with his explosiveness. Jackson has slowly re-programmed Jones' approach in the cage.

"He's getting very good at finishing fights now," said Jackson. "Before he would throw you over the head or do a spinning elbow and he'd be in wars with these guys. Now it's pretty much domination because he's coming into his own natural style."

This is a nice piece from The Daily. One of the most interesting quotes from the video didn't make the story. We've heard a lot about Rashad Evans, a Jones teammate at Jackson's being perturbed with "Bones" for taking the title shot.

Jones tells story (0:40 mark) that Evans was actually the guy who told him to have a big night at UFC 126 and seize the opportunity if it comes. He said Rashad "basically" gave him his blessing. We're guessing this was taped well before some of the verbal drama that has gone down before the last few weeks.

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Evans and Jones beef getting serious

2011-03-21T11:00:00.001-07:00

"When he joined the team, he joined the team on the premise that he wouldn't fight none of us because that's…with Greg Jackson, that's one of his policies. Greg brought him on the team and he said he was like, you know what? Jon's on this team, he'll be a good addition to the team. He's got a good style and he's an up and coming kid and he'll never fight you or never challenge you or nothing like that," Evans told Larry Pepe. "There's nothing you need to worry about. He brought him onto the team with that intro."

Jones didn't get the memo and jumped at the opportunity to take on Rua at UFC 128. He's clearly aware that Evans isn't happy and snapped off during last week's prefight teleconference.

"I absolutely hate when people mention Rashad Evans, especially throughout this training camp….for people to even be mentioning Rashad Evans right now…I think it's ludicrous. Rashad is not in my mind, he's not in my being, he has absolutely zero to do with my heart and who I am right now," Jones said. "This guy has nothing to do with Shogun and from here on out, I don't think I'll answer a question about Rashad.�I have a lot of people outside of Rashad who I can draw energy and power from and they'll all be with me."

Evans got the message and said Jones is speaking out of inexperience.

"That does sound a little bit cold-blooded. Jon's a young guy and when you're a young guy sometimes you talk a little too fast for your brain to keep up. I don't think it's acceptable at all. I don't think it's something I'd say.�It sounds like he wants to fight, huh? Those sound like fighting words," Jones told Pepe. ".[...] Sometimes when you open your mouth you show what you're afraid of more than anything. I don't know why he has such an adverse response like that to me. I've never challenged him or made him feel like he should do that sort of thing. It sounds to me ? if I was out of the situation ? that he was feeling insecure about me. You can't just expect to not talk about a situation where you stepped in for a friend and training partner in a title fight who was injured. You can't take it personal… That sounds like a baby."

If Jones wins the title, Evans has to consider taking the fight and more significantly leaving the only training he's known in Albuquerque under Greg Jackson.

"It's something I gotta talk to Greg [Jackson] about it and I gotta talk to Jon [Jones] about. That's how I believe things should be done. We entered into an agreement together and if things are gonna go another way, I don't think he should have to find out from TV. He should find out from my mouth before I tell anybody. That's just how I do it as a man.I just have to sit down and decide on whats its going to be, because whatever it is going to be, there is no going back. There is no making it better. There is no going back to the team after it is done.�If we agree to fight, if we say we are going to fight, it's over," Evans said. "[...] I would need to divorce myself from the situation and just start over, and come with something new. I would divorce myself from the crew from Jackson's.�Trevor [Whittman] would be separate because he is at Grudge. Jon trains in Albuquerque, so I just would divorce myself from Albuquerque and from training with Greg."

Dana White is pretty clear on his thoughts about friendship being a roadblock anywhere in the fight game. He's happy that Evans is finally seeing the light.

"It makes sense [that they fight each other if Jones wins the title]. There's been a lot of stuff [said by] Rashad. Rashad thinks that I'm hatin' him or whatever the deal is. I don't. The reality is ? I said it on your show the last time I talked to you ? he hasn't known Jon Jones that long. To call him a brother and this and that…I really believe that…and Rashad didn't tell me this. Jon Jones didn't tell me this. This is just something that I came up with in my head. This has to be coming from the camp," White told MMAFighting.com. "[...] The reality is, this isn't a team sport, man. You look throughout the history of boxing, guys used to have to spar with each other all the time and the guys who came in as sparring partners eventually became world champions some day. You have to train with other people. You have to train with the best. It's a fact. You just don't become such "close friends" that you don't want to fight each other. It's [expletive]."

Evans should straight out call for the winner regardless of training camps and "friendships."

"If I was Rashad, I would say whoever wins this fight I wanna fight," White said. "The guy got injured; he was next in line for the fight. I'd wanna fight him too. But now he's gotta sit around, he's gotta wait and see what happens with these two, he's gotta wait to see who wins ? do they come out 100 percent or are they injured and have to wait a little while or do they want to fight again? He's put himself into a bad position and that's what I was saying about him: He's boxed himself into this corner."

You can watch UFC 128 right here on Yahoo!

Quotes via Cage Potato

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Lennox Lewis praises the longevity of WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko

2011-03-21T09:00:00.001-07:00

Former undisputed world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis last night praised former rival Vitali Klitschko’s longevity as the WBC heavyweight champion and�believes he will dust Cuban challenger Odlanier Solis in Cologne on Saturday night. Lewis believes Klitschko “still has a desire to prove himself”.�
Lewis retired after beating Klitschko on cuts in their fight in Los Angeles [...]

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Tom "Kong" Watson Resolves Issues with BAMMA

2011-03-21T06:00:00.001-07:00

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Fired UFC fighter Duffee lists the positives of the Strikeforce takeover

2011-03-20T11:00:00.001-07:00

Todd Duffee might be the last guy you'd expect to look at the UFC's purchase of Strikeforce through rose-colored glasses. That's exactly what he did when he posted a long message on the Underground Forum.

Duffee, a hot shot prospect in the UFC's heavyweight division, was released last year. The reason has never officially been released, but it was pretty obvious a series of run-ins with UFC management didn't help his cause. Duffee's only 25 and it sounds like he's gained a little more perspective on the sport since his ouster. Here are some of the things that he listed as the positives of Zuffa swallowing up Strikeforce.

1. My first thought was all the great possible match-ups we will get to see.� I understand they will be operating separately for some time but I hope when they say cross promotion they are saying mega fights will happen not just strike force will have a booth at the fan expos.

2. Next women's MMA will get a huge mainstream push I wasn't always a fan but the better they get the more I like it just the same.

3. Some of the greatest fighters in the world won't have to hear the dreaded question of when will you get good enough to be in the UFC and instead get the respect they have already earned.

4. MY FAVORITE� positive is that the UG will stop picking teams and stop the endlessly dumb trolling of the UFC is better than strike force and vice versa. And maybe this place will stop being such a wasteland of bitching and crying.

5. More unified rules and possibly better judging due to the fact that Zuffa will have more power to help make those changes.

6. Another step in gaining the same respect the NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB, etc.

7. Strikeforce will now have the money to put on more shows meaning guys won't have to sit on the shelf for long periods of time.
More shows means possibly more free shows.

8. More pull within the Japanese market due to Strikeforce's good relations which might save Japanese MMA.

9. The naysayers can now be ignored and we can rest assured that the [heavyweight] tourney will go on.

10. Also the greater possibility of more tournaments in the future as a feeder into the big shows.

11. Possibly better announcing which seems to be a huge complaint.� Maybe they buy that fellow off Bellator, Jimmy [Smith] believe is his name. actually both they make a good team.

Do you buy all of that? I think he may be off on the female fighting point. Unless Dana White has a complete change of heart in the next 18-24 mos., females are probably headed back to the minors.

Duffee also clarified that his post wasn't an ass-kissing effort to get him back in the good graces of White and co.

I am not praising the buyout.� I like everyone else when they heard of the news sat around and talked about all the negatives. But realizing it did me absolutely no good. I decided to start this thread to see what the positives of the buyout could be jotting down some of my immediate positive thoughts. As in usual fashion, I was met with a bunch of negative uselessly angry posters. This is not to get in good graces with Zuffa. I am a year and many wins away from them remembering my name or face.

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Barboza slips by Njokuani in excellent display of kickboxing at UFC 128

2011-03-20T09:00:00.001-07:00

Edson Barboza continued to impress in the UFC with his nasty kicks at UFC 128. The Brazilian took a unanimous decision, 29-28 on all three cards, in the Spike opener in Newark, N.J.

Update: FightMetric had Njokuani outlanding Barboza 72-46. He threw more as well attempting 188 to 151. Njokuani outpaced Barboza in the final two rounds 54-31 in strikes landed.

Barboza (8-0 , 2-0 UFC) opened the fight with a bang when he crushed Njokuani with a pair of right hands. Both landed cleanly on the temple as Njokuani went to the ground just 50 seconds in. He recovered, but didn't look to throw very much again until about a minute left in the round.

Njokuani (13-5, 0-1 UFC) made some nice adjustments in the second and let his offense work as his defense against Barboza's nasty muay thai. The Nigerian-born resident of Las Vegas switched his stances throughout and kept Barboza at bay with an array of leg, body and front kicks.

The final round was tight. Barboza landed some heavy shots while Njokuani threw and landed more. The Brazilian may have won the fight in the final 10 seconds when he landed an unbelievable spinning side kick. His right foot cracked Njokuani on the side of his face. It was amazing to see Njokuani still standing. Barboza must have been confident that he'd won the fight, because he backed away from the stunned Njokuani to celebrate as the clock ran out.

Behind nasty left hand, Cane crushes Marshall

Eliot Marshall was looking for a big return to the UFC, but he met the wrong guy, in Luiz Cane, a motivated, nasty striker.

In the opening 30 seconds of the fight, Cane, a southpaw, landed some big straight lefts and hooks. Marshall hit the floor at the 3:45 mark of the first and couldn't get a hold of Cane. He never got back to his feet as Cane refused to stop throwing punches. After several requests to fight back from referee Dan Miragliotta went unanswered by Marshall, Cane was given the TKO finish at the 2:15 mark of the first round.

"I wanted this win so bad," Cane told UFC analyst Joe Rogan. "I came back to my gym, The Armory and we worked for eight months straight. That was the result."

Marshall (10-3, 3-2 UFC) was a late replacement for Karlos Vemola. After he was sent packing following a loss to Vladimir Matyushenko in a slow-paced fight at UFC on Versus 1, Marshall was hoping to make this a permanent return to the UFC.

Entering the fight, Cane (12-3, 4-3 UFC) had his back against the wall. The Brazilian striker had dropped two straight at UFC 106 and UFC 114. The combined time in those losses was just 4:09.

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Dana White: Following UFC 128 loss, Mirko "Cro Cop" headed to retirement

2011-03-20T07:00:00.001-07:00

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UFC boss says Evans up next; former champ, Jones refuse to look past "Shogun"

2011-03-20T05:00:00.001-07:00

With a shocking amount of MMA fans and pundits treating this weekend's UFC 128 main event as a foregone conclusion, all anyone seems to ask is, "What's next for Jon Jones?"

On this week's new edition of ESPN's "MMA Live," UFC president Dana White confirmed a win for Jones could very well earn him a bout with his teammate, Rashad Evans.

However, both Jones and Evans, who each appeared on the show, said all the talk of training camp switches and teammate vs. teammate philosophy is entirely premature.

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UFC boss says Evans up next; former champ, Jones refuse to look past "Shogun"

2011-03-20T03:00:00.001-07:00

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Henderson wins Strikeforce belt with KO of Feijao

2011-03-20T00:00:00.001-07:00

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Dan Henderson is a champion again. He won the Strikeforce light heavyweight belt with a KO of Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante on Saturday night at Nationwide Arena.

Feijao, who trains with Black House fighters Jose Aldo and Anderson Silva, started with snapping leg kicks. The fight went to the ground in a flurry that ended with Henderson on top. Henderson wasn't able to do anything on the ground, so the fight was stood up. They got into a clunch, and again, had to be broken up for a lack of action.

In the second round, Henderson returned to the clinch, then used a lateral to take Feijao to the ground. Feijao reversed him, but also couldn't get anything done on the ground. They were stood up, and Henderson finished the round with a huge body lock takedown.

Henderson started the third round by pushing Feijao into the cage with strikes. Feijao pushed him away, but then caught a right hand from Henderson. He fell to the ground, and Henderson pounced and finished off Feijao with a series of strikes to end it 50 seconds into the third round.

The fight had been headed towards a clinch-filled, five-round bout until Henderson was able to land the power shot that he's become known for.

After the bout, Henderson was excited to wear the Strikeforce championship belt.

"I didn't think about the belt until now, because my main focus was winning the fight," Henderson said. "But now it means something."

Henderson now has titles in three different major promotions. He won two Pride belts, at 185 lbs. and 205 lbs., as well as memorable victories in the UFC. Now, at 40, he has the Strikeforce light heavyweight belt.

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Weidman wins UFC debut at UFC on Versus 3

2011-03-19T20:00:00.001-07:00

Chris Weidman won his UFC debut, beating Alessio Sakara in a decision at UFC on Versus 3 in Louisville on Thursday. Weidman won the fight 30-27 on all three judges cards after taking the bout on just two weeks notice.

Sakara controlled the action in the first round, despite sustaining a cut in the first minute of the bout. He stuffed Weidman's takedown attempts, and managed to land more strikes. But Weidman, an All-American wrestler at Hofsta, became more comfortable in the second round. He quickly took Sakara down, and worked ground and pound, giving Sakara another cut. Blood poured from Sakara's head, making the octagon a bloody mess. With two minutes left in the round, Sakara escaped and landed kicks and punches, then shook off another takedown attempt.

The bout was stopped for a moment as Sakara's cut was checked. Sakara didn't want to stop fighting and simply wiped his head on the referee's shirt. The cut was cleaned up, and according to Yahoo! Sports' Kevin Iole, the doctor only should have checked it, not cleaned it.

Weidman returned to the takedown early in the third round, working ground and pound until the referee stood them up. That only led Weidman to another double-leg takedown. He maintained control through the end of the bout, earning himself a winning, if not exciting, debut in the UFC.

For Sakara, this is his first loss after wins over James Irvin, Thales Leites and Joe Vedepo. His record falls to 15-8, while Weidman remains undefeated, getting his fifth win.

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"The Sunday Junkie" deadline reminder, win a free Fighters Only subscription!

2011-03-19T17:00:00.001-07:00

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

All topics - including this week's Bellator 37 and blockbuster UFC 128 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 also receives a free year's subscription to "Fighters Only," the world's leading MMA and lifestyle magazine!

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Video analysis: What happens to Strikeforce fighters and announcers?

2011-03-19T15:00:00.001-07:00

We're five days removed from UFC's surprising purchase of rival Strikeforce and there's still a ton of unanswered questions. Yahoo!'s lead MMA writer Kevin Iole joined us to bring clarity to the issues of multiple champions, the future of Showtime's announce team and talk of a fighter's union with the UFC controlling over 90 percent of the market share.

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UFC 128: You won't see Jon Jones do the chicken dance against Shogun Rua

2011-03-19T13:00:00.001-07:00

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Exclusive pictures from UFC on Versus 3

2011-03-19T11:00:00.001-07:00

Check out our exclusive pictures from Tracy Lee from UFC on Versus 3. Do the pictures tell you anything more about the judges decision for Kampmann-Sanchez, or if C.B. Dollaway was truly knocked out? Scroll through the slideshow, and look at Combat Lifestyle for more of Lee's pictures from the fight week.

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UFC on Versus 1: Jones vs Vera Fighter Payouts, Salaries and Bonuses

2011-03-19T08:00:00.001-07:00

UFC on Versus 1 had a reported sellout crowd and brought over a $500k gate. �While the numbers are smaller the sellout crowd was under 7,000 fans. �Before we get for UFC on Versus 1 Payouts, let’s go over the results (courtesy of Sherdog.com):
UFC on Versus 1 Results

Winner
Loser
Method
Round
Time

Jason Brilz
Eric Schafer
Decision (Unanimous)
3
5:00

Mike Pierce
Julio Paulino
Decision (Unanimous)
3
5:00

Brendan Schaub
Chase [...]

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Affliction 2 Review: Fedor Emelianenko stays undefeated, Arlovski blows it, Babalu and Belfort win

2011-03-19T06:00:00.001-07:00

Photo via Orange County Register

So, I'm going to get the negatives of the show right out of the way because it was mostly good and this can be just nitpicking, though a lot of casual fans agreed with me on these:

Tito Ortiz is a dumbass. He embarrased Affliction at the pre fight press conferences and continued on with crappy commentating and post fight interviews. You can put lipstick on a pig, it'll still be a pig though. I don't know if he completely blocked out his embarassing exit from the UFC but he was very pretentious in his comments through out the show. I wonder if Donald Trump got him the gig. He is a joke and I hope he get a shot at Babalu so Babalu could embarras him yet again and send him off to whereever Sokoudjou will go. WEC?
The "Rabid" commentator that went behind the scenes to show Babalu relaxing before the fight and kept calling Babalu "intense" and "rabid". Too bad Babalu was yawning throughout. Where the hell did he come from? Get rid of that joker!
Extensive public display of poor Matt Linland's waking up after a brutal KO. On thing UFC does good if someone get badly KO'd is not show their wake up process until the fighter is ok and can stand on his own. There was no reason to show all that, especially when it was clear that Linland wasn't waking up well at all.

On to the good of the show.

Production was just fine. There were plenty of replays and the show moved along at a good pace.
John McCarthy - I was very happy to see him and that he is still an active MMA referee. I guess his retirement was only from UFC. Good for him, I'm sure he is being treated better and doesn't have to deal with Dana White. That along be huge in my book!
The "Fight Quest" alumni was a decent commentator and should definitely be a mainstay for Affliction.

On to the fights.

Fedor Emelianenko vs Andrei Arlovski - News flash!!!!! Fedor again looked very beatable and human! This isn't really news by now, is it? Definitely not.

Fujita had Fedor sliding on ice when he rocked him
Nogueira reversed him and got on top
Coleman had his back and was on top
Randleman damn near killed him when he slammed him on his head
Mirko CroCop bloodied him up and landed a bunch on him
Mark Hunt out of all people was on top
Hong Man Choi stuffed his takedowns

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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Fitch vs. Penn II, Dunham vs. Sotiropoulos slotted for UFC 132 in July

2011-03-19T04:00:00.001-07:00

After their first meeting ended in an anticlimactic draw, welterweights Jon Fitch and B.J. Penn now will rematch at UFC 132 in July.

Additionally, lightweight contenders Evan Dunham and George Sotiropoulos have agreed to clash on the same card.

UFC officials today announced the bouts.

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Newcomer Edwin Figueroa in, Nick Pace out at UFC Fight Night 24

2011-03-19T00:00:00.001-07:00

Promotional newcomer Edwin Figueroa has replaced injured Nick Pace and now meets fellow bantamweight Michael McDonald at next week's UFC Fight Night 24 event.

A source close to one of the fighters today confirmed the change with MMAjunkie.com.

MMAWeekly.com first reported the switch.

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UFC 128's Dan Miller calls last-minute fill-in "bittersweet," but welcomes opportunity

2011-03-18T22:00:00.001-07:00

It's never a happy occasion to profit from another person's misfortune. But in the end, the show must go on.

Dan Miller took a big leap when he agreed to fight Nate Marquardt at UFC 128 in place of Yoshihiro Akiyama, who withdrew from Saturday's event in the wake of the devastating earthquake in Japan.

So while Miller is excited to get the opportunity to fight the perennial contender, he said today that it's a "bittersweet" feeling to fill in.

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Lennox Lewis praises the longevity of WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko

2011-03-18T19:00:00.001-07:00

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

2011-03-18T16:00:00.001-07:00

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 buy out of Strikeforce explained point by point

2011-03-18T13:00:00.001-07:00

UPDATED, Sunday a.m., March 13:
Zuffa, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, announced Saturday that�it has�acquired Strikeforce,�its biggest�rival MMA organisation in the USA, making it a single powerful entity. Strikeforce will stay as it is, for the time being, with Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker remaining in place. The company will be run with “business [...]

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Family tragedy, not losing skid, was toughest test for UFC 128's Dan Miller

2011-03-18T11:00:00.001-07:00

NEWARK, N.J. - One look at Dan Miller's record, and you can't help but notice a recent three-fight skid that nearly cost him his UFC career.

Miller took on the elite of the middleweight division - Chael Sonnen, Demian Maia and Michael Bisping - and didn't have a single win to show for it.

But for Miller, who returns as a late replacement against Nate Marquardt at Saturday's UFC 128 event, his in-cage setbacks hardly compared to the heartbreak of his personal life.

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UFC on Versus 3: Munoz scores a huge KO against Dollaway

2011-03-18T08:00:00.001-07:00

Mark Munoz and C.B. Dollaway were decorated collegiate wrestlers, but they said during the prefight interview that they were willing to slug it out. Maybe Dollaway should've stuck to the grappling.

He scored a takedown early, let Munoz get up and then got bombed by a straight right. Dollaway fell to his back and got nailed by two more hammerfists. Referee Mario Yamasaki had to jump into save the downed fighter just 54 seconds in.

A few seconds later Dollaway (11-3, 5-3 UFC) regained his senses and couldn't understand why the fight was stopped. His eyes were glassy and he looked lost on the ground after the final hammerfists.

Since his move to middleweight in 2009, Munoz (10-2, 7-2 UFC) has been very good with five wins against just one loss.

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UFC 128: Dan Miller fights under the cloud of human tragedy (again)

2011-03-18T06:00:00.001-07:00

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UFC 128 Video: Fighters Atop Radio City Music Hall Marquee

2011-03-18T04:00:00.001-07:00

Filed under: MMA Videos, UFC, Videos

NEW YORK -- Following Wednesday's UFC 128 press conference, the main card fighters and UFC president Dana White stood atop the world famous Radio City Music Hall marquee for a photo op, and perhaps symbolically, to announce the arrival of the UFC to the tri-state area.

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Nam Phan out, "Korean Zombie" in against Leonard Garcia at UFC Fight Night 24

2011-03-18T01:00:00.001-07:00

An undisclosed injury has forced Nam Phan out of next week's UFC Fight Night 24 event, and replacement Chan Sung Jung, who's better known as the "Korean Zombie," had stepped into the open slot and a rematch with Leonard Garcia.

UFC officials today announced the change.

The bout will remain on the event's televised main card, they confirmed with MMAjunkie.com.

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Melvin Guillard vs. Shane Roller set for UFC 132 in Las Vegas

2011-03-17T22:00:00.001-07:00

Melvin Guillard has another hurdle to clear before he breaks into the role of lightweight title challenger.

"The Young Assassin" meets recent knockout artist Shane Roller at UFC 132, which is expected to take place July 2 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

The UFC today announced the bout. It's unknown if Guillard vs. Roller will air on the pay-per-view event's main card.

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Fedor Emelianenko sweat more while getting his university diploma than beating Tim Sylvia

2011-03-17T20:00:00.001-07:00

Fedor Emelianenko just had an amazing weekend at Affliction's Banned event completely overwhelming Tim "The Lame-iac" Sylvia with some vicious punches and winning WAMMA Heavy Weight title. He made a big splash with his win at the event and various MMA news media, took pictures with Donald Trump and other celebrities, wore Affliction shirts all around Las Vegas and as Dave Meltzer said he "turned into an undisputed reality" the myths of his skills and might.

You know though, he's already been there, done all that numerous times. Who hasn't been thinking for a while now that his streak just has got to end!? Everyone. He's looked vulnerable so many times, not against Sylvia obviously, but yet his opponents just can't seem to be able to take advantage of those opportunities to beat him.

Anyways, back to my point. He's been there, done that - winning big titles, beating dangerous fighters and proving many wrong. But what Fedor's also done recently, while training for Sylvia, is join the ranks of well educated MMA champions. Just a little over a month ago he defended his Physical Education diploma with "Methodology for developing of strength abilities in training samboists of 13-15 years of age" at Belgorod State University. What usually happens at the "diploma defense" is the student reads their final work on a selected topic in front of a panel of professors and then answer their questions on anything at all that has to do with the topic. No multiple choice here, you have to know your stuff!

Also same little tiny write up mentions that Fedor may get to use his education and experience at the still in construction Academy of Fedor Emelianenko in Belgorod to coach professional fighers. It'll be a really hot MMA training spot for sure.

It's amazing how Fedor managed to keep true to himself and still live in a tiny city, a little aparment and with how rich and famous he is, still finish a Physical Education degree. Congratulations to Fedor and his achievements outside the ring. More Pictures from his "diploma defense".

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

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Tito Ortiz In The Hospital

2011-03-17T18:00:00.001-07:00

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Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale Fight Card: Anthony Pettis vs. Clay Guida

2011-03-17T16:00:00.001-07:00

Filed under: UFC

The Ultimate Fighter 13 finale fight card will feature former WEC lightweight champ Anthony Pettis facing ex-Strikeforce titleholder Clay Guida in a showdown with title shot implications.

Rather than wait for the title rematch between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, Pettis went ahead and accepted a fight against Guida to stay active, risking a title shot he earned last December when he defeated Ben Henderson for the WEC belt.

The TUF 13 finale takes place on June 4 at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.

Check out the current lineup after the jump.

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Paul Daley Fails to Make Weight for Bamma 5

2011-03-17T13:00:00.001-07:00