Monday, 20 September 2010

UFC: Hardy slams wrestlers for failing to fight

Dan Hardy has launched a withering attack on certain wrestlers in the Ultimate Fighting Championship for ?failing to fight? defending his Rough House team-mates Andre Winner and Nick Osipczak following their points defeats at UFC 118, in Boston.
Both Hardy himself, and UFC-banned training partner Paul Daley, have suffered high-profile losses this year to opponents in [...]

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Actor Kevin James will star as an MMA fighter in upcoming film

Kevin James is a big backer of the UFC and pals with Randy Couture. He's trained MMA in the past with Couture and several other stars of the game. Now he wants to bring more attention to the sport by bringing it to the silver screen. From The Wrap: Sony has announced that "Grown Ups" star Kevin James will re-team with the studio for an untitled movie set in the world of mixed martial arts.James will play a physics teacher whose school is facing drastic budget cuts. In order to earn money to save his best friend's job and the music program that his students hold dear, he moonlights as an MMA fighter, and ultimately winds up doing battle in the UFC.The video features Couture and James sparring back in 2006. "The Natural" is probably taking it easy on the big fella, but James doesn't look like a clown either. According to several reports on the Internet, James wrestled and played football in high school. The 45-year-old actor now appears to be around 5-foot-8, 250 pounds. So when he steps into the Octagon, which real fighter should he face?

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Former heavyweight champs Barnett and Rodriguez employed again

Someone call the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Josh Barnett and Ricco Rodriguez are both employed by MMA promotions again. Strikeforce announced today that they have signed Josh Barnett to a multi-fight deal.“Strikeforce is the home of the best heavyweight division in the world and I’m proud to be able to call it my home now,” said Barnett via a Strikeforce press release. “I’m looking forward to competing amongst the greatest fighters in the world and fighting my way to another world title.”This is a shot at redemption for Barnett, a fighter with a checkered history. Despite being talented enough to win to UFC championship in 2002, Barnett was stripped of the belt immediately after because he tested positive for a banned substance. He played a major role in the downfall of Affliction's fighting promotion by being denied a license for a bout with Fedor Emelianenko because he tested positive in a pre-fight drug test. Since then, he's failed to show up for hearings about getting his license back. As of April, the issue of his license in California is still unresolved.   Barnett has continued to fight in promotions overseas, and hasn't lost since a 2006 PRIDE bout with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. His last win was with Australia's Impact FC over Geronimo dos Santos, a first-round TKO.No fights have been scheduled yet for Barnett, but maybe now fight fans
will get to see the Barnett/Fedor Emelianenko bout that never happened
because of Affliction's demise. Rodriguez's second chance During Thursday evening's broadcast, it was announced that Rodriguez signed with Bellator. He will face Dave Herman on Sept. 30 in Lake Charles, La.Rodriguez beat Randy Couture in 2002 to win the UFC heavyweight belt, but lost it in the next fight to Tim Sylvia. After a stint on VH1's "Celebrity Rehab" and ballooning up to 330 lbs., he has become refocused on training. This year, he has fought six times, and won six times.  Herman will be a much tougher test for Rodriguez. He has 19 wins, and not a decision among them.  

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The MMA Hour With Dan Hardy, Gilbert Melendez, Mark Hunt, Marcus Aurelio

Filed under: DREAM, UFC, Strikeforce, FanHouse Exclusive, VideosThe MMA Hour returns Monday with another live, loaded episode. Below is a look at who will be appearing on the show.

* "The Outlaw" Dan Hardy will stop by to talk about his UFC 120 fight against Carlos Condit and the recent news he made when discussing the state of wrestling in MMA.

* Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez will discuss when he expects to defend his title again.

* MMA veteran Mark Hunt will weigh-in on his Octagon debut at UFC 119 this weekend and how he ended up with the organization.

* And Marcus Aurelio will preview his DREAM.16 fight against Shinya Aoki and explain why he had to pull out of last week's Shine Fights event.

And of course, we'll be taking your calls. Give us a shout at: 212-254-0193 or 212-254-0237.

Download this show and previous episodes of The MMA Hour on iTunes here.

The MMA Hour begins below beginning at 1 PM ET.

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Dana White: "Cro Cop" injured but cleared, en route to Indianapolis for UFC 119

ROSEMEAD, Calif. - UFC 119 headliner Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, in fact, did suffer an eye injury, but he's been cleared to fight, and next week's main-event bout with Frank Mir is good to go.


That's the word from UFC president Dana White, who today spoke to MMAjunkie.com about the injury.


On Friday White shot down Croatian news reports that an eye injury might force the heavyweight fighter out of the Sept. 25 headliner and called them "untrue." However, Filipovoc did suffer an injury - at the most inopportune time.



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Sarah Kaufman Says Fighters Need to Stand Up for What They Deserve

Filed under: StrikeforceStrikeforce 135-pound women's champion Sarah Kaufman will get her wish when she takes on Marloes Coenen on the main card of Strikeforce's next big Showtime event on October 9 in San Jose, and she has no regrets about what she had to do to make it happen.

"I think it's important for fighters to stand up for what they deserve," Kaufman said on Friday afternoon's Strikeforce media call, responding to questions about her post-fight remarks following a victory over Roxanne Modafferi on a Strikeforce Challengers card in July.

"You don't want to make your organization look bad, but if your issue needs to be said, I'm happy I said what I said and I think my fight kind of backed that up," Kaufman added. "Whether it was me talking or the fans reacting or the fight itself getting highlighted on ESPN, I think they all worked together in helping push the division and have a title [fight] on the main card."

That title fight pits the undefeated Kaufman against a Dutch challenger who posted a loss in her last outing - a 145-pound title scrap against Strikeforce champ Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos - only don't try telling Coenen that she doesn't deserve back-to-back title shots in different divisions.

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Unlike Toney, Hunt is acting like a real fighter

Mark Hunt's back is against the wall. A veteran of kickboxing, he's a big fan favorite in Japanese MMA circles. But because he hasn't worked on his ground game, his one-dimensional style has led to a rough run lately in MMA. Hunt has lost five straight and hasn't won since 2006 yet he's making his UFC debut in September at UFC 119. Why? Dana White said Hunt's inclusion was part of the PRIDE purchase back in 2007. Good news for White is that Hunt isn't just going to take the money and run. He told Sherdog back in July that he felt like he'd wasted much of his career and hadn't taken his conditioning seriously. By the looks of the picture on the left Hunt (in the middle) has been working his butt off. He's routinely fought at around 290 pounds. Hunt is also down at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Fl., one of the better grappling/jiu-jitsu gyms in the country.No one's saying James Toney could've beaten Randy Couture if he'd worked a little harder before UFC 118. But he could've at least given himself a shot to stay off the deck longer than 11 seconds had he not come in at a career-high 237 pounds. Clearly, Hunt has no interest in a producing a Toney-like performance.Former UFC fighter Jeff Monson is also in the photo (on the left). He looks a bit slimmer. Monson has been talking with Strikeforce about fighting for the promotion in October down at 205 pounds.  Tip via Fightlinker

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