Luke Rockhold to Throw Out First Pitch at Oakland A?s Game

You know you've made it as an athlete when a Major League Baseball team asks you to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at one of their games.  Such is the case with Strikeforce middleweight champ Luke Rockhold.  Two weeks ago, Rockhold was handling challenger Tim Kennedy in the cage; on Monday, he gets to drop by the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum and put one across home plate (the A's are playing the Tampa Bay Rays, if that means anything to you).  Of course, this isn't the first time that an MMA fighter has been granted this honor.  Other examples include:

  • UFC light-heavyweight champ Jon Jones, who threw out the first pitch for a San Diego Padres game back in July, 2010.

 

  • Former UFC light-heavyweight champ Rashad Evans, who tossed one out for a Miami Marlins game in June of this year.

 

  • Former UFC middleweight champ Rich Franklin, who did the honors for a Cincinnati Reds game.

 

  • Former UFC welterweight star Chris Lytle, who threw one home for a Los Angeles Dodgers game.

 

  • Former WEC bantamweight champ Miguel Torres, who did one up for the Chicago White Sox.

 

  • Strikeforce fighter K.J. Noons, who rocketed one home for a Houston Astros game.

 

  • UFC light-heavyweight fighter Brandon Vera, who did the same for a Padres game earlier this month.

 

You know what.  Now that I think about it, this whole throwing-out-the-ceremonial-first-pitch thing isn't that special after all.  As you were.

Jim Genia tweets here and wrote this book.  Believe that!

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/luke-rockhold-throw-first-pitch-oakland-game-232457818--mma.html

Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz

Matthew Riddle posts submission win with pregnant wife on his mind

With family matters on his mind, Matthew Riddle earned a win at UFC 149 with an arm triangle choke of Chris Clements.

After a bruising two and a half rounds, Clements tried a spinning back fist. Riddle grabbed Clements' arm, and maneuvered him into an arm triangle while the pair was still standing. They fell to the ground, but Riddle held on. Clements tapped at 2:02 in the third round, giving Riddle the win.

After telling UFC commentator Joe Rogan he loved him, Riddle turned his focus to his wife and kids.

"I wanna say I love my wife Lisa. We have a kid on the way, and we already have twins. I love you all," Riddle said after his win.

[Related: Ronda Rousey calls out Michael Phelps for behavior in Beijing]

Riddle's devotion went beyond mentioning his wife to the crowd in Calgary and the pay-per-view audience. Instead of flying from Texas to Calgary for the fights, Dave Farra reports Riddle drove 20 hours because he wanted her at the fights with him. Pregnant women are often advised not to fly during certain parts of their pregnancies, so he made the sacrifice so she could be there to support him.

Riddle won a $65,000 Submission of the Night bonus, which should help with the baby on the way.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/matthew-riddle-posts-submission-win-pregnant-wife-mind-051150079--mma.html

Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio 

UFC on Fox 4 Medical Suspensions: Varner And Swick Out Up to Six Months

The California State Athletic Commission has released the medical suspensions for UFC on Fox 4, which took place saturday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Several fighters on the bill find themselves on shelf with lengthy suspensions after a night of action packed fights. “Fight Night” bonus winners Jamie Varner and Mike Swick [...]

MMAFrenzy.com

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/29780/ufc-on-fox-4-medical-suspensions-varner-and-swick-out-up-to-six-months/

Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott

Joe Lauzon: A Few Words Before Battle

UFC on FOX 4 may have "big picture" relevance because of the light-heavyweight four-way scrum that will determine UFC champ Jon Jones' next opponent, but one shouldn't overlook some of the event's other gems ? not the least of which is the match-up between Joe Lauzon and Jamie Varner.  Originally slated to face Terry Etim until Etim bowed out with an injury, Lauzon is primed and ready to explode all over Varner, showering the former WEC champ with submission attempt-shrapnel and fistic debris.  Cagewriter caught up with Lauzon on Thursday, a day that saw the Massachusetts native venturing away from the fighters' hotel and exploring other parts of Los Angeles.

 

First of all, how are you?  Are you healthy?

"I'm good.  There are always little injuries that add up a little bit, but I'm doing good."

You're an old timer now in terms of the fight week experience.  How is it out there?

"It's not too bad.  I have a bunch of guys that are here with me usually, and this week as always.  We like to get out of the hotel room - I used to just sit in the hotel room a lot and that would get a little stale.  So we try to keep busy.  Today we went down to Venice Beach and just kind of moved around a little bit.  I did some training today, nice and light, just to kind of break a sweat and keep things as normal as possible."

Did you prepare any differently knowing your opponent was going to be Jamie Varner?

"Not really.  It was kind of short notice, it was only a couple of weeks.  We switched from getting ready to fight Etim, who is really long and has kind of herky-jerky footwork and keeps you real far away with kicks, to Varner, who is a smoother boxer.  Not so much a kickboxer, but a straight-up boxer with good wrestling.  So we didn't have a ton of time to get super-detailed about stuff.  I was in good shape so we just reorganized our drills, and switched it up a little bit."

Is there any pressure to perform?

"Not more than usual.  I always put a lot of pressure on myself to try to have a spectacular fight and put people away.  It's big show, it's on FOX, but it's really not any different than other shows besides having a little bit of extra media.  It's still a fight.  If it was on the undercard of a Fight Night, it'd be the exact same thing."

Any thoughts on who you'd want to fight next?

"Nope.  I'm one-hundred percent Jamie Varner now, and I'm not even thinking about what's going on after."

Hypothetical: what if it was the PRIDE FC days and the Japanese offer you a wheelbarrow full of money to fight Jon Jones.  Do you take the fight?

"Absolutely.  If they're going to pay me to try to fight Jon Jones, I'm going to shoot a little single[-leg takedown], and if it doesn't go my way, I'm getting the hell out of there.  And then I'll take that wheelbarrow full of money.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/joe-lauzon-few-words-battle-142906171--mma.html

Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe

Mauricio ?Shogun? Rua jumps out of a plane (VIDEO)

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua's first fight since his epic brawl with Dan Henderson will happen at UFC on Fox 4 on Aug. 4. What's the best way to prepare for the bout with Brandon Vera? Jumping out of an airplane, of course.

At no point does he look scared. Perhaps taking Jon Jones elbows and living to tell about it is a way to remove fear from jumping out of a plane. He made the jump on July 1, so he had plenty of time to recover before his bout next week in L.A.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/mauricio-shogun-rua-jumps-plane-video-193855376--mma.html

Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger 

Invicta FC, Sara McMann and Women?s MMA: The Morning News Roundup ? 7.29.12

A weekend without the UFC, Strikeforce or Bellator can often mean a weekend without happiness.  Okay, not really.  But if that actually is the case with you, please, get help.  Or get a hobby or something.  Anyway, there were no offerings from the aforementioned titans of mixed martial arts; however, last night the Invicta Fighting Championships had its second installment, and in terms of high-level MMA action, it pretty much rocked.  Therein lies where this morning's news is coming from.

  • Unless you were one of the lucky few to make the trek out to Kansas City to see the event in person, you were forced to watch Invicta FC via the free stream broadcast over the organization's website.  You were also forced to deal with a stream that was virtually non-existent for the first half of the fourteen-bout card, which, according to the event promoter Shannon Knapp, was attributed to crashed servers.  But hey, it was free, and when the feed was strong, we got to see some exciting stuff, like Strikeforce veterans Amanda Nunes and Liz Carmouche kick butt and take names.  Reviews of the event can be found here, here and here.  Personally, I rated it four out of five mouthpieces.

 

  • Olympic Freestyle wrestling Silver Medalist Sara McMann came away with another win in Invicta FC's thrilling main event, bringing her unblemished record up to 6-0 with a unanimous decision win over the ultra-tough Shayna Baszler.  The bout was a close one and hotly contested right up to the final bell; in the waning seconds, Baszler rocked McMann with strikes, and McMann was moments away from doing "the Worm".  But the bell rang and it went to the judges, and that was all she wrote.  The victory puts McMann in line for a shot at the Invicta FC bantamweight title, which is vacant and waiting for someone worthy to claim it. 

 

  • With over 200,000 purported Internet viewers, the first Invicta FC event was considered a success, and last night's numbers have to at least be in that ballpark.  So where does that put the current state of female MMA?  Probably in a very good place, especially with Strikeforce champ Ronda Rousey's step up in exposure and Invicta FC already planning a third event.  Say what you will about women fighting, but there's a market for it ? and right now, that market is strong.

 

  • Yesterday was UFC president Dana White's birthday.  I hope that in honor of the occasion you all cornered your pets and screamed at them "Do you want to be a [expletive] fighter?"  I know I did.

 

Jim Genia tweets the darndest things.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/invicta-fc-sara-mcmann-women-mma-morning-news-140820218--mma.html

Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade 

Nick Diaz Update: Will Return, Wants Anderson Silva

Like a passing case of the munchies, UFC welterweight contender Nick Diaz's plans to retire seem to have faded, and taking the place of that retirement is a burning desire to face UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva.  All this is according to his longtime coach, Cesar Gracie, who posted a lengthy statement on the matter over at GracieFighter.

It was only just February when Diaz purportedly turned his back on the sport, a move prompted by his controversial unanimous decision loss to Carlos Condit at UFC 143.  The defeat came after a five-round scrap for the UFC Interim Welterweight Championship title, and the bout saw Condit playing "hit and run" while the Stockton native followed him around and hurled insults.  Soon after, it was revealed that Diaz had tested positive for marijuana metabolites in a post-fight urinalysis, and the subsequent year-long suspension levied upon him appeared to be the icing on the retirement cake.

Said Gracie:

For the last couple months I've watched Nick begin to frequent the gym more and more.  He's training harder now than he has for many of his fights.  It was obvious that training and fighting is in his DNA.  It is who he is.

This week we had a great talk and he made it clear to me that he is ready to get back in the cage.  Nick Diaz will return.

With interim champ Condit destined to face UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre at UFC 154 in November, who is there for Diaz - an elite, top-level fighter - to face that's worthwhile?

As far as future opponents, Nick has stated that he would like to take fights "that matter".  Since GSP will be fighting Condit, he has to look elsewhere.  He will respectfully ask for a fight with Anderson Silva, a fighter he respects and would like to challenge.

Silva's camp has been speaking of a fight with GSP, possibly even at a catchweight.  Nick will take that fight in a minute but has told me that should Silva decide not to drop at all, he will move up to 185lbs to face the Champ.

And there you have it.  Unfortunately, unless Diaz (or, more aptly, his attorneys) can figure out a way around his suspension, ain't nothin' going down 'till February, 2013.  Remember kids, dope is for dopes.  Don't be a dope!

Jim Genia tweets here and wrote this book.  Come at me, bro.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/nick-diaz-return-wants-anderson-silva-000443797--mma.html

José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez