Knockout of the week: Michael McDonald takes out Alex Soto

The good news for Miguel Torres? At UFC 145, he will have his first fight since getting cut, then rehired by the UFC. The bad news? It's against Michael McDonald, a bantamweight barely old enough to buy beer in the U.S. McDonald is on a seven-bout winning streak, and in his last fight, he did this:

Torres is one of the most experienced bantamweights in the UFC. At 31, he has 44 fights under his belt. The former WEC champ is 2-1 in the UFC, with the loss coming in a tight decision to Demetrious Johnson.

McDonald is a tough up-and-comer, while Torres is an established power at 135 lbs. Who will take this fight? Speak your mind in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/knockout-week-michael-mcdonald-takes-alex-soto-215026412.html

José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez

John Olav Einemo Retires From MMA

John Olav Einemo has announced he is retiring from MMA. Einemo last fought at UFC on Fox 2, where he was defeated by Mike Russow. The UFC cut the Norwegian fighter soon after the event but left the door open for Einemo to return after a few wins. Einemo cited his desire to spend more time with his family as the main reason for his retirement.

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/28126/john-olav-einemo-retires-from-mma/

Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè 

All-heavyweight main card set for UFC 146 includes five bouts and 2,500 pounds of heavyweights

Dana White is a great promoter because after listening to him talk for just a brief while, he can make even a so-so bout sound like the next Fight of the Century.

The UFC president says a fight is "big, it's [expletive] huge," so often, he ought to consider trademarking the phrase.

But on May 26 at UFC 146 at the MGM Grand, it won't be hyperbole when White calls the card "big" and "[expletive] huge."

For the first time in UFC history, the main card will consist of five heavyweight bouts, putting about a ton-and-a-quarter of heavyweights into the cage in a three-hour span. UFC 28 featured four heavyweight bouts, but White was able to top it for UFC 146 when he finalized a bout between Stefan Struve and Mark Hunt that is expected to open the pay-per-view broadcast.

Also on the main card on the show will be Shane del Rosario against Gabriel Gonzaga, Antonio "Big Foot" Silva against Roy "Big Country" Nelson, former heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez against "Fracturing" Frank Mir and, in the main event, a title bout between champion Junior dos Santos against No. 1 challenger Alistair Overeem.

Heavyweights have long been the most popular division in combat sports and the heavyweight champion is often regarded as the so-called "baddest man on the planet."

These 10 heavyweights average 6 feet 3 inches and 253 pounds. Most interesting, though, is that they have combined for a 162-51 record, and have 144 finishes among those 162 victories, according to records from Sherdog. They've combined for 83 knockouts and 61 submissions.

Of their 51 losses, they've been finished 35 times. That means that of their combined 213 fights, the bouts have been finished 179 times, or in 84 percent of the fights.

The group includes the reigning UFC heavyweight champion (dos Santos), two former UFC champions (Mir and Velasquez), a Strikeforce champ (Overeem) and a former International Fight League champion (Nelson).

Tickets go on sale for the show at the MGM Grand box office on March 30.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/heavyweight-main-card-set-ufc-146-includes-five-165114594.html

Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida 

Eric Prindle wins Bellator tournament title without a fight

Eric Prindle won Bellator's heavyweight tournament, which includes a $100,000 prize and a shot at Bellator heavyweight champion Cole Konrad. Prindle did this without having to step in the cage for a rematch of his final with Thiago Santos.

How did this happen? In the latest of weird bumps in the road between the two competitors, Santos missed weight by 12 pounds. With Santos so far over the heavyweight limit of 265 pounds, the fight was called off, and Prindle was declared the winner of the tournament.

Last week, their fight was delayed after Prindle came down with the flu. In November, they met in the cage for their first attempt at a final. That bout was declared a no contest when Santos threw an illegal kick to Prindle's groin.

Prindle got to the final with a decision win over Abe Wagner and a 40-second knockout of Ron Sparks. He will now face Konrad at a later date to challenge for the Bellator heavyweight belt.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/eric-prindle-wins-bellator-tournament-title-without-fight-025507296.html

Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah 

Time has come for UFC and Rampage Jackson to part ways

(Updated with comment from UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta at 7:47:42 ET on March 13, 2012)

There is a simple solution to the Quinton "Rampage" Jackson mess that, for some reason, is apparently being overlooked.

Cut him.

The UFC ought to sever ties with its mercurial former light heavyweight champion as quickly and completely as possible.

There is no good being done for any side in this equation by forcing an unhappy Jackson to fight the final bout on his UFC contract.

It certainly won't do Jackson any good to hang around. He's apparently had it with the UFC and has complained about the opponents matchmaker Joe Silva has picked for him to fight, his pay, and the seeming lack of gratitude UFC officials have shown him for fighting while injured.

Speaking to Bas Rutten on HDNet's "Inside MMA," Jackson said he is displeased that the UFC is matching him with wrestlers who don't want to fight. Four of his last five opponents were wrestlers, but there's more to the story than just the UFC putting him in against wrestlers.

On May 29, 2010, he lost to Rashad Evans in a battle for the No. 1 contender's spot at 205. He came back at UFC 123 on Nov. 20, 2010 with a win over karate expert Lyoto Machida in a battle between former champions looking to get back into the mix.

Next up, at UFC 130, was wrestler Matt Hamill on May 28, after a series of potential other opponents fell through. Beating Hamill earned (got?) Jackson a title shot against wrestler Jon Jones at UFC 135 on Sept. 24. After being submitted by Jones, the UFC put Jackson in against wrestler Ryan Bader on Feb. 26 at UFC 144 in Japan.

Jackson missed weight by five pounds in Japan, pointing to a knee injury suffered in training. He could have pulled out, but was so desperate to fight in Japan that he remained on the card. That was his choice, but now we're supposed to shower him with thanks because he did what nearly every one of his peers do every time they compete and went out and fought hurt?

Please.

Cutting Jackson would be the wise move for all parties, because Jackson clearly doesn't want to be around, he's no longer a particularly exciting fighter and all the attention being paid to his complaints takes attention away from those who could use it.

UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta said the company would not cut Jackson and said it would like to match him in the summer with former champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. He said he disagrees with Jackson's complaints, but said "he's entitled to his opinion."

"He has one more fight on his contract and our position is that he's contractually obligated to take a fight and fulfill his obligation, just as he'd expect us to fulfill our obligation," Fertitta told Cagewriter. "He is, to some extent, still a draw. An interesting fight we'd like to make, one we've talked about, would be him and Shogun. I think that would be an interesting fight. They're both coming off a loss, they have a history and they have both expressed interest in the fight in the past. That would round out things in an interesting way."

Jackson did a lot for the UFC and deserves to be recognized for that. His knockout of Chuck Liddell at UFC 71 on May 26, 2007 is one of the seminal moments in Zuffa history and won't soon been forgotten. His fight with Wanderlei Silva at UFC 92 was breathtaking.

He was one of the stalwarts of the PRIDE Fighting Championship and should be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame based upon his achievements in the two organizations.

That, though, is for the future. For the present, Jackson is complaining about his lot in life, which is particularly galling considering his recent performances.

It's time UFC president Dana White ended the circus and cut Jackson.

Maybe that will make him happy.

Jackson only wants guys who will engage him in a slugfest and he wants to be hailed as a conquering hero for doing it. So maybe nothing will make him happy, because that's not life in one of the hottest divisions in MMA.

Perhaps Jackson will be energized fighting for Bellator or some other promotion. Perhaps he'll get back to being the fighter he was when he was an absolute can't miss.

It's debatable, but there is one thing that absolutely, unequivocally not:

The fight with Rua would be fascinating, but the time has come for the UFC to sever its ties with him.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/time-come-ufc-rampage-jackson-part-ways-223818298.html

Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio 

MMAFrenzy?s Tournament of Upsets Final (with podcast)

We started with 32 upsets and now we are down to our final pairing. Both of the top seeds in the tournament made it to the finals with relative ease. The top-seed, Matt Serra vs. Georges St-Pierre, will face the second seed, Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabricio Werdum, in the final. Both upsets rattled the MMA world and both featured a shocking finish. So, the question remains, which upset was bigger?

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/28070/mmafrenzys-tournament-of-upsets-final/

Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo 

Picture of the day: UFC 146 heavyweights gather for drug tests

Six fighters from the all-heavyweight main card of UFC 146 gathered in Las Vegas for a press conference on Tuesday. According to HD Net's Ron Kruck, the Nevada Athletic Commission took advantage of all six being in town by stopping them for a pre-fight drug test.

Roy Nelson (right), who will fight Antonio Silva (left) had a picture snapped with his opponent and heavyweight champ Junior dos Santos as they waited for, as Nelson put it, "results from our pee tests." Dos Santos will fight Alistair Overeem to defend his belt for the first time since winning it from Cain Velasquez.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/picture-day-ufc-146-heavyweights-gather-drug-tests-210215642.html

José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez

Video: Steven Seagal talks about his students, Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida

What would MMA do without Steven Seagal? Obviously, Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida would not be the fighters they are without the sensei/movie star/border patrol agent/shooting-glasses-wearer/writer/director. Seagal talked about how important he is to MMA on "Jimmy Kimmel Live." Skip to a minute in to hear him talk about the skills he imparts to his students.

He will probably be an eighth-degree black belt one day, but come on. He can't teach Silva and Machida everything he knows.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/video-steven-seagal-talks-students-anderson-silva-lyoto-194704586.html

Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama