Phil Davis ?happy? Rashad Evans poked holes in his game

When Phil Davis was put on the UFC's second Fox card against Rashad Evans, he knew the pressure was on. Not only did he need to keep his undefeated streak going, but he also needed to create an exciting bout for network fans tuning into the UFC for the first time.

The result? A fight dominated by Rashad Evans as Davis struggled to find a rhythm. Davis told the MMA Hour that he couldn't slow down in the bout, which ended up exhausting him.

"I got myself into one of the situations where you've got to go all out to get out of that, and put out a lot of energy," he said. "That kind of put me behind on momentum, and from there, Rashad was just the calmer guy. He eased into the fight better. More and more, I was trying to do more to gain momentum and he was just calm and collected."

It was the first loss of Davis' MMA career. He ended his NCAA wrestling career with a championship, so it's the first time Davis has lost in at least four years. A loss like that can shake a man, but Davis took a different view of it.

"I'm glad he poked holes in my game," he said. "Because now I can fix some of those holes and know where the No. 2 guy in the world is going to beat me. Now I have a benchmark. Losing is not the worst thing in the world. The worst thing in the world is not getting better. I'm glad I got that fight. I'm glad I got it twice, and I'm just real excited about where I'm at in my career."

While he waits for his next opponent, Davis is helping his friend and teammate, Dominick Cruz, coach on this season of "The Ultimate Fighter." At 27, he's still a young and exciting fighter who has plenty to learn about MMA. A newly refocused Davis should be a force to reckon with.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/phil-davis-happy-rashad-evans-poked-holes-game-181426342.html

John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves 

Dana White?s video blog explains TUF and McCall/Johnson draw

Dana White's latest video blog answers many of your questions about the latest season "The Ultimate Fighter," including how last season's premiere was very different from how the rest of the season will run. You'll also see that the UFC championship belts are sharp.

It also takes you behind the scenes in Australia, including a dissection of the Ian McCall/Demetrious Johnson debacle. The two are expected to rematch at the TUF finale in June. You'll get to see White tell McCall and Johnson separately about the draw.

As always, plenty of NSFW language when White is involved.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/dana-white-video-blog-goes-explains-tuf-mccall-135113490.html

Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander

Mo Lawal?s dismissal emphasizes need for Zuffa policy on Twitter

"King" Mo Lawal was cut from Strikeforce yesterday. He received a suspension from the Nevada Athletic Commission for testing positive for a banned substance after his January win over Lorenz Larkin. Shortly after his hearing with the NAC, Lawal called a commissioner a racist b**** over Twitter. According to Strikeforce's Scott Coker, Lawal's reaction was to blame for the dismissal.

Calling a woman the b-word is wrong, no matter the circumstances, which is exactly what I told Lawal yesterday. He's been a friend of mine since long before either of us were involved in MMA, so I told him what I would tell any friend of mine. If you don't want it said about your mother, you shouldn't say it about any woman. Though I don't know if I influenced his decision, he deleted the tweet not long after.

What he tweeted was wrong, but he should not have lost his job, just like Miguel Torres should not have lost his job late last year. I didn't think Torres should have lost his job then, nor did I think Forrest Griffin should have lost his job over a tweet about rape, or Rashad Evans over his comment about child abuse, or Joe Rogan for calling me the c-word, or White for calling MMA reporter Loretta Hunt the b-word.

What every one of these cases called for is punitive action. Some combination of a reprimand, a fine that will benefit the aggrieved parties, a public apology, a suspension, and corrective action like sensitivity training would be more appropriate than being fired. The offender would be more likely to learn something from their offenses than if they suddenly have to look for a job, or if there had been little done about the offense.

The problem, once again, is that Zuffa has no policy on fighter (and commentator) behavior. A fighter doesn't know if he's crossed the line until he's crossed it. Fighters can't even learn from each other's actions because there is no consistency on how incidents are treated. Considering how White called Hunt the same word that Lawal to describe the commissioner and then never apologized for it (he only apologized for using a slur against homosexuals), how could Lawal know Zuffa would have a problem with it?

The UFC usually holds their fighters' summit in June. It's the end of March. They have a few months to formulate a policy that is clear and fair to fighters.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/mo-lawal-dismissal-emphasizes-zuffa-policy-twitter-130830350.html

Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander

Iraq vet uses rear naked choke to stop robbery

You walk into a store and see someone holding up the cashier. What do you do? If you're Zack Thome, an Iraq vet and someone who has trained in MMA, you slap a rear naked choke on the offender and choke him out.


Original Video- More videos at TinyPic

Thome held Brandon Slanger, the suspect who is said to be schizophrenic, down as someone else called the police. Thome said he lives near the store and didn't want to see the cashier hurt.

"It's kind of my hometown.  I live right next to the place, you know, I'm in there everyday.  I think if it was the other way around, if I worked there and the guy at the register was there, he would have done the same thing," said Thome.

Kudos to Thome for using his MMA training to good use. But unless you've actually trained, don't try this at home, folks. Watching every UFC pay-per-view doesn't count.

Gracias, Cage Potato.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/iraq-vet-uses-rear-naked-choke-stop-robbery-130652301.html

Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John AlessioÂ