Weekend warriors: Rogers KO headlines Bellator while James Vick cruises on TUF

Welcome to weekend warriors, Cagewriter's rundown of the fights you missed while immersed in March Matness.

Bellator started their middleweight tournament on Friday, and Brian Rogers had the highlight of the night with a flying knee knockout of Vitor Vianna.

The knockout earned Rogers a spot in the middleweight tourney's final four. Maiquel Falcao also punched his ticket to the semifinals with a stand-up filled decision over Norman Paraisy. Vyacheslav Vasilevsky also took a decision, coming on strong in the second and third with ground attacks to convince the judges. Bruno Santos avoided the submission expertise of "The Arm Collector," Giva Santana, for another decision win.

Vick rolls and Chiesa learns sad news on "The Ultimate Fighter"

After last week's preliminary fights, "The Ultimate Fighter" returned to its one fight a week format. Coaches Urijah Faber and Dominick Cruz chose the teams they'll guide for the rest of the season. The teams are:

Cruz's choices (in order): Justin Lawrence (4-0), Villa Ridge, Mo.; Sam Sicilia (11-0), Spokane Valley, Wash.; Myles Jury (10-0), San Diego, Calif.; Mike Rio (9-1), Miami, Fla., Vick; Vinc Pichel (8-0), Sherman Oaks, Calif.; Chris Tickle (8-4), Bloomington, Ill.; and Jeremy Larsen (9-2), Phoenix, Ariz.

Faber's choices (in order): Al Iaquinta (6-1-1), Wantagh, N.Y.; Cristiano Marcello (13-3), Curitiba, Brazil; Cruickshank; Joe Proctor (8-1), Pembroke, Mass.; Michael Chiesa (8-0), Spokane Valley, Wash., John Cofer (8-1), Hull, Ga.; Andy Ogle (9-1), Tynemouth, England; and Chris Saunders (10-2), Long Beach, Calif.

After Faber announced the fight pick of Cruickshank vs. Vick, Chiesa was pulled out of practice to take a phone all from his mother to find out his father, who had been suffering from cancer, had passed away. A shaken Chiesa said he wanted to stay because his father would have wanted him to.

"He made me promise that I wouldn't leave," Chiesa said.

Chiesa went home for a few days, but returned in time to see Friday night's fight.

Daron Cruickshank (Team Faber) vs. James Vick (Team Cruz)

After the two felt each other out, Cruickshank lowered himself for a takedown. Unfortunately for him, Vick's knee was waiting there. Vick knocked Cruickshank out cold with a knee at 2:16 in the first, giving Team Cruz the first win of the season.

Next week, Marcello and Lawrence will face off.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/weekend-warriors-rogers-ko-headlines-bellator-while-james-154630308.html

John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves 

BLVD, Etnies, Hernandez, Indy, DC, and Paradise Videos

BLVD has a team session at the syndrome park. Etnies has a quick video of Kyle Leeper in the park. Joe Krolick has some Classic Clips with Evan Hernandez. Independent Bearings has a sick team montage. Strange Notes has a Six Pack with Steve Alba. DC has video from the NVRBRKN pop-up shop opening. paradise has a best of montage from 2011.

Source: http://theskateboardmag.com/blogs/templeton-elliott/2011/12/15/blvd-etnies-hernandez-indy-dc-and-paradise-videos/

Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè 

American Top Team mining NCAA wrestling for talent

Though most of the people who set attendance records at the NCAA Division I wrestling championships in St. Louis last week were fans, at least one attendee was there to look for up-and-coming talent. Ricardo Liborio, the leader of American Top Team in Florida, headed to Missouri to find the best athletes who want to make the transition from wrestling to MMA.

Cagewriter spoke to Liborio, who has worked with such fighters as Thiago Alves and Tyron Woodley, about why he is looking to wrestling to find his next great star.

"The endpoint is to recruit guys who are done with their careers as a wrestler. Probably senior guys who want to start their MMA career. Some guys are not making it through their careers, the guys who couldn't make the Olympic team. And, we're open. I have some offers for athletes, depending on their caliber of what they can bring to the table. Guys like Bubba [Jenkins], we're recruiting, we're negotiating, and we're willing to invest in them. We're building them from the ground up," Liborio said.

He said he's been looking to wrestlers for years, but attended the NCAA championships for the first time last year. There, he watched Arizona State's Bubba Jenkins win a national title. Not long after, Jenkins joined ATT, where he's won both of his fights with a submission.

Liborio says wrestlers make great fighters because of the culture of the sport.

"Work ethic, athletic ability, but mental toughness of keep going, don't quit. The culture of other sports, that's not as exalted as it is in wrestling. There are great athletes with a great work ethic who are tough. They compete every weekend, they cut their weight."

ATT has created a boot camp of sorts to help athletes who have excelled in wrestling transition to MMA, but it works best when future fighters will open themselves up to learn.

"Those guys who understand they're learning a completely different discipline. Learning, striking, ground game. We have it right now as a science. All those guys who came from just wrestling and go into a kind of boot camp that makes them much better fighters."

Though several wrestlers will pursue Olympic gold this summer or in 2016, most will not make the team. With ATT and other camps looking out for wrestlers, they have a way to "go pro" in their sport.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/american-top-team-mining-ncaa-wrestling-talent-202037235.html

Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi 

?The Ultimate Fighter: Live? debut talkback thread

A new era of the UFC's reality show, "The Ultimate Fighter," dawns tonight as the show moves to FX and starts airing live. Starting at 9 p.m. ET, tonight's episode will run for two and a half hours. As has happened in previous seasons, fighters will have to win a bout to get in the house. Every one of those fights will air live tonight.

The live shows also means that Cagewriter won't be able to recap shows ahead of time. Instead, I'll open a thread on Friday afternoons, and Cagereaders can discuss the show here as well as Bellator bouts. If you prefer to talk about it on Facebook, I'll open a thread there, too.

I'll be at Bellator's fights in Hammond, Ind., tonight, so look for plenty from their first fights of the season. Follow Cagewriter on Twitter for plenty from the fights. And as always, thanks for reading Cagewriter.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ultimate-fighter-live-debut-talkback-thread-213741451.html

Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe

Reader rants: Cagereaders speak up on ?Rampage,? ranking weight classes and fighter excuses

Welcome to another edition of Reader Rants, where Cagereaders get their say. Readers weighed in on Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, ranking the weight classes, and a little civil discourse. If you want to be included in a future Reader Rants, like Cagewriter on Facebook and share your opinion on our Facebook page.

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson's problems with the UFC and desire to leave the promotion brought out strong opinions. Two readers think the UFC should move on from him.

Letting him go would be best for both. When you get past being a Rampage fan and reality sets in, he just hasn't looked good in a while. He's using the excuse he's been injured, but really ... come on. None of these guys are 100% going into fights. He claims the UFC doesn't promote him right ... really? He's complaining they are only giving him fights with guys that want to hump his leg, but we all know that isn't true. If it really was a problem and he's such a great fighter he would finish them before they had the chance to hump his legs. -- Rocky Williams

The man abandoned his wrestling which is what made him great. He just needs to go ahead and make A-Team sequels and call it a day. -- Rayburn Wesley Mitchum

Cagewriter's ranking of weight classes was viewed as almost correct.

Your ranking of the weight classes in terms of strength was off only in one aspect. welterweights should definitely be higher than middleweights think about all the contenders. Yes, middleweight has Silva, Munoz, Sonnen but welterweight has GSP, Jon Fitch, Jake Shields, Jake Ellenberger, Carlos Condit, Nick Diaz, Johny Hendricks, Josh Koscheck and many more who I believe are easily top ten fighters if they choose to move up a division. -- Daniel Jeong

One reader wants to see fighters stop making excuses when they lose.

Your only excuse for losing a FAIR fight should be that you gave it all you had and it wasn't enough. Not that you stubbed your toe or you fought with an injury. There is no "You're bigger than me, controlled the octagon better and had my back against the cage", BJ. That's the name of the game. Your opponent was better than you that night. End of story. -- Amanda Allen

And another wants to see some civility in the comment section.

My one rant is the constant whining and crying from the internet commenters. Bash every article posted on Cagewriter and the other sites. They bash the UFC no matter what they do or don't do. Just non-stop foolishness. Very uninformed comments based on skewed views on various topics. -- Rocky Moore

Do you want to make your opinion known? Follow Cagewriter on Facebook.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/reader-rants-cagereaders-speak-rampage-ranking-weight-classes-144205725.html

Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe

More matchmaking: Tito Ortiz retirement bout set, Demian Maia drops down, and more

With no events on the books until Apr. 14, the UFC has plenty of time to make matches for the spring and summer run of events.

-- Tito Ortiz will fight Forrest Griffin one more time. In what is expected to be Ortiz's final fight before retiring, the pair will meet up at UFC 148 in Las Vegas on July 7. The two are 1-1 against each other, with Ortiz taking their bout at UFC 59 and Griffin winning at UFC 106. Both were split decisions.

-- Also at UFC 148, former championship contender Demian Maia will debut at welterweight. He'll make the move down from middleweight and face Dong Hyun-Kim.

-- Featherweight prospects Jimmy Hettes and Steven Siler will square off at UFC on FX 4 in Atlantic City. Hettes will put his undefeated record on the line against Siler, who has two wins in the UFC.

-- In a fight that will surely be fun to watch, Josh Neer will fight Mike Pyle at UFC on FX 3 on June 8. Neer won four of his five fights by TKO, and Pyle is coming off a TKO of Ricardo Funch.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/more-matchmaking-tito-ortiz-retirement-bout-set-demian-200727352.html

Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio

?Super Fight League? premieres with theme song that will stick in your head

India jumped into the world of MMA with the start of Super Fight League, a new promotion that debuted in Mumbai over the weekend. James Thompson submitted Bob Sapp at 1:52 because Sapp sustained a leg injury.

The real star of the show was SFL's theme song, which should shoot to the top of the charts immediately. It somehow combines the guitar riffs of an 80s movie montage song with the rapping skill of Snow. Basically, it's amazing.

"Boom, pow, punch kick WOW!" will be playing in your head for the rest of the day. You're welcome.

Thanks, Bloody Elbow.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/super-fight-league-premieres-theme-song-stick-head-134700911.html

Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen