Junior Dos Santos Interview - UFC

Heavy-handed Junior Dos Santos steps back into the Octagon? against a man considered to be an equally dangerous striker, Shane Carwin. Will Junior's speed advantage be enough to hand Carwin his first KO loss? Watch UFC 131 Live on Pay-Per-View and www.UFC.tv on Saturday, Jun 11th at 6/9PM PT/ET.

Source: http://mmalice.com/ufc/junior-dos-santos-interview-video_8d42cdb57.html

Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade 

Five to watch at NCAA Division I wrestling championships

The NCAA Division I wrestling national championships start on Thursday in St. Louis, and it will undoubtedly feature future stars of MMA. Randy Couture, Mark Munoz, Urijah Faber, Phil Davis, Ben Askren, Chael Sonnen, Tyron Woodley, Daniel Cormier, Chad Mendes, Frankie Edgar, Gray Maynard, Josh Koscheck, Brock Lesnar and so many more familiar names from the fight world once wrestled in this tournament. MMA fans should tune in, so here's what you need to know.

Penn State has the ability to repeat as champions. They won the Big Ten title last week, but will have plenty of challengers. Minnesota won the dual meet championship earlier this year. Missouri won the Big 12 and was the only team in the country to qualify a wrestler at every weight class. (Ed. note -- GO TIGERS!) Cornell won their sixth straight EIWA title. Perennial powers Oklahoma State and Iowa will also be expected to challenge for a team trophy.

The 2012 field isn't as star-studded as some of the top wrestlers, like Mizzou's Dom Bradley, took a redshirt to focus on making the U.S. Olympic teams. Well known wrestlers like Anthony Robles and Bubba Jenkins from Arizona State and Jordan Burroughs from Nebraska have graduated. However, there are plenty of wrestlers to watch during the tournament.

Kyle Dake, Cornell: When Dake was a freshman, he wrestled at 141 lbs. and won a national championship. His sophomore year, he moved up at 149 lbs. again took home the title. This year, he is a junior and at 157 lbs. His goal is to keep the streak alive.

Ian Miller, Kent State: The freshman has taken the MAC by storm this season, going 28-3. He won the MAC at 149 lbs., and already has 11 pins and nine major decisions (winning by 8-14 points).

Frank Molinaro, Penn State: When you picture a wrestler in your mind, you are most likely picturing Molinaro. He's looking to become a four-time All-American and win his first championship in St. Louis this weekend and is the favorite at 149 lbs after winning the Big Ten title with a technical fall (winning by 15 points or more) in the finals.

Jordan Oliver, Oklahoma State: The same school that produced Munoz, Cormier, Mo Lawal, Johny Hendricks and Shane Roller has another star in the making with Oliver, the returning national champ at 133 lbs. He won the Most Outstanding Wrestler award at the Big 12 tournament for plowing through competition and racking up bonus points. (Wrestlers earn their teams bonus points for winning by pin, technical fall or major decision.)

Zack Rey, Lehigh: As the returning champion at heavyweight, expectations will be high for Rey, who is known for having insane strength. He lost to American's Ryan Flores in a sudden victory match at the EIWA final, so he'll be on the lookout for revenge.

See a complete list of qualifiers and brackets here. The finals will air live on Saturday on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. ET. Other rounds will air on ESPNU, so check local listings. Also, follow me on Twitter for updates from the tournament.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/five-watch-ncaa-division-wrestling-championships-192840972.html

Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott

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/

Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio

UFC, eh? UFC will head to Canada three times in 2012

Mark your calendars, Canadian fans. The UFC announced today they will visit the home and native land of welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre three times in the remainder of 2012.

They will start in Calgary on July 21, where Jose Aldo will fight a yet-to-be-named fighter. After that, it's UFC 152 in Toronto Sept. 22, and UFC 154 in Montreal Nov. 17. St. Pierre, who was present at the press conference, announced the Montreal date.

GSP also gave an update on his health, saying he is progressing smoothly and is hoping to be back by November.

"When you get an injury like I have and you're off for a long period of time, the only thing you wish is to get back fast as possible," he said. "I don't know if it will be in the U.S. or Canada, but I wish and I pray that I have a chance to perform in 2012. No matter where it will be, I want to come back and fight in 2012."

St. Pierre is a native of Montreal, and has enjoyed great success when fighting in front of the rabid home crowd Canada can provide. His last two fights were won in Canada, and he exacted revenge on Matt Serra, one of the few men to beat him, in Montreal.

Though he isn't likely to rush his recovery from an ACL tear, he also has plenty of motivation to be ready to go on Nov. 17.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-eh-ufc-head-canada-three-times-2012-205133859.html

Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana 

?Rampage? Jackson unhappy with pay, wants to fight outside the UFC

From the department of biting the hand that feeds you, Quinton Jackson complained on Twitter about the UFC and said his next fight in the UFC will be his last.

"I feel sorry for my next opponent, no matter who or what it is," Jackson wrote via Twitter. "I will fight whoever they put in front of me ? I always have ? but it will be my last fight in the UFC.  I have other things on my mind. I didn't say I would be done fighting; I just said I'm not fighting for the UFC (u fight cheap)."

Jackson's most recent salary information was from UFC 96 in 2009, where he made $325,000. It doesn't count locker room bonuses, sponsorship money or a cut of the pay-per-view. As a headliner, it's likely Jackson's contract calls for pay-per-view money.

To review, the UFC stood by Jackson as he went on a hit-and-run driving rampage, as he took a break from fighting to film "The A-Team" plus do all the publicity required for the movie, during the many times he treated media like a punching bag, and when he insulted their own color commentator and another fighter working as an analyst.

Before UFC 144, the UFC's doctor sent him to an age specialist, who gave him testosterone therapy and helped make him healthy enough to fight and enjoy himself more in the bedroom.

There are fighters who have a legitimate reason to be unhappy with their pay and treatment by the UFC. Jackson is not one of them.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/rampage-jackson-unhappy-pay-wants-fight-outside-ufc-170057099.html

Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade 

Frankie Edgar vs. Benson Henderson II is on

According to Dana White's Twitter feed, the muddled mess that is the lightweight title picture has been cleared up. After Edgar lost his championship belt in a decision to Benson Henderson at UFC 144, Edgar will rematch with current champ Henderson this summer. An exact date or event was not given, but the UFC has planned events for a pay-per-view July 7 and a Fox show on August 4.

Anthony Pettis and the winner of the upcoming bout between Nate Diaz and Jim Miller have been mentioned as possible contender, but Edgar is the winner. He pushed for the rematch in every interview that came his way. Edgar believed he deserved the fight because he had to rematch close fights twice.

But as Snoop Pearson said, "Deserve got nuthin' to do with it." The fight is good business. Edgar and Henderson's first fight was an exciting, five-round brawl. The rematch will draw more fans who heard about the first match-up. Whether it's on Fox or pay-per-view, a lightweight title bout will offer good TV.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/frankie-edgar-vs-benson-henderson-ii-004513126.html

Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott

Spend a year with Grudge training center in new web series

Unless you're training for a fight, it's hard to understand the ins and outs of an MMA gym. Even people who train part-time struggle to know just how difficult the days and weeks are for fighters working full-time to prepare for a bout.

With that in mind, MMA Fighting's Ben Fowlkes decided to spend a year with Grudge Training Center in Colorado. Home to Shane Carwin, Brendan Schaub and Nate Marquardt, Fowlkes worked with head trainer Trevor Wittman to get an inside look at what happens in an MMA gym over the course of year, and chronicle it in the must-read series, "The Hurt Business."

What Fowlkes didn't anticipate was how eventful 2011 would be for Grudge. Marquardt went from a UFC contender to unemployed after failing to pass medicals for his UFC on Versus fight in June. Schaub's red-hot streak was stopped by Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in August. Carwin lost to Junior dos Santos in June and then did not fight again in 2011 because of injuries.

Fowlkes spoke to Cagewriter, and admitted he had no idea how the year would turn out when he first spoke to Wittman.

"I chose Grudge for two reasons, really. One, Denver is close enough to where I live in Montana that I could get down there often enough," Fowlkes said. "And two, Trevor Wittman was the only trainer I talked to who seemed as interested in the idea as I was. The others I mentioned it to were like, 'Yeah, that would be cool project...for you to do at someone else's gym.'"

It was in those many days spent at the gym where Fowlkes, who has covered MMA since 2006, truly gained an appreciation for what fighters do on a daily basis.

"I feel stupid for admitting this, but I think what surprised me the most was how much work fighters put in before they ever do the work that actually gets them paid. You see Brendan Schaub in the gym two months before his fight with Cro Cop, and he's at work. This is his job. And yet, no one's paying him to be there. If he decides to blow it off for a day or two, it's on him. If he does all the work as best he can in the gym and then loses, it won't even matter to a lot of fans, because they didn't see what he went through just to get to the fight. It's one of those things where you know, intellectually, that they're working hard in the gym before a fight. But until you see that grind day after day, it's hard to really appreciate."

Fowlkes originally hoped to write a book out of his time with Grudge, but decided it would work better as a web series. In the first installment, he wrote about Grudge in January of 2011, when everything seemed to be humming along smoothly for Wittman and his fighters. As the series unfolds, readers will learn about a year that was anything but typical.

"[Readers] should expect a lot of change, for one thing. Grudge at the end of the year was nothing like Grudge at the beginning. They should also expect the story to move around a lot, to UFC 128 in New Jersey in the second installment, to Vancouver for the Shane Carwin-Junior dos Santos fight, and even to Brazil for Schaub's fight with Nogueira. We're also going to get more into the economic realities of the gym, who's paying who, and how much, and how that causes friction. Of course, Nate Marquardt's whole situation with TRT and getting fired from the UFC will be covered. And there's also some stuff about the lesser-known fighters at the gym, the ones who are struggling to make their way and finding out how tough it can be."

Follow Ben Fowlkes on Twitter for updates on "The Hurt Business." Follow Cagewriter, too.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/spend-grudge-training-center-series-160411650.html

Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert AldanaÂ