UFC on FX 2 opener: Costa Philippou hands Court McGee first loss in the UFC

Maybe the best guy from Season 11 of "The Ultimate Fighter" never got his real chance. Costa Philippou lost his qualifier fight that season and missed the chance to face the eventual champion Court McGee. He didn't let the opportunity slip away tonight.

Philippou (9-2, 3-1 UFC) was the bigger, more efficient fighter over the first two rounds helping him score a unanimous decision victory, 29-28 on all three cards in the first fight on the FX portion of the UFC's latest card in Sydney, Australia.

The 32-year-old, who works out of Matt Serra's camp in Long Island, N.Y., has now won three straight in the UFC and took out a guy who was unbeaten with the promotion.

McGee (13-2, 3-1 UFC) is a wrestler/grappler but anytime he got his hands on Philippou, he looked like a midget in the middleweight division. The thickly muscled Philippou would just toss him aside or easily stuff the takedown attempts. McGee only made good on 1-of-11 tries.

When it was standing it was a complete mismatch over the first 10 minutes. McGee turned it up a notch in the final round landing some good shots as part of combinations. Why didn't he do it in the first two rounds? He got rocked so often early that it made him shy away from jumping into the pocket.

UFC on FX 2 undercard:

James Te Huna def. Aaron Rosa via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 2:08.
Anthony Perosh def. Nick Penner via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 4:59.
Steven Siler def. Cole Miller via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
Andrew Craig def. Kyle Noke via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
T.J. Waldburger def. Jake Hecht via submission (armbar) - Round 1, 0:55.
Daniel Pineda def. Mackens Semerzier via submission (armbar) - Round 1, 2:05.
Shawn Jordan def. Oli Thompson via TKO (strikes) - Round 2, 3:53.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/costa-philippou-hands-court-mcgee-first-loss-ufc-023625928.html

Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade 

Tony Hawk Foundation No Longer Supporting Pre-Fab Parks

The Tony Hawk Foundation announced today that they will no longer give grants to park projects made from wood, steel, polymer structures, or precast concrete featuring steel transition plates. This means only high quality concrete parks will be supported by the Tony Hawk Foundation. Get your grant applications in before the February 1, 2012 deadline.

no prefab parks

Source: http://theskateboardmag.com/blogs/templeton-elliott/2011/12/15/tony-hawk-foundation-no-longer-supporting-pre-fab-parks/

Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen 

First bouldering at Stanage Plantation, Derbyshire, UK

Location: Stanage Plantation Date: Sunday 27 July Sunday shone this weekend. A planned trip to the gym was quickly canned and instead we made a trip out to a new bouldering spot. After a recommendation that Stanage plantation had some good climbing (thanks Jonny!) we checked my bouldering guide book and set out. If you’re reading this wondering [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rock-climbing-blog/~3/PAQVWyt9-Yc/philsheard

Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah 

Battle of the fight promos: How an unknown becomes famous and ?Bones? gets arty

MMA has made huge leaps in promoting fights. Instead of videos that just show highlights backed by loud rap or metal music, they tell the story of why you want to tune in. These two videos from Bellator and the UFC fit that bill.

First, Bellator promotes its upcoming season by pushing the best part of their tournament. Lightweight champion Michael Chandler went from an unknown to a star thanks to his run through last season's tourney and his win over Eddie Alvarez. Now, Bellator has a whole new crop of lightweights who want to follow his example.

Next, the UFC takes a more artistic look at Jon Jones' submission of Lyoto Machida.

Did you have any idea that choking a man unconscious could be so pretty?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/battle-fight-promos-unknown-becomes-famous-bones-165927645.html

Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida 

Ronda Rousey takes Strikeforce bantamweight belt with another armbar

Ronda Rousey backed up her months of smack talk, submitting Miesha Tate to win the Strikeforce bantamweight championship in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday night. Though this fight went longer than any of Rousey's other matches, which were all finished in less than a minute, she still didn't need more than one round.

Miesha Tate came out swinging, but Rousey got her down to the ground. She moved to side position, got the armbar and stretched it into an ugly position. Somehow, Tate got out and took Rousey's back. Rousey got out and stood up.

Moments later, she used her judo skills to hip toss Tate to the ground and moved into mount position. Tate flipped over, giving up her back. Rousey grabbed Tate's arm, stretched it out, and forced Tate to tap at 4:27 in the first round. With that, Rousey became the Strikeforce's women's bantamweight champ.

"She was much more savvy on the ground than I anticipated. She's good, and she's legit, but I don't feel that bad about [the injury]," Rousey said after the fight. It appeared Tate's arm was injured from the armbar.

[ Related: Rousey shows business savvy minutes after winning title ]

Bad blood started between the two women when Rousey pushed for a title shot against Tate, who did not feel Rousey had earned a shot. The disdain between the two grew as they promoted their title fight. They squabbled during an interview with Cagewriter and threw a number of other barbs in various outlets. The animosity turned physical during Friday's weigh-ins. Tate pushed her forehead against Rousey's during their face-off, and Rousey used her head to push Tate back.

An Olympic bronze-medalist in judo, Rousey has submission skills that no one has been able to solve yet. In five fights, she has submitted all five of her opponents with an armbar.

Earlier in the evening, former champ Sarah Kaufman won a bloody brawl against Alexis Davis. She wants the next shot at Rousey, and Rousey said she wanted the fight.

"I would welcome it for sure," Rousey said. "I was impressed with her performance."

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ronda-rousey-takes-strikeforce-bantamweight-belt-another-armbar-051949959.html

Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana 

First time climbing at Froggatt Edge

I’ve only just got chance to post about last week’s trip to Froggatt Edge. Friends tell me that a crisp spring morning is better for climbing grit but if you ask me sunshine is the way forward. I headed to Froggatt Edge (just south of Sheffield) with a few friends for my first ascents on [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rock-climbing-blog/~3/hOSsO_V8trg/philsheard

Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio