Photo: Benson Henderson celebrates UFC lightweight title with his mom

When Benson Henderson walked out of the cage after winning the UFC lightweight title, he walked right past security and the UFC staff who was directing him towards the locker room. He had to go celebrate with the woman who has supported him throughout his career: his mom.

In a sweet moment, Henderson hugged his mother. She pulled back and grabbed at his belt, bursting with pride over her son's accomplishment. Henderson provided another great performance in beating Frankie Edgar, but didn't forget to say thank you to his mom.

He admitted that he did hear her cheering during his fight.

""My mom has a pretty distinct voice. I can hear her everywhere," Henderson said.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/photo-benson-henderson-celebrates-ufc-lightweight-title-mom-070500889.html

Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè 

UFC on FX 2 weigh-in: Joe Benavidez?s new physique

The flyweight era is upon us. A mini-tournament starts tonight in Australia on the UFC on FX 2 card. Joe Benavidez and Demetrious Johnson are the huge favorites in the 125-lbs. showdowns, but we'll find out if their first legitimate weight cut in years will affect their performance.

Both Johnson and Benavidez were far from true bantamweights. Johnson didn't look too much different down at 125, but there was definitely some mass missing on Joe B.

The main event fighters made weight as well. That's always a challenge for Thiago Alves. Last night, he looked as good as ever down at 170.5. Alves balloons up between fights and has missed weight for three previous fights.

UFC on FX 2 weigh-in:

MAIN CARD (FX)
Thiago Alves (170.5) vs. Martin Kampmann (170.5)
Joseph Benavidez (125.5) vs. Yasuhiro Urushitani (125.5)
Demetrious Johnson (125.5) vs. Ian McCall (125.5)
Court McGee (184.5) vs. Constantinos Philippou (185.5)

PRELIMINARY CARD (FUEL TV)
Aaron Rosa (205.5) vs. James Te Huna (206)
Nick Penner (203.5) vs. Anthony Perosh (205)
Cole Miller (146) vs. Steven Siler (146)
Andrew Craig (185) vs. Kyle Noke (185)
Jake Hecht (171) vs. T.J. Waldburger (170)
Daniel Pineda (146) vs. Mackens Semerzier (146)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook)
Shawn Jordan (245.5) vs. Oli Thompson (235)

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-fx-2-weigh-thenew-bodies-mighty-mouse-180859121.html

Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè 

Free clips for Chris Sharma ?King Lines? climbing video?

Interested in downloading high-quality clips of Chris Sharma climbing? Today I checked out the website for Chris Sharma’s King Lines movie - and there’s a new addition! Early versions of the DVD didn’t feature all of the extras properly, so the website features downloadable clips from the extras. This won’t replace the need to buy the DVD, but [...]

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

Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo 

Ronda Rousey already has world champion swag available

After a Super Bowl or World Series win, teams immediately sell shirts announcing their big win, but MMA had not caught up to the big four in terms of merchandising. That is, until new Strikeforce bantamweight champion started selling world championship tees from her website minutes after taking the belt from Miesha Tate with a first-round win.

Rousey showed her business savvy when pushing Strikeforce for a title shot after five fights. Why wouldn't she extend that to merchandising?

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ronda-rousey-already-world-champion-swag-available-060117363.html

Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe

Tricky situation: There?s a former gay adult film actor in the cast of TUF 15

It was inevitable that the UFC would be faced with handling the issue of a homosexual fighter. Even Dana White understands that's a reality, but we can't imagine he saw the Dakota Cochrane situation on the horizon.

Cochrane, part of the 32-fighter cast for "The Ultimate Fighter," is a talented mixed martial artist, but he also has another gig on his resume.

According to sites like Middle Easy, Bloody Elbow and MMAMania (Warning: Some of the landing pages contains links to explicit content.), Cochrane performed in 16 gay pornographic films under the name "Danny." Cochrane is quoted in another story about having a girlfriend, but that won't matter to most ardent anti-gay fans and followers of MMA.

UPDATE: Cochrane confirmed that his past does indeed include these films and that the UFC is aware.

On his audition tape for TUF, he included an introduction that mentioned all about his past. Everything.

"I think it's a little bit courageous for both of us. I could just hide in a hole and no one would know except for the people close to me. And to them, I was up front. I let them know right away so it wasn't anything that could come back and bite them in the butt. I think maybe they respected that a little bit," Cochrane told MMAFighting. "I think some people judge against it, some people will be OK with it. Some people will want me to get my butt kicked, and hopefully others will respect what I'm trying to do."

The reaction to Cochrane's inclusion on the show will be interesting to follow. White was asked in the past about the issue of promoting a gay fighter.

"Any guy involved in grappling is the furthest thing from homophobic in the world. I honestly think it would have no impact at all whatsoever. Not only with our fighters or our fanbase. It wouldn't be a big deal to me and most of the guys I know in this sport, it wouldn't be a big deal for them either," White said during a conversation with Edge Magazine in 2009. "The guys in the UFC, everybody is so cool. There's great sportsmanship and everybody has respect for each other."

What will be the reaction from fans, hardcore and casual one this blows up on the blogosphere? The 25-year-old Cochrane is 10-2 in MMA and posted a win over former WEC lightweight champ Jamie Varner in September.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/tricky-situation-ufc-gay-porn-performer-cast-tuf-164850475.html

Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama 

Nate Quarry Formally Retires From Mixed Martial Arts

After a decade-long career, Nate Quarry has formally announced his retirement. Having last appeared at UFC Fight Night 21 in March 2010, Quarry retires with a 7-3 record in the UFC, dating back to his appearance on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter.

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/27767/nate-quarry-formally-retires-from-mixed-martial-arts/

Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi