Sudden death round on tap for UFC?s flyweight tournament

Next week, the UFC will kick off start their flyweight division with a four-man tournament to crown the division's champion. At UFC on FX 2, Joe Benavidez will fight Yasuhiro Urushutani and Demetrious Johnson will face Ian McCall. The winners of those two bouts will meet at a later date to decide the UFC's first 125-lb. champ.

If either of the three-round bouts happen to end in a draw, MMA fans in Australia and those watching on FX will get a bonus: A sudden death round. Johnson talked about the possibility of an extra round to Tapout Radio (transcribed by Five Ounces):

"I don't know if anybody has said anything about it, and this is the first time I'm mentioning it, is that we (McCall and myself) had to sign for a 'sudden death' bout," Johnson said. "If it goes to three rounds, and the judges can't decide who the winner is, then we'll do a fourth round."

Though the likelihood of a draw is small, it does bring the possibility of one of the most exciting circumstances in sports to MMA. Sudden death is thrilling whether it's 10-year-olds playing basketball at the park district or professional football players deciding who is going to the Super Bowl.

The flyweights will already bring a pace that UFC fans have not yet seen in the Octagon, but also the possibility of sudden death.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/sudden-death-round-tap-ufc-flyweight-tournament-182515404.html

Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger 

Video: The greatest hits of Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey

On Saturday, Strikeforce's bantamweight belt will be up for grabs, as Miesha Tate defends it for the first time. She's taking on Ronda Rousey, a judo specialist with Olympic credentials. Who has the better game?

Rousey is undefeated. She hasn't ever seen the second minute of a bout, much less the second round. All four of her wins were armbar submissions in the first minute. She may be a one-trick pony, but when her trick is so effective, who cares?

Tate has been fighting since 2007 and has a record of 12-2. Her last six wins were three submissions, two decisions and a knockout. Tate won the belt with a fourth-round arm triangle of Marloes Coenen. She is well-rounded and has much more experience in the cage than Rousey.

Who will walk away with the belt on Saturday? Tell us in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/video-greatest-hits-miesha-tate-ronda-rousey-194204354.html

Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen 

UFC 144 weigh-in: ?Rampage? Jackson misses weight badly, Ryan Bader fight still on

Based on his condition when he stepped on the scale in Tokyo for the UFC 144 weigh-in, the rumors of Quinton Jackson having a lousy training camp were confirmed.

The former UFC light heavyweight champion missed the 205-pound limit by six pounds at 211.

The non-title fight will go on as planned with Jackson giving up 20 percent of his purse to Bader. Based on Jackson's salary from recent fights, that amount could be in the $50,000 range. Jackson was paid $250,000 in his fights at UFC 130 and UFC 135.

Even at 211, Jackson's face showed the wear of trying to make weight. He was also a little softer than normal in his chest. Both main event fighters, Frank Edgar and Benson Henderson, made weight for their UFC lightweight title fight at 154 pounds. Henderson, the much bigger fighter, was incredibly cut in the midsection.

Rich Franklin, serving as an analyst on Fuel TV, called Jackson's miss "ridiculous."

[ Kevin Iole: Benson Henderson's superhero mold may come in handy ]

During his interview with Fuel's Ariel Helwani, Jackson said he suffered an injury early in training camp and couldn't get in his roadwork. The injury, which Jackson would not disclose, was healed later in camp, but by then he was still very heavy. Jackson said he woke up at 3 a.m. local time to cut weight and he was only able to go from 232 down to 211.

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view)
Frankie Edgar (154) vs. Ben Henderson (154)
Ryan Bader (205) vs. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (211)
Cheick Kongo (229) vs. Mark Hunt (264)
Yoshihiro Akiyama (169) vs. Jake Shields (170)
Tim Boetsch (186) vs. Yushin Okami (185)
Hatsu Hioki (145) and Bart Palaszewski (146)
Joe Lauzon (156) vs. Anthony Pettis (155)

PRELIMINARY CARD (FX)
Takanori Gomi (155) vs. Eiji Mitsuoka (154)
Vaughan Lee (135) vs. Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto (136)
Steve Cantwell (185) vs. Riki Fukuda (185)
Chris Cariaso (136) vs. Takeya Mizugaki (135)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook)
Issei Tamura (145) vs. Tiequan Zhang (146)

Watch UFC 144 right here on Yahoo! Sports

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-144-weigh-rampage-jackson-misses-weight-badly-044057757.html

Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe

Culinary Union suggests Bill of Rights for MMA fighters

The Culinary Union, the biggest union representing workers in Nevada, stopped by the Nevada Athletic Commission's meeting on Wednesday to discuss ways to improve treatment for fighters. They want to see the NAC lead the combat sports world by pushing for reforms in MMA.

It wants to see:

1. Equal protections for all fighters. Boxers are protected under the Muhammad Ali Act, which enacts certain rules over boxers that keeps them from getting exploited. Mixed martial artists are not.

2. Right to work. This would allow fighters to sign non-exclusive contracts and would prohibit contracts from automatically renewing. Champions' clauses, which keep champs attached to their contract as long as they hold the belt, would be a thing of the past.

3. Inalienable right to your own name, likeness and image. When Jon Fitch objected to handing over his image in perpetuity to the UFC for its video game, he was cut from the UFC and Dana White threatened to not do business with any fighters from Fitch's gym, American Kickboxing Academy. After Fitch played ball, he was brought back into the fold. This right would allow fighters to exercise the right Fitch wanted to.

4. Free market of sponsorships. This would not just allow fighters to get whoever they would like to sponsor them, but would also let them say no to their promotion's sponsor. In other words, Brock Lesnar could chug a Coors and Carlos Condit could have walked away from a Harley-Davidson if he wanted to pursue a sponsorship with Honda.

5. Transparency of contracts and payments. Fighters would get detailed financial statements from any event they participated in. This would be particularly important to fighters whose contracts earn percentages of pay-per-views or gates.

6. Fair share of revenues. In the NBA and NFL, athletes went through a lockout to fight for roughly half the league's revenues. Because Zuffa is a private company, their revenues are not public, so we have no idea how much revenue the fighters earn. This right would ensure fighters get at least a quarter of revenues.

7. Freedom of association. Fighters would be allowed to unionize in any way they see fit.

8. Right to healthcare insurance for training and fighting. Zuffa fighters are given medical coverage for both fight camps and fights, but this right would ensure it continued.

9. Right to fair fights. The UFC's matchmaking system generally provides fair and evenly matched bouts, but things get murky on subjects like who deserves a title fight. Timing often decides title matches as much as an independent ranking system. This right would call for a transparent ranking of fighters.

10. Professionalism. From the union: "You have the right to be treated with common courtesy and professional respect by other fighters and by promoters and managers. For mixed martial arts to become a mainstream sport accepted by the general public, participants in the sport must act in accordance with commonly accepted standards of courtesy, decency and respect in their public interactions with one another and in their interactions with the public."

In other words, promotions couldn't fire one fighter because of a tweet about rape while not firing another for jokes about child molestation. UFC executives would probably have to stop dropping F-bombs at Twitter followers.

Would you be in support of such a bill? Is it missing anything? Tell us in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/culinary-union-suggests-bill-rights-mma-fighters-225928310.html

Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida 

UFC Continually Looking to Expand The Ultimate Fighter; Australia, India, Philippines Likely Next Destinations

With the 15th season of The Ultimate Fighter beginning next Friday, and The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil, the first season to take place outside of the United States, currently filming, the UFC has their sights set on the next international location.

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/27759/ufc-continually-looking-to-expand-the-ultimate-fighter-australia-india-philippines-likely-next-destinations/

Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio 

Flyweight final set as Demetrious Johnson and Joe Benavidez win at UFC on FX 2

Update: UFC president Dana White announced at the post-event press conference that the McCall-Johnson decision was read incorrectly. The decision was supposed to be a draw, and the fight should've gone to a 'sudden-death' fourth round. White says the UFC will try to set up a rematch in April.

Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez took very different paths to the final, with Johnson winning a tight decision and Benavidez getting a second-round knockout at UFC on FX 2 in Australia. Those wins set them up to face off for the first ever UFC flyweight (125-lb.) championship.

Johnson survives to win split decision

Despite a terrible third round, Demetrious Johnson won the UFC's first flyweight fight in a majority decision. 29-28, 29-28, 29-29. Though the crowd in Australia yelled their displeasure, Ian McCall's strong third round was not enough for the win. The fight was originally announced as a split decision in Johnson's favor, but MMA Junkie showed score cards from on-site that showed one judge scored the first round as a 10-10 draw.

Johnson started with fast kicks followed by sticking and moving. McCall got a takedown on an inside trip, but Johnson managed a reversal and brought the fight back to the feet. McCall took advantage of a leg kick, using it to take Johnson to his back. When McCall stopped takedowns, Johnson still would make him pay on the way out with a punch or two.

The second round featured continued furious action, with the fighters standing in front of each other early in the round and trading blows. Johnson peppered McCall's legs with kicks, while McCall landed powerful shots when he could get his hands on Johnson.

Early in the third round, McCall bent over when he was inadvertently kicked in the crotch, but referee Leon Roberts did not stop the fight. Johnson took advantage and landed several punches before McCall responded.

Johnson tried a flying knee, but McCall just used it to take Johnson to the ground and land several elbows. They returned to their feet, but then McCall got another takedown. He took Johnson's back, stretched him out, and landed a bevy of strikes. Somehow, Johnson kept the fight alive and got back to his feet. With less than a minute left, Johnson tried for a takedown, but after a scramble, McCall ended up on top and then in full guard. He laid into Johnson's face with strike after strike, yelling to the crowd as he punched in the final seconds of the fight.

Benavidez earns final berth with TKO

Benavidez didn't leave it in the hands of the judges, knocking out Yasuhiro Urushitani in the second round.

Urushitani showed strong takedown defense early in the first round, but Benavidez was able to get him down late in the round. He took his back, controlling him with body triangle and a rear naked choke. However, it was too late in the round to end the fight. Urushitani survived.

Benavidez wasted no time in the second round. He knocked Urushitani down with a short right hook and finished him with ground and pound. The fight was stopped 11 seconds into the second round.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/flyweight-final-set-demetrious-johnson-joe-benavidez-win-033231860.html

Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah 

UFC 144 video: The search for hardcore UFC fans in a Tokyo square

In what is a very unofficial study of Japan's interest in MMA, Ariel Helwani hit the streets in Tokyo to find hardcore UFC fans.

He combs through a bunch of 18-34 year olds and it was hard to find many that had more than a passing interest in the sport. Is this any worse than you'd find on the streets of most American cities? We're guessing yes. In any case, it's an interesting watch.

On the back end of the video, some of the more educated fans point to a lack of television, poor marketing and few good stories as the reasons for mixed martial arts' downturn in Japan. Others says with a recent spike in crime and the earthquake, people are shying away from events built around violence.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-144-video-search-hardcore-ufc-fans-toyko-221028977.html

Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio