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

Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana 

UFC 144 comeback: Boetsch pulls off miracle against Okami; Shields gets by ?Sexyama?

With some guts, power and toughness, Tim Boetsch turned a trip back down the middleweight ladder into an opportunity to legitimately call out top-five fighters at 185 pounds.

After getting schooled for two rounds in every aspect of the game, Boetsch landed some huge shots to finish Yushin Okami at the 0:54 mark of the third round at UFC 144 in Tokyo, Japan.

[Video: Boetsch outduels Okami with power and guts]

Boetsch got picked apart in the first by Okami's boxing. The Japanese veteran then turned to his vaunted ground-and-pound game in the second. Okami outlanded Boetsch 47-26 over the first two rounds. With Boetsch down 2-0 and his face busted up, the American had to go for broke.

He came out looking for the home run shot landing some effective kicks early before grabbing Okami's head and blasting him with an uppercut. Okami stumbled backward and took a deep breath, but Boetsch didn't allow him to collect himself. He followed Okami around the cage and landed another good combination. The completely stunned Okami was out on his feet. That's when Boetsch grabbed his head again and dug in deep to land three more uppercuts. Okami went down in a heap after the third and referee Leon Roberts had to jump in to save him.

"It still hasn't settled in yet. The first two rounds weren't good, but I won the third round and that's what counts. Yushin hit me harder than I expected, but I was standing at the end of his range so it was kind of my fault. I knew I had to move forward, but the upper cuts were a spur of the moment thing. Awesome night overall," said Boetsch.

After racing out to a 10-2 start with the UFC, Okami has now dropped two straight. Boetsch (15-4, 4-1 UFC) is a perfect 3-0 at middleweight.

Shields wins favor with the judges

There's no mistaking what Jake Shields wants to do. A jiu-jitsu ace, he efforts to get his opponent to the ground. He couldn't accomplish that against Yoshihiro Akiyama, so turned to Plan B and got the victory.

Shields (27-6-1, 2-2 UFC) landed lots of short strikes and many leg kicks to earn the nod from the judges, 30-27 on all three cards. He sealed the fight down the stretch by scoring three takedowns late. He also got Sexyama's back and threatened with a choke in the final 30 seconds.

Some onlookers thought Akiyama (13-5, 1-4 UFC) did enough to win. His volume wasn't high enough on the the feet, but he did score three awesome judo throws/trips. He was also successful in defending 9-of-11 takedowns. Unfortunately, that just doesn't score enough with judges. According to Compustrike, Shields outlanded Akiyama 120-58.

[Video: Late takedowns propel Shields over Akiyama]

This was Akiyama's debut at 170 pounds. The move paid off. He was certainly competitive with one of the top welterweights in the worlds. He looked strong at the weight and unlike his previous fights at middleweight, his energy remained pretty constant into the late stages of the fight.

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Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi 

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

Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo 

The odd path Benson Henderson and Anthony Pettis took to UFC 144

Two former WEC champions will appear on Saturday's UFC 144 card. Benson Henderson, the man who held the lightweight for more than a year, will fight Frankie Edgar for the UFC lightweight strap. Anthony Pettis, the man who took Henderson's title with the jaw-dropping "Showtime Kick," will take on Joe Lauzon.

Those MMA fans who have been living under a rock since December 16, 2010, when Pettis beat Henderson, might wonder how it's Henderson, not Pettis challenging Edgar.

[ *Watch UFC 144 right here on Yahoo! Sports ]

After winning the WEC belt in their final event before being absorbed by the UFC, Pettis was supposed to get the next UFC lightweight title shot. He was supposed to fight the winner of Edgar and Gray Maynard's New Years Day 2011 bout.

But Pettis was put on the backburner when Edgar and Maynard's bout ended in a draw. Their rematch was more important than unifying the WEC and UFC belts. Pettis opted not to wait for a title shot, and lost a decision to Clay Guida in June.

For Henderson, it was a win over Guida -- plus beatdowns of Jim Miller and Mark Bocek -- that earned him the title shot at Saitama Super Arena this weekend. No fighter wants to lose, particularly when his belt is on the line, but the loss to Pettis still bothers Henderson. His laid back strategy late in the bout still makes him angry. Was it the best thing to happen to him?

"It was heart-wrenching," he said to MMA Fighting's Ben Fowlkes. "I was sad, and I'm still sad. It was heart-breaking. ...Every time I'm out there, I give you guys everything. I open up my heart and soul. I hold nothing back. To come up short, and to come up short in that manner, that hurt. But I'll never let that happen again."

Even Pettis has noticed the difference in his former opponent.

"Ben was on a tear. He was killing guys in the WEC. Then I come in there, we go five rounds and I win the decision, and he was back to square one. I think a loss makes everyone a little hungrier, and that's what it did for him."

Pettis beat Jeremy Stephens in October. He will fight Lauzon early enough on Saturday's card that, if healthy, he can sit in the crowd and watch Henderson take on Edgar. At just 25, Pettis has plenty of time to get back to a title fight, and what could serve as better fuel than watching the man he beat take the title shot Pettis was supposed to get.

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Watch Jon Jones get attacked by police dogs

Before winning the UFC light heavyweight championship, Jon Jones dreamed of working in law enforcement. He got a taste of what his alternate timeline would look like when he went through a sampling of police academy training in Broome County, New York.

Though the dog training does not go so well, and it takes him a while to apprehend the thief's gun, Jones does show he could take on a second career if this whole fighting thing doesn't work out.

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Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio 

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

Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz

UFC 144 Prelims Recap: Gomi, Lee, Fukuda, Cariaso, and Tamura all Victorious

The UFC 144 prelims took place tonight on Facebook and FX networks from Saitama, Japan. Fighters Takanori Gomi, Vaughn Lee, Riki Fukuda, Chris Cariaso, Issei Tamura were all victorious on the undercard of tonight's event. Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy as we start play-by-play for tonight's main card highlighted by a lightweight title bout between champion Frankie Edgar and Ben Henderson.

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/27710/ufc-144-prelims-recap-gomi-lee-fukuda-cariaso-and-tamura-all-victorious/

Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio