Dana White not a fan of the Brian Ebersole Hairrow

Brian Ebersole is on an 11-fight win streak, and took his bout with James Head just a month after beating T.J. Waldburger. Helping out the UFC by taking a fight on short notice will usually land a fighter on UFC president Dana White's good side. However, White is not a fan of Ebersole's manscaping, which usually has his chest hair shaved into a "hairrow" pointing up.

MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani tweeted the bad news during the UFC 149 press conference.

Ouch. For some reason, White is not a fan of fighters expressing themselves in the cage. Jason Miller and Tom Lawlor's entrances also drew his ire. It's a shame, because with more than 400 fighters on the roster, little touches of personality make a fighter stand out. Ebersole hasn't lost with the hairrow, so why would he stop now? Rock that hairrow, Brian.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/dana-white-not-fan-brian-ebersole-hairrow-155611541--mma.html

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Chris Cariaso serves up punch face at UFC on Fuel 4

Chris Cariaso offered a great punchface to Josh Ferguson on the way to a win at UFC on Fuel 4 on Wednesday night. Read on for more results from the early fights.

Alex Caceres def. Damacio Page via submission (triangle choke) - Round 2, 1:27
Chris Cariaso def. Josh Ferguson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Andrew Craig def. Rafael Natal via KO (head kick and punch) - Round 2, 4:52
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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/chris-cariaso-serves-punch-face-ufc-fuel-4-011056888--mma.html

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Bellator Inks Broadcast Deal With R2, Russia?s Leading Sports Network

It would seem the inroads Bellator has made in the Russian market, signing various talent from the country, has paid off for the promotion. It was announced today that Bellator has inked a deal with Russia's leading sports network, Russia 2 (R2), putting the promotion in over 83 million homes starting September 28.

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Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/29678/bellator-inks-broadcast-deal-with-r2-russias-leading-sports-network/

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John Dodson Welcomes Jussier Da Silva to The Octagon at UFC on FX 5

Ultimate Fighter winner and flyweight standout John Dodson has been pegged to welcome submission ace Jussier Da Silva to the promotion as the two meet at UFC on FX 5. The event takes place October 5 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/29672/john-dodson-welcomes-jussier-da-silva-to-the-octagon-at-ufc-on-fx-5/

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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/

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Dana White reverses course, gives title shot to fighter with best performance Saturday

UFC president Dana White made a shockingly bad decision during a conference call Monday with mixed martial arts reporters when he said that the winner of Saturday's UFC on Fox 4 main event between Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Brandon Vera would get the next title shot.

Light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who defends his belt on Sept. 1 against former Strikeforce champion Dan Henderson, has already crushed all four fighters who are competing on Saturday's card at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Ryan Bader meets ex-champion Lyoto Machida in the co-main event.

But it was Vera's so-so record that prompted outrage among media and fans. Vera enters Saturday's bout at the Staples Center 1-2 with a no contest in his last four fights. His best win at light heavyweight was over Krzysztof Soszynski.

When Jones was told on Twitter the Rua-Vera winner would get a title shot, he wrote, "Scratching my head." He wasn't alone in being perplexed by White's call.

So, late Monday, White changed his mind and opened the picture up. He said the fighter who looks the best on Saturday will get the title shot against the Jones-Henderson winner, giving Bader and Machida a chance, as well.

"When the fans speak, we listen," White said in a news release. "So whoever scores the best win, whoever gets the fans excited by going out there on Saturday and looking the most impressive, he will get the winner of Jones vs. Henderson. It is down to what these four guys do Saturday night in the Octagon. Winning isn't enough, they've got to win impressively. Any one of these four fighters can take things into their own hands and make a title shot happen."

Rua lost his title to Jones at UFC 128. Before the fight that day, Jones broke up a mugging, then went out and stopped Rua at 2:37 of the third in a stunningly one-sided performance.

Rua has gone 1-1 since, beating Forrest Griffin and losing to Henderson in what has been called the best fight in UFC history.

"I want the winner of Jones vs. Henderson," Rua said. "The fight I had with Henderson was a great fight, the fight of the year, and it was a very close fight. I am OK with that. It was a great fight. But the loss to Jones, I can't live with. I could have done so much better and I want to fight him again. First, though, I have to beat Brandon Vera and winning isn't good enough. I have to be very impressive, but that it what I have trained to do."

Vera took the change in stride. He has been upbeat and confident despite the naysayers who roared when he was put into a main event. White's announcement doesn't change much for him, because Vera has been saying all along he plans to win impressively.

If he does that, he'll make a very strong case for himself.

"Beating Shogun, and beating him the way I want, corrects all the mistakes I've made and wipes away all the bad performances," Vera said. "Beating Frank Mir is probably my best performance, but people don't realize that was nothing compared to what I do all the time in the gym. I'm going to show off what 'The Truth' really is on Fox."

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/dana-white-reverses-course-gives-title-shot-fighter-141434320--mma.html

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Aaron Simpson wears No. 42 on shorts to honor Pat Tillman (PHOTO)

As Cagewriter wrote previously, Aaron Simpson wore a 42 on his shorts to honor former NFL player and fallen Army Ranger Pat Tillman during Simpson's UFC on Fuel 4 decision win over Kenny Robertson. Learn more about the Pat Tillman Foundation here.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/aaron-simpson-wears-no-42-shorts-honor-pat-033046014--mma.html

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Invicta FC 2 Weigh-in Results

Invicta FC 2 took the Memorial Hall in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri, for the weigh-ins of Invicta FC 2 ahead of tomorrow night’s event. The women hit the scales at 6:30 pm ET, with all but two competitors on the card hitting the mark. Sarah D?Alelio missed 135 lb limit for her bantamweight [...]

MMAFrenzy.com

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/29606/invicta-fc-2-weigh-in-results/

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Chris Weidman ends Mark Munoz?s title hopes with an elbow at UFC on Fuel 4

Chris Weidman said he wanted to make a statement with his fight against Mark Munoz at UFC on Fuel 4. Mission accomplished, as Weidman knocked out Munoz in the second round of their bout at UFC on Fuel 4.

Weidman started the bout by outwrestling Munoz. He took Munoz down early and kept control of him throughout the round. In the second, Munoz moved in to throw a punch and was met with an elbow to the face. It stunned Munoz, who fell to the ground. Weidman followed him there with several strikes, most of which were unnecessary.

With the win, Weidman makes a good case for a chance at UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/chris-weidman-ends-mark-munoz-title-hopes-elbow-030914947--mma.html

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