With Chael Sonnen expected to take on Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight belt in June, you would think they wouldn't want to help each other out. Even the fighters who are friends before their bout usually cut off communication in the months leading up to their fight. But Silva and Sonnen are so kind that they actually are trading advice.
In an interview with Fuel TV, Silva gave Sonnen training tips.
"Chael talks too much," Silva said. "Chael needs to train. No more talk, train. Going to Brazil? Big problem."
See? So helpful of Silva to not only help Sonnen with his training, but to do it in Sonnen's native language even though Silva usually only speaks Portuguese.
Sonnen, wanting to return the favor, offered Silva some advice on how to relax and who to hang out with.
How sweet! Perhaps Sonnen is forgetting how he lost to Silva in the final round of their bout. With this sort of collegiality, they may want to just have a chess match instead of a cage fight come June.
More sports news from the Yahoo! Sports Minute:
Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/chael-sonnen-anderson-silva-trade-advice-155846735.html
Yoshihiro Akiyama Gilbert Aldana José Aldo John Alessio Houston Alexander
Dan Henderson appears to be a man with a world of options. Comfortable at both light heavyweight and middleweight, his winning streak and credentials in both Strikeforce and the UFC qualify him for a title shot. After his epic bout with Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Henderson said he wanted to try for a title at whatever weight is first.
[Related: Y! Sports pound-for-pound rankings]
Unfortunately for Henderson, the light heavyweight belt will be contested in April, and the middleweight belt is up for grabs in June. He is involved in neither fight. The UFC's solution was to offer him Lyoto Machida, a former champ who most recently lost to Jon Jones in December.
"He doesn't want to fight Machida," [UFC president Dana] White said following Wednesday's UFC on FUEL event. "He doesn't want to wait. He's going to have to wait. Who does he want to fight? I don't know what to do with Dan. Dan's either going to have to wait for Jones or wait for Silva. Or fight somebody else."
Except, Henderson says he was never offered that bout. Via his Twitter account, Henderson disputed White's words.
Was never offered Machida. And even though he has lost 3 out of his last 4, I'm sure it would be entertaining.
Who to believe between the two? Though, as Henderson says, a bout with Machida could be interesting for fans to watch, it doesn't make any sense for Henderson. Dating back to when he held the belt, Machida has losses to Rua, Jones, and Quinton Jackson. His one win was over a retiring Randy Couture.
[Video: Watch Jon Jones get attacked by a police dog]
A win over Machida would get Henderson no closer to the title shot. MMA Fighting's Mike Chiappetta suggests that Henderson takes on the winner of next week's bout between Ryan Bader and Jackson. Though a win over Jackson would avenge a loss on Henderson's record, it could also jeopardize a chance to win a belt off Silva or Jones.
As much as it pains Henderson to sit idle, his best bet is to wait. What would you do in Henderson's shoes? Tell us in the comments or on Facebook.
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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/machida-jackson-wait-dan-henderson-152748699.html
Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama Gilbert Aldana
On Tuesday night, the UFC announced on Fuel TV that fights will return to Atlantic City for an FX show on June 22 and to Fox on Aug. 4 in Los Angeles. The date of the Fox show will pit the UFC directly against the Summer Olympics.
The UFC hasn't shied away from the Olympics in the past. UFC 110, which featured Cain Velasquez taking out Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in the first round, aired against the 2010 Winter Olympics. Georges St. Pierre defended his belt against Jon Fitch at UFC 87 on the second night of the 2008 Summer Games.
[Related: Jon Fitch vs. Josh Koscheck fight could happen]
But there are two big differences here. First of all, this is network television vs. network television. The previous UFC events that took on the Olympics were pay-per-views, which generally attract a more hard-core fan base. With network television, the UFC is seeking casual fans. During the Olympics, casual sports fans tune into the Games.
Secondly, the UFC's other Olympic-conflicted events fell on nights with with light schedules at the Games. Aug. 4 will be jam-packed with sports popular in the U.S. Swimming will award medals in four races. Basketball and beach volleyball will play early-round games. In track and field, the men's long jump and women's heptathlon and 100-meter events will conclude. The gold- and bronze-medal tennis matches will take place at Wimbledon.
Who will win the ratings battle? Tell us in the comments or on Facebook.
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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-olympics-august-141129148.html
Ricardo Almeida Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves Andre Amade Dean Amasinger
Since starting with Yahoo! Sports in September of 2008, I haven't missed a single UFC or Strikeforce event. There were a few I couldn't watch live, but I have DVRed or bought a replay of every pay-per-view, fight night, network event and Showtime show. Not missing any fights over the past three years is exactly what made Wednesday night so weird. I couldn't watch UFC on Fuel 1 because I don't have Fuel, and it's not likely that it will become available to me anytime soon. Did you have a similar experience?
Today, Fuel released highlights for those of us who couldn't watch, starting with Jake Ellenberger and Diego Sanchez's Fight of the Night.
It was painful to miss such a good bout, as well as Stipe Miocic's Knockout of the Night.
The card was started off with Ivan Menjivar's Submission of the Night performance over John Albert.
Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama Gilbert Aldana José Aldo John Alessio
Our good friends at Poler came to us with a simple idea ? let?s give some stuff away.
We were like, ?Hell yeah, good friends at Poler. Let?s!?
So, once a week for a month, we?re going to give you a chance to win one of Poler?s hooded Napsacks, perfect for sleeping wherever you might find yourself sleeping ? a friend?s couch, the back of a pickup, side of the road, or inside a tent.
Andre Amade Dean Amasinger Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen Alex Andrade
It's clear three days after the fact that the Carlos Condit's unanimous-decision win over Nick Diaz will go down as one of the most hotly debated fights in UFC history.
Everyone has a take, as is clear from the 446 (and counting) comments in my most recent blog post, in which I asked whether aggression and Octagon control are even counted any more when judges render their decision.
There were a lot of interesting points raised by the readers, and I think some of them were worth highlighting. (Here's a hint for future feedback posts: Notice that people who made cogent points got mentioned here, and those who resorted to personal insults were ignored).
Let's have at it:
Commenter Moore says: "I agree aggression should be taken more into account so we don't have fighters going for points rather that fighting. But Diaz has beat his last ELEVEN opponents by pushing them to the cage and unloading on them. What did you expect Condit to do?"
That's a great point. It obviously would have been pretty dumb of Condit to just stand in front of Diaz. The question is whether his game plan did enough to earn him the victory. I still maintain Condit came up just short.
@evolution1085 on Twitter says: @davedoylemma has never seen lateral movement in a fight before.
Frankie Edgar, for one, has tremendous lateral movement and his fights are among the most compelling in MMA. One thing you don't see Edgar do is turn form his opponent and run to safety, which we saw once too often from Condit against Diaz. Again, running is a foul under MMA rules, for which points can be deducted.
KD says: So under the criteria that Doyle laid out, Roy Nelson should have been tabbed the winner in his fight with Werdum as he was constantly moving forward and being the aggressor?
Ummm ... no. Did you see the pictures of Nelson's face after the fight? I'm not in any way implying that aggression and Octagon control be the only factors considered in the fight, just pointing out that they're actually listed in the Unified Rules and seem to be too often ignored.
Pa-boy says: You don't like the judge's decisions then end the fight yourself.
Can't argue with that one, amigo.
Wb says: Thank GOD! I thought after some of the other articles I'd read (and comments I'd received) I was one of the few who thought that fight was judged incorrectly!!! Let me state, I do NOT have a problem with Condit getting the nod (personally I scored it 3/2 for Diaz but could see how it might have been judged 3/2 Condit). Still after having seen the judges scorecards its hard to understand what fight they were scoring or more specifically by what criteria. 2 of the 3 gave Condit the second round!? For the record that was the only round that Diaz out-struck him. To say that Carlos won 4 of the 5 rounds on judges sheets seems to indicate they have no concept of octagon control or aggression and were simply counting strikes.
Eddie, via Facebook, says: absolutely agree with your article on the Diaz/Condit fight. the judges' criteria include ring aggression and generalship: basically who's bossing the fight. this isn't boxing where you can dance and outpoint your foe with jabs.
Wb, Eddie, you guys are clearly smart people with bright futures.
Gilbert Aldana José Aldo John Alessio Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida
I truly apologize for not getting this to you before Valentine's Day because this would be the best gift ever for your valentine. Still, bookmark this and remember it for any occasion: Mother's Day, birthdays, graduation, new baby, Sweet 16 -- there isn't an event where you couldn't give this as a gift.
Ready for the best thing ever? Yes, it's the limited edition Nick Diaz Round 5 doll figurine.

He's fallen on some hard times lately, what with the razor-thin loss to Carlos Condit and the positive drug test result right after the fight. But his straight-out-of-Stockton style makes Nick Diaz in miniature form the perfect gift for your mother, wife, brother, friend, mail carrier or perfect stranger.
Unfortunately, the fingers aren't movable, so you can't get Diaz to give the old Stockton Heybuddy, but you can have him grimace at your loved one throughout the day. Buy it in April at select stores.
Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/mma-marketplace-nick-diaz-miniature-form-124953476.html
Jermaine Andrè Yoji Anjo Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi